beginner for 1/24 japanese police car kit brand?

[EZ08]

hello everyone! id like to introduce myself..

 

im jasson from gifu prefecture of japan... i am no stranger when it comes to scale modelling since i started building one from gunplas to 1/35 tanks for 3 years... i got interested in car modelling despite i never built one because of an anime called initial d which i have fallen in loved with after i watch the entire series ... so without hesitation, i quickly search to google everything about 1/24 cars... now, i know that tamiya is the BEST beginner brand of all categories from different scales and base from experience but what i found out that tamiya, IMO, has few choices of cars to choose from and i want a police car that describes something like this (im also planned to make a " police chase" diorama btw ):

old... too old ( 70s to early 80s)

"very underestimated" looking in the eyes of illegal racers 

rare

and after some research, the only one that fits the description is a nissan cedric police variant

 

Now that i have found only aoshima and fujimi brands produce police car kits.... So my question is, which brand should i choose when it comes to ease of assembling, quality and most of all, minimal to no modification like putty filling because of gaps, uneven size of parts, etc.

 

[Erik Smith]

Kind of a tough call. A lot of the late 70s early 80s Aoshima and Fujimi kits are kind of crappy. They were motorized and have very simple chassis details and often times cumbersome or lame interiors. 

But...Aoshima has recently done a series of Nissan Cedrics, including a police variant, and it is a very nice kit. Also, the I think they did one of the Corolla, which might be a little older mild but still decent. 

Aoshima also has a preprinted Crown police car, but it’s more modern. 

I am not too familiar with what Fujimi has in terms of police cars - but I would start with the Aoshima Cedric. 

[EZ08]

yes, those are the ones also that i want to build but i dont see any reviews about them, unfortunately

[martinfan5]

27 minutes ago, EZ08 said:

yes, those are the ones also that i want to build but i dont see any reviews about them, unfortunately

Ive built all of them,  the two Partol cars build up just fine,  no real issues, the Corolla, its a decent kit if you dont expect a lot

[EZ08]

OMG now thats what im looking for! good thing theyre plenty of those here... thanks

[Erik Smith]

As a side note, but related to the cars above...

The prepainted Crown has about the best 5 lug modern steel wheels that I have found in a kit - and the version pictured has both the plain steelies  and the chrome hub capped wheels.

[martinfan5]

5 hours ago, Erik Smith said:

As a side note, but related to the cars above...

The prepainted Crown has about the best 5 lug modern steel wheels that I have found in a kit - and the version pictured has both the plain steelies  and the chrome hub capped wheels.

Good to mention Erik, the one I did has no steelies included.

[Mike999]

Welcome!  Hasegawa makes a police version of its 1/24 scale Mazda Cosmo. It has options for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police or the Hiroshima Prefectural Police. A link to the kit on the Hasegawa web site is below.

On a business trip to Japan once, I visited Gifu Prefecture.  We went to the Mitsubishi factory beside the air base.  Mitsubishi had an amazing collection of scale-model aircraft in a big display case.  Unfortunately our visit was short, since we took the trains from Tokyo.

https://www.hasegawausa.com/product-pages/hsgs0258.html

 

[martinfan5]

4 hours ago, Mike999 said:

Welcome!  Hasegawa makes a police version of its 1/24 scale Mazda Cosmo. It has options for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police or the Hiroshima Prefectural Police. A link to the kit on the Hasegawa web site is below.

On a business trip to Japan once, I visited Gifu Prefecture.  We went to the Mitsubishi factory beside the air base.  Mitsubishi had an amazing collection of scale-model aircraft in a big display case.  Unfortunately our visit was short, since we took the trains from Tokyo.

https://www.hasegawausa.com/product-pages/hsgs0258.html

 

There are a good amount of current Japan Patrol kits

https://hlj.com/search/go?lbc=hobbylink&method=and&p=Q&ts=custom&uid=372067241&w=patrol&af=selectscale%3a124scale

https://hlj.com/product/HSG20258

https://hlj.com/search/go?lbc=hobbylink&method=and&p=Q&ts=custom&uid=373077504&w=police&af=selectscale%3a124scale

 

Edited March 4, 2018 by martinfan5

[EZ08]

i want to share you guys about my planned diorama... the theme here as i mentioned on my OP is a police car chase. the setting here is all about something i called 'initial d' syndrome named after from an anime ( i loved it especially the lesser known OST called eurobeat which i admit became a fan of it)...so the setting here is in somewhere in japan and that year is 1998 ..... many drivers became competitive and started racing with their souped up cars.. at first the race was only held in the mountains but as years past and the popularity of racing grows, they brought it now to the streets.. But this trend became dangerous especially to the public... many accidents happened, deaths began to rise and the police are alerted by these incidents.. in response, the police dispatch a task force to stop and arrest the irresponsible drivers who wrought havoc in the streets endangering innocent lives but this task is far from easy for the illegal racers became more agressive and clever to avoid the police..

 

4 hours ago, Mike999 said:

Welcome!  Hasegawa makes a police version of its 1/24 scale Mazda Cosmo. It has options for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police or the Hiroshima Prefectural Police. A link to the kit on the Hasegawa web site is below.

On a business trip to Japan once, I visited Gifu Prefecture.  We went to the Mitsubishi factory beside the air base.  Mitsubishi had an amazing collection of scale-model aircraft in a big display case.  Unfortunately our visit was short, since we took the trains from Tokyo.

https://www.hasegawausa.com/product-pages/hsgs0258.html

 

if my guess is correct, the factory that you visited is a production for automobile parts from cars and motorbikes... me and my dad always came through there whenever we went to downtown, particularly the city of kagamigahara which is the airbase you mentioned located....as for hasegawa, how is there quality when it comes to 1/24? i am assumed that their quality is good enough but my concern is the fitting of the parts and the ease of build that a beginner like me can manage... how are they? are they worth it?

[EZ08]

24 minutes ago, martinfan5 said:

There are a good amount of current Japan Patrol kits

https://hlj.com/search/go?lbc=hobbylink&method=and&p=Q&ts=custom&uid=372067241&w=patrol&af=selectscale%3a124scale

https://hlj.com/product/HSG20258

https://hlj.com/search/go?lbc=hobbylink&method=and&p=Q&ts=custom&uid=373077504&w=police&af=selectscale%3a124scale

 

terrific! thanks for link sir... however i saw a brand named lindberg which is new for me... i know that theyre expensive because those are imported but im curious about them when it comes to 1/24, are those good for beginners?

[martinfan5]

9 minutes ago, EZ08 said:

terrific! thanks for link sir... however i saw a brand named lindberg which is new for me... i know that theyre expensive because those are imported but im curious about them when it comes to 1/24, are those good for beginners?

Those are out of production kits,  I have no idea how hard it might for you to even get them, you can find them on the US Ebay,    its hard to say, I dont know what how capable you might be,   they are not for the beginner model builder in most cases

Edited March 4, 2018 by martinfan5

[EZ08]

7 minutes ago, martinfan5 said:

Those are out of production kits,  I have no idea how hard it might for you to even get them, you can find them on the US Ebay,    its hard to say, I dont know what how capable you might be,   they are not for the beginner model builder in most cases

thats what i thought though...only tamiya are the beginner friendly kits as far as i know...or maybe aoshima and hasegawa

[Mike999]

9 hours ago, EZ08 said:

...as for hasegawa, how is there quality when it comes to 1/24? i am assumed that their quality is good enough but my concern is the fitting of the parts and the ease of build that a beginner like me can manage... how are they? are they worth it?

The Mazda Cosmo fit is excellent and it is easy to build, much like the Aoshima kits.  I've built car kits from both companies.  The Cosmo even has metallic chrome nameplates for the badges, if you don't want to paint them.  It does not have an engine but has good chassis and interior details.  Hasegawa did one Cosmo kit with a rotary engine, but that one is old and very rare.  I believe the regular Cosmo kits are currently available.  They go in and out of production, like all kits. Hasegawa recently released a stock, non-police version with a 1/24 scale female figure in it.