Spottedlaurel

Chang, so glad I can get in early so I can use words that will be repeated several times over. That is amazing! Everything just looks 'right' about it, and it's so cleanly built.

Very nicely done, must have been a lot of fun to build something you had happy memories of at 1:1.

Looks really good - the colour suits it well and you certainly got around any issues.

Thanks Matt. I can't remember if you'd said something along these lines in your recent Samuri build thread, but I reached the same conclusion over Christmas. Just some nibs that need trimming. I'm thinking of doing a Tamiya-based Z432R too, as that's the Hasegawa kit I have, but with the Tamiya Skyline 2000 GT-R's S20 engine. @lghtngyello03 did a stunning build with one fitted here:

It seems to me like the resin wheels are a rather small 15" (what they're sold as) and Fujimi 14" tyres fit onto them very nicely.

Today's arrival: Already have one of the 240ZG kit, but I'm just about to start building it for this year's CBR and I've realised just how nicely it would build up in other ways so I thought I'd get another, along with the very well-stocked Hobby Design detail set. The smaller detail sets are for Hasegawa kits. And one from last week: Couldn't resist the newly-reissued version. My 1: 1 LS400 is taking a rest at present, it remains to be seen whether I get it back on the road before building the kit....

Nice! I imagine they'll include the really wide Cragar S/S wheels that I had in a later Cedric/Gloria kit - they worked very nicely on a Monogram '65 Corvette I built a while back.

Excellent work, great to see it in 1/24 scale.

I really like what you're doing with this one, it looks just like a well-used example. I've looked at my older version of this kit and never been quite sure what to do with it. Sadly I don't have the weathering skills to do something along the lines of yours.

Thanks Bob. Just doing a quick search, seen a few different boxed versions with alternative graphics but so far I can only find one other built example!

Made good progress on this one today, keen to get it finished so I can start another new build (or two, or more....). Partway through detailing the wheels. They're Hoshine Impul D-01, although the box calls them Silhouette which is an updated version with extra bolts around the rim. I've since done them all and tidied them up a bit. I'm now at the point where most parts are off the sprues, painted and ready to fit, or at least in progress. Suspension is fairly basic due to it being a kit that could motorized, but it's fine for a curbside. At this point I had to see if everything fitted together - I was nervous about the sliding door and that tall bulkhead. A little bit of final detailing and tidying required, but it went together OK and it certainly looks like a Hiace. I opted to apply BMF to the lower body trim, as it matches the chrome bumpers and I couldn't face more 'black' painting (actually Revell Anthracite #9).

Great to see this built in the original style, you've done a great job on it.

Looks like they're there, along with another set of wheels: Black set appear to be ubiquitous Watanabes. I don't really want another G-nose Z, otherwise I'd have been tempted to get this one as a source of those wheels.

I did. It looks like this Aoshima kit has something similar, although I'm not sure if they'd be as nicely detailed: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10736540 I found that a set of 14" tyres from a Fujimi kit fitted them nicely - they had a slightly taller profile and less of a stretched look.

This is the wagon as standard:

Very nice! Code on the ones i got is SRP 015 if you want to try and find some closer to home. They're supposedly 15", but to me seem more like 14". I might try them with some different tyres. The 1200 was a very endearing little thing to drive. Mine was very basic with no carpet or radio, but the little A12 engine and light weight made it fun to nip around in on the country roads.

Consider it a curbside build and use a generic Fujimi/Aoshima chassis? Maybe trim down an American interior. They were never regarded as a particularly 'dynamic' car. The finned styling was contemporary when launched in 1959 or so, but very dated when some of the models ran until 1971. They appealed to fairly traditional buyers who preferred space and solidity - my Grandad and an uncle both had one. There were also estate versions, and I think South America got pickups. I rather like this customised Morris Traveller: The 4-cyl models have 4x4.5" stud pattern, so wheels off MGB, Reliant Scimitar, bigger Triumphs and various Japanese will fit. Badge-engineered Austin and Morris versions. The latter is from 1970! For completeness: 'Sportier' MG and Riley, I think they both had twin-carb engines.

Good point about the headlights. The AMT/Aoshima does have separate buckets but they're quite shallow, I think it'd be easier to modify those in the Tamiya. This is what I'd like to recreate, my '93 which is a late Mk1 with the 15" wheels: If I was brave I could add the sunroof from the AMT/Aoshima kit (or probably find something else I have in the stash). As an extra challenge, we got foglights in the front bumper (with extra driving lights on the inner buckets) and the inner portions of the rear lights are smaller, to accommodate our longer plates. This is what the kit replicates, presumably similar to US-spec LS400?

Amongst other stuff picked up recently: Bottom right wheels are 15" Gotti by Studio Rosso, a possibility for the Tamiya Nissan 240ZG I'm just about to start. The mesh wheels were another possibility, but not really the look I want to go for. Signs are for a diorama, one day.... The Datsun is something of a Holy Grail kit for me, as I had a 2-door 1200 just like that a few years ago and by harvesting some parts from a Hasegawa Datsun Sunny Truck I have in the stash I should be able to come up with a very close replica of my old 1:1. Materials from a visit to the LHS I'm lucky to have in a nearby town. I want to up my game slightly on detailing and thought I'd try some different paints etc. Talking to the guys in the shop was really helpful, and admiring 1:25 car/truck builds that one of them had done and put on display. Don't get that from a big box store.... Nova felt like something I should have in the stash, it's chassis looks like a useful swap into something else and I could still build the remains as a curbside display piece.

Looks like it has a bit more detail than some of the other European/Japanese subjects that Monogram did at that time?

Got my new issue of the LS400 today, very pleased with it. Moulded in a pearl white, almost champagne colour! I read above that the decal sheet was improved, and comparing it with my old Celsior kit this certainly looks to be the case. I don't know if the original LS400 release had wood decals for the interior (they weren't included on the Celsior), but they're certainly there now, and the brightwork for the bumpers and waistline moulding is more slender and shaped where necessary. The remainder of the kit looks to be as it was before, so generally very nice. The door cards slightly suffer from being moulded as part of the interior tub, but the detail on them is really only lost where it's concealed by the seat bases. The wheels are plated, which is a bit bright for how we got them in the UK but may be more correct for the LHD/US-spec car which this represents. It comes only with the LHD dashboard option, not LHD/RHD like many Tamiya kits of this era. I took the opportunity to compare it with my AMT issue of the Aoshima LS400 kit, and also consider it against the 1:1 RHD LS400 I have sitting on the driveway. Tamiya is best on the body shape - the AMT/Aoshima kit doesn't seem to 'roll in' enough below the waistine, which is a feature of the 1:1. Also the top front corner of the front door windows looks more rounded on the Tamiya kit, better matching the real thing. The Tamiya kit has a separate hood (well two with the clear one) plus separate grille, whereas it's all moulded into the bodyshell on the AMT/Aoshima so there'd be some fiddly detailing there. And that wonderfully smooth V8 isn't there at all on the latter. Underneath the Tamiya has more detailed suspension and a completely separate exhaust, but it's partly moulded-in on the AMT/Aoshima. Also the box art on the latter shows an odd front wheel placement, so that might need attention. OOB the Tamiya Celsior I built sat just right (still does, just pulled it out of the cabinet). Interior-wise the AMT/Aoshima kit is perhaps better in having separate sides to the tub, with the detail extending down to the door bins which are missing on the Tamiya. Decal sheet is more limited on the AMT/Aoshima, and it has silver PE badges whereas they have the gold option on the Tamiya. From building the Celsior 30-odd years ago I know it goes together very nicely. I'm sure the AMT/Aoshima would be OK too, just it won;t be quiate as authentic or well-detailed as the Tamiya kit. One day I'd like to build a decent replica of my 1:1 LS400. The new Tamiya kit will be my best starting point, but depending on how accurate I want to get it looks like I'll need to swap some parts with the Celsior and AMT/Aoshima kit to make it reasonably accurate.

Looks fantastic! Well, it doesn't, but you know what I mean....

I used Tamiya TS-34 Camel Yellow over white primer on this Chevelle, at the time the comment was made that it looked like school bus yellow:

Very nicely done. There's nothing too obvious about what's been changed, and those similar-but-different wheels work really well.

Have now put cutter to sprue on my 240ZG, couldn't resist starting to check it out now I've got some detail parts starting to arrive: Contents of the very well-detailed kit, plus spare assembled RB engine for mock-up purposes, Hobby Design detail set and a couple of wheel choices. Also the remnants of a period Datsun colour that I had mixed-up a few years ago, and got a fresh can of it done this morning. The newer RB straight-six is of similar physical size to the long-running L-series. I need to remove the transfer case, driveshafts etc as this particular one comes from a 4wd Skyline R32, and I think I may have to swap the sump round so the pan is at the back. I will actually build-up a fresh engine and 'box from my stash. The RB swap looks to be relatively commonplace at 1:1 so I'm not attempting something too silly. If I can get the brakes to fit, and possibly find some slightly chunkier tyres, these are the wheels I'm hoping to use. They are a Gotti wheel which look good on 1:1 Zs, I'll be painting them gunmetal which should sit nicely with the Ochre bodywork (dirty yellow?!). Note the hubs with the 4-stud fixing, with alternative male/female fitments. I have seen hi-po brake kits for Zs still running small wheels, so it should be feasible to run the 15s above. The alternative wheel is a 16" cross-spoke style, might keep them for a 280ZX build. Well-stocked detail set. Not all will be of use as some of it is for the standard L24 engine, and it may be beyond my skillset and eyesight!, but I'm hoping I can add some of it to good effect. The body sits very nicely on the floorpan and I had to try it on the Gotti wheels. The arch flares will be fitted to cover their extra width. Note the separate tailgate and fuel filler flap. Also thought it would be interesting to see how the old Monogram 280Z compares - it's much more simplistic, but the basic look is still there. Sneak preview of the colour I'll be using on the RH front fender and scuttle panel....