galaxyg

Very nice, great colour scheme. Good to know it's a nice kit, I wonder what else Meng will do for 1/24 cars.

Really really nice. Those wheels really set it off.

That's a nice build, and a great shine. I have this same kit (as yet unbuilt) and I notice you've gone for the non-Nismo version from the in-box choices of bumpers, skirts and wheels. I'm likely to do the same. In real life, mechanically - engine and chassis, this Skyline Coupe is a Nissan 350Z.

Fantastic ! I look forward to seeing it on here. Happy building.

Background: A car so wild I had to add this to my collection. Knowing this one comes with adjustable suspension so it can easily be de-cambered made the decision even easier. And it was the perfect excuse to try a more unusual colour. Pros: This is a kit which very much seems designed to be assembled. That seems strange to say, all kits must be - but this one more so than most. A lot of parts have small locator pins and matching holes in the part they join, and it just makes assembly so much easier. About 1/3 of the parts can be made as push-fit without glue and a lot of those are in places I'd really not want to be taking glue anyway. The kit has a perfect shape and proportions, nice sharp clean mouldings, great fitment of nearly everything, has parts divided in a logical way to make for very little masking (I only masked the dashboard), sharp high quality decals and a detailed interior. In addition there are not only decals but in some cases, stickers and this also makes for an easier assembly than usual. Cons: The side scoop bodywork behind the doors fits perfectly but not when coupled with the fake-mesh part that goes with it. Then some thought and reinforcement is needed. The suspension entirely lacks detail but given the selling point of adjustable height and camber, this is fair. Verdict: Brilliant. The results speak for the kit's quality and the fact that I was able to go from opening the box to completed kit in only 2 weeks is as much a testament to how much the kit has been designed to be built without fuss as it is to the amount of time I threw at it. Build notes: Built over the course of two weeks in April 2024, painted in Halfords rattle-can Ford Tibetan Bronze, clearcoated with Mr Hobby Gloss Premium. I've added a Japanese number plate, some hoses to the engine, some carbon and alu-fibre wrap in a few areas and the Lamborghini badge on the front is a 3rd party item. Otherwise, it's as it came in the box. I did further experimentation with this model to find out what are the perfect conditions for photography - always easier on shiny road cars, and that has made for some great results which although still not quite indistinguishable from a 1:1 car, are another step closer than I've got before. I'm very pleased with both the pics and the result, the build has a much smaller number of minor imperfections than usual and no major ones; it is now my favourite build of 2024.. so far.

Background: The TOCA games by Codemasters on Playstation introduced me to the BTCC (British Touring Car Championships) right in the middle of the fantastic Super Touring era, and the A4 is one of that era's stars. As soon as the kit was announced (years ago) I knew I had to have one. After a long long wait for release, eventually it was available. Pros: Almost everything but in particular: perfect shape, nice sharp clean mouldings, great fitment of nearly everything, perfect seamless tyres, sharp high quality decals, nicely detailed interior. Cons: Fitting the glass is a pain, as there's so little glue contact area. The back windscreen is a perfect fit *when held in place* but it's natural curve is slightly less than the hole it drops into, meaning you have to use something more powerful to glue it in place than you'd want to on clear parts with little contact area. The front and sides are also not easy to glue in. The instruction manual shows the several parts fitting either in a direction or point in the build that is physically impossible and there's a small bit of the rollcage the instructions forget to tell you about entirely. Verdict: A very very good kit. Recommended. Build notes: Built over the course of one month in March-April 2024. Painted in Tamiya Mica Silver. Additions to the kit are the seatbelts and PE buckles, some wiring and detail on the interior, and the PE bonnet and boot catches.

Background: I was always going to build a Delta at some point, it was just a case of which one. Hasegawa offer a lot of liveries and though many of them were tempting - especially the Sega Rally classic, Martini. However in the end I went for the Carlos Sainz car, the 1993 Jolly Club Repsol Delta Acropolis Rally. I've learned that Hasegawa's kits of this era are frequently gravel height regardless of the intended subject or event, so at least I knew choosing this one for the Acropolis Rally would not have to have it's suspension modified to look correct. Pros: It has a Photo Etch fret included, and material for the seatbelts and mudflaps. More or less goes together OK. Some areas have a good level of detail - the dashboard is good for example. Ride height is correct for a gravel setup. Cons: The moulding for the body is quite scruffy and soft, especially around the windows. The glue points for the rollcage are tiny and weak. The front suspension is weak, vague, fiddly and has far too much play in the steering - with everything connected correctly you can point both front wheels in opposite directions. The tyres are too big and look like tractor tyres, I had to swap them. The front lights and grille could have been engineered better to aid painting. The instructions show one of the decals on the roof incorrectly - 180 degrees from the correct orientation. The supplied decals combine the Repsol logos for many parts with the colours behind them meaning you don't have the option to paint these big areas instead without obtaining other decals, which is doubly annoying since the blue parts of the Repsol livery on the decals are almost black and therefore automatically look incorrect and in need of replacement. Verdict: Not terrible but certainly not good either. It's an OK model the produces an OK but slightly scruffy result (which at least for a rally car can be partly disguised by some weathering). It's typical of many kits from this era of Hasegawa. It's certainly not good enough to make me think about buying a second one, as I had originally planned. Build notes: Built over the course of one month in Feb-Mar 2024. Changes to what came in the box are: Tamiya driver and co-driver figures added, seatbelts added, hoses and wiring inside added, new decals for the Repsol logos, changed tyres, weathering and a diorama base.

That is a very nice green. It's interesting how much of the character of the car is changed when the wheels are changed, not a big fan of the originals either. What green is the interior?

Really fantastic, great colour great finish and engine. I'd also love to see what your photo setup is. In particular - is the reflection down the side of the car a real scene - you've photographed outside? Or it's a reflection of something you've setup to mimic an outside horizon?

Very very nice. Such a clean and tidy build, something to be proud of.

Very nice. One of the best looking rally cars ever.

Sweet. Great colour.

Background: I'd bought this kit cheap to use its wheels on another build, and I thought I might as well build up the rest of it - in the end borrowing wheels from another unbuilt kit to do so (the F430 challenge). It is a nice looking Ferrari if not their best, and I use one in this colour scheme a lot in Gran Turismo 7. It makes a change from building a red one. Pros: It's a good shape and for the most part fits together perfectly. The wheels have a nice plating effect, the transparent parts very shiny and clear and on the whole it's a joy to build. Cons: Body moulded in red - ugh but understandable given how many will be painted that colour. Interior moulded in red - double ugh. I had a struggle with the body over the chassis at the end, once the interior was all in place, and while the front and everything from the engine backwards are OK, the chassis bulges downwards a little right behind the front wheels, although it's not visible in photos. The mountings for the door mirrors are pathetically small. The chassis/suspension has a low level of detail, although this does keep the kit simple. Verdict: It's a very very good kit and an easy and enjoyable build. Whenever this kit was engineered, it was when Fujimi had put their "it'll do" period behind them. As a kit, this Fujimi F430 is as good as Fujimi's F355 is bad. Build notes: Built over the course of about 4 weeks in January/February 2024. Changed the wheels for the ones from the F430 challenge kit (only difference is - these are centre lock). Added scratch-built B-pillars and some wiring to the engine, otherwise built as-is. Painted with Tamiya TS-50 Mica blue, with the interior painted in Hycote Vauxhall Mustard Yellow. For whatever reason, this particular build is a total dust magnet and proves quite stubborn to let all of it go.

Background: Found in the bargain-bin of a secondhand model kit shop in Tokyo as it'd been lightly started. I've always liked this shape of Mercedes SL - sleek and elegant. Buying it was an easy decision. Pros: Great shape, full engine, very detailed chassis, removable roof and poseable roll hoop - the whole works. If this were a later production Tamiya kit, they'd have put it in a black box instead to indicate its premium-ness. Cons: The wheels are horribly chromed, and need to be stripped. The bonnet doesn't sit perfectly without the help of something like blu-tack to hold it down. On my build - the wheels on the drivers side did not all sit straight and given there's really only one way to build a Tamiya kit, I wonder if this was me or just the kit. Rear locating tabs for chassis->body are weak and small. Mounting points for rear bumper are also small. The entire roof is made from transparent plastic, I'd have preferred this solid plastic with a separate rear window. Verdict: It's a very comprehensive and detailed kit from Tamiya with just a few niggles that stop it being called perfect. Build notes: Built over the course of about 7 weeks in December 2023 - January 2024. Painted in Tamiya Mica silver with a Peugeot Antelope beige interior. I've made few additions to what came in the box aside from a few extra wires and cables in the engine bay, plug the cross member at the front of the engine bay/ grille area. I have made adjustments to the driver's side wheels hubs (some grinding) to get the wheels on that side to sit straight.

This is fantastic, and the roof being body colour, change of wheels and the addition of the front lip and wing make it look so much better than the standard model. And you had this on the cover of the Tamiya Model Magazine. Bravo!