Review

In the world of Japanese performance cars, the Nissan Skyline GT-R is king. Much like the Mustang or Camaro in the United States, the GT-R can be considered a muscle car. By taking its mild-mannered family sedan, the Skyline, and adding a fire-breathing twin-turbo, 6-cylinder engine, Nissan followed the muscle car recipe when it created the GT-R.

Again, like the Mustang and Camaro, most of the major Japanese model kit manufacturers all produce, or have produced, kits of the GT-R. The subject of this Aoshima kit is the Skyline GT-R R32 from the early '90s.

Inside the box you'll find 70 parts molded in black and clear plastic. Four rubber tires, two metal rivets and an axle shaft make up the remaining pieces. The quality of the moldings is quite good, with absolutely no flash and very minimal mold lines. However, the clear window unit wasn't as clear and smooth as it could have been.

The clear hood to show off the engine, fortunately, was blemish free. The engraving on the parts is on par with other Japanese kits of this subject and price range. The rather small decal sheet features gauge, emblem and some under-hood markings. I found that they responded well to setting solutions where it was needed.

I would classify this model as a curbside-plus kit. The chassis has some of the suspension, exhaust and the bottom half of the engine molded in place. Separate parts that complete the suspensions and exhaust system are well done, especially the brakes. The well-proportioned body has the hood molded into it with instructions to cut it out if the builder wants to display the 18-piece upper engine and under-hood assembly.

These parts go together so well that, with proper detail painting, it's actually hard to tell there's not a complete engine under the hood. Aoshima must be proud of this, hence the clear hood.

The interior is built up platform-style with separate seats, side panels and dashboard. Separate parts for the steering wheel, column, shifter and parking brake finish the interior. Curiously, there are no pedals under the dash. Unlike some Aoshima kits, this one includes only a right-hand-drive dashboard.

Assembly of the model went without a hitch. I found no errors in the 26-step instructions. I did find the painting guide to be a little weak. I actually cheated and used a Tamiya sheet from its kit of this car as my painting guide.

The only parts-fit issue that I came across was the headlight lenses that did not seem as if they wanted to fit where they were supposed to. Some very gentle bending remedied the problem.

Aoshima's GT-R will make a nice addition to anyone's model collection. It ranks right up there with the Tamiya and Fujimi kits. I highly recommend it.