I've been busy recently trying to finally put this to bed. Earlier in the year, spray painting the body was a disaster, as it was too cold. By the time it had warmed, the shops had closed and i was unable to buy paint. When i was able to get some, i chose to use car paints, as they are designed for much larger surfaces and is a lot cheaper than model paint. The spray cans are 3 times as big for only a little more. The finish is nowhere near perfect, but given that i'm using rattle cans in the back garden, it's probably as good as it will ever be.
Quite pleased with the tailgate. The letters had to be cut by hand.
Lotus logo on the nose actually came out ok, apart from a little discolouration of the white around the decal.
I had some issues on the rear decals unfortunately. They went on fine, but the Cellulose clear coat caused them to wrinkle. I used a scalpel to cut away some of the decal, which helped.
This is why i hate the painting and finishing stage of models. From a distance, they look ok, but i think i will try making some gloss stickers instead.