Author Archives: dunebuggy

Tamiya Top Force (2017) – may the force be with you

From time to time we´re presenting some builds, mostly of Tamiya’s great range of re-releases. Today, we will show you the Top Force buggy which is Tamiya’s 100th RC Kit (1991) and was first re-released in 2006.

Now Tamiya did it again. The Top Force (2017) is back to show his potential.

The so called “Vintage Racing” scene becomes more and more popular. And it’s good to see other manufacturers following Tamiya re-releasing their classic cars from back in the 80´s and 90´s.

The Top Force, and especially the later released Top Force Evolution was Tamiya´s answer for the very popular off road racing scene in the early 90’s. It’s based on the classic Manta Ray chassis (which itself is based on the TA01/TA02 touring cars), but comes with a double deck FRP chassis and damper stays, ball diffs, steel prop shaft, Lexan undercowl and universal shafts for the front end. The body looks like a big wing, which gives the Top Force a very aerodynamic and aggressive look.

But that’s history. How good is the new/old Top Force ? Building the kit was a joy. We built the kit with a full set of ball bearings, a classic Tamiya aluminum motor mount (the original plastic one was always a weak spot) and the “Tamiya Top Force 2017 High Capacity Damper Set” No. 47358 (which is especially released for the Top Force 2017 kit). These dampers are of very good quality. They work extremely smooth, and look excellent too. On some of the photos, you see the car with Tamiya DF-03 wheels and modern racing tires. A perfect set up for the vintage racing scene.

As a regular reader, you may know that we lik alternate paintschemes. The Top Force is no exception here. This time, our choice felt for the relatively new Tamiya PS-63 Bright Gun Metal. We like it a lot, and it suits the colour of the Tamiya High Cap dampers very well.

Join vintage racing ! May the force be with you.

History repeating – Building the Tamiya Bigwig 2017

It´s 1986, the worldwide RC-Car Boom is near on the top. To commemorate 10 years of Tamiya R/C Models, Tamiya releases a very special offroad buggy, the Bigwig. Not a normal car for it´s time. One the technical side, it wasn´t a very revolutionary buggy, like the later released Avante. The car was based on the common Hotshot, Boomerang like drivetrain, but was equipped with the legendary Tamiya Mabuchi RX-540VZ Technigold Motor, well known from the Tamiya Porsche 959 Paris Dakar, which was powered by a special 8,4V Gold Power Pack.

Anyway the Bigwig is a very special buggy in Tamiya´s R/C Car history. Because of it´s unique “one big wing” design by famed japanese designer Mr. Takuya Yura, president of the Mooncraft Company, well known for his racing car designs.

The very unique “Wing” look of the Bigwig is based on special high powered buggies which were custom made for the legendary “Pikes Peak” race in America.

After 30 years, the Bigwig is back again. What are the differences on the new Bigwig 2017 ? Not very much. The stickers were changed a little bit, as on most of the Tamiya classic re-release cars. Which can also be an advantage. The “Mooncraft” Logo on the rear wing of the Bigwig 2017 looks way better than the one on the original release in our opinion.The “new” model comes with full ball bearings, the original 80´s kit wasn´t completely ballraced. The RX-540VZ Technigold motor was changed for a special labeled Tamiya GT-Tuned Motor (like it was used for the Avante and Super Hotshot re-releases too). That´s it.

Let´s build the new Bigwig !

Car and body completed !

 

The result !

It was a pleasure working one the Bigwig 2017. It´s such a cool thing to build a classic Tamiya buggy. For most of the Tamiya re-releases we really like to do alternative paint-schemes on these cars. A real challenge in case of the Bigwig. Because most of the cars were built in boxart scheme. In the past and also today. The boxart scheme is great and really iconic. And it´s not really easy to find colours which suits the red, orange, yellow Bigwig stripes well. But we tried it. And we are very happy with the result. Enjoy !

 

Some thoughts about the new release of the Tamiya 16042 Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin 1/6 Big Scale Kit

Like every year, the Team of Tamiyablog reported live from the Nuremberg Toy Fair. But this year was a bit special, because 2017 marks Tamiya´s 50th consecutive year of attendance here in Nuremberg.

Tamiya celebrated this Anniversary with a new kit of the 1/6 Big Scale Motorcycle series. The beautiful Honda CRF1000L Africa Twin, including stunning details like metal damper parts and complex spoke pattern of the wheels which were the best we have ever seen. Also an highly detailed metal chain set was presented as a special detail-up part which takes the model to a new level.

It was so good to see that Tamiya is still engineering these big and expensive kits in a time where the market for static model plastic kits is not so big anymore as it was in the 1970´s and 80´s.

I was feeling like a kid again when I saw the new Honda. Like it was in 1979, when i first saw the Big Scale kit of the Tamiya Honda CB750 Four No. 16001 in the showcase of my local hobby shop.

This has something to do with, how should I call it, maybe „stability“ in a way we like it.

Highlighted should be here the classic box art picture too which is a piece of art for itself. We are all big fans of the classic box arts, and we can say that is one of the very best we have ever seen. Especially from the artistic value.

Tamiya is the last company who still produces these big scale cars and motorcycle kits in an unmatched quality, and we hope they will do it in the future. That should be said.

Thank you TAMIYA

Detailed Pictures of Tamiya Mini 4WD News presented at Nuremberg Toy Fair Spielwarenmesse 2016

Mini 4WD

19447 Beak Stinger G (AR Chassis)
95263 Mini 4WD PRO MS Chassis Evo.1
15497 HG Carbon Reinforcing Plate for 13/19mm Roller (1.5mm)
15498 HG Carbon Wide Front Plate (1.5mm)
15499 HG Carbon Wide Rear Plate (1.5mm)
15500 2mm Aluminum Lock Nut (Blue, 5pcs.)

Detailed pictures of new Tamiya Static Kits presented at Nuremberg Toy Fair Spielwarenmesse 2016

Plastic Model Kits & Accessories

14130 1/12 Repsol Honda RC213V ’14
24343 1/24 FXX K
35349 1/35 French Light Tank AMX-13
37022 1/35 German Bundeswehr Self-Propelled Howitzer M109A3G
12667 1/12 Scale Honda RC213V ’14 Front Fork Set
12668 1/24 Scale FXX K Photo-Etched Parts Set
12669 1/24 Scale FXX K Carbon Pattern Decal Set

More detailed pictures of new Tamiya RC Items presented at Nuremberg Toy Fair Spielwarenmesse 2016

Radio Control Assembly Kits

56348 1/14 R/C Mercedes-Benz Actros 3363 6×4 GigaSpace
58629 1/10 R/C Mercedes-Benz G 320 Cabrio (MF-01X)
58630 1/10 R/C Plasma Edge II (TT-02B)
58631 1/10 R/C Subaru Impreza Monte-Carlo ’99 (TT-02)
58632 1/14 RC Racing Truck Team Hahn Racing (TT-01E)
84424 1/10 R/C M-05 Ver.II R Chassis Kit
84427 1/10 R/C TB Evo.6 MS Chassis Kit

Ready To Run R/C
46632 1/10 XBS Raikiri GT (TT-01 Type-ES)
57894 1/10 XB Honda City Turbo (WR-02C)
57895 1/10 XB Racing Fighter (DT-03)
57896 1/10 XB Mercedes-Benz Unimog 425 (CC-01)
57897 1/10 XB Plasma Edge II (TT-02B)
57898 1/10 XB Mercedes-Benz G 320 Cabrio (MF-01X)

Option Parts
47314 M-Chassis Blue Plated Spring Set
84425 Aluminum Lower Gearbox (TB-03, TB-04)
84426 TT-02 White Lower Deck
54688 Racing Wing Set 2 (Carbon Pattern)
56539 Matte Plated Gearbox for Tractor Truck