1993 Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI DTM – Tamiya

alfa1 I think it’s been well over 13 years since I last touched a Tamiya kit. I didn’t really build these things for a hobby, I was just a bored kid with a few bucks to spend at a hobby store. Bought a Nissan Silvia model, believe it was the S13 based on the ugly green color it came in but not sure.

I do remember that they were always pre-painted and were complicated, yet easy. I mean, it was complicated in the intricate way but easy in how it all just fit together. And man I wish I bought more of these since I really started putting work into the kits these days cause they’re just so good.

Though my luck was awesome and this kit came in the mail completely crushed, like the
bodywork had its roof caved in and the glass was broken on multiple places. So the first day I worked on the kit was me trying to raise the roof back up without breaking the plastic. It looks passable now, the hood won’t fit on it anymore and the glass doesn’t quite touch the roof but… I did what I could. The seller on eBay never replied to my emails so had to make do!

I’m really impressed with the whole kit though, the satin red pre-painted body and trays are nice, as well as the silver and black. Saved a ton of paint work, plus it’s not a dulled out red, its a good semi-gloss which I suppose works well. It came with a metric ton of decals, which is to be expected for DTM or JGTC kits. Though I love how this one went extra deep for the two separate versions of the Alfa; there’s two steering wheels and gear shifters that were unique to Nannini and Larini, as well as the whole decal set for both #7 and #8.

It also came with a sticker sheet with of metal plating that goes over the exhaust tips on the back of the car, it’s really high quality and just looks great. The extra effort that went into the kit is just borderline awesome.

I gotta give them even more credit for two things, one the whole kit just fit like a charm. alfa12 No forcing, no squeezing, it all made sense and fit. Two, the decals were just perfect to use, they were sorta rigid so they didn’t fold over themselves and become useless, they all went on smoothly and it just looks gorgeous. The only thing is that while the instructions are crystal clear and I love how indepth they go, the decal instructions sheet is a 5″ by 3″ square picture with all the numbers written onto it which requires some seriously good eye sight to make sure everything’s right.

All in all, the whole kit is gorgeous. The detail is beyond awesome. And seriously, every other company out there should hold these guys as their quality standard. I got a couple more kits from them, specifically the JGTC Xanavi Nismo GT-R special edition kit and the Mitsubishi Lancer VII WRC kits and both look to be as good as this one.