Aoshima Suzuki Jimney 1:32 model

 I buy odd kits. And something about the regular adverts from Plaza Japan for a Jimney plastic kit appealed to me. I quite like a boxy car, and the Jimney might have a stupid name, but I just fancied the fun of sticking the bits together - not that there would be any sticking as this is a snap-together plastic kit.

 

 

The bits look nice. Everything is in plastic bags, and impressively, the wheels are painted metalic grey. It was this detail that broke my enui. Looking at the photo on the side of the box, it appeared that they were showing a real model, not one someone had done over to look good. 

There's no painting, instead, lots of stickers, and I mean LOTS, cover all the colour details. Even the windscreen wipers and door locks are stickered. Not sure about the former, but everything else works really well. Peeling and applying these took the best part of a (relaxed) hour. 

The chassis snaps together as expected. Tyres are a stiff vinyl and the wheels rotate, but not freely enough to brooooom the car along the carpet. Those painted wheels are a nice touch. 

Inside, the seats and dashboard fold up and clip to make a tub. There are more stickers for the dashboard and even around the handbrake - although that one defeated me so I left it out. A nice black vinyl makes sense for an off-road car, so no painting required. 

And there we have it. A couple of hours kitbuilding produces a pretty good-looking model. For the most part, the stickers work really well. I'm not 100% convinced about the windscreen surrounds, they don't quite meet the edges of the body, but the chrome lettering and lights are spot on. 

At 11cm long, 5cm wide and 5.5cm tall, this isn't a big model. Everything went together perfectly, except the radio aerial, which needed some glue. If I'd been more patient, perhaps it wouldn't have fallen off and got lost. 

As the basis for a more advanced build, there's nothing wrong with this kit. Paint on the body and inside the cabin would be a start. Some seatbelts and perhaps even driver and passengers would be nice. That's for another day, and probably another modeller though. For the minute, this can live in the cabinet or corner of a cupboard until I can work out what to do with it. 

Most importantly, I enjoyed the build, and that's what it's all about!