Nice to meet you all from Tokyo, Japan

[gami8630]

I am Japanese and live in Tokyo, Japan.
I built my first plastic model more than 50 years ago, and since then, plastic modeling has been one of my most important hobbies, almost uninterrupted.
I have built models of many genres, including airplanes, ships, science fiction characters, and automobiles, but I am especially fond of racing cars, especially NASCAR stock cars.
I was first drawn to stock cars as a child when I watched the "Daytona 500" on Japanese television, where large American cars raced around an oval track in a scene that was indescribably cool.
In the past, and still today, NASCAR fans are in the minority in Japan. In the past, it was not easy to obtain AMT, MPC, or JO-HAN stock car kits, and there were few books to serve as documentation.
Later, when I purchased a NASCAR kit released by MONOGRAM in 1983, I was impressed by the greatly improved reproduction of the body, chassis, and interior all, and since then, I think I have purchased more than 100 kits including those from manufacturers other than MONOGRAM.
And now, with the spread of the Internet environment, it has become easier to obtain not only NASCAR kits but also numerous decals and afterparts, and to view many wonderful examples, videos, and images of actual cars, making it possible for me, a Japanese citizen, to enjoy NASCAR in Japan in a much more fulfilling environment. I am very happy to be able to enjoy NASCAR in Japan.
I will do my best to introduce my kit in the Model Cars Magazine Forum here.
In addition, I am running a web site about my hobby, which has contents summarizing NASCAR kits.
If you are interested, please take a look.
However, since it is written in Japanese, I would appreciate it if you could translate it using your web browser's translate function, etc.

summarizing NASCAR kits of My Web Site

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

[vamach1]

Welcome.  There are modelers on this website from all over the world and we all love model cars.  I am sure the members will enjoy seeing more of your builds up close.  Many builders post in progress projects to show how they get from a box of parts to a finished model.

[Gramps46]

Excellent models and web site.  I am glad you have joined us and our adventures in modeling.

[LL3 Model Worx]

Looks like you have some very nice models there Yoshimi! Glad to have you here. This is a wonderful place to display your work, view others, and both learn and share your experiences in modeling.

You are among friends here!

[PappyD340]

Welcome to the forum Yoshimi!!

[Street Rod]

Welcome to the forum, Yoshimi! Those are some great looking models, look forward to seeing more of your builds.

[Zippi]

Welcome aboard Yoshimi.  

[slusher]

Welcome, Aboard,Yoshimi!  Very nice stock car models!

[gami8630]

Thanks for the welcome, everyone.

I'm glad I visited this site, even though my English is not very good.

First, here are some of the kits I have made. They are all just assembled straight from the kits.

[Bainford]

Welcome to the forum, Yoshimi. That is a fine looking collection of stock cars you have built. Cheers.

[happy grumpy]

Welcome to the forum Yoshimi, you're in the right place.

[crazyjim]

Welcome Yoshimi.

[Bugatti Fan]

Nice to welcome you to this forum Yoshimi. Your English is actually very good.

I too have been modelling for over 50 years and there are also modellers from many different age groups on this site to exchange information and experience with.

As you like Nascar there are plenty of kits available and a big following of enthusiast modellers on this forum.

[gami8630]

Thanks for the welcome, Trevor, Mario, Jim, Noel Smith.

Having discovered this site, my desire to build NASCAR model kits has grown even greater.

[gami8630]

Well, I'll end my introduction by showing you another kit I built.
This JO-HAN "Superbird" is the oldest kit I have in my collection of completed kits, built probably about 35 years ago.
I made some modifications to the roll cage and instrument panel, and cut the wheel arches to fit racing tires.
I waxed and polished it for this photo, but it is not so beautiful.
The next kit to be built is either Camaro (#9 Chase Elliott) by Salvinos, OLDS (#33 Harry Gant) by MONOGRAM, or BUICK REGAL (#11 DW).

[crazyjim]

Looks good to me.

[Joe Nunes]

Welcome to the forum, Yoshimi!  You have presented some very nice models for us to enjoy.?

Joe

[JohnB]

Welcome to the forum, Yoshimi. For good or bad the internet has made the world a much smaller place with almost instant responses. It allows all of us to share our passion for scale models of any shape and size.

[MeatMan]

Welcome Yoshimi!

[gami8630]

Thanks, Jim.

I'm glad I polished it up before posting.

[gami8630]

Thanks, Joe.

I too enjoy seeing all of your wonderful models. 

[gami8630]

Thanks for the welcome, John.

When building a NASCAR kit, I used to have a hard time because of the limited materials available.
Nowadays, we can get a lot of information through the Internet, which is really convenient.

 

[gami8630]

Thanks for the welcome, Dennis.

 

[Pete J.]

Welcome Yoshimi!  I've been to Japan twice as a guest of Taimiya and have always been amazed by the state of modeling there.  So many models and stores to pick from, but you are indeed in the minority.  I don't recall seeing NASCAR anywhere.  

  We share a common problem(but a mirror image) in that my prefered build is either non-USA cars or F1 both of which are in the minority here.  Hot Rods, muscle cars and NASCAR are the bulk of the auto building community.  I still order most of my models and parts from Hobby Link Japan.   

Welcome and I am sure you will see much here that fits your interests. I look forward to seeing your builds.

[gami8630]

Thanks for the welcome, Pete.

Japanese plastic model manufacturers have also released many kits for racing and rally cars, but unfortunately few kits for American cars have been released. The Toyota Camry is currently competing in NASCAR, and if Tamiya were to commercialize it, it would make a great model kit, though. 

Indeed, you and I share exactly the same mirror image problem. I understand that you order your kits from HobbyLink in Japan, but I order many of my NASCAR kits, decals and customization parts from Mike's Decals in the US.