Tamiya 1936 Toyoda Model AA

[Tom Geiger]

Nearly every original Toyoda AA was destroyed during WW-II, many in the field as staff officer's cars.  One example was found in Manchuria, much the worse for wear and quite rusted out, and what examples remained in Japan after the surrender on September 2, 1945 seem to have disappeared.

Didn't the Japanese waste all these as gassers in the 1950s?   

I had my hands on the kit on Sunday at the show in PA. I balked at the $45 price.  I should've bought it.

[Art Anderson]

Didn't the Japanese waste all these as gassers in the 1950s?   

I had my hands on the kit on Sunday at the show in PA. I balked at the $45 price.  I should've bought it.

Almost all of them were destroyed during WW-II--many were apparently commandeered for use as staff cars by the Japanese Army and air forces.  Only a handful of the some approximately 3,300 or so that were produced survive today.

[Art Anderson]

One problem that has dogged me on this model, is just how to airbrush the black interior color into  the upper body and headliner area, WITHOUT getting black paint on the tan body color.  The rolled edges of the window openings, so very typical of cars from the mid-30's until well into the 1950's make this a critical step.  The window openings are so very tight and small, masking tape (both Tamiya, and Frog Tape just would not work-not nearly tacky enough, and I was concerned about commercial grade masking tape's high tack adhesive possibly pulling some of the custom-mixed paint off.  So, I decided on Bare Metal Foil.  It wasn't all that easy, but it did do the job perfectly.  Without further ado--all masked and ready for Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black:

[Foxer]

The body paint looks gorgeous!

I have to assume we're seeing the back side of the masking. Have to see black paint with masks removed for this old mind to click.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

cool story about it here.  http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/news/hobby-news/double-a-discovery-how-toyota-found-first-production-model

[unclescott58]

Just got mine today. So far it looks pretty good. I've been wanting this for a while now. 

 

[64Comet404]

10 minutes ago, unclescott58 said:

Just got mine today. So far it looks pretty good. I've been wanting this for a while now. 

It's a really well-engineered kit, the only real issue is that the model is constructed with a mix of ABS and styrene parts, so make sure you have some compatible cement in your stash (I use Plastruct Bondene, but there are plenty of choices out there). Enjoy the build!

[unclescott58]

2 minutes ago, 64Comet404 said:

It's a really well-engineered kit, the only real issue is that the model is constructed with a mix of ABS and styrene parts, so make sure you have some compatible cement in your stash (I use Plastruct Bondene, but there are plenty of choices out there). Enjoy the build!

The instructions indicate using their liquid cement. I have some of that. Will that work? 

[64Comet404]

2 minutes ago, unclescott58 said:

The instructions indicate using their liquid cement. I have some of that. Will that work? 

The instructions show three different types of cement; regular, extra-thin, and ABS. The ABS cement is used for cementing the parts from trees A and B, not certain why Tamiya designed it this way (possible promo for Toyota?).