A SoCal Car Meet In Scale
The Plastic Eibach Meet

Last year when I was in Japan, I headed to Shizuoka to check out the famous hobby show that’s held there annually. To put it simply, I was blown away by what I found.

Japan’s scale automotive scene is every bit as impressive as its real car scene, and at last year’s show I came away particularly impressed by the creations of a modeling club called 1/24 Motoring.

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I wasn’t able to make it Shizuoka for the Hobby Show this year, and that’s unfortunate because the guys from 1/24 Motoring went even bigger and better with their 2016 display.

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Rather than simply putting their projects on a table for the showgoers to see, the guys actually built a diorama in the style of an American car meet. More specifically, a meet held at the Eibach HQ in Southern California.

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Thankfully, the club uploaded a bunch of photos of the display to their Facebook page, and I thought the whole thing was just too cool not to share.

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It’s fitting that 1/24 Motoring would replicate a Southern California car meet, because a lot of their models are inspired by American car culture, along with a good amount of homegrown JDM stuff.

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Besides the miniature trees and tents, they even went as far as to add a scale version of a slammed Radio Flyer wagon with a cooler full of drinks in the back.

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Naturally, Hondas made up a big part of the display, and they included West Coast-style Civics, Japanese Group A race cars and even a turbocharged Civic drag car.

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The guys also built some extremely accurate recreations of Osaka Kanjo Civics in all of their rough-around-the edges glory.

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Many of the models are exact replicas of cars from both the United States and Japan, including this Red Bull-liveried EF Civic from Osaka’s infamous No Good Racing!! club.

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And how about a H22-swapped Honda Odyssey minivan which looks an awful lot like one that pops up at car events all around Japan.

Nailing The Details
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Here’s one that should be immediately familiar. It’s Sakurai-san’s Car Peace USDM AE86 Corolla, which I featured here on Speedhunters last year.

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From the wheel fitment and ride height to the immaculately detailed engine bay, it doesn’t get more accurate than this.

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This is another one that you should recognize – Yuta Akaishi’s Datsun 240Z as it looked about five or six years ago.

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Here we have a couple of zenki USDM 240SXs in both stock and modified form.

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And a first generation Honda Fit complete with the longer US market front end. This is pure car geek stuff that’s been so perfectly replicated.

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Of course, it wouldn’t a proper American car meet without at least one V8 swap, and here we have a Rocket Bunny FR-S complete with an LS motor in the engine bay.

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Does a plastic model need approval from the purists? Either way, I think rotary fans will dig this wide-body FC3S RX-7.

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This ‘stanced’ E36 M3 model looks so realistic that I bet it could start arguments on the internet. Well done, guys.

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A MkII Golf sitting on Fuchs wheels? I love it; especially the cool details like the tint on the windows.

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Or how about a stretched Lexus hearse for something a little bit different?

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Not only are the 1/24 Motoring guys modeling masters, they are able to mimic the trends and styles of international car culture with an attention to detail that’s second to none.

Be sure to check out their Facebook page for more photos of their modeling work.

Mike Garrett
Instagram: japanifornia
mike@speedhunters.com

Photos via 1/24 Motoring

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1

If you ever have the chance, I'd love to see an article on how they create these!

2

PetterU Last year they did an article on that. Browse the archives or search, it's out there :)

3

You literally had the Harlequin in almost every photo yet you never took a direct on picture of. Shame, I really like the Harlequin Golf.

4

Wow these are almost as amazing as their real life counterparts!

And that Odyssey!  Could only have been topped by a replica of the reverse head engined one :)

5

Porthos1984 Here.

6

Amazing, I wonder what they used for the chrome on the mk2 bumpers, and where a miniature Westy grille comes from.

7

124MOTORING Porthos1984 With the matching Benetton steering wheel!

8
futurreimperrfect

Porthos1984 Don't lie. No one likes the Harlequin Golf.

9
FrankensteinConnelly

futurreimperrfect Porthos1984 the harlequin golf is the ultimate in junkyard rebuild or at least has the look of one. Idk what started this vw trend but it just looks like a rebuilt wrecked car that hasn't been painted lol

10
FrankensteinConnelly

I love all the scale model and r/c posts. its great to see all the creativity and detail on such a small scale, makes me want to get into this.

11

FrankensteinConnelly futurreimperrfect Porthos1984 The harlequin was actually a special edition from the factory.  It's a strange look for sure, but some people love them.

12

It shows that you don't need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to have something you're proud of.

13
hash the toyota man

that fc looks DOPE!!! show stopper for sure

14
JulianOspina57

Where do they get the wheels, tires, and and all the rest of the accessories to pull that creativity off? Is there some online site to purchase them???

15

Great Article! These guys make some incredible models! Wish mine looked as good as some of theirs!

16

JulianOspina57 Theres heaps of places to buy parts for model cars, hlj.com is a pretty big one. Most of the wheels are made by Hobby Design or Eightyone.

17

That FC is pretty well done.

Regarding the model of the E36, I'll just leave this here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AENdc50K5aE

18

FrankensteinConnelly futurreimperrfect Porthos1984

19

incredible thanks for sharing this Mike!

20

Literally amazing! The attention to detail is phenomenal and if the people weren't around and you took the photo's in a certain way you could almost pass this off as a real car show. However just like real life, dapper stickers even ruin model cars.

21

the rx7 and the 86 did it for me....thats nuts that level of detail

22

PowerTryp 124MOTORING Porthos1984 GAWDAMN…

23

This is why we love the Japanese! They take the things we all dream about doing, but have the dedication, fanaticism, and dexterity to bring them to reality.

24

AirLift_Lucas PetterU link if you find! wanna read that one again..

25

Lexhearse?

26

I will never be less than blown away by the amount of detail the Japanese put in their scale model dioramas.

27

da_ashman JulianOspina57 or Aoshima and Fujimi.  they have quite the range of wheels and tires too.  Regarding the rest of the parts, if they can't buy them from their local hobby shops (the epitome of paradise for scale modelers outside of japan hahaha), then they just scratchbuild their own.

28

Excellent feature as always SpeedHunters! I've been following these guys from the beginning and their work is truly outstanding. They are a major inspiration to most of us modellers and I really like their style. Really wish I was located in Japan and be part of their great team.

29

This. Is. Insane!!!

30

To hone logic, supported with open minds and a lot to learn. For logic that is already extensive, balance it with humility
http://utamadomino.com

31

Nice event a lot of skill

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