Rookie mistakes with a Civic....

1
February 20, 2026
I've heard we should always wash with soap water before we start building and I'm happy to say it's one of the building skills I manage ?
2
February 20, 2026
First shock when opening the kit: it's RHD ? My friend had just imported a MB from Japan and it was LHD so I was surprised Japanese drive as the British. USCP made money on my mistake
3
February 20, 2026
Second shock: Head rests look like nothing I ever seen. Maybe Honda made them differently in Europe? So I cut it off, got myself a small drill and some styrene rods
4
February 20, 2026
Ended up pretty good for a first time
5
February 20, 2026
I wanted to try opening the doors and someone on YouTube showed how to do it and to prepare hinges before cutting the doors open.
6
February 20, 2026
I bought a Tamiya scribing tool but it broke immediately. It looks easy on YouTube but they probably done it a couple of times before filming? Another YouTube builder said to use the backside of the knife. I won't recommend it....
7
February 20, 2026
The frame (?) around the windows ended very thin and broke....
8
February 20, 2026
Preparing the "bathtub" for opened doors should also probably have been done differently and with better tools...
9
February 20, 2026
I had to get my hands on more styrene to fill in the gaps of where the "bathtub" will be attached to the chassis
10
February 20, 2026
Since my first build (VW Beetle) I've learned that applying primer will make painting easier. Terrible smell but it worked fine
11
February 20, 2026
Note to self: When buying detail parts check more than scale and what car you build. Adjustments were needed but I actually managed this one ?
12
February 20, 2026
The inside on the Hasegawa doors didn't look good but again the detail parts was for another kit so I had to learn how to use putty...
13
February 20, 2026
Parts breaking....
14
February 20, 2026
On the passenger side another part broke and disappeared...
15
February 20, 2026
And the door looks kinda weird ?
16
February 20, 2026
Masking is an art! I've seen some great results from other mates in way smaller scales than 1:24 and I really don't understand how they do it. But it's a first try for everything
17
February 20, 2026
Brush painting all parts except for the body. From the first built I've learned about thinning paint and do several coats
18
February 20, 2026
More brush painted parts
19
February 20, 2026
😉 this is me late 90's and the only real reference picture from the car I'm trying to build
20
February 20, 2026
I wanted to try to get the pattern on seats and doors as close to the original as possible. Small holes in the masking tape and dots with different Molotow pens
21
February 20, 2026
I also wanted to try washing and pigments. This turned out pretty good but it's hard to see from the picture
22
February 20, 2026
This guy sometimes think I'm spending too much time on my hobby
23
February 20, 2026
15 coats (!) of thinned gray paint, light sanding with 600 grit and you can see the primer...
Lots of mates told me to try airbrushing after my first built but my budget wouldn't let me. After this Civic my nerves force me to get one no matter what
24
February 20, 2026
Here too. Don't remember how many coats of black but sanding tells me I'm either doing it wrong or I needed even more coats
25
February 20, 2026
I used to rent the Civic when I lived in Oslo and wanted to visit my old hometown and always had a suitcase inside. I bought files on Cults3d and a guy printed them
26
February 20, 2026
He also printed a briefcase because I used one at work. Even though I probably should focus on building skills I want to make something personal out of the kits
27
February 20, 2026
Even a very small Nokia
28
February 20, 2026
Windows broke so I try bending clear styrene to new windows
29
February 20, 2026
Self made windows!
30
February 20, 2026
Windows were made but because the frame on the door was broken I had to use a lot of stuff trying to make it fit
31
February 20, 2026
Trying a different type of putty when struggeling to fill openings where I cut out the door. I will prepare this part better next time and probably mostly use styrene sheets
32
February 20, 2026
First time flocking. It will look pretty good when seats and inventory is assembled
33
February 20, 2026
My spray booth 😉 I was working in a huge storehouse and it's time to try spray cans for the first time
34
February 20, 2026
First coat of red
35
February 20, 2026
If you use spray cans please use some protection too. Not sure how well the picture show but my mask went pretty red
36
March 4, 2026
Finished painting so it's time to try fixing some things that went wrong during the building process. I have a bunch of different windshield wipers, but couldn't manage any of them. I'm told soldering is a solution, but I'm not ready for that by now. I will make sure not to bring the Civic outside if it's raining😉
37
March 4, 2026
Started polishing. My own cars back then were never much shiny but this rental car looked new every time I picked it up
38
March 4, 2026
Do you guys polish *before* assembly? Anyway the glass on this front light fell off while polishing and had to be fixed. Sanding off some dried glue and put it back on
39
March 4, 2026
Music has always been important to me and some of the CD's I used to listen to late 90's had to be on the passenger seat. And the Nokia phone
40
March 4, 2026
I'm happy with my first try with wash and pigments. Not very advanced but still...
41
March 4, 2026
And then my second built is done. A lot of mistakes were made but more important to me is the fact that I had fun and learned a lot. And received many good advices during the process every time I asked a mate for help. Great community!
42
March 4, 2026
Finished. The newspaper in the backseats are something most Norwegians my age remember. We played football 2-1 against England the day before this edition. "Miracle"
43
March 4, 2026
Thanks for watching

Commentaires

30 20 February, 12:14

Franco Echenique
a lot of work here! it not seems like you don´t have experience building this as per you said. I will keep following it, very interesting

2 20 February, 13:43

Yngve N Auteur
I love the hobby and I'm constantly learning something. After spending 40 years in an office it's really challenging (but fun) to use hands and tools without a keyboard 😉 I will probably be finishing this within a week.

4 20 February, 13:57

Franco Echenique
Hope to see your updates soon, it is always great to share time with plastic and smell of glue! (and thinners xD)

2 20 February, 14:36

Christian W
There you have a big challenge! I'm curious for the result.

2 24 February, 06:07

Bozzer
You've jumped right in on this one. Fair play to you, for trying new techniques and different approaches. That's basically how we've all learned. Sad to see you struggling with those doors, but by showing your mistakes and difficulties, you are helping others, so I applaud you for that! People think that what we do is easy, and a couple of videos, and basically you're a master? Sadly, that's not the case. But to figure out the problem, and approaching it in the right mindset, helps massively. I bet you've already thought about how you would do certain things different, next time???
This is a good learning curve for you. I'm gonna keep an eye on this build, and see how it develops. Keep plugging away, Yingy mate 👍

3 24 February, 08:35

Yngve N Auteur
Thanks for looking in and comments Christian and Bozzer. It was definitely a challenge with those doors. Expected it to be hard but maybe not getting a chain of other challenges because of it? But again I hope to learn from this. Tim the Builder said once that he hide mistakes by making them part of the finished build. I won't ever reach his or your level but I will finish this a little different than I intended... 😉

3 25 February, 07:15

Christian W
We (if I may speak for us) have learned a lot over many years, and our experiences (trial and error) have raised our skills. There's a reason they say: nobody's born a master.

3 25 February, 07:22

Yngve N Auteur
I did my best and finished off the Civic with a lot of new knowledge and experience. Uploaded the last photos

2 4 March, 11:20

Franco Echenique
Fantastic, the improvement on your skills from the last model to this one is really notorious. Congratulations! From a Linkin Park fan & modeller to another! Very nice result

1 4 March, 15:05

Sander de Volder
How could I have missed this? Great to see your process and that you learned and most importantly had fun! The car came out very nice👍🏻

1 4 March, 16:03

Yngve N Auteur
Thank you Franco and Sander. Much too kind but/and really appreciate it. It definitely gave me some headaches but it shows my level during this last year and I will keep on working

1 4 March, 20:58

Spanjaard
you persevered, found solutions for the problems you encountered, and ended with a nice model. i like the details you added, and specially the red color, very nice!

4 March, 21:01

Alexander Grivonev
Wow what an amount of work, hats off to the dedication. Fantastic result, you are improving very rapidly 👍👍

1 4 March, 21:58

辉张
The A-pillar window frame of this car is very narrow and fragile; it's amazing that you were able to cut through it.

1 5 March, 02:29

Christian W
That was a huge process. I never thought, you'd get that good result. Well done!

1 5 March, 06:13

Yngve N Auteur
Thank you all for kind feedback. It's been both inspiring and also educational to follow several of your projects (and asking you questions every now and then).
@ 辉张 yes I had to use several styrene rods to fix the A-pillar. I'm too rough on assembling the body to chassis and interior so both original and my copies broke several times

5 March, 07:49

Neuling
Good result, nice details!

1 5 March, 08:04

Bozzer
Some people would've quit, when the proverbial hit the fan, but the fact that you didn't, and soldiered on, is a credit to your patience and dedication. In the end, you pulled it off and the results are excellent!
I'm glad that you didn't do the windscreen wipers, because you now have a challenge on your next build 🙂
Well done Yingy, you knocked it out of the park!!! 👍

1 5 March, 20:17

Yngve N Auteur
Thank you Neuling and Bozzer 🙏🏻

1 6 March, 07:40

Ryan Bartlett
Very cool, wish I could do the same

1 9 March, 04:34

Yngve N Auteur
Sure you can Ryan.

9 March, 08:22

Martin Oostrom
So well done Yngve. Lovely excursions into the unknown. Lots learned.

1 16 March, 14:54

Yngve N Auteur
Martin Thanks for introducing me to the art of painting a shiny car! Your step-by-step instructions helped me a lot and I'm still using it for my next build, even though it's not supposed to be quite as shiny. I learned a lot

2 17 March, 07:08

Martin Oostrom
You're welcome. I'm just passing on what I learned from others.

1 18 March, 06:43

Yngve N Auteur
Which is what makes Scalemates the perfect place to be when there's no model club around. Friendly help from experienced mates 🙏🏻

1 18 March, 06:53