Ferruz

Getting closer to the end of this mild, non-invasive restoration

Just finished the lettering on the tires of a Marui Samurai I'm working on (front and back). This proved to be a tough one as the tires, even if in overall good state, are used so the letters were faded and partially gone, which made it pretty hard with the paint. The result is not perfect, but good enough for the purpose. End of a little nightmare!

The one suggestion I can think of at this stage is... dig in, and have fun As you said, you'll get going right away with the Super Fighter, and in the meantime you can start the kit. I've recently built a Manta Ray 2018 myself, pretty straightforward and enjoyable kit. Should you have any questions or issues along the way, just ask and there will be many here glad to help. Good luck with your Tamiya start and welcome to the forum!

Totally agree with the above. The Hornet SCREAMS '80s and is absolutely delightful in box art. Come to think, it's indeed the Hornet with its brilliant color scheme that got me right back into the RC world after 20+ years. I saw a kit on ebay, old dreams resurfaced, got the itch again and after a few tormented nights trying to resist temptation I bought it. And Pandora's box was open... In my humble opinion, any -clumsy-attempt to add features such as cow spots, millennial logos, flames or pink tires to it only ends up underlining how perfect it already is without these wacky extras. Since 1984. A real RC icon.

I find the Avante in box art pretty hard to beat. I think Tamiya definitely nailed the right color scheme on that one! Same thing for the 2001, while I'm less of a fan of the black special color version but that's just me.

Lazy on a Sunday afternoon

Please forgive this non-Tamiya contribution, but my Kyosho Big Boss wants to show he's still got it after 30 years. It was given to me second hand when I was 8. Flash forward some 25+ years and a few thousands km (an ocean and a continent away...I'd like to share the whole story whenever I find the time) and he's still with me, now more in shape than ever! Airborne at a freezing -30 last winter... ...and airborne a couple days ago at around +30: This guy gets A LOT of action and never spends too much time on a shelf

My Hornet briefly left its shelf today to pay a visit to its old bashing grounds

Good thing is, besides the obvious scratches on the rims which were to be expected, the graphics and overall aesthetics are lasting and still look great, regardless of the serious bashing the Manta had to undergo lately.

Jump

@Juggular Thank you for such kind words. I'm happy you like it that much, as you really helped me out with great technical advice and hints at the beginning of this build. I love how this Neon Manta Ray came out, and driving it really is a blast! I was only used to the Hornet and the Kyosho Big Boss so far. Lots of fun for sure, but this is another level, it drives with surgical precision. Here are some shots from today, thanks to my wife that kindly agreed to take some footage under the scorching heat ...jumping over the Big Boss

Good times coming

I totally agree with the above. Get a Sport Tuned (540). Faster, no hassle, real bamg for your buck. I too have it on my Hornet and enjoy it big time, you won't be disappointed.

Thanks so much! Enjoyed a few more runs last week end, can't resist sharing at least a couple snapshots... Getting dirty Resting after a successful hill climb ...and catching a lil'air!

A little update, now that I've finally had a few real, full-throttle runs with the Manta Ray. My hobby grade rc experience so far was limited to the Tamiya Hornet and the Kyosho Big Boss and, even though I love them both (because of all the fun and bashing) well... as most of you already know, this is another level! So zippy and precise. Silent, sharp, agile... wow. Only one thing: the lock nuts loosened on each wheel. After the first run I thought it might be normal, I just re-tightened them and went straight back to driving, but it keeps happening, even though less and less with each run. I have noticed back when I built it that the holes on the wheels are unnecessarily larger than the axles, so that the wheels can't really sit on them on the other side of the hex hub. Could that be the reason? Makes sense to me. But again, why such large holes when the axles are narrower? Is there something I'm missing? It is also true that I've painted the wheels, so primer and paint sandwiched between the lock nut and the wheel itself amd chipping off might have been a reason, but after three runs or so there was none left and now, while the nuts lock straight on the wheels with nothing in between, it's still happening. Any shared knowledgle or point of view on the fact will be appreciated. Anyway, this definitely increases the itch for different, lighter wheels... Hare are snapshots of some action, sorry for the low quality and the low jumps, I'll strive to get way better ones in the next days.

One last bunch of pictures of the finished project. I'm very happy with how it came out! I hope you will like it too. Thanks everybody for your help nd input. And now, finally, time to go kick up some dirt.

I've decided to cover the receiver, which looked way too "naked" and exposed to the weathers in that position. I've used part of the plastic blister that some of my wife's products came in (a cream maybe), crazy how female accessiories are so easily turned into a great source of parts for random, self made solutions and touch-ups at least that's it in my case... I've glued it to the chassis with a low-temperature glue gun, which already proved to be as effective as not invasive the other times I've used it. Far from waterproofing the receiver, it will at least provide some basic shelter and protection against direct splashes of water and dirt. the Driver has also being installed. Now the Manta Ray is 100% complete, but the instant I put the body back on the sky became overcast. This is quite the worst light possible to take pictures of such colors, so I'll have to wait meaning that I can't run the buggy yet (no way I'm getting it dirty before the final pictures, after waiting this long!). So for now here's a few more with the driver and no shell. I'll take the ones of the finished project whenever the next beam of direct sunlight comes out, hopefully later on today or tomorrow.

Yes it is indeed the Avante driver, Paranoid Perry -no kidding he's paranoid with all these little screens to watch- which turned into the Manta's Slippery Sam for the occasion (loving those silly names lol). It fit very well under the hood. All I had to do was trimming the front end of the cockpit a few mms. I did the fitting/placement before I started painting it, so now all I need to finish my car is, like, 5 minutes to screw it in, hopefully soon today.. I am sure it will fit in your Vanquish, at worst you'll just have to do some light trimming. But desn't the Vanquish come with an awesome looking driver to begin with? The ones where you can see the face under the helmet are my favourites Btw, the Vanquish is a sleek looking buggy. I wonder sometimes if we can hope for a re-re (the originals being kinda out of my budget).

Driver done! Here's my Slippery Sam, to be installed anytime soon, last thing to finish the project. It's about time as I can't wait to drive it

What a lovely thread, so many interesting, insightful contributions and pics! I' m fascinated by the mights of color theory, which I use almost everyday at work, and a few months ago I too had to face the dilemma of choosing a new color scheme for the Hornet. This great buggy got me back into the rc world just over one year ago, so I was very happy painting it box art. After heaps of fun bashing it around mercilessly, I decided it earned a good rest on the shelf, and for the occasion a new body shell was to replace the by then magled black one. As you guys said already, finding an alternative color scheme, due to the aforementioned limitations, isn't easy. I wanted to go for something different and still keep the feel of an old school, Super Champ-y buggy but without altering the original decal scheme too much in order to preserve the Hornet's personality. At the end I went for this bi-color livery, the paints being Tamiya PS-1 white and S-P20 fluorescent red (which looks very orangy). This was around 8 months ago and since then it's been a shelf queen, anyway I'm still happy with the choice so far Sorry for bringing up the topic after over one year!

Hope you like it so far.. ...any imputs, thoughts, ideas always welcome of course. I've also tried it -VERY carefully, there shall not be any invasive action until it's fully finished and dutily photographed- and well... at least to my humble standards, it's SO freaking zippy! crazy acceleration (to my standards, I repeat) with the 20T pinion. Thanks so much @juggular once again for the tip. ...and now, finally, it's time to do the driver!! Am excited though I haven't chosen the exact colours yet. Anyway you guys were so right, plenty of room under the hood.

I've been experimenting with the final looks of the Manta lately (whenever I found the time), dry-fitting many stickers and trying different solutions and decal schemes. I've spent a few hours on it already, and I'm still not done... I find that fitting the "right" decals in the "right" place can be time consuming and quite complicated unless you know exactly where you wanna get, or you are following box art. In this case, I don't mind the plain look of the stickerless body, though I thought it was screaming for some sponsors. Unlike other times, I have plenty of eligible decals but it is hard to choose. Here are some pictures of how it's coming along, anyway. The other day, after a few beers -which definitely influenced my decisions- I went pretty bold and not only did I stick many, but by doing so I ended up adding another colour to the party (fuchsia). Definitely odd and definitely not for everybody, in fact right after putting them on I thought I'd peel many of them off once more lucid but, after a good night sleep, the car still looked totally bad *** to me and so... they are all still on I can always change my mind and peel the odd ones off whenever, so I'll just leave them on for now. I might add and/or change a little something here and there, but it looks like the final identity of this buggy is going to be something like this.

What? "Thaw out"?? We're so far up north here that we don't even know what that word means... This is how I fare these days: ...naah just kidding (though that pic isn't but a few weeks old). By now even we get to be blessed with some summertime: ...but let me tell you, such extreme weather makes for heaps of fun with RC!

The wheels are on, now the mechanics are almost done. I even took it for a slow mini-spin in my livingroom (just for a minute, to check that everything worked properly). I'll probably try to handcraft some sort of lid to cover at least the receiver for when the time will come to hit the dirt, but besides that the build is kinda done, so the next step will be to figure out the decals and then, finally, I'll be able to dedicate some time to the title of this topic.. the driver!