Builder Spotlight: Raees Amien

After some thinking and wondering, I have came to the conclusion that I have not done a "Spotlight" on Raees. Sure I have featured many of his wonderful builds and have even done a small intro about him, but I have yet to do an actual "Spotlight", well here it is.

Raees hails all the way from Cape Town, South Africa, that is almost 10,000 miles away from Cali, where I live. He has been at the mercy of styrene since the tender age of 8 and has built some great looking models since. He also likes taking long walks by the beach and listening to jazz....ummm nah not really, but he sure loves to put in time on all his builds. Some taking a couple of weeks, with long hours to others that have been on stand by for years. We all have that one or several builds that take more time than usual. So what if OCD kicks in, we'll get back to it. Eventually...

The SPC forum, some emails and the occasional Facebook comments are the ways we communicate to share one of the passions that we have in common and that is model car building. His style of building is one that catches my attention in many ways. From digi-carbon fiber camo pattern on the Amuse R35 Skyline or nicely detailed SR20 under the hood of his silver beauty 510 to the slammed trio of VW golfs, the details are eye catching. The attention to detail in each of his builds are amazing. Plenty of time goes into them to get them that way and the patience he has is something that many need to have in order to build any type of model. It's the key to the door of the this hobby, well time and money is another key factor that come into play, but thats another story..haha.

He has been building models not only for himself, but for others as well. I have featured the finished ones on here and he has more to come in near future. Just recently he finished a VW beetle that was featured on the cover of Speed and Sound Magazine out of South Africa. Not only did he build a scale replica of that beetle on there, but there is an article about Raees himself and his builds in that issue. His builds have caught plenty of attention from many and I can see him getting more in the future. The man has skills for what he does. I have seen plenty come into the hobby only to leave it behind, I can say that Raees is here to stay. now if we can only get ourselfs to finish those unfinished WIP's...

Heres some quick info:
Full Name: Raees Amien
Age: 23
Time Building: Been modeling for 14 years
What Got Him Here?: I started with small aeroplanes
Firts Time?: First modification was cutting a Ferrari testorossa and a plane to make a dragster.
Goals: Now I mainly focus on cars 1/24 scale and 1/12
Favourite build/s: Datsun SSS and KPGC10/Hakosuka

Here are just a few of his builds.

Not only does he have skills in building models, but he also has skills in taking some great looking photos.



All pics were taken by Raees Amien.

Well I hope you have enjoyed this, thanks for stopping by.
Happy Motoring.

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.