Mitsubishi Fuso car carrier: carrier assembly

In trying to make more room in the display cabinets, and also as a way of avoiding the finicky finishing touches on the Mazda 787B (funny how a lot of my new projects begin as a way of avoiding finicky finishing touches on something else ...), I ordered the Fujimi model of the Mutsibishi Fuso car carrier from a Japanese provider here. The idea was to use it as a display platform for the growing contingent of Japanese sedans in the collection, so that 5 or 6 cars might take the place of three, plus there would be a neat (and obscure) truck to add to the collection.

The package arrived quickly and in good shape. It wasn't exactly cheap, at 12,000 yen (of which 4,000 was shipping); but the strength of the US dollar versus the Canadian dollar makes it painful to order anything from the US these days. The site actually shows images of assembly drawings, so you can find out pretty quickly whether the model is curbside or not, a real problem with some of the more obscure Aoshima, Fujimi or other Japanese kits that are available in North America. (The Fuso has a well-detailed drivetrain and a tilt cab).

Meanwhile I also discovered a Japanese hobby shop in Vancouver (here) which may be able to order this obscure stuff; while the stock they carry is mostly R/C and military, there were some out-of-production Japanese kits on the shelf and I came home with Tamiya's Honda S800.

The trailer sides and lower deck went together quickly, with a very nice socketed design to ensure components going together at right angles actually do all stay straight. Instructions are almost entirely in Japanese but it's all pretty obvious to anyone who has built a few styrene kits. The upper deck will be assembled once some other components, such as hydraulic struts, have been painted separately. It will go to painting next. I think a light blue, with yellow accents, will look good.

Of course, now that the trailer is assembled, I realize it doesn't fit in any of my cabinets -- too long for some, too tall for others. As I have a few other trucks sitting in the wings, it would appear that I'll need a new display cabinet anyway ...