Gunze Sangyo 1980-ish Toyota Hiace

[Spottedlaurel]

Not really sure why it took me so long but I finally got this one finished today:

WIP thread here:

Fairly basic kit with some accessories. I trimmed the front spoiler, painted it Austin-Rover sandalwood beige (an early '80s colour) from a Halfords automotive aerosol and fitted the Aoshima wheels. Also added some extra seats, cushions and drink cans from a Fujimi accessory pack and the rubber dinghy from an AMT Hilux.

Surfboard decal came from the side panel of a Revell Chevelle wagon. I used offcuts of it for the tabletop too.

I ditched the kit-supplied sidepipe and fitted this muffler and tailpipe for another Fujimi accessory pack. Bumpers came with chrome finish and used BMF on the lower body trims. Window trims were not fun to paint....

I could have gone a lot further wth the interior.

 

I thought this Sunny Truck made for a good companion to it.

I know it's not one of my better efforts and the kit itself is fairly basic, as it was intended to be motorized, but once I'd removed the spoiler I think it nicely captures the feel of the 1:1.

Thanks for looking.

[Chuck Most]

Looks very good from where I sit. Don't think I've ever seen that kit before.

And yes, the Sunny looks fantastic with it.

[PappyD340]

Very nice!

[ncbuckeye67]

I think they both look great! Although I'd hesitate driving the pickup over those rocks, since it's not a 4x4 (Lol).

[Spottedlaurel]

Thanks guys!

21 hours ago, Chuck Most said:

Looks very good from where I sit. Don't think I've ever seen that kit before.

It would be interesting to see with your weathering applied to it....

3 hours ago, ncbuckeye67 said:

I think they both look great! Although I'd hesitate driving the pickup over those rocks, since it's not a 4x4 (Lol).

Ha ha, yes - I need to work harder on my desert/beach setting next time!

I prefer taking outdoor shots of completed builds, but the garden of where I am now is more enclosed than my old place and I haven't found a good location yet.

[espo]

Great looking family van. The paint looks great, and the trim looks cleanly done. Like all of the extra playthings in your pictures and it makes the pictures come alive. 

[ncbuckeye67]

13 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Thanks guys!

It would be interesting to see with your weathering applied to it....

Ha ha, yes - I need to work harder on my desert/beach setting next time!

I prefer taking outdoor shots of completed builds, but the garden of where I am now is more enclosed than my old place and I haven't found a good location yet.

The pictures and background were great! It's difficult to change the scenery in an outdoor photo, and make it different for each shot. It could get expensive, like building a diorama (ask me how I know this, Lol).

[stitchdup]

Nice work on someting not often seen nowadays. I bet your build lasts longer than the real thing did. I dont think many of these even made it to their first mot.

[Spottedlaurel]

22 hours ago, espo said:

Great looking family van. The paint looks great, and the trim looks cleanly done. Like all of the extra playthings in your pictures and it makes the pictures come alive. 

Thank you David. Doing those accessories added a week or so to the build!

9 hours ago, stitchdup said:

Nice work on someting not often seen nowadays. I bet your build lasts longer than the real thing did. I dont think many of these even made it to their first mot.

Thanks Les. The chassis-cab version was familiar to me in the 1970s/80s as our local dairy ran a fleet of them as milk floats.

Saw this really nice example in France last summer:

Any I've seen here in recent years have been campers: