galaxyg

Presented in chronological order. My top 3 from these are the Liberty Walk GT-R, the Toyota Crown and the Peugeot 206 Rally car.

Background: Although the original GT40 is a bit too 1960s in its design for my tastes, I do love the way the 2000's follow up looks - the sharpening up of the shape and details and modern production engineering make it look just right. It was a long while before I even knew there was a model kit of one, and then I found this one by Polar Lights, itself a reboxing of an AMT snap-fit kit. I did wonder if a snap-fit kit would be any good but after a long think (years, on-and-off!), this November I decided to give it a go anyway and buy one online. I started it within a few days of it arriving in the post. Pros: There is a lot of detail, with a great interior and a full engine. Being a snap-fit kit, everything fits together correctly and this makes putting it together easier than a needs-glue equivalent. The seats and their silver inserts being a highlight of kit engineering made to make life easy for the builder - the kind of thing you'd expect from Tamiya not AMT. Not having to glue some of the fiddly transparent parts is also very helpful, amongst other things. The decals are great quality, easy to apply and have spares and enough options whatever colour you make your build. The transparent parts are really clean and shiny, and the overall shape and proportions of the car look good. The door mirrors are solidly mounted as are the seats. Cons: The wheels, brakes and tyres are not good, lacking details and having a solid area around the brake disc. The tyre treads are too thick and seem like winter tyres. Also once assembled, the calipers rotate with the wheels. The instructions are not great quality, have omissions and also mistakes in the correct decal numbers. The painting guide is also incorrect in some areas. Despite the comprehensive decals, there are no front-to-back stripes unless you mask and paint your own. Most of the chromed parts are not chrome on the real car but aluminium, and the chrome is a nuisance to remove. Fitting the body to the chassis is work. The initial impression of the kit on unboxing is something which is thick and toylike although building it deconstructs this impression. Verdict: Remarkably good. It's a better kit than you'd expect and builds just like any other decent quality kit, despite the expectations of what comprises a snap-fit kit. Very much recommended if you like the subject matter. Build notes: Built over the course of 3 weeks in December 2022. Aside from a few bits of mesh it's built entirely out-of-the-box. It's painted with Tamiya Silver (for the stripes) and Land Rover Scotia Grey for the rest, from a Halfords rattle-can. It's clearcoated with Mr Hobby Gloss Premium. I am very very happy with the way it's come out, and how photogenic it is.

Nice!

Thanks (and to everyone else that commented so far too. Yep, those decals were something I had to do in several stages, first time that's happened.

This is cool.

Smart. Nice colour too.

Background: I got this kit very cheap, secondhand and started. I'd already built the 1992 Repsol/Marlboro Celica ST185 as a tarmac car and so since the safari parts were also in the box with this, I decided to build it as a safari version. All it needed were some extra decals which I drew and had printed up. Kankunnen was the winner of this event, so I've decalled the car as his. Safari rally cars are a niche within a niche and this is my first one. It won't be the last. Pros: Perfect fitment and shape, as usual from Tamiya. The kit is the same moulds as Tamiya's '92 Safari Celica so you get those safari parts in this kit for free. Like the Tamiya Porsche 959, this kit seems to be in constant production and just like the 959, is a cheap buy and easy to find. Cons: This kit shows it's age compared to the Evo V which I built alongside it. There's less detail in the chassis/suspension, less in the interior with more parts moulded-as-one - such as the interior tub and less niceities such as the window masks. Some of the decals are a little tricky to lay down as well. Verdict: Great and since it's also cheap and easy to find, a good introduction into complex decalling. Build notes: Built over 7 weeks in October/November 2022. Extras to the kit are: Bonnet and boot pins, and the decals unique to this version. Just like the Evo V I built, there's very little this kit needs that Tamiya don't already provide. The car is painted with Tamiya rattle-cans, clearcoated with Mr Hobby Premium gloss, then weathered with UMP weathering pigments. Annoyingly the spare wheel has moved out of it's correct position and due to the front bull-bar being glued to both the body and the chassis, I decided trying to seperate the two halves to correct the wheel wasn't worth it.

Very nice tidy build with great decalling.

Thanks. Yep, a Pajero Jr. I built about 5 years ago using some spare Lancer decals.

Background: A great looking rally car derived from a great looking road car (or perhaps even the other way around!), from a golden era or rallying. Needs no further reasons to be built beyond that. Pros: Incredibly detailed chassis, suspension and interior. Usual Tamiya high quality for everything - shape, moulding, fitment. Window masks. Great decals. Cons: None really aside from not having an engine, which is normal for rally car kits. It's a really high quality kit and I can't praise it enough. Verdict: Sublime. Such a joy to build and look at, very recommended. Build notes: Built over 7 weeks in October/November 2022. Extras to the kit are: Photo-etch bonnet and boot pins, a few cables inside and some seatbelts and buckles. There's very little this kit needs that Tamiya don't already provide. The car is painted with Tamiya rattle-cans, clearcoated with Mr Hobby Premium gloss.

Very nice. Great idea using the other kit as I've never seen the actual Pennzoil kit out in the wild.

Very smart. The 308 looks great in that blue.

Nice. And great colour.

Agree!

Nice looking build, great colour and modifications too.

Background: Summer seemed a good time to make another open-top car, the seemingly forgotten (both in real life and in kit form) Toyota MR-S aka Toyota MR2 Spider. For the colour scheme, I've chosen upmarket elegance rather than sports-custom as the theme for the build. Based a lot on a pic I saw online from a motor show. Pros: Easy to assemble and the proportions look like an MR-S. Cleanly moulded with little cleanup necessary. Wipers actually conform the the curve of the screen (many kits do not) and everything - including the seats - is solidly mounted. Mostly very nice interior - the main detail is focussed here, fortunately for an open-top car. Cons: The moulding of the top of the dashboard is a bit rough. Windscreen doesn't fit perfectly at the top. Overall the model is quite simple. Verdict: Cheap, cheerful and fun to build with no stress and a nice result. Build notes: Painted in Hycote Audi Dakota Grey with Mr Hobby gloss. The interior is Tamiya AS-22 Dark Earth and semi-gloss black. Wheels changed to Fujimi Speedline COMPE-2 17 inch. To the boxed kit I added a front lip, rear wing, seatbelts and retainers, carpets, front fog lights and a small bottle in the cup-holder between the seats. Also the front and rear Toyota emblems are Tamiya chrome-y parts, not Fujimi decals.

Very nice, great job & detailing.

Very clean build. Back to the '80s...

Cool. Nice body+wheel colour combo.

Thanks to everyone for the comments - probably the most commented-upon car/build I've posted.

Background: I am of that generation where the 328 GTS is the answer to the question "What does a Ferrari look like?". That and it's similarity to to the 308 (Magnum's car), the 512 BB , 365 BB and the 288 GTO makes you wonder if Ferrari could've got stuck in the same groove as Porsche - making every car look basically the same. Fortunately not. I regard the 328 GTS as the ultimate development of the classic Ferrari shape. It's a beautiful car, a work of art. Pros: Great proportions, clean mouldings and little cleanup required. A full engine is included and the interior is nicely detailed as well. Also comes with a Photo-Etched fret for some of the more detailed parts and badges. The plated wheels look very good. Cons: Parts of it are fiddly to put together, especially the front and rear suspension and the exhaust system, the latter of which is a small 3D puzzle to get the parts into place. The instructions are only so-so, certain parts are not easy to follow and the assembly order isn't always logical. Some of the engine parts would have been easier to assemble if not plated. No Italian number plates included, only German ones which seems odd. The passenger side wiper does not conform to the shape of the windscreen at all, as it's entirely straight. Verdict: Very good. Builds into a beautiful model of the 328GTS. Build notes: I've added seatbelts and retainers, carpeting, plus quite a bit of extra detail to the engine bay by way of hoses, pipes and most noticeably, the oil filter on top. I also changed the rear number plate and swapped the useless passenger windscreen wiper for one from a Daihatsu Move CS kit. The side Ferrari shields are also aftermarket additions. Undercoated with Tamiya pink primer and painted in Tamiya TS-8 Italian red, with a TS-46 Light sand interior.

Very nice and looks a lot better with those (probably Nissan Skyline?) wheels than the boring boxed wheels. Great colour too.

Great result from a very old kit. I wish someone would do a new kit of this car.

Background: I decided to model something that'd remind me of being on holiday in Asia and also - this HiAce is the second oldest kit in my stash, having been there some 9 years. This model of the HiAce, the H200 - is pretty ubiquitous all over Asia - especially Japan, Thailand and Malaysia amongst others. It is to Asia what the Ford Transit was to the UK during the 70s/80s - Everywhere for everything. This one is inspired by a Japan Rail version I saw online, but I've made this one with the custom parts rather than some bog-standard steel-wheels-and-black-plastic-bumper version of the HiAce. Pros: Very well moulded, little cleanup required and nearly everything fits together well. Nice decals, although no number plates. Entire chassis and interior is great. Cons: "Fits together" is not the same as "joins together". As is typical with many other Aoshima kits I've built, the overlapping areas they give you to glue parts together are often very small. For example the chrome lights, front bumper and body have a lot of pieces of plasticard overlapping and reinforcing the joints on the inside. And as will be obvious from the photos, the rear hatchback cover does not fit very well at all. I think Aoshima were more interested in the opening feature (a gimmick to my mind) than how well the door sat when closed. Also the entire body sides were a little bowed - since corrected during the build. Verdict: It's OK. Very well done in parts and not so in others. I have built better Aoshima kits. The fit of the back door is disappointing. Build notes: Built over the course of 3 weeks in June/July 2022. Tamiya Pearl White, Racing Green and Gloss Aluminium, with custom decals, including the number plates which are the year of my birth. I've also changed the wheels as the boxed versions were much too bling.

Great looking build. Yellow suits it.