Introduction

The Subaru BRZ is a lightweight sports car that is a product of a special partnership between Toyota and Subaru. The result of this relationship has yielded 3 different nameplates; Toyota 86 (Japan), Subaru BRZ (Japan/US) and the Scion FR-S (US). Sporting a 2.0L “Boxer” engine producing 200hp, the “Toyobaru Twins” have been all the rage in the US driving market in 2013. Aoshima has capitalized on this demand by releasing several kits (and several more in 2014) of these wonderful vehicles.

The Kit

The kit itself consists of approximately 19 sprues of black, white, chrome and clear plastics. The body appears to be smooth and crisp, with no evidence of sink or injection marks on it’s exterior. The body does lack a nose and tail section as these are the only unique parts between the different versions of the car. Most of the body components are molded in white, while the chassis is molded in black. The rims are molded in an aluminum color which will require some painting to duplicate the black and aluminum rims of the vehicle, but they are well done.

Having owned the Toyota 86 kit, I was very happy to see that Aoshima have gravitated into including the engines into the kits as well (the first releases did not). The level of detail is simply amazing. Clearly evident is the “Toyota / Subaru D45” logos molded into the intake plenum. For sake of reference, this area is only about 7”x7” on the real vehicle.

The interior is also a treat and provides options for both left-hand and right-hand drive versions of the car. Additionally, the decals are provided for the varying options (such as the radio). As one last touch of perfection, separate decals are included for US and Japanese gauge clusters.

The windows are pretty straight forward, included are pre-cut masks, which is something I wish every manufacturer included with their kits.

Lastly, the tires are modeled with excellence, no seams or mold lines are apparent. One point to note, the ones included with the kit are 18” tires, which I do not believe are stock with the US market vehicles. These instead are shod with 17” performance tires from…a Prius.

Final Thoughts

I have loved the Toyobaru Twins since I first laid eyes on one. Also as a proud owner of a Scion FR-S, I can say that the detail on the kit is simply stunning. I found myself looking for little nuances with the kit that I knew were on the vehicle itself and was not ever disappointed. I simply cannot wait to build this and the other “86” offerings from Aoshima. Looking forward to 2014, it appears they will continue to flesh out the product line and offer some of the customized versions that race teams have come up with. As always, thank you to Dragon Models USA and IPMS USA for the chance to review this amazing kit.