Background:

If I were to win a stupidly large amount of money on the lottery, the Lexus LFA would be at the very top of my car shopping list. I've had this kit for almost 10 years before I decided to build it, partly because I could not decide on the colour, and mostly because I wanted my model building skills and photography skills to be at a level to do it justice.

Kit review:

Pros:

It's a fantastically detailed kit and goes together mostly very easily. Photo etch as standard for all the grilles and some other details, magnets for the bonnet stay and swappable rear wing (which comes with both a deployed one and a closed one), an entire engine and transmission, and a beautiful interior, this kit is tip-top Tamiya.

Cons:

There are some strong mould seperation lines right across the middle of the rear wings and down the middle of the front ones, which take quite some sanding to get rid of. The rear lights seem a bit vague and floaty in their installation. No other cons whatsoever.

Verdict:

Utterly fantastic, one of the best Tamiya kits I've come across and not especially difficult to build either.

Build notes:

Built over the course of 2 weeks in May 2024. The only additions to the kit are seatbelts and carpets. It's painted in Toyota (2023 Corolla) Metallic Blue from a rattle can from a Toyota dealer, the interior is Luftwaffe blue from a Tamiya rattle can. Clearcoat is Mr Hobby Premium Gloss. The good warm weather of mid-May helped a lot with paint drying times and therefore overall build time, nonetheless it was an intensive two week build.

Photography notes:

I have taken a lot of photographs of my completed builds over the years. Sometimes I've got almost perfect photos without quite knowing quite why. Other times I've got very very good photos knowing exactly why. Before shooting this LFA I studied quite a few photos of real cars and did a lot of experimentation to find out what the missing parts in my setup were (insofar as studio-style shots that is. Putting it in a real-life backdrop is study for another day). The end results are the best model kit photos I've taken.

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