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Toyota Hiace Super GL


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After building two Revell kits in a row, I need to go back to something that fits together without argument, so I've turned to what is the second longest waiting kit in my stash, this Toyota Hiace I got on holiday in Hong Kong, 2013. Hong Kong has 4 good model kits shops only a few streets from each other. This model of the Hiace, the H200 - is pretty ubiquitous all over Asia - especially Japan, Thailand and Malaysia amongst others. It is to Asia what the Ford Transit was to the UK during the 70s/80s - Everywhere for everything.

 

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Here's the kind-of inspiration - a Japan Railways Hiace vehicle. The decals are from the same sheet of custom decals that also contained what I'd used on the two Revell kits. My Hiace will loosely be inspired by the one in the photo. I plan to retain all of the custom parts, but copy the JR livery, to a point. my green will be darker, the part under the green will be silver, and this kit doesn't have roof lights but does have all the rear windows tinted. Although I have a spare set of roof lights in my stash from some Police car that may fit, , I don't think they'll sit well on the custom body kit. I will change the wheels in the kit, for something just as large but less bling.

 

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First job, fill the seat backs.

 

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Adding the rear bumper, which did benefit from some plasticard reinforcing as many Aoshima kits do.  The rear door on this kit is designed to open.

 

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Edited by galaxyg
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After looking at all the decals I've got, the smaller pair of JR are going to work best, giving a 10mm or so band of green separating the white and the silver.

 

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Some masking on the dashboard. There's going to be a lot of masking to begin with.

 

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Making a template for the "carpet", since the boot opens.

 

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The actual "carpet", 100 grit sandpaper later to be sprayed grey.

 

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Masking some of the interior so whilst some of it grey, other parts are a different grey.

 

Rimmer: "The scutters? They're changing it from ocean grey to military grey.. or is it the other way around?"

 

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Masking to paint the black bits on the chassis.

 

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The front bumper is sprayed Mica silver now, but looks dowdy when compared to all that chrome.  Some of that chrome will be black later.

 

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Edited by galaxyg
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Spring and screws for the suspension. Rear is similar.

 

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The top 3/5 is Tamiya Pearl White. These are the wheels I'll be using not the boxed ones.

 

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Dashboard looks cleaner in real life than this photo.

 

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Edited by galaxyg
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Brilliant, I’m in Barbados now and these are everywhere. Had a look on eBay and will be ordering one when I return to build one of the Taxis that are all over the island. They come past blowing a Dixie horn see if you want a lift 😬

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It's a pity they didn't meet EU safety regulations, as they're a lot tidier than the horrible Hiace we did get.   Good to know they're out and about in the Caribbean as well. Aoshima make a lot of variants of this kit.

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46 minutes ago, paulyoung666 said:

Nice , Im a big fan of Aoshima kits , hopefully we will get to Japan next year and if we do in think a few will be coming home !!!

 

If you're going to Tokyo, the amount of kits for sale is quite incredible. The shelf-space devoted to car kits alone in Yodobashi in Akihabara is about 3X what a decent sized supermarket would devote to cheese. And that's just one shop!, let alone the others.  I really want to go back to Japan - when they open up properly, and the flight prices normalize. Example model kit shop photos I've taken on past trips below:

 

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Completed rear door. The Toyota badge is a Tamiya one.

 

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There's quite a bow in the sides of this van. Most of this is corrected once it's on the body but it still may need a few mm of packing on either side. The Decals are on at this point also, and the clearcoat, which I've not buffed up to a liquid showcar shine, it is a commercial vehicle after all.

 

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BMF for the rear lights.

 

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Lighs conveniently moulded in red. Clear insets are fiddly.

 

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Filling in the black bits. Looks scruffy in this photo.

 

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The fit of the bumper to the lights is perfect but suffers from what I find common on many Aoshima kits - tiny glue contact areas. The same is true for this sub-assembly onto the main body, which I have reinforced  inside (not shown) with 6 pieces of plasticard, overlapping the bumper to the body.

 

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Now with it's face, it looks like the familiar HiAce look that I've seen so many of when on holiday.

 

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I'm not far off the end now, - mirrors, rear tailgate attachment / hinge, wipers etc. And something to correct the still-visible slight bow in the body. But I won't be able to come back to it for a week or so now. Still, it'll likely be done before the end of the month.

 

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This plasticard packing glued in place will undo the bowing effect of the main body.

 

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Exhaust has tiny mounting points.

 

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Hatchback covering does not fit especially well, because of the opening mechanism.   It gets better than this photo but not a whole lot better. There's only a few items left at this point - wipers, mirrors and a few decals, and then it's done.

 

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