I now have a car in my display case!

I picked up this kit from a well-known auction site a long time ago, probably more than ten years. I remembered this kit from my childhood, and decided to hunt one down. I don't remember if I actually built one as a kid, as even then I didn't build many cars, preferring military subjects. Definitely a different process than building airplanes - for one thing, nearly everything was painted before assembly, and then glued together with CA glue. This was also a rather simple kit. I have some Tamiya cars in the stash, and they seem quite a bit more complex.

The instructions only list four colors: flat black, black (presumably gloss), bright red, and dark tan. The exterior color is not mentioned, as the non-chromed parts are molded in bright green, and the kit was targeted at kids, who would be expected to leave the body unpainted.

I started by removing the chrome plating from the sprue that had it, by soaking it in Simple Green concentrate overnight. After removing the parts from the sprue and cleaning them up, I sprayed them with Model Master Enamel Chrome Silver. I used Flat Black from the same line for the exhaust, interior and the other black parts. The engine block was painted Flat Cherry from Testor's, in the 1/4 ounce jar.

I didn't want to leave the body unpainted, so I had to decide what color to use. Recalling that Kawasaki motorcycles are often a light green that looked right, I checked the instructions for a Tamiya Kawasaki kit and found they listed X-15 Light Green as the appropriate color, so that is what I used. I thought it turned out well. The red at the front was AMMO 0121 Blood Red.

I did not apply any of the decals. There aren't many, but I was not sure how to apply a gloss coat over them, without some awkward masking, so I chickened out.

Page last updated September 27, 2024.