Tamiya Super HotShot (2012)

The Tamiya Super HotShot (58517) is a faithful re-release of the original Tamiya Super Shot (58054) from 1986.  It is unclear why Tamiya renamed the re-release under the "Hot Shot" moniker as there doesn't seem to be any known licensing or trademark issue with the name "Super Shot".  However, Tamiya did a good job of keeping the spirit of the original alive by using the same stars-inside-the-O's font style in the model name as the original which makes it instantly recognizable.  Most people that remember the original will ask "Is that really the Super Shot?"  To dispell any rumors to the contrary, the first bullet item on the lower-left of the box states "Improved re-release version of item 58054 from 1986." 

The kit includes full ball bearings and a 25 turn GT Tuned (part #53779) brushed motor.  The US-version also includes the TEU-104BK ESC.  The first production run includes a set of lightweight white wheels as a bonus.

The bonus item is the lightweight white wheels

Tamiya Wild One (2012)

The Tamiya Wild One (58525) re-release in 2012 was a welcome surprise for many Tamiya enthusiasts.  After the re-release of the Fast Attack Vehicle (FAV) in 2011, much speculation began regarding whether Tamiya would re-release the Wild One.  Having never been a fan of the FAV, I was ever hopeful the Wild One would be offered, so I was quite pleased to learn of its release this year.

The first production run includes a set of eight 5x11mm ball bearings as a bonus.  Note that you'll still need another two 5x11mm bearings and three 5x8mm bearings to have all ball bearings in the gearbox and all four wheel axles.  The US kit includes the TEU-105BK ESC.  The TEU-105BK is similar to the TEU-104BK but has on-board BEC so if your receiver isn't BEC equipped you no longer need a separate BEC circuit which is a welcome addition.  Reverse power is still limited to 50% however, which, frankly, stinks.  I wish Tamiya would put 100% reverse power back in like the now-discontinued TEU-101BK.

The bonus item is a set of 8 ball bearings

I bought a set of red anodized aluminum front arm mounts from Pargu2000 (store link on right side of page):

Kyosho Triumph

The Kyosho Triumph (kit #4301) was on my wishlist of must-have cars ever since I first saw it in the Tower Hobbies catalog in the late 80's.  Designed from the ground up as a highly competitive racer, it seemed (to me) like it was an updated Ultima with belt drive and slipper clutch.  I'm not sure how popular it was with the racing crowd, but you don't see too many for sale so I'd guess it didn't sell very well compared to the Ultima series.  Finding an unused model is rare, too, so when I came across this fine new-built-but-never-driven example on an auction website, I tried not to get too excited since I knew I'd never win it.  As it turned out there was hardly any interest in this particular auction, so the final price was quite low - at least half of what I thought it would go for - and I won it.

Upon receiving it, I was ecstatic.  It was truly brand new built and never used.  A motor had never been mounted to the mounting plate (Kyosho did not supply a motor in the Triumph kit) and there were no scratches to be found anywhere on the chassis or suspension arms.  It must have been built and then forgotten or displayed only.  The body and wing were untrimmed.  The seller even included the parts trees that were unused from the original build plus the left over shock oil.

Quite faded box obviously stored for a long time

Not a scratch anywhere

Completely unadjusted front caster and camber settings

Pristine spur gear, slipper and no motor screw marks on plate

Untouched decal sheet

The miscellaneous extras plus wing and gear covers

Untrimmed original body

I plan to completely disassemble the car and then build it according to the manual and finish in box-art style.

Tamiya Stadium Blitzer Restoration (part 2)

Painting the Tamiya Stadium Blitzer body in box-art colors was not an easy thing to do.  When painting polycarbonate bodies, the darkest color is painted first, then the next lightest, and so on, until all colors are applied.  For the Stadium Blitzer, there are three colors:  black, silver, and white.  First, the windows were masked, then a secondary mask was applied to all areas that were not to be sprayed black.  This was practically the whole body.  The only black areas are the front grille, a thin sliver between the cab and roll bar, and the sections between the rear roll bars and rear window.  The black went on smoothly, but for some reason I forgot about silver being a darker color than white, so I mistakenly (but actually on purpose at the time) painted white second.   I was originally thinking that it would be OK to paint silver on top of white as a "backer" color.  But when it actually came time to paint the silver, I realized that I probably did not want silver on top of the white as it could possibly make the white look dull or "less white" than it was without any backing color.  So instead of spraying silver, I painted it by hand using a brush instead.  It did not come out as smooth as a spray application, but it looks fine nonetheless.

The decals took a long time to apply but the process was easy and free of stress because I used water with a small amount of dish washing soap in a bowl to help with the application.  Each decal was dipped into the solution and gently laid into position on the body.  The soapy water allowed me to slide the decal into the exact position I wanted before it stuck permanently.  Once in final position, press and push the water from under the decal starting in the center working to the outside edge.  Both fingers and a dull toothpick work great as a squeegee.  Works perfectly, every time.  A hair dryer was used on the curved surfaces to activate the glue in the decal and allow the decal to "set" in the shape needed to conform to the curved surface. Even after cooling down, the decal stays where you put it and never lifts.

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This was a very enjoyable restoration.  Even after discovering that Tamiya was going to re-release the Stadium Blitzer a few months after I finished the restoration it did not dampen the pleasure of having restored an original.

Tamiya Stadium Blitzer Restoration (part 1)

Back in mid 2010 I bought an original Tamiya Stadium Blitzer (58106) on eBay.  I had never owned one back when it was originally released because I was still in college and at the time I wasn't interested in stadium trucks.  From the pictures I knew it would take a lot of time and some new parts to restore, but overall it appeared to be in decent used, but not abused, condition.  Certainly worthy of a restoration.

These pictures are from the original auction.  The body was not painted well due to poor masking and some sort of reaction between the black and yellow paint that left spider lines everywhere.  It also had some damage to the rear mounting holes that I did not think was worth trying to fix.

Note the original mechanical speed control.

Some washers were used as a bottom spring retainer:

 The usual scratches and scrapes from a well-used vehicle:

The wheels were yellow from being stored in the sun:

Totally wrong tires (too narrow) for the Blitzer wheels:

Damaged rear body mount holes:

As I usually do for a complete restoration, I disassembled the truck down to its individual pieces and cleaned everything.  All metal parts were given a bath in motor spray to remove all dirt and grease and all plastic parts were soaked and washed in warm water with liquid dish washing soap.  Then, each part was evaluated to determine if it was in good enough condition to be used again, or replaced with a new part.

The final list of new original replacement parts was not bad:  Manual, Body, Decals, Rear tires, Rear shock X parts tree, Front shock tower (old one was permanently bent on one side, but not cracked), and some missing screws.  I also found some new original wheels to use for shelf display instead of the yellowed ones it came with.  Someday I will try the "soak the wheels in hydrogen peroxide in the sun" trick to try to whiten the yellowed wheels.

I replaced the aftermarket Speedworks Blueprint series motor with a Trinity Midnight 27T stock motor and added full ball bearings (it originally had plastic bearings throughout).  Finally, the mechanical speed control was replaced with an electronic one.

I rebuilt the chassis using the manual.  Here are the first pictures taken on the evening I finished the chassis rebuild.

Next step:  Paint the body in box art style using original decals.