Suzuki Carry ST90 "Takoyaki Van"

[Guest]

Hi friends!

Let's post something completely different from my previous job...
During a holiday trip to Japan, I realize that most of the cars there were "kei" cars, small utility vehicles subject to special taxes law:

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They even had food trucks:
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I fell in love with these mini cars, so when I saw a model in a hobby shop in Akihabara, I just jumped for it.

And this will be my special own "kei" food truck:
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It's a food truck specialized in Takoyaki, an octopus fritter ball. The model is from Aoshima and is in 1:24 scale

My first Aoshima model, and I have to admit... it could be better, because the detail is too rough. Here you have some pics of the moulds:
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First, I started with the driver station, which I upgraded adding some plastic bits to imitate the seatbelt buckle:
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With some cardboard and a pair of staples, I made the side panels of the doors:
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Then I painted the driver station. First, white primer:
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Then bright red:
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Next, I painted the seats and with sand paper, I made the floor mats:
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Then I finished painting the details of the seats, the steering wheel, hand brake and with aluminium from a beer can, I made the seatbelts:
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Neutral grey for the main console and those orange indicators that remind me the dashboards of 90's cars:
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And bright red for the wall too:
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And that's it for today!
Hope you like it

Regards!

[Snowman]

That is dead cool!

You have an eagle eye for detail, nice touches! :thumb2:

[papa 695]

A great start.

[Guest]

Thank you for your comments my friends!

Let's keep going with this Japanese beauty!

I aimed for the trickiest part of the build, the kitchen:




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As you see, everything is molded into one piece: the bar, fridge, seat... even the sauce jars and side dishes!
That makes the painting a little bit more difficult since I prefer to paint each piece separately and then glue it everything in place.

I started with the floor, so first I masked everything with tape:
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Then I painted a first coat with deck tan:
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Then some strikes of dark brown oil with an old brush:
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A second layer of transparent orange:
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Next step, hairspray and flat black:
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And finally, I scraped with a blade in the areas I suppose there is more "movement", if you can move around in such a tiny space:
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Then, I masked the floor to paint the rest of the kitchen, and as it was going to be painted in aluminium, I took the oportunity and painted some signals and the wheel rims as well:
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Here you have it, nice and clean, and with a nice cushion for the seat too:
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The gas pipe for the grill was painted in yellow:
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Next, I painted the sauce jars, the mini-fridge, the side dishes and the chopsticks jar:
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Then I painted the grill and the noodle heater with gun metal and as it looked too neat, I added some pigments to make it look flour:
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And then I placed the grill with the Takoyaki and some grease stains:
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And then a coat of shiny varnish over the grill, to make it look oily and grease, and full of cholesterol:
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And that's all for the kitchen!

Regards!

[Guest]

Hi there this is certainly different and like it a lot, love all the little extra details you have added.
Pete :thumb2:.

[Snowman]

I'm loving the subtle details :blow-kiss:

[Guest]

Thank you for your comments, my friends!
Let's continue with the van:

I started painting the side-banners:

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And then, I applied the decals and varnished them:
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Afterwards, I built the "chassis":
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Then I painted the car body with glossy red, and placed it over the chassis and driver position:
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I used black wash to mark the panel lines:

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I painted the back lights:
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Then I started placing the decals all over the body:
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As you can see, this Aoshima model looks too much like a toy, so I decided to improve some parts, like the noren curtains.
The noren curtains are those curtains that japanese put over the doors of restaurants as an "OPEN" sign:
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I made them with plastic rod, some brass and lead sheet:
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This is how it looks compared to the original:
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I also used lead sheet to make the nobori banner, which will be placed in the back of the van:
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They look great, once painted:
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Well, it's almost finished...
Some more decals and it will be ready to go!

Thanks!

[Guest]

Ooh, a Suzuki Carry! My mother used to have one as a delivery vehicle for her shop.

/me searches web site

Damn, there seems to be only a panel van kit, not a van with a full-length body, sliding side doors and a tail gate