Quincy

Meanwhile I have finished the chassis. It takes 2,5 hours and I really enjoyed it! Making some pictures of the building process: Front section, with all this brand new parts Also the rear and the mid section: And this feeling when all comes together

I bought mine for 200$ from U.S. with shipping and taxes it ends up at 300$. As mentioned the seller didn`t know if the kit is completly, so it was a little gamble.

You are cheating

I don`t know what you mean

As mentioned before I got another primera NIB. The seller doesn`t know if it is complete, so I got it for a good price. After checking the box, only the wheels are missing. After all these FF-01 builds, this will be a rare "out of box build". So everything is ready and I will enjoy building without a cleanout before

Thank you! There is no need for hurry, I have two other FF-01 projects to do

Short Update on the Renault Laguna: Carson recommends Tamiya PS-17 Metallic Green for the body. The original ones also were pre-painted in this metallic green: In my opinion this colour is the wrong one, because it is too bright and shiny. The original color is darker and has not that extreme metallic effect. So I choose Tamiya PS-9 Green and backed it with PS-57 Pearl White. Also have fitted the body to the chassis and adjusted the width of the chassis. Next step will be doing the decals...

My dogs will never damage a tamiya box

While the Laguna is waiting for the paint to dry, I have time for another Upgraded Special. Got my hands on a Nissan Primera set. The previous owner recieved this as a gift from Nissan. Obviously he had just build the chassis and was not interested in painting the body: Luckily this beauty seems to be never run. Just a little bit dusty: Even the limited blue heat sink is in perfect condition! Very happy about that Because the body is dedicated to @wtcc5 I will only care of the chassis. Cleaning and Re-assembling was great fun. Never had restored a FF-01 in this perfect conditions. The only thing I have to change is one single standard screw! As you see I have changed the wheels from the Primera ones to this I already own: The reason for changing the wheels is simple. Two days ago I found a "never run" Jaccs Accord body and it arrived today. The body had really never been run. But if you know the Jaccs Accord, you know that the decal job is a mess. So the body is ok, but not perfect. Maybe it could be a good runner body. My primary intention was to use this Upgraded Special chassis for the Nissan Primera Castrol until a friend remembered me, that this isn`t true to original. So I am in two minds about how to proceed. Here it is what it looks like:

NIB ones are always way more expensive than others. If you want a Nissan Primera NIB, prices start at 700€. If you are looking for the parts you may only pay the half. If you are not a box collector, you have no need for NIB. The Re-Release of the Top Force Evo is here about 370€. I think it is a fair price for this fully equipped Vintage Buggy. The Top Force Re-Release was about 200€ but came without the HiCap Damper, without Carbon deck and no Titanium Screws.

I can`t help doing it.

The FF-01 has been very popular in europe and you can still find chassis in reasonable conditions. Unfortunately most body sets and tuning parts are very rare, too. So I have already ordered parts from Asia, Australia and the U.S. It is just a kind of passion.

Today I have finished the chassis for the Laguna BTCC. Luckily I have enough spare parts to build another FF-01. I choose these golden wheels, because they are more original than the wheels Carson has used on their kits. Meanwhile the paint of the body is drying. I am very excited how it will look with these golden wheels.

Are you really sure that you want to go on 3s in a FWD Car? You will also have a lot of wear on the brushed motors, but I am excited about how it will end.

I am surprised, too. It really depends on which paints were used and the thickness of the layer.

Thank you. Looks good. Have to check if this will work on broken edges too.

Next step is done. The paint is removed: This time I used a combination of Tamiya and Carson paint remover. After vaporising some of these chemical liquids in a closed box, the paint begans to solve and just could be wipped away. Maybe a little bit aggressive combination, so some areas get a little bit blind after treatment. I am going to sand them before painting. Unfortunately the body had a big hit in the rear under the place of the rear wing. There is also a small part missing. Must consider how to fix that.

After I am still looking for the primera wheels, I have time for two other FF-01 projects. As mentioned before there a some inofficial FF-01 Versions, like the DHL Honda Accord. Another one is the Renault Laguna BTCC Nescafe: Must be a special Version by Renault as I have found it here on Tamiyaclub https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=109782&id=3836 Unfortunately the body is made by Carson. As I have got my experience with these bodies from the Carson Honda Accord it is poor quality, even no rear mirrors as seen on the pics. So I am searching for an better alternative and found out, that Kyosho also made an Renault Laguna long time ago. Luckily I got one in quite good conditions: It even came with all the additional parts: The previos owner put the decals on the protective film: So they were easy to pull off The next step is to remove the paint. This will take some time. As I am going to build the Nescafe Laguna, I need the "Carson Decals" as well. Just found out, that these decals are not designed by Carson itself, but I have managed to get some datas from the designer and hope that we can reproduce them with some help of my friend @wtcc5

I have no shapeways store. Just original parts.

How many parts do you need

Finally the "missing" Primera arrives: I love the look of these old boxes Unfortunately the wheels are missing, but the price was very fair. I will really celebrate this build!

Enjoy it!

Next one will be a Tamiya again!

Just finished another FF-01: The Carson Accord STW 97 The body is made by Carson, the Decals from RG Design. The body itself is made from very thick lexan and quite heavy. Detailing is ok, but unable to compete with Tamiya. It even comes without an protective film on it. The decals are a little bit stiff, so it requires some heat to make them fit. Also some decals can`t be placed at the point the manual suggests, because there is simple no space. Altogether it is ok, but causes a lot of additional work. And here is the result: The body set does not include the mirrors, so first of all I wanted to add the Tamiya Accord mirrors, but they don`t fit. I decided to give the New Beetle mirrors a chance, but not sure if I will keep them on the shell. No body without chassis. Luckily I got a used one for a few bucks. It was dirty and very dusty, but after disassembly, one single front body mount is all that have to be replaced. Even the diff can be restored. All in all the chassis can`t have been runned very much. Now it looks almost new again

The bodies are one reason for racing the FF-01. Tamiya did a great job on body work. Also the cars were equipped with an extra fitting wheel set. Nowadays they care less about realism. But the quality of the bodies are still great, this is the point why often Repro bodies doesn`t look as good as the originals.