Who said a simple kit can’t be great to build?!
I was browsing eBay one day when I stumbled across this kit for sale and I instantly fell in love! At the time I didn’t know the kit existed and I was still naive when it came to models from manufacturers such as Fujimi and Aoshima. I put a bid in, then a maximum bid to make sure, and thankfully I won it for the original bid!
This kit means a lot to me, for one single reason. It was the first kit I unboxed and reviewed on my YouTube channel! This was a few years ago now and I have improved my technique and filming conditions somewhat since then. I often think whether I should “re review” the kits I did years ago with a much more improved visual and audio experience, but that’s another story.
If you want to take a look at the unboxing, click here
Back onto the subject of this lovely little 4×4 🙂
My plan from the beginning was to build it in a fresh way, a bright paint job, but simple and subtle!
The body was painted with Rover Kingfisher blue from a Halfords rattle can. Then cleared with Tamiya Pearl Clear and then given a light polish.
One of my favourite parts of a model to build is the chassis. Now being a semi snap fit kit, I was surprised at the amount of detail Fujimi had gone to on this kit.
I added my trademark touch of gold to the transfer box 😉
The interior unfortunately didn’t really do it for me, and those rear seats had to go completely! I also swapped the front seats for a set from an Aoshima Honda Beat. The seat backs were filled in with styrene too.
It’s all in the details…
The dashboard needed a little something to make it pop. That thing turned out to be a piece of clear plastic to give the dials a more realistic look.
(The pedals were touched up a bit later on 😉 )
The wheels included in the kit are fantastic, so much so that I wanted to save them for another build. I find picking wheels and colours the hardest part of model building. After a good friend of mine Ricky sent me a nice bundle of parts and wheels I knew straight away that the 3 spoke chrome wheels from a Fujimi Honda S-MX would be right at home under the Samurai!
All the little things add up…
After quite a few problems during the build, and eventually giving up on it for nearly a year. I was determined to finish the kit, something that took me all of 3 days of work to wrap up. At the end of it I wished I had finished it earlier!
Here are some photos of the little 4×4 outside in its natural habitat. One thing left to do it just to paint the side repeaters…I wont leave that a year to do!
#keepmodelling everyone!
ELP Modelling 
