Builder Spotlight: Jimmy AKA: FUJIMMY

Well, it's not everyday that builder decides to scratchbuild engines for kits that either dont have engines or have a shitty looking engine in the kit itself. most import kits out there are curbside, meaning they have no engine or engine bay for that matter. all hey have is the bottome half detail of the engine. the ones that do have an option for an engine either have a half engine or an engine that lacks the proper details.

For Jimmy, crewdawg15 on model car forums. he has taken things into his own hands and decided that the cool curbside kits from Japan needed a bit more detail to make them even better. he makes engine bays, new suspension, redesigns the interior if not correct compared to the real thing and last but not least engines. complete with the transmission, he also makes everything that can come with it. intake, header, carbs, you name it, he has probably has made it.

I personally have bought a pair of each engine kit he has casted. I am patiently waiting for him to finish a few more that he has on the bench. although being in the Airforce takes up a lot of his time, he seems to come out with some great looking builds. his most recent one is his Datsun Fairlady or as he named it, "The Bronzed Lady" its a beauty. there is one he has been working on for what seems like a decade, it is a 1973 Toyota Corolla, TE27 or "Mango" that one is a real work of art. having pretty much replace the entire front suspension, it also has a scratchbuilt rear suspension, engine bay and of course the engine itself. of course he has other WIP's on his bench, but those will be posted once he has more work done to them. 

Here are some words from the man himself and then some pics of what he has made and is working on.

Jimmy says:

"I've been an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force for the last 16 years. Throughout my career, I've had a great opportunity to travel the world. Of all of my assignments, Japan has to be the greatest...I met my wife Katsuyo there, friendly people, the awesome food, and the eclectic car culture.

An uncle of mine got me started in model building when I was 5 years old, and I haven't stopped in the 30 years since then. I started out building car models strait from the box, but eventually, I wanted more and more detail in my builds. This was the 1980's, and the model after market is not what it is today. So, I started making my own custom parts. I started off small with adding plug wire to the engines, to in the last 3-4 years, casting my own resin import engines. Today, you can purchase just about any thing you can think of as far as model parts go, but I still prefer to make my own parts over buying pre made.

While I can make just about anything, I get the most enjoyment out of making 1/24 scale Japanese engines, and modifying Japanese curbside kits. That's how I picked up my nickname; FuJimmy, after the Fujimmy model kits that I prefer to modify.

Thanks for the opportunity!

Jimmy"

A Mazda 13B, Nissan SR20DET, Nissan CA-18DET, Mitsubishi 4G63, Toyota 4AG-20V, 2TGEU, 3TC and 22RE, OS Giken TC16-MAII (Datsun/Nissan L18 based block)

 



All pics used with the permission of Jimmy Nilan

All I can really say is keep on building Jimmy, you know to save me a couple of each...haha

You can catch some of Jimmy's work on these two forums

http://forum.spc.org.uk/phpBB3/index.php

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/

So till next time take care and thanks for reading.