Winniez

Looks great and even the fragile wheels are intact. Always loved the obvious John Player Special Lotus influence on the Shogun.

One general upgrade would be to do something about hinge pins that screw into hard plastic causing parts to crack. Those could be substituted with shafts and clips or if you heat up the screw prior screwing it might help as well.

Striker/Sonic Fighter chassis (at the front where the front suspension arms are mounted) would be one notorious weak spot, there is just not enough material there. Without jumping it will prob hold up fine but most used ones come with this section pre-cracked. Not so much something you can prepare with spares though. There are some aftermarket braces to enforce the front section.

Are the Durango 14mm hexes compatible? I have bunch of those.

I'm having the same issue, at first I thought I had a sticky key or something Resizing the window smaller fixed it for me.

Well said, Falcon certainly feels like a missing link. I think their decision not to re-release it so far has something to do with the gearbox. Maybe it's the durability or just awkward assembly (mating the gearbox, suspension arms and chassis). I think Tamiya sees these lower end kits also as potential beginner vehicles, or something nostalgic fathers will buy for their kids. Striker/Sonic Fighter has the same issue with the gearbox and in addition have that weakish chassis. Plus they are no where near as iconic so I would be really surprised to see either of them before the Falcon. All 3 share quite a few parts so it could also be a rare case of molds gone missing or something similar.

Just mean that I doubt Tamiya would re-release the chassis as it is since it has a significant weak spot where the front suspension mounts, there is just not enough material there. Especially given the modern electronics people might use, would just be bad PR.

I got really lucky recently and found a completely intact Sonic Fighter from a skip. Was complete with the electronics too and had no damage to the chassis. Other than being really dirty it is in great condition, just needs respray (and possibly some sanding+putty for the underside), new tyres and decals.

I meant just in general

Not sure there are any more big re-releases they could do, something like Porsche 959 perhaps but the licensing could be problematic (although there is the Celica). My guess is something like Hot Shot 2 or Super Sabre. Easy piece, they don't need any particular improvements and they have the molds ready. Striker chassis I doubt it, they would have to heavily modify the front end of the chassis and even the drive train is not all that durable, maybe a modified Falcon?

Remember the ball bearings too, they cost next to nothing these days.

You The part is different in Striker and Sonic Fighter since Sonic has oil shocks, you specifically want the Sonic Fighter one? I would like to keep the shock tower for now, the project will be totally useless without it if I ever come back to it. I could loan it to you though if you just need it as a sample

Great looking build and your pictures are really high quality. A pleasure to see those shiny clean parts in high definition.

Great you got your money back and the seller should have had pictures of the underside. But I must say it doesn't look all that good in the original listing either.

Can these be uploaded by standard (non paying) members. I have few old catalogues and many Marui manuals I could scan at some point.