Several years ago, I picked up a set of four 1/32 Fujimi Initial D kits.  After I finished theFD3S RX7, I decided that I was never going to finish the other three.  The detail of the kits were decent, but the lights were part of the body and the decals provided were crude stickers that weren’t going to look good.  Years later, after having aquired new skills, I decided to give two of the others a shot.  This Toyota is one that I chose to finish.

I started digging into this project the same time I started the FC3S RX7.  As with the RX7, I chose to use Tamiya spray paint.  Once the white was sprayed, I needed to do some aggressive masking to properly paint it in the Hatchi Roku paint scheme.  I was going to need very narrow strips of tape.  I decided to buy a tool that would help me make those strips.  Check out the pictures to see what I’m talking about.  The tool worked out great for the narrow strips of white.

This project started to give me trouble as soon as I started spraying black paint.  I wasn’t going for a serious finish so I wasn’t too worried about how it turned out.  Given that, I was still having trouble.  Paint bleeding, paint peeling, and so on.  Once I realized that I’d have to start over completely to make it right, I simply elected to finish it regardless of how it turned out.

I effectively “lowered” the kit by cutting the mounting tabs inside and stuffing the chassis in further.  I used a dremel tool to open up the inside of the wheel wells.  It went a little lower than I was trying for but it looks pretty sweet.

I used bare metal foil as backing for the lights and Tamiya clear for the colors.

I finished up the kit by adding aluminum exhaust tips and detail painting the wheels.

Overall, it’s not perfect but still looks pretty decent.