It is a pretty cool kit. A friend gave me one around 2003 or 2004, shortly after it was released. I think the diecast chassis was a nod to the thought of selling this as a pre-built display kit. It was one of the first JGSDF vehicles to be deployed outside of Japan.

The diecast chassis also protects the crewmen better than plastic in case of a scale model IED attack by resin insurgents.

Well the instructions call for Tamiya XF-21 on the interior, which they call "Sky".  I have no idea why they call it Sky, because it looks like a kind of celery green. I mix all my own colors, so I am just looking for something I like. I am not sure I like this, or if I want to go darker green. 

I plan on painting the exterior a green/black that I have seen in some pictures.  For a modern vehicle I have had very poor luck finding reference pictures.

That Sky color is probably their best match for a color modern armor modelers know as Sea Foam Green. It is a pale green color often used as the interior color of modern AFVs like the M113, M2/3, etc.

Looks like you're off to a good start, keep us posted.

Yeah, good luck with her, looks like a really cool subject there.

Now that's a vehicle we dont' see every day!  Very interesting....I'm keeping an eye on this one!

Hello!

I don't think I would buy a model kit that has a die-cast chassis if I had other choices - it's so much harder to glue and my favourite liquid glue wouldn't glue it well. I don't really understand the point of this.

As for the Sky color - it's a color that once had been used on British aircraft, for the underside. The name still seams strange, but that was the official name. Once, during WWII there was a regulation requireing the british aircraft to wear a fuselage band in that colour (around the aircraft tail), also the prop spinners were often painted this colour.

Good luck with your project and have a nice day

Paweł

The interior is pretty sparse, just not much there.

The dash is mounted to the body.  This is not much of a picture of it.

My first real challenge - and screw-up

Had to drill some holes for the racks.  Thought I was being clever, and glued from the inside, but put too much glue on, it ran through the holes, so now I have some great big fingerprints to sand off!

The rack was also broken while still on the tree, so I am not quite sure how I will get it to glue together solidly.  Build and learn.

This is the completed kit.  I did not intend to do any weathering, but I wonder now if I should maybe try a pinwash and/or some dry brushing to try to bring out some detail.