Tamiya Nissan Leopard TR-X Turbo

[galaxyg]

Background:

I'd always planned to build one of Tamiya's early kits, a boxy JDM car with actual wing-mounted mirrors. The 1970's looking Leopard TR-X Turbo was long my preference from the 8 or so I could have tried to find from the Tamiya catalogue.

 

Pros:

Very easy to assemble and very well moulded. Some conveniences right in the box as the front and rear lights are seperate and chromed, not moulded-in body colour buckets. Proportions look good and even a kit as old as this shows Tamiya's dedication to quality. "TURBO" decals are supplied both in white and in black, giving you body colour choices later on. There's a bonus Honda Tact scooter in the kit also, and a Driver figure.

 

Cons:

No engine. No brakes (not that you could see them anyway). No Japanese number plate decals, just dress plates. Wheels are unrealistically bright chrome. Interior floor is the reverse of the underbody floor pan and looks like it too. Some of the underbody parts like the exhaust are all moulded in. Some sink-marks to deal with.

 

Verdict:

With a low part-count It's not as detailed as a modern kit but it does build into a very good replica of a Nissan Leopard.

 

Build notes:

Built over 3 weeks in February 2022. The only extra details added are rear seatbelts, all-round seatbelt retainers and JDM number plates. Painted in Tamiya Titanium Gold (upper) and Ford Ginger Ale Metallic (lower), with an AS-22 Dark Earth interior. Cleared with Mr Hobby Gloss Premium. I didn't build the Honda Tact that comes with it yet. Looks like a lot of fiddly maskng with the way it's assembled.

 

[Toftdale]

Great build, its a car I had never heard of and very very 80s. The two tone really suits the design,  but what were they thinking when they came up with those wing mirrors?.....they must  be the car equivalent of padded shoulders 😅🤣 - Andy 

[johnlambert]

I enjoyed watching this come together and your choice of colours is spot on.  The finish is flawless and for all it's simplicity you've ended up with a great-looking model.

[Windy37]

Very nice , totally 80s Japan ! The box shows some kind of early hybrid battery system . Always thinking those Japanese engineers !

 Gary. 

[Spiny]

Another excellent looking build. To me, the 'face' works particularly well on this model. It certainly doesn't show it's simple low parts nature. And the colour scheme is just so '80s it suits the car perfectly.

 

6 hours ago, Toftdale said:

Great build, its a car I had never heard of and very very 80s. The two tone really suits the design,  but what were they thinking when they came up with those wing mirrors?.....they must  be the car equivalent of padded shoulders 😅🤣 - Andy 

 

I could be wrong but my understanding is that Japanese companies originally put the mirrors on the wings as it meant the car could be narrower so better for the crowded cities. At some stage in the 80s it become more common/fashionable to put the mirrors in what we in the west would consider the usual position.

[HOUSTON]

SUPERB build.

Gorgeous looking model.

 

[Uncle Monty]

Very nice build indeed and so 80s. It reminds me a bit of my Dad's old Rover. Mind you it would have been a LOT quicker, I checked the specs on this and it could reach 60mph in 8.9 seconds.