Any other Land Cruiser kits?

[average_joe]

I am a Toyota Land Cruiser fan, and am aware of and own the 80 and 100 Series kits from Tamiya, Fujimi. I have been looking for other models as well, but haven't run across any.

Is anyone aware of any 40, 60, 70 Series kits? I'm shocked there are no 40 Series kits out there; the 60 I can kind of understand; and I'd buy & build every adaptation of 70 Series. And a 55 Iron Pig would be amazing too!

If anyone knows of any, I'd love to hear about them!

[average_joe]

Now I see the ESCI Phillipines Taxi BJ-44...

[average_joe]

Sigh, my Google-fu was lacking. I've now found:

• ESCI 3027 - BJ44
• ESCI 3028 - Phillippines Taxi
• ESCI 3030 - Savannah Master
• Italeri 6352 - Armed Pickup

Now, if only I could actually find them for purchase....

[Mike999]

11 minutes ago, average_joe said:

Sigh, my Google-fu was lacking. I've now found:

• ESCI 3027 - BJ44
• ESCI 3028 - Phillippines Taxi
• ESCI 3030 - Savannah Master
• Italeri 6352 - Armed Pickup

Now, if only I could actually find them for purchase....

Good luck!  And when you do find them, they will be expensive.  The ITALERI "Armed Pickup" re-issue was only in 2011.  I found one in a Los Angeles hobby shop and would have bought another, but those kits seemed to vanish overnight.  I built the one I bought, which doesn't help you.  

A few comments/warnings about the BJ-44 kits...

All original ESCI issues of these kits had the doors molded in place and came with tops - #3027 a full soft top, the other 2 a hardtop.  That was a good thing, because the interiors of these kits are seriously lacking.  There's not even a firewall. It's all open space from the interior to the grille.  No foot pedals.

That's really obvious on the Italeri reissue, which does not have a top. It does come with a .50 caliber machine gun and mount - the same one ITALERI tooled up for its 1/24 scale WWII jeep kit.  Both the BJ-44 and Jeep re-issues said "Upgraded Moulds" on the box. But the only upgrade is that gun, the basic kit is untouched. 

The ITALERI "Armed Pickup" reissue doesn't even have an instrument panel decal for the speedometer etc., though earlier BJ-44 issues like the Philippines Taxi did.  BTW, that Philippines Taxi is one of the very few ESCI car kits that included chrome parts.  Those parts are miniature horses and other chrome doo-dads that are mounted all over the body.  Totally bonkers but...interesting.

On the plus side, the ESCI/ITALERI BJ-44 has a well-detailed exterior with all the nameplates etc. where they should be, including the "Toyota" letters in the grille. All these are curbside kits with no engine, but detailed multi-part chassis.  I'm hoping ITALERI will reissue another BJ-44. Maybe the "Savannah Master" with the roof rack, jerry cans and other useful accessories.

 

[stavanzer]

The Savannah Master is my choice for a re-issue as well. It is a great kit. I've been hunting one for a long, long time.

 

[average_joe]

15 hours ago, Mike999 said:

Good luck!  And when you do find them, they will be expensive.  The ITALERI "Armed Pickup" re-issue was only in 2011.  I found one in a Los Angeles hobby shop and would have bought another, but those kits seemed to vanish overnight.  I built the one I bought, which doesn't help you.  

A few comments/warnings about the BJ-44 kits...

All original ESCI issues of these kits had the doors molded in place and came with tops - #3027 a full soft top, the other 2 a hardtop.  That was a good thing, because the interiors of these kits are seriously lacking.  There's not even a firewall. It's all open space from the interior to the grille.  No foot pedals.

That's really obvious on the Italeri reissue, which does not have a top. It does come with a .50 caliber machine gun and mount - the same one ITALERI tooled up for its 1/24 scale WWII jeep kit.  Both the BJ-44 and Jeep re-issues said "Upgraded Moulds" on the box. But the only upgrade is that gun, the basic kit is untouched. 

The ITALERI "Armed Pickup" reissue doesn't even have an instrument panel decal for the speedometer etc., though earlier BJ-44 issues like the Philippines Taxi did.  BTW, that Philippines Taxi is one of the very few ESCI car kits that included chrome parts.  Those parts are miniature horses and other chrome doo-dads that are mounted all over the body.  Totally bonkers but...interesting.

On the plus side, the ESCI/ITALERI BJ-44 has a well-detailed exterior with all the nameplates etc. where they should be, including the "Toyota" letters in the grille. All these are curbside kits with no engine, but detailed multi-part chassis.  I'm hoping ITALERI will reissue another BJ-44. Maybe the "Savannah Master" with the roof rack, jerry cans and other useful accessories.

 

Michael, thanks so much for the insight on these kits! I've already seen some of the crazy prices on a few, when I can find them. The lack of interior detail is pretty disappointing, but might make for some interesting work to try and detail them (again, if I can actually find the kits for less than a mortgage payment). A reissue would be so nice too....

I think I might give the Meng VS004 a try, it's clearly a 1/35 79-Series Cruiser; and it's affordable enough to spend time on.

Thank you again for this!

[Mike999]

1 hour ago, average_joe said:

I think I might give the Meng VS004 a try, it's clearly a 1/35 79-Series Cruiser; and it's affordable enough to spend time on.

Those MENG 1/35 kits are nice. They don't have the "Toyota" lettering on the tailgate.  But there are several ways to fix that problem, including decals, rub-on lettering or the plastic letters from Slater's.  VOYAGER photo-etched set #PE35580 is made specifically for MENG kit #VS-004 and has the tailgate letters:

http://www.voyagermodel.com/productdetails.asp?itemid=PE35580

 

[average_joe]

8 minutes ago, Mike999 said:

Those MENG 1/35 kits are nice. They don't have the "Toyota" lettering on the tailgate.  But there are several ways to fix that problem, including decals, rub-on lettering or the plastic letters from Slater's.  VOYAGER photo-etched set #PE35580 is made specifically for MENG kit #VS-004 and has the tailgate letters:

http://www.voyagermodel.com/productdetails.asp?itemid=PE35580

 

This is awesome, thank you very much! I'm new to all of this (well, returning after 40-some years) and gems like this are incredibly helpful; also, I do appreciate your feedback on the Meng kit as I was wondering if their kits were any good.