The redesigned Honda Prelude was announced in 2023, and following its production and rollout in 2025, Tamiya introduced the 1/24 scale Honda Prelude (BF1) plastic model kit.
During cleanup, I found some fine mold lines that were tough to see and removed those. I did make one minor change and filled the locator holes for the license plate on the front fascia with superglue. I prefer to leave the front plates off my car models whenever I can.
The Prelude’s chassis and suspension look good with nice details, especially considering it’s a curbside model. Both build up quite easily, but be prepared to spend time painting the chassis if you want to follow the instructions to the letter. I did, and I enjoyed the process.
The interior is engineered so that almost all the parts can be glued in from the back, making it super easy to get clean results. Several of the individual parts will be painted an accent color, eliminating masking. There are well over a dozen decals for the interior, with options for the dash, gauges, and navigation screens. Make sure to trim away the clear film around the gauge and nav screen decals for the best fit.
The windows and lights have large mounting tabs that cannot be seen once the car is built. This makes cementing the windows easy, with very little worry of getting glue anywhere unwanted. The light lenses do not use cement; the light housings sandwich them inside the body or just snap in place. However, one of the taillight lenses on my sample would not stay put without a small drop of superglue applied from the inside after the part was in place. Still, it was a no-mess deal.
The instructions show to snap the rear hatch hinges onto the body after it is attached to the chassis. I found it much easier and used very little pressure to install it before putting the body on the chassis. The fit of the hatch is superb, but be careful with the gas struts. They are used to prop it open and are somewhat delicate because they are to scale.
Tamiya’s latest Honda Prelude only builds a right-hand drive version. The wheels roll, mounted by poly-caps. The steering is posable, and the rear hatch opens. There are three pieces of luggage to stow in the rear: a golf club bag, a hard-sided roller suitcase, and a soft-sided handbag. The generic rubber tires have smooth sidewalls but offer good tread detail.
Each piece of luggage consists for two parts that fit as well as the rest of the kit. For the colors, I copied my wife’s metallic blue hard-side roller suitcase using Tamiya Metallic Blue (No. X-13) and went with a well-worn brown leather look for the handbag. Multiple applications/washes of Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color Brown over a black base created an aged leather effect. The golf bag scheme is a composite of several I found online; a gun metal base with red and gray accents. Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color Black added definition and a little wear.
Colors are called out for five exterior body options, but I found an additional color for the 2026 model: Honda Boost Blue Pearl. All of the main body colors are pearl or metallic, but Tamiya recommends using non-pearl for the red and black versions. I followed suit for the Honda Boost Blue Pearl and used Brilliant Blue (No. TS-44) as it looks close, though it is not a pearl.
The parts from the Tamiya 1/24 scale Honda Prelude (BF1) plastic model kit fit together extremely well. Some of them are delicate, but with a bit of care and a modicum of patience, it goes together easily. Many of the parts are clearly designed for clean results when cementing them together. Tamiya has done it once again!