Tamiya Nissan Skyline R32 "On the lifts" 1/24 | Model Kit Index

Background:

This was one of three secondhand "scrap/junk" R32 Gr.A kits I bought on holiday in Tokyo - this one originally started it's life as the Falken Skyline. It was painted (badly) and decalled (worse) and unlike the Calsonic and Castrol versions, had few spare useable decals, had missing engine parts and was missing it's wheels, mirrors and rear wing. None of this mattered as I'd already this project in mind when I went kit hunting, so the £4 cost of these boxed parts was a bargain. I had expected to only be able to break down a full complete kit, which would have been a bit of a waste. This will eventually become part of the larger "Garage Sakura" diorama.

Build notes:

As the kit was missing parts on one side of the Engine, I decided this is where the fictional repair work would take place. The car is envisaged as a road-legal track car. I removed the doors to allow a better view into the detailed interior, added a more interesting rear wing from a Fujimi wing set and a lot of detailing into the interior and engine bay. After a 3 week bath in brake fluid (yes the Falken paint/decals were that old and set) it was stripped clean. I was a while thinking about what colours to make this and I wanted two-tone. It seemed a good place to test out the results from Tamiya's metallic orange paint before I used it on the Toyota 2000GT. The extra garage parts and hydraulic lift are from Fujimi's Garage & Tools kits. The fire extinguisher is from a Tamiya Corolla WRC that's proving to be an endless source of useful parts. The protective rubber cover on the front wing is electrical tape.