Tamiya's 1/24 Subaru
Impreza WRX Sti |  | Introduction The FIA World Rally Championship is a hugely popular international racing series. It pits highly modified production compact cars with 2.0 engines and all wheel drive in timed races across closed public roads. They race in all types of terrain, from asphalt to desert sand, from tropical jungles to the winter snow of northern Europe. The top drivers earn several million dollars a year driving for teams supported by international manufacturers such as Ford, Peugeot, Subaru and others.  Manufacturers use the popularity of this type of racing to promote their products. Several offer special edition production models for road use, with styling or performance enhancements copied from the cars raced in competition. The subject of this kit is Subaru's high performance version of their all wheel drive Impreza, the WRX STi. Subaru Technica International is the performance or hot rod division of Subaru (like AMG is to Mercedes Benz), which developed the features added to this version. It features all wheel drive, an improved engine, sports type suspension, wheels and tires, along with several cosmetic features based on the rally racing car. It all adds up to a great performing road car, with killer styling. The STi version has just gone on sale in the US this year.
 The Kit
This model features a slightly simplified variant on the familiar Tamiya curbside style kit (no engine detail other than what is molded into the bottom of the chassis). There are not a lot of pieces in the kit. I counted 62. Several items that are usually subassemblies are molded as one component, with some beautifully intricate pieces. The kit comes molded mostly in a metallic blue plastic, with chrome and clear pieces. Also, the wheels and brakes come in a pre-painted gold finish.
 Chassis The entire chassis is one piece. But in a great example of plastic kit design, there is a lot of molded in detail. According to the instructions most of the chassis is body color. I spray painted it out the aerosol can, and it looked fine with some detail painting and slight weathering. The exhaust tailpipe is a chrome piece. The wheels mount on metal axles, everything came out level on my example. However to me the rear appears to sit a touch high. There are four-wheel disc brakes, I painted mine red for contrast to the gold wheels, which come pre-painted in the box. Interior   The interior built up off the chassis, no problems here. The only option is the British/Japanese style right hand drive set up. I painted mine Tamiya Panzer Gray, with blue inserts on the seats. The gauges are decals. A nice touch is the self adhesive plated metal transfer for the trim around the base of the shifter boot. Just peel off the backing film and burnish it down for the look of real metal. Body  The body is a one piece unit, with the hood scoop being a separate piece while the distinctive front fender flares are molded in. The rear wing was a separate three-part assembly, this needs care to mount because there are only two tiny locating pegs on the trunk. I painted the body with Tamiya's Mica Blue lacquer (TS-50), straight from the rattle can. This matches the box art, and it is the color made famous by the Subaru World Rally racing team. The Subaru team won the 2001 World Rally Championship for British driver Richard Burns.  The windshield is a one-piece assembly that goes in from the inside. The headlight assemblies mount from the inside and include the rally lamps, and they represent the complex assembly nicely. (Rally lamps covers are optional, I left them off). The tail lamps are molded in both clear and clear red, to eliminate painting. The side markers are clear orange plastic. Included in the kit is a sheet of silver foil that you cut to form a backing behind the clear plastic parts, rather than painting them silver.
 Finally there are metal transfers for the rear body script, also for the rearview and side mirror faces. This looks very nice.
Summary
 Another excellent kit from Tamiya, it builds into great curbside example of a contemporary world sports car. Even with the simplified design and low parts count, this kit looks better than many other kits with a lot more pieces. And assembly is what we have come to expect from Tamiya. My kit went together nicely, my only criticism might be that the rear ride height is a bit high, but it is a four wheel drive vehicle. However, my kit had a cracked A pillar, which resisted several attempts to repair, and then snapped apart as I flexed the body in final assembly (after painting, of course). Seems like there wasn't enough plastic to allow it to match up? An unusual problem for a Tamiya product, the first I can remember in a long, long time. Assuming my problem was an unusual case, the kit is highly recommended.
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