Fujimi '79-83 Datsun 280ZX

[hirofkd]

Okay, this is a tough one. I purchased a pre owned one, partially started, missing tire etc.

For those who are whining about the lack of interior detail in Fujimi kit, this is what I mean by lack of detail. In fact, there's no inner door panel to complain about! (LOL)

As a former 280ZX owner, I'm sure I'll enjoy building this car though.
I reserved the Tamiya 280ZX for the 10th aniv model, so this one's gonna be a standard model, and I'll try to finish it quickly.

[Midnight Racer]

That's it of parts in the first pic?Shouldn't take to long to complete.

[Sigmaman]

I've built this kit.Its junk!It does have door trims though,yours must have been lost.With a bit of work it looks quite good.Heres some pics.

[bobby28384]

How old is that kit, hiro? It looks older than me! Hopefully, you can salvage it though. Best of luck in that area!!

[hirofkd]

> Sigmaman
The instruction doesn't call for the inner door panel, so yours is an updated version. The body is indeed the same.

> bobby28384
It doesn't say anywhere, but it should have been made between '79 and '81, so more than 20 years old. This Fujimi kit was imported by Scale Craft.

The lower front bumper was cut by the previous owner, but I wanted to maintain the stock appearance, so I'm restoring it.




The door panel is finished. I show the unprimed and unpainted part, so that you can get a better idea of how it was made. The 280ZX's interior is flat, so everything was made with plastic sheet.




The next is to fabricate the pillars behind the door panel and the trunk room.

[Layla's Keeper]

HOLYDECRAP! Man, well done. Well done! That scratchbuilt door panel is great and the reshaping of the nose. Too cool. I'm glad you're taking such an effort on a subject we don't see ten tons of around here.

[Vyacheslav]

Very nice. Let's get it painted

[hirofkd]

Obviously, I didn't even realize it's been more than 16 months since the last post, but the project hasn't been dead.

This 280ZX model is a secondary project next to my Veilside 350Z ver.1, and both are making some progress.

I've almost finished the front bumper, and the front end of the hood bulge is cut and the putty is curing right now. Also, the headlight bracket was reshaped. The original kit body in the yellow circle.

[008]

Any reason why you didn't start with AMT's 1981 version instead? I bought it when I used to own an '81 turbo and it's fairly accurate. The AMT one doesn't hold much value and can be found fairly cheap, just like the real car

[hirofkd]

Because it's 1/25 scale, which isn't my primary scale of choice. I do have the kit, but for kitbashing.

I also have much more accurate Tamiya versions (both the rare hardtop and more available T-top versions) as well as a couple of the US Airfix kit (original tooling unknown).

I used to own a 83 280ZX, and the Z-cars are my favorite. This Fujimi model is just one of many 280ZX model I'm planning to make. It was supposed to be a casual build, until I found out that there were so many inaccuracies that I just couldn't stand leaving it untouched, so I ended up fixing so many places.

I hope my update helps other people doing major modifications to turn a crap into a presentable model.