Tamiya 1/24 Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R

During the 1960s, the Japanese racing scene was striving to catch up with high-performance racing machines of European origin. One manufacturer called Prince developed the first Japanese prototype racing machine, named the R380.

With a powerful-in-line six-cylinder DOHC engine mounted amidships under a low and sleek body, the R380 won the 1996 Japanese Grand Prix race event and established several world speed records in the following year. The Prince company merged with Nissan and unveiled a special 4-door sedan Skyline model during the 1968 Tokyo Motor Show.

Priced at almost double that of other Skylines in the stable, it was transplanted with a de-tuned powerplant of the R380 racer’s unit. This hot-blooded Skyline was launched into the market in February 1969, under the designation of GT-R. The 1,989cc DOHC 6-cylinder S20 type engine yielded 160hp of maximum output. In October 1970, the original 4-door sedan GT-R was replaced with a more sporty, 2-door hard-top model.

Its designation “R” stood for racing, and the Skyline GT-R virtually dominated Japanese racing circuits from the late ’60s to the early ’70s. The 4-door and 2-door Skyline 2000 GT-R’s accomplished 50 respectable victories in domestic races during that period, establishing the famous “GT-R legend” among Japanese motor racing enthusiasts.

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KIT HIGHLIGHTS

Plastic parts are attached to sprues and molded in gray and black; clear and chrome pieces also included.
Complete engine bay detailing.
GT-R Logos in Metal Transfers
Realistically reproduced exterior and interior.
Vinyl tires.
Waterslide Decals
Chrome bumpers, wipers, and grille.
Detailed pictorial instructions.
Length: 5-1/2″ (14.1cm)
Width: 2-3/4″ (7.1cm)
Height: 2″ (4.9cm)
Tamiya Product Number: 24194
MSRP: $37.00 USD

It has been a while since I decided to build anything on 4 wheels. So to get back from that piston hiatus I went for this 1/24 Tamiya Nissan 2000 GT-R kit # 24194 I got at my local hobby shop. The kit does come very clean and ”crisp” molding as Tamiya has us accustomed to. The body of this Nissan 2000 GTR comes almost ready to paint with no mold lines in obvious or hard-to-reach places. The instructions are clear and very easy to follow. I like the Nissan Skyline and since this is a Tamiya kit, I took it off the shelf at my hobby shop without reading much.

I was ready to open a curbside auto model. But it was a great surprise to me that this model kit (unlike many others in the Tamiya auto line) has an engine included. The engine is very detailed for a kit in this price range!

The original 1972 Nissan 2000 GT-R, were available in Silver or White back in the day.

According to the instructions, the real car back in the day came in 2 different colors, Silver and White. When it comes to auto-model kits, I always go thru an internal battle trying to decide which color should I paint. My previous 2 kits were Silver and the other one was Pearl White. So I decided to ask my friends on Facebook for color suggestions and the majority voted for Red, so red it was.

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The engine is a well-detailed out-of-the-box. But I wanted to add a little more detail. After adding an aftermarket distributor, from Gofer Racing I also had to add an ignition coil which I made myself from scratch using a piece of the running trees painted in red. (See picture below.),

For my previous auto model kits, I used colors from our good friends at Mission Models Paints. It was my first time using acrylic paints on autos since I tend to favor lacquer. However, for this build, since the favored color was red, I liked the Red shade from CREATEX COLORS (WICKED COLORS). Many of you know that Mission Models is powered by Createx. So I knew I was going to be in good hands.