Today I will review a daily driver for families around the world – Nissan X-Trail (Rouge in North America) by Paudi Model. While many model makers focus on the sporty and exotic, the Paudi Model brings us models of everyday cars made by manufacturers for the masses, and this one follows that theme. I’m pleased to announce the model has full 360 access and is made from diecast metal. Let’s now see how it measures up.
The model is packaged in a red Nissan Miniature Precision Series red box with a two-part Styrofoam shell. An opening tool is provided to air with many opening and folding parts – and yes, the model has a few.
The overall appearance is very good and captures the model well. Paint is properly applied with metallic flakes present upon closer look. Gap lines are nice and tight all the way around and opening and folding bits reveal hidden parts. For starters, I really like the opening sunroof, which provides the function to slide to the back. These are the little details you will find throughout the model and something Paudi has made a name for.
You don’t see too many models reproduced with opening sunroofs, so it’s definitely a breath of fresh air. Other opening bits include gas tank cover, all four doors, hood and trunk as well as folding side-view mirrors. The model also features working suspension both at the front and the back. Other surprising small details are the decals on windows to assure you they are OEM and manufactured by Nissan (just like the real car) – if anyone can recall other bands reproduce that little detail, please let us know in the comments below.
Front driving lights are well replicated, and little fog lights on the bottom of the bumper have not been forgotten. The lights at the back are good, although the black line below the turning signal on the passenger side is a little misaligned. The reflectors on the bottom of the rear bumper are there and not forgotten either.
Let’s now move to the inside. When you open the driver’s door you will notice all the switches for the mirrors, windows and doors are nicely painted on. Inside of the rear doors, power window switches are also marked. The floors have a carpet feel to them, rear seats fold individually in a 60/40 pattern and seatbelts are well replicated.
In the trunk area, you can open the bottom cover to reveal the spare tire – it is however a single/moulded black plastic piece. I also feel the fabric belt that opens the trunk cover, could have been a little shorter in length.
The engine is replicated well with some added colours, the top cover has VC Turbo and Nissan written on top and there are some warning stickers in the engine bay. Caps on the reservoir bottles are painted in black which is a nice touch as well.
Moving to the bottom of the car – it’s all black and silver like most models of this calibre. One thing I’ve noticed is that the tailpipe is all silver. Perhaps a black dot in the middle would have represented the inside of the exhaust pipe a little nicer. Again, most people do not look under the model especially when displayed.
Overall it’s a well-executed model with a good level of detail to satisfy most collectors. If you are in the market for daily drivers or OEM vehicles you should definitely give Paudi Model another look. Their breadth of assortment covers many brands, and the little details are generally always present, all this attention even comes at a truly affordable price!
Hey Luk, thanks for helping out with the review. Paudi as long as we can remember was always good a balancing added detail and value, and the model above is no exception. If they ever moved into the sportscar or supercar forum they would surely create some serious excitement!
Love the above and beyond details in regards to the window OEM decal work, something rarely seen on scale models in general. Very good model overall!
This seems to be better than almost everything by 1:18 Minichamps! In fact, this model reminds me of glory times of 1:18 Kyosho (before they started to produce sealed 1:18 models).
Oh, the memories!
Very nicely done model! Proof it still can be made this way. Price range?
Suggested retail $159 US.
Man, look at thise details! The print on the windscreen! And such defined detail/ texture on an ordinary engine. Dashboard moulding is spot on. I think this even edges out Norev’s X5 , as impressive as that one is (with the laser light details n all). Good time to be model car enthusiasts :)
I hope they would also make the v37 skyline 400r since they already have the mold for its infiniti counterpart. On another note I think paudi/stwell/kilo works and lcd models are of of the same factory imho hence the excellent details that all of their models have. Any ideas when will the nissan patrol will come out though?
Not sure if this is true but it wouldn’t surprise us either if it was. Sorry, can’t help with NP.
my first Paudi model dates back to 2007, Land Cruiser 100. I was blown away by the model and the quality. it appeared better than whatever i could imagine possible by model makers in the 1/18 scale back then. Ofcourse, i was not exposed to Exoto, CMC or even other rarer pieces of Autoart during that time. i was still busy collecting Maistos and occasional ERTLs, so an every day car in full functional glory threw me apart. What always puzzled me is how paudi markets these models. are they indeed planned to be sold through dealer network in China alone? Cause since 2007 till now, i dont see much effort from it to market it globally although it has released have over upto 200 models already out by now.
Yes, we agree, we don’t know where they played initially either. Seems they are taking steps to increase the global appearance. And one positive first step was sending us this example for review ;)