240z Ready for paint

Tom Bork's 1969 Datsun 240z was the eighth ever produced, and went on to become a racing legend.

And I had two of them when I came across Dark Future, so it was a spare, and thus the first car I worked on.

I wasn't really sure what to do with it, so after sanding the decals off, it kind of just sat in the bitz bin while I worked on other cars.

After the disappointment of Project Spwhat, I was looking to get my hand back in, and decided, rather than start a whole new car, I'd finish up this one.

This is the first car I've done to actually have weapons. Mostly I don't like the look of them, they ruin the lines. But then I have been working on roadsters and drag cars. The Datsun has a beefier "proper car" look, and handles them much better.

The end of a Tau burst cannon made for grille-guns with some trimming, and a Kroot rifle serves as the hood-mounted gun. Don't know if it's a slug-thrower or a laser, but it could count as both.

Armour plating on the windshield, roof, and rear side windows comes from a grille from a model car, a . . . Ferrari, I think. The side windows have heavy armour screens from a chopped up plastic piece taken from another Hot Wheels, a military vehicle of some kind.

The rear piece on the back window is going to serve as luggage or a fuel cell a la the V8 Interceptor. It came from that Ferrari model kit, but I don't know what it was. The window will be painted over to look like just a metal sheet. I only thought to add armour plating after putting that piece on there, but it was too late to get the CA off.

The spoiler came from a ERTL label tag off an Impala model set, sanded to shape and blended in with some glue and careful sanding.

The little nubbin at the back will be a smoke/oil dispenser, and is a Tau grenade. At least I've always thought those were grenades. They could be power cells, or something.

Now it's on to paint, which poses a problem. Sprayed-black is of course the default, but I'm not sure I want to do that, with this car. I really like the beat-up white, but I'm not sure I'm a good enough painter to pick out the armour and weapons without ruining the white. If I just spray EVERYTHING, then it doesn't matter so much, and will be easier to correct mistakes.

But on the other hand, spraying and I are not exactly on speaking terms right now. So I'm going to let it sit for a few days. I'm busy this weekend anyway, and likely won't have a chance to spray for a while. (It's supposed to snow on Thursday!)

Regardless of how long it takes to get around to whatever I do for paint, I'm quite pleased with this one, and glad to have it done.