| Tamiya’s
Zexel Skyline kit was issued in 1991, but the vehicle represented
is the 1989 version of the Nissan Skyline GT-R as raced in
the 1990 Spa Francorchamps 24 hours race. According to Tamiya,
this is the only issue of this particular kit.
Since
it is a Tamiya kit, it has the usual expected items such as
individually wrapped trees, excellent decals and mirror-quality
chrome. One of the items that took me by surprise was the
front hood is molded in clear. I did not see this pictured
on the box, nor was it listed in the limited English print.
It may have been mentioned, but I cannot read Japanese, which
the majority of the box print is.
The chrome
tree consists of the rims and rear-view mirrors only. In my
opinion, the rims are actually too bright to be realistic.
I used a black wash to tone them down. The rubber tires are
very well made with no modifications needed. They have no
markings as to which manufacturer they are, nor are there
any decals for the tires.
Unlike
some of the other Tamiya kits in my collection, this one has
surprisingly good detail in both the interior and the undercarriage.
The interior has a driver’s seat, complete with 4-point harness
molded in, a passenger’s seat, roll cage, and other detail.
I do wish they would make the harness a separate item for
ease in detailing. One thing I always appreciate is when the
gages are printed on the decal sheet, which they are for this
kit. The undercarriage has a good amount of detail with the
all-wheel-drive and independent suspension. Considering the
original car had four-wheel-steering, it would have been a
nice feature to add posable wheels to the model for display
purposes.
The body
is incredibly detailed for a car body, but if you have several
Tamiya kits in your collection, you’re used to this already.
The body in my particular kit did have some warping on the
roof and some body mold lines that needed to be filed off
before proceeding to paint. The “glass” was cleanly molded
and the even the rear-window defrost was etched in. Call me
old fashioned, but I still prefer the taillights to be molded
in red if possible. The decal sheet was included in the same
sealed bag as the clear tree, so it was not as flat as it
should be.
This
kit caught my eye because of its clean lines and colorful,
yet not overpowering graphics. To get a final product that
is close to the artist rendering on the box, it will require
some skill, especially in the detail-painting department.
It is a pleasure to build and I highly recommend it.
- Don
Stadick
July-2005
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