I got this about a month ago from eBay. I didn't know this kit existed until I did a search on Tamiya Prelude models and saw a post of this. I love Hondas, so I've got a soft spot for these old Honda car kits. I also have a soft spots for functional models (motorized cars, working guillotine, etc...) which also contributed to my purchasing of this kit upon seeing it for sale. I couldn't find anything online about this except for shots of the box and 1 page of instructions while I was deciding whether or not to buy this, so I hope this will provide a good look for people who come across these.
Unlike the AMT 1/16 Mustang kit I previously reviewed, I haven't started building this kit at the time of the write-up so there won't be as much observations as that review.
Some info on the car from Wikipedia:
The Honda N360 is a kei car, designed and built by Honda and produced from March 1967 through 1970, while the larger N600 was marketed through 1973. After a January 1970 facelift, the N360 became the NIII360 and continued in production until 1972.
The car featured front wheel drive and an air-cooled, four stroke, 354 cc, 31 hp (23 kW) two-cylinder engine, which was borrowed from the Honda CB450 motorcycle. The displacement was reduced so as to comply with kei car legislation which stipulated maximum allowable engine displacement. This same engine was also used in the Honda Vamos, with a beam axle/leaf spring rear suspension. The "N" prefix stands for the Japanese word "norimono" which means "vehicle" in English. The exterior dimensions were in compliance with Japanese government regulations concerning kei cars, however, vehicles installed with the 402 cc and 599 cc engines were too large for the category, and were largely intended for international sales.
The Kit Review:
The kit was only sealed by 4 clear ribbons (like ribbons around a gift) with a security sticker on it. Otherwise, the box looked brand new. All the packaging was sealed in original packaging. The box measured approx. 14"x8"x2.5".
This kit is motorized and features engine detail, opening doors (full interior, of course), steerable front wheels and even adjustable road clearance (for street or track racer).
In The Box:
Surprisingly, there aren't a lot of pieces to this kit, which was also a bit discouraging. I searched all over the box and instructions to find the date of issue for this kit. The only date I could recognize was the "1970" on the sprues, so the moulds appear to be 43 years old. However, this kit must be a reissue since the instruction sheet 'catalogue section' features the 1/20 Williams FW-11 Honda F1 car, which raced in 1986.
The instructions in this example were in Japanese and appeared to make no colour call-outs during the build. It does have a basic paint guide at the 'Parts' section listing "paint shaded areas..." for each sprue. I guessed the colours, google translated them to Japanese and I matched them to the instructions. Yeah, time to do some research...
As said before, I haven't started on this kit so the observations I make are from the sprue, some dry-fitting and staring at the instructions. Unfortunately, while the engine appears finely detailed Tamiya seems to have ommitted some rather obvious (at this scale, even for such a small car) details from the engine bay. While they've included the spare tire they've omitted:
- car battery
- scissor jack
- drive shafts
- exhaust headers (lower suspension/engine mount has the lower-half of the exhaust headers moulded in, but not connected to the engine itself)
These are details I'll have to scratch-build
What detail they DO have, however, is sharply moulded.
The chrome plating is nicely done, but shows some yellowing (gold-looking) at the upper edges. Fortunately, the affected parts will either be painted over or stripped and painted. Note the exhaust ports are moulded open. Even the drive-shaft holes are moulded as holes, so you could proudly display the engine itself beside the car.
Wheels and motorized components. This kit does not include a motor. Tamiya does, however, include an extra gear reduction set to minimize the size of the final gear. Most manufacturers use a motor pinion gear to drive a gear as big as the wheel itself. Although simple, that ruins the scale look, even at curbside view. You'll also notice the tires double as the rims of the car (hubcaps fit in the outside face).
The upper (doors and hood installed) and lower body pieces. Underbody detail is simplified with the exhaust system moulded in. The exhaust tip is a separate piece with the hole moulded open.
While the fit of the hood is decent (some sanding required) the doors will need some adjusting to produce an even panel line around them.
Final Thoughts
Though I spent quite a bit on this I am still happy with the purchase on such a rare (I hope) kit. At such an odd scale it'll really stand alone in my collection (unless I decide to buy the recently reissued Subaru R2SS). Typical of Tamiya, this kit is sharply moulded, but I'm baffled as to why they omitted the prominent engine details.
I plan on painting this car yellow, like on the box, scratch-building the missing engine bay components, and seeing how well Losi micro electronics will fit in this.