hi all!

since i don't have kids, i can't just go buy ANY toy i like. that'd be crazy. they have to be of the same thing, so it's a "collection". so now i'm "collecting" 1st gen 4Runner toys.

here's the latest cool thing i found:


it's a little 4Runner kit that's apparently pretty old skool and i guess straight from Japan. i wasn't sure what to expect since the front box cover was the only available image, and it's animated.

what i got was this little model of a 1:24 deformed scale, meaning it looks like it's been compressed. to chop a real 4Runner like this, you'd need to bob the front of the bed enough to remove the front slider window's worth of body section, as well as cut a section out of the center of the front doors. maybe one heavy duty top hinge to section out the bottom one. it could be done!!!



occasionally i have some down time at work, and yesterday was probably the first day in an ice age that my inbox was completely empty. perfect timing for it to arrive!

the body came molded in red, bonus for me since my truck is too. i couldn't wait to build it, so i worked with what i had. i colored in the black parts of the body with a Sharpie marker. i used a crazy glue pen to put it together.

it has a slot to put in a little electric motor. it comes with little drive gears to build the drivetrain. two closed diffs = all wheel drive, no turning!


one of the coolest things about the kit was these 4 pictures on the side of the box showing an actual model in painted form. i don't know who built THIS particular model, but dayyumm they can paint some detail. my phonecam doesn't do it justice, sorry. but the detail in the paint work is insane. the pic of the rear shows they painted the black lines in between the tail light lenses. the pic farthest right on the box shows it "distressed" like it's been mud blazin'! that's some quality asian slave labor!



here's my finished work: i used white-out for the headlights, and some metal duct tape for the towing mirrors. it came with a big goofy winch but i left it off.



i tried to add the TOYOTA logo on the rear license trim, but the decals were too old and disintegrated when i wet them.

i love it! it now sits on my desk "in traffic" with my employee anniversary cars (the VWs in the first pic which i also "customized" with office supplies on hand.)

 

I have the same model kit but never got a chence to build it yet! Found it on e-bay. Searched for more 1st Gen 4Runner models but never was able to find one. I think they might be pretty hard to find. Looks great! Can't wait to build mine!

 

Ive been trying to find this model forever and I cant find it anywhere