Mokei Kagaku

Tamiya started publishing the Tamiya News Leaflet in 1967. If I remember correctly, first bimonthly, then every month, then summer- and christmas-specials additionally to every month. Number 667 is the newest and in Japan, the Tamiya News leaflets can be bought separately for JPY100. I have most up to about issue 400. Most of them bought from Hans Muth, the designer of the Tamiya Expec transmitter, the Suzuki Katana and multiple BMW motorcycles. I don't know him, but his name is still somewhat relevant because the Tamiya News I bought from him included business letters between Tamiya Japan and him back to the late seventies. In other words; he must have been involved with Tamiya many years before he designed the Expec. Furthermore, Tamiya published a book about the Tamiya News leaflets in 2000/2001. The book covers the most important topics within 30+ years of the history of Tamiya News. My first issue and the book: I agree with Scoobybooster when he states "nothing special really", but in a historical perspective, now and then really interesting articles are published in Tamiya News. Like for instance the building of the new Tamiya HQ in 1981-1982, the history behind the Hotshot and Bigwig and more. Tamiya's visit in the hobby shop where Al Ernat worked: Article about Al Ernat and some of his models in Tamiya News July 1985: Articles about Wild Willy: https://www.facebook.com/mokeikagaku/posts/pfbid024vwt8M4KGQj2a8E1EHuTtkjGAgU5z47KHUvHJDHmjxiJ5UHca3tJTJVdp7tN2mT9l My "collection" of Tamiya News, covering most issues from 1967 to 2007:

I don't really have anything to add, but lack of information is also information! I mean, when actively checking with the usual reliable sources if the Willy's Wheeler is about to make another comeback, there's absolutely nothing. If the release of the Wheeler had been soon (in 3 months or less), it would usually have been possible to get indications, if not necessarily confirmations. The re-release of the 1/24 scale Honda City, which I announced two months ago, was officially announced at the Tamiya Fair this weekend, and the Wheeler was not among the exhibits. Personally, I don't think we can expect the Wheeler to be released again soon, and if a comeback is planned, I don't think Tamiya will announce it before next year's Nuremberg Fair.

Don't get me wrong; I really appreciate what you do, and I also know that there are significant differences between the Porsche 956 and 962, but considering how (relatively) similar their bodies are (photo sideview illustration below); you know that Tamiya has just released a 1/10 Porsche 956?

The last few months, I've spent some time enlarging and improving the quality of Fujita Yukihisa's "Moko-chan & Rabbi-kun" illustrations. With a bit of help from artguru.ai, combined with endless manual corrections, it''s pretty amazing what can be achieved from a low-res scan or even photo. Below the almost finished illustration of the Brat, with the original in 1:1 size in the upper left corner. (Open the illustration in a separate window to see it in full size.) However, I haven't been able to find the Moko-chan Monster Beetle illustration with a resolution adequate for artguru.ai to create satisfactory results. If any of you have the illustration in better quality and wouldn't mind sharing, I'd be happy to give it the full AI- and manual treatment and share the final result.

UM2 (C-cell), as I'm convinced you actually know! So a typo must have struck anywhere between brain and keyboard. The batteries seen in most vintage Tamiya photos, are of the "National" brand by Matsu****a Electric Industrial Co., now named Panasonic.

2024: 47507 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 2.8 (White Painted Body) (BT-01 chassis) 47508 Porsche 956 (Gr.C chassis)

I don't have much knowledge about plastics myself, but I work for an automotive supplier which has a division specialized on plastic parts. A couple of years ago, I got the opportunity to talk with one of our plant managers, who is regarded as the company's foremost expert on plastic molding (among about 65.000 employees). One of the things I asked him about was the brittleness of chromed plastic. He replied that the two strongest contributors to brittleness of chromed plastic parts is the etching of the surface that takes place during the chroming process, and more important, the "straight jacket" effect (his actual words). The chrome isn't elastic and thus prevents the parts from flexing following an impact, thereby concentrating the (temporary) deformation of the part to a smaller area, causing higher stress than for an otherwise identical unchromed part.

Release dates are a bit fuzzy, and I've included those parts in 2023 as they were available well before 2024, as were 22081 - 22089. Admittedly it's a matter of definition, but 22090 and 22091 are the only new Hop-Ups that have become available in 2024 so far.

As you probably know, the Gr. C chassis can be built with three different wheelbases: Older version come with a CVA damper, whereas newer versions come with the CVA II. The Daytona Thunder came with a Dynatech 01R motor, whereas most other versions came with a Sport Tuned. Early kits came with colour coded A-parts (red, blue, green), whereas later kits have black A-parts. Wing mounts differ according to body. Apart from that, I can't remember any other significant differences from the top of my head.

I guess i should be happy that Tamiya have reduced the release of new RC Hop-Ups to a trickle as it saves me quite a bit of money, but it still puzzles me. 35+ years with a steady flow, and suddenly almost nothing! (I've just counted the hop-ups in the 53xxx- and 22xxx-series. Some of the 49xxx-, 84xxx- 47xxx- and 42xxx-series parts should possibly be included to represent the complete quantity of Hop-Ups.)

I'm not into H0 slot cars, but I collect "anything aircooled VW/Porsche", so this is a model of interest to me too. The blue/white livery version was released in 2022, and Autoworld has issued the Baja Bug in at least 9 different liveries. Your "Sand Scorcher" being by far the best, in my humble opinion. The body was originally made by Aurora and was sold in white, lime green, red, orange and yellow with item number 1778 / 1914 from 1973 to 1978 in Aurora's AFX H0 slot racing range. After Aurora folded, the Baja Bug was gone for many years until it was re-released (albeit with a pull-back motor chassis) by Johnny Lightning in at least 8 colours from 1999 to 2004.

Gr.C chassis confirmed:

The new 956 is 1/10 scale, so the RM-01 surely is out of question. Judging by the limited number of new parts listed (wheels, stickers, H-parts and body with headlamp/taillamp inserts) combined with the indication that it's a limited release, my guess is that it's on the Gr. C. Also, since the last re-release of the MB C11, the Gr.C chassis has gained renewed popularity in Japan, including painting and decorating the C11 body to resemble other Gr.C cars, including the 956/962. With this in mind, the release of the new 956 makes quite a bit of sense.