Home-made Toyota HiLux Crew Cab

Modeling Subjects Armor
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Ever since I had seen SF guys using crew cab Toyota HiLux trucks in Iraq, I thought about building one. I scoured the manufacturer’s catalogs and couldn’t find one in 1/35 or 1/32 scale. I was excited when Mig announced his, but was put off by the price. I scratched my head and got an idea.

I had an old Revell 1/32 Toyota 4-wheel drive truck from the early '80s. I thought that I could take two of them and combine them to make a crew cab. I started looking for another kit of the Toyota and was having no luck. About a month ago I found one on eBay though. So I snatched it up.

I started with the two kits , a razor saw, some sheet plastic, and some putty.

The kits:

I cut one kit (blue) apart at the windshield and along the front of the doors. The second kit (red) I cut along the rear of the doors and the back of the roof line. I then cut the blue doors to the size I wanted and mated the two sections to form the crew cab. The roof needed quite a bit of putty to get them to mate smoothly.


Next was on to the bed. The HiLux has a shorter bed then a standard truck. I studied pictures of it and determined that the cut is slightly in front of the fuel filler cap on the right side. I proceeded to close the front portion of the bed off and made the front wall out of sheet styrene. I also repositioned the tie-down loops on both sides.


Next was lengthening the frame by 5mm for the longer wheelbase of the crew cab. I cut it just forward of the main cross support in the center. I rebuilt the floor and frame members using sheet styrene and rod for the exhaust pipe. I also had to lengthen the rear drive shaft to fit as well.

For the interior, I used the forward tub from one truck and the seat and side walls from the other to make the rear area. These were mated together and sheet styrene added to form the rear floor. I will further detail the interior as I continue with it.

This is the final result so far. I think it looks pretty good. The price was right as well. I still haven’t decided on the wheels and tires for it. The kit ones look pretty good. I also have an old set of Land Rover wheels/tires I may use on it.



And the left over parts from the donor truck…


They are pieced back together and will be used for a Somali Technical with the front doors and roof removed. I will need to rebuild the interior on it as well, but that is another project

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That’s pretty cool! Keep us updated, I’d love to see the finished product.

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Lookin good so far. If you left it unpainted, it would certainly look like something you could find driving around farm country in rural Iowa (yes, we do indeed drive Toyota trucks out here - just not many)

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Boy, two kits being used and cannibalized for two seperate-but-distinct projects–can’t do much better than that!

Looks like some good work there, Gino. This is a nice change-of-pace here!

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You know, I saw some of the HiLux’s over there too. And I would never have guessed to make it from the other truck. Are they really that similar of a truck? Oh the diorama possibilities…

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Thanks guys. Glad you like it. Thanks for the concern as well. This time, it looks as though I will be in southern Iraq, SE of Baghdad, we shall see though. The mission keeps changing, along with the date.

The modern HiLux isn’t exactly the same, but there were early '80s HiLux-style crew cabs as well. Mine will be one of them since the donor kits are of an early '80s Toyota truck. As you say, “Oh the diorama possibilities…” These style of trucks have been used all over Africa, Asia, and the Middle East for years. The possibilities are pretty much endless.

Revell/Monogram made quite a few 1/32 civilian trucks and cars in the '80s and early '90s. They can be found on eBay from time to time. I have quite a few and usually buy them when I see them. I got the Toyota from a seller who had quite a few of the 1/32 kits that he bought from a hobby shop that was closing. I also scored two Datsun king cabs that I may do the same with as well.

Good luck to anyone looking for these kits. I hope you find a few as well.

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TopGear tried to kill a toyota hilux not that long ago. The torrents are out there if you want to see some seriously beat up hiluxes (they smashed it with a wrecking ball, set fire to it, drowned it in the sea, droped a building on it and it still ran)

Fun story and good pics.

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the rest of the world had the Toyota HiLux Crew Cab for YEARS, we did not get it until the newer design that they called the Tacoma. I saw them in El Salvador and Israel and fell in love with the concept, I even thought of trying to import the body from El Salvador but never followed through. They updated the bodies over the years BUT left the old bed of the HiLux with the extrnal hooks until they exported to the US

The US special forces actually used {uses ?} the Tacoma Double cabs in our current missions. One of the members has a close friend in the units and he sent pictures of several of the Tacomas in country, funny they even used the alloy wheels from the US models. As I understand it, they were bought in the US and modified here and then sent overseas. I think the uber expensive Migs is accurate.

I wish someone would make a kit of the newer double cabs, I know of a few thousand non modelers that would buy it and trick it out like their own trucks [swg] I will take 3 one for mine, one for my wife’s and one to arm up [:-^]

EDIT: oh, yes the extra cab standard cab and double cabs are the same from the front seat forward, the extra cab and double cab have the same frame {I do believe they now also have a double cab long bed that has the double cab mated to the standard bed of the other trucks making it longer than the others…

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And now for something completly different… [8-]

What a great change. Looks like a fun project. Coming along nicely.

As far as your deployment, please let us know when you know. I think you know all of our hearts are with you whereever you go.

As for me, your my “brother” going into harms way. I’ll keep you in my thoughts.

Until you deploy, enjoy family & home

Rounds Complete!!

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What a cool project! It looks great. I see those things running around here in Afghanistan as well as a quad cab version of the Ford Ranger, which we are told are made in England. I look forward to seeing the progress. Enjoy your time at home before your deployment.

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looking forward to seeing this finish Gino.

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oh man! thats too cool, ive been wanting to make a technical ever sense i started modeling. i cant find anything smaller than 1/24 and the Mig sets are ridiculous. im hopeing the trend will pick up with some plastic kits, but in the mean time this looks awesome. id hafta agree, the bare plastic does look like some rusty old spare parts truck.