junkmunki

Just about finished the resto of the second Ford Ranger. This one is the rarer short wheel arch version. The shell was in great shape, but i'm not happy with the chrome front panel or rear bumper, there is too much damage to the chrome, so i will find better ones. The side decal set is a repro that i got from Canada some time ago, it was going to be imposible to find an original short arch set. I have to say though, they look and fit great, and the colour is spot on. J

The peak year for me personally has to be 1983. It was the christams i got my first rc car, the Tamiya Frog. Its what got me hooked and i havent stopped collecting since. But as far as peak for stuff that was available, i think 1986 with the relese of the Porsche 959. What a masterpiece, and that led onto the Toyota Celica Gr.B a year later. J

The big Ford diamond is a yes, but its the small oval Ford decals that go on the front wings that i am missing also. They would have been the number 7 decals on the sheet. Are they original decals? J

Thank you for your kind comment. J

Just about finished the resto of my Ford Ranger shell. There are still a couple of details to do, i am missing the small Ford decals for the front wings, and the large Ford diamond for the rear deck (if anyone has any spares...). When it arrived, it had one of the worst paint jobs i had ever seen, and had i think been lacquered with nail varnish, so i am really pleased with the way it turned out. J

Ok, not my one. Mine was missing the driver. J

This is my finished restoration. J

I think that may have been mine. I had one that i built out of the old spares that were left over from the resto of my good one, so i stuck it on ebay. It did sell for more than i expected and is on the way to Poland. J

I got up this morning and put the finishing touches on the latest restoration. This is my 58018 Ralt Hart. I decided to go with the more uncommon livery of Rad Dougal. I purchased some parts, and they came with an original Rad Dougal helmet sticker. The Honda F2 is up next. J

I love the metal cased rc stuff. I think they were mostly for the USA market, as i dont recall ever seeing them for sale here in the UK. I have had a few of the metal Fleet sets, but those small sets with the push button throttle are hard to get here. J

Thanks Mirrorman, it has indeed sold.

Bump: Now on ebay for £50

For sale is this oddball Tamiya Ford Ranger crawler hybrid. I did not build this, so all i can tell you is what i see. It is an early short wheel arch Ranger shell that has been mounted on a shortened crawler chassis of unknown make. The shell has had a light kit fitted, although this is untested. The chassis is fitted with a Losi 1/18 crawler motor and is well out together. The wheels are alloy split rims, and there is a new set of crawler tyres, as well as some used ones. There is no radio gear or electrics other than the lighting kit. A bit of a project to bring it up to full glory, but well worth the effort. Looking for £60 + shipping. I will ship abroad at cost. J

I also have one of these in original unbuilt condition, and i definitely wont be building mine. Even if the box is not perfect, its an original unbuilt kit, and every time someone says, i'll build it because the box is damaged, there are less and less NIB kits around. I also have the Hart Ralt NIB from the same era, and that wont be built for the same reason.

I took the Ranger body out of the bowl of brake fluid where is has been gently stewing for two weeks. There was so much paint on it, i thought i'd go old school and do the brake fluid thing. I had to wet and dry a couple of places where the paint was very thick, but i'm really pleased with the outcome. J Considering the amount of crap paint and varnish that was on it, it came out ok.

Today the Ford Ranger shell arrived. I won this on ebay, and although i paid quite a bit for it, it has never been used. The paint however is shocking, so it is going to be stripped back and repainted. The decal sheet is only missing the large diamond ford badge, and two small ford badges. I love the original price tag for £12.95, i have seen these sets in mint condition for £600! J

pm sent

I actually contacted the manufacturer who are in the UK after the stuff disapeared off the shelves, and although they said they werent really suposed to talk to me directly, they gave me the number of the distributer, who told me it was more of a logistical problem they were having rather than it being withdrawn. Anyway, all is well again, i can get on with stripping the paint from the next resto. J

I have spen a lot of years, and a lot of money restoring the vintage Tamiya models, searching out the rare and hard to find parts, and building them all exactly as the box art suggested. I would be absolutely gutted in i ran one into a kerb and lost a mirror, or cracked the body shell that had cost me a couple of hundred pounds. All my restored or original built models are strictly on the shelf to be looked at and enjoyed without fear of damage. Some do have period radio equipment, but most do not. It may not work for everyone, but it works for me. J

I reckon you should be proud of a job well done. Its turned out great. Thing is though, where would we be without 3D printers? Can you imagine trying to replicate all those parts just by hand? J

I got up bright and early, and put the finishing touches on my March Bmw restoration. Sadly i couldnt get original decals for this, and i wasnt about to cut up the set out of my original body set, so i got repro vinyl decals from Tamkyo-Reprodecals on ebay. I have to say that they are really good quality and stick well. The only issue, was the side stripes werent long enough, so i had to cut and join two sets. J

I put the finishing touches on the Martini Renault restoration. I had to use one of my nos body sets as the original was too damaged to achieve the look i wanted. I hate cutting up 40 year old decals and destroying a complete vintage set, but sadly thats what i had to do. J

They also did that black motor with a blue end, which was classed as the endurance motor, and had a lower top speed, but lasted longer on the battery, so better for distance racing. J

Thats looking really good, nice job. Not far to go now till its all done. J

The red bell motor is not period correct for this kit, it was usually to be found on the group C cars such as the Porsche 956. It would originaly have been fitted with a standard Mabuchi RS-540 silver can motor with a white end. The chassis you have on the car is the original version of the compettion special, whereas the new one, which is also a competion special, was a generic replacement for all of the cars that used the CS chassis, so it had to have the extra holes at the back for the different rear ends fitted to the various kits. Yours would have had a plastic upright panel screwed onto the end of the chassis under the wing with the gearbox, brakes and exhausts on. It is the same chassis and gearcase as the Countach, Celica and Porsche 936 CS. The new gearcase you have is the one that was fitted to the non competition specials, such as the Ferrari 312T3, the original CS type is very rare and hard to find now. The non CS type fitted to the Celica and the Countach is simillar, but the CS type is unique in its design. I have attached some pictures of some of my spares with the part numbers, and the missing rear panel so you can look out for one. #124 is the original chassis fitted to your car, teh little slot at the back in the middle is where the rear panel should locate with the two bolts either side. #86 is the gearcase you have, and #65 is the non CS type gearbox which is simillar to the original one on your car. J