I picked up this out of production kit. I paid way too much for it. Not being able to leave anything alone I had to modify some of the parts. So far I have modified the supplied ARB bumper to look like Slee's. Custom built a snorkel (still needs tweaking), and made sliders (MetalTech style). Here are some pics:
Tamiya makes the kit, it's been out of production for awhile. They show up on Ebay from time to time. I've even heard of people finding them at their local hobby store, sitting on a shelf.
If you have Hobby Lobby in your town, check there. I was there with the wife getting a picture framed and saw they had a model section.
They had a ton of different Japanese model companies. I picked up a 2nd gen 4Runner model and painted it to look like ours. If you like plane and boat models they also had a ton of these.
Not bad for a place that I thought was filled with dried flowers and nic-nacs.
I found a sealed one at the local hobby shop, but when I got it home it was missing the whole "glass" tree.
I took it back in hopes they could find me another one, but no luck. I found a "sport options" one on eBay, but boy did I pay for it ($$$hipping from Hong Kong! ).
Mine's nearly done, and it's sat unfinished all summer. I was hoping to find someone to airbrush it a match for the Toyota green, but I think I'll just end-up spraying it BRG or it'll never get finished. I'm entertaining the idea of taking the flares off and adding some black "Line-X", just like my real 80.
Green, what stock do you use for your "fabbing"? Do you get blocks and round-stock of resin somewhere?
PlastStruct, and Evergreen styrene stuff from the local hobby shop. It isn't unlike using steel stock, it is just alot smaller, and no welder needed. A little heat is great for bending stuff too. There are different types of glues and adhesives that bond this better than standard model glue too. It took some thinking and trial and error for the snorkel. I am going to paint this thing as close to the factory Emerald green as possible. I think I found a paint match at the local auto parts store, in spray cans. I have to remember to hit it with a coat of self etching primer first though.
What are the interior color and material options for Emerald green 80's? I am pretty sure leather, and cloth in both grey and tan, anything else though?
Ill swing by toyota on thursday when I am stuck over there and see if they have anymore...I havnt been over there in a month but I really doubt anybody bought them.
What are the interior color and material options for Emerald green 80's? I am pretty sure leather, and cloth in both grey and tan, anything else though?
I have seen mostly grey interiors on the green 80s, but my green 80 came with light brown cloth, which was converted to leather by the dealer. One of the Humbrol matt colours was a near-perfect match for my interior. I rubbed the surfaces afterwards to give them a low-level shine to match the leather.
Ill swing by toyota on thursday when I am stuck over there and see if they have anymore...I havnt been over there in a month but I really doubt anybody bought them.
I did the 80 with sports options, it was one of my favorite models, I did it years ago, it came out very nice. It had the 1HDT engine it I beleive. I looked at pictures of the engine in Specters catalog, 1998 version no less and added in the wiring harness and diptstick and stuff that was visible in the picture of the real engine. I painted mine beige inside and red metallic on the outside.
It was a neat model, it has working steering as I recall and working suspension, neat tires too. The decals were spot on, very realistic. My only gripe was the fact the body and frame parts when fitted together left unrealistic gaps where the fender flares out. I used strips of sand paper painted black and glued in in those places to close in the wheel wells like a real 80, I also cut peices of sand paper and painted them black and put them on the floors as floor mats. The sandpaper, kind of med-fine grit looks like undercoating, and or carpeting to a point. The model was on of my favorites, very expensive back then though. Had the local shop looking for a 40 model, but they never found one. I could have done it better now, since I have actually seen an 80 now, but it still came out good.
Some updated pix. The powertank, hose and high-lift are built from scratch. Just need some paint detailing to complete those items. Still alot to do on the 80. Rear bumper, and driver side slider. The snorkel needs some tweaking too.
An aside, but if anyone wants the roofrack from the Tamiya "sport options" kit for their 80 build, PayPal me $5.00 for postage and I'll send you mine; I'm going sans rack.
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