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Saito2

It looked better on the box.

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One of the perils of the beautiful box art that adorns many of Tamiya's offerings is that the finished model might not quite match up with the artist representation. Don't get me wrong. I love box art with a passion and one of my "retirement" goals is to be able to replicate that art-style myself as drawing Tamiyas was a great portion of my childhood. Sometimes though, things get a bit "off". There's the easy targets like the rally car trio, original Lancia Rally, Audi Quattro Rally and Opel Ascona Rally, that come off more like trucks with car bodies perched on them in actually form (though I love even these quirky models in finished form even if they are far removed from their box representations). 

Sometimes things are a bit more tricky. Take the Fire Dragon. The box art looks great but the finished model has the body slid too far forward on the chassis. The front nose hangs out in space while the rear allows the shocks to hang out the back like a skirt that's too high. I know this is down to Tamiya recycling the old optional Hornet bodies (Thunder Dragon, Fire Dragon, etc.) on the T-shot chassis. In the end, Tamiya probably didn't want to spend the money on retooling the T-shot body mount spacing to better fit the Fire Dragon body. At least they got away with it better on the Thunder Dragon. Regardless, the box art looks a bit cooler than the real-deal. 

Of course this doesn't even delve into the "creativity" present in some depictions like the Lunch Box sporting a front axle "pumpkin" despite being 2wd and such. So, were there any times you liked the picture on the box more than the actual model?

Disclaimer: Please take offense to any of my opinions. They are just that, opinions of a weirdo with entirely too many RC cars tapping away on a keyboard in a basement somewhere.
 

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The Grasshopper. The box art looked ace. With rear CVD's wrapped in a rubber shield. And what looked like independent rear suspension. Then the rear car was a solid rear axle on a beam style setup 🤦‍♂️🙄 

These days that would almost constitute false advertising. 

James.

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1 hour ago, Saito2 said:

 

Of course this doesn't even delve into the "creativity" present in some depictions like the Lunch Box sporting a front axle "pumpkin" despite being 2wd and such. So, were there any times you liked the picture on the box more than the actual model?


 

Several females in my past reflect that notion.......

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2 hours ago, InsaneJim69 said:

The Grasshopper. The box art looked ace. With rear CVD's wrapped in a rubber shield. And what looked like independent rear suspension. Then the rear car was a solid rear axle on a beam style setup 🤦‍♂️🙄 

These days that would almost constitute false advertising. 

James.

Bang on! Tamiya sure went quite bold with that representation 😆

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I definitely agree that the fire dragon is top notch on the box art, but definitely "less-than" in actual RC form. Kinda a shame, cause it was one of the coolest looking mini-4wd racers back in the day.  So cool looking that my buddy still has his original after all these years.  Same goes for the Dash-2 Emperor. Amazing box art, amazing looking mini-4wds......but the RC body (made for the hornet I think) looks like a total afterthought on the car.

 

latest.jpg

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57 minutes ago, 94eg! said:

I definitely agree that the fire dragon is top notch on the box art, but definitely "less-than" in actual RC form. Kinda a shame, cause it was one of the coolest looking mini-4wd racers back in the day.  So cool looking that my buddy still has his original after all these years.  Same goes for the Dash-2 Emperor. Amazing box art, amazing looking mini-4wds......but the RC body (made for the hornet I think) looks like a total afterthought on the car.

 

latest.jpg

I kind wish they made more of this run of Mini-4wd as rc buggies.

I think the Bigwig is the reverse of this, better IRL than on the box 

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I definitely agree with the Grasshopper, but for me the absolute worst is the Coppermix Silvia.  The boxart shows the car with a huge set of deep-dish Rota wheels tucked neatly under a set of arch extensions; the actual body is fantastic, beautiful and well-proportioned, IMO one of Tamiya's very best, but it's too narrow for a 1:10 touring chassis.  The supplied wheels have a horrible outward offset, like you'd see on a mid-80s FWD hatchback.  The absolute polar opposite of the deep dish wheels on the box, and which should be fitted to that type of drift car.  Because the body is so narrow, there's very little to be done about it.  There aren't many deep-dish style wheels that will fit without poking beyond the arches, even with narrow hexes.

The same applies to lots of other touring / rally bodies from Tamiya.  Audi Quattro, Celica GT4, Toyota Supra - they're all too narrow.  HPI's 200mm range allows for a huge offset under the arches, but they look like jelly moulds compared to Tamiya's versions.  The only real solution is a Tamiya body with a stick-on wide body kit, or some 3D-printed spats.

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Pretty much any of the rally/touring cars that use illustrations rather than product photos.

Expectation: the correct wheels that fit well, stickers on the tyres, wipers, roof camera, antennas etc

Tamiya-Subaru-Impreza-WRC-Monte-Carlo-07-TT01.jpg.28fef4e147e390f0db7a47973d405e05.jpg

Reality: none of the above, plus blacked out windows, and an iffy moulding of the bonnet scoop:

 

157067299_tamiya-body-set-subaru-impreza-wrc-07-512892.thumb.jpg.10a507461de32a6d31ed1890034f07dd.jpg

On the upside though, it keeps me in a job :D 

img43050_29202071517_1.jpg

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2 hours ago, Truck Norris said:

On the upside though, it keeps me in a job :D 

img43050_29202071517_1.jpg

I think I’ve just fallen in love. 😍

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On 5/28/2022 at 6:59 AM, 94eg! said:

I definitely agree that the fire dragon is top notch on the box art, but definitely "less-than" in actual RC form. Kinda a shame, cause it was one of the coolest looking mini-4wd racers back in the day.  So cool looking that my buddy still has his original after all these years.  Same goes for the Dash-2 Emperor. Amazing box art, amazing looking mini-4wds......but the RC body (made for the hornet I think) looks like a total afterthought on the car.

 

latest.jpg

Really, not so exciting...:(

Thunder-Shot-041.jpg

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The Dash 1 Emperor is an excellent example. It was the one mini (I always called them "Juniors") that I bought that didn't have a full size 1/10th counterpart. The mini box art looked that good to me. It wasn't until the internet came that I found there was an RC body available. Seeing it on a T-shot chassis was so underwhelming. The body looked shrunken, not quite covering the chassis like the mini version did, the rear shock tower hanging out much like the Fire Dragon.  

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On 5/27/2022 at 8:37 PM, Saito2 said:

One of the perils of the beautiful box art that adorns many of Tamiya's offerings is that the finished model might not quite match up with the artist representation. Don't get me wrong. I love box art with a passion and one of my "retirement" goals is to be able to replicate that art-style myself as drawing Tamiyas was a great portion of my childhood. Sometimes though, things get a bit "off". There's the easy targets like the rally car trio, original Lancia Rally, Audi Quattro Rally and Opel Ascona Rally, that come off more like trucks with car bodies perched on them in actually form (though I love even these quirky models in finished form even if they are far removed from their box representations). 

Sometimes things are a bit more tricky. Take the Fire Dragon. The box art looks great but the finished model has the body slid too far forward on the chassis. The front nose hangs out in space while the rear allows the shocks to hang out the back like a skirt that's too high. I know this is down to Tamiya recycling the old optional Hornet bodies (Thunder Dragon, Fire Dragon, etc.) on the T-shot chassis. In the end, Tamiya probably didn't want to spend the money on retooling the T-shot body mount spacing to better fit the Fire Dragon body. At least they got away with it better on the Thunder Dragon. Regardless, the box art looks a bit cooler than the real-deal. 

Of course this doesn't even delve into the "creativity" present in some depictions like the Lunch Box sporting a front axle "pumpkin" despite being 2wd and such. So, were there any times you liked the picture on the box more than the actual model?

Disclaimer: Please take offense to any of my opinions. They are just that, opinions of a weirdo with entirely too many RC cars tapping away on a keyboard in a basement somewhere.
 

My box art better than the actual model has to be the thunder shot! Back in thec80s when I had raced my boomerang to its death I was obviously in the market for another one and the thunder shot had literally appeared on the shelf in Beattie's and an actual built one hadn't happened yet so I purley purchased it on the strength of 3 points

firstly I had so much success with the boomerang and at the time it was apparently its replacement so I thought it's a natural step forward!,

secondly it was very affordable!

Thirdly the picture on the box was a complete winner in my eyes! However when I finished the build it just didn't look right compared to the box art? the wheels on the box looked perfectly in proportion but the actual wheels on the finished buggy were just way to small and completely took the look of it! And the hop-up wing was a definite after thought and looks completely wrong (and didn't last long because it got ripped off on my first race with it) 

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2 hours ago, moffman said:

Thirdly the picture on the box was a complete winner in my eyes! However when I finished the build it just didn't look right compared to the box art? the wheels on the box looked perfectly in proportion but the actual wheels on the finished buggy were just way to small and completely took the look of it! And the hop-up wing was a definite after thought and looks completely wrong (and didn't last long because it got ripped off on my first race with it) 

Interestingly, your critiques on the T-shot line up exactly with mine. Love the box art, but the wheels are too small to achieve the look in reality. The QD version was the first iteration I saw with the hop-up wing installed and that was enough to let me know, I never wanted one on the 1/10 version. 

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Now let's talk about the Wolf WR1. Box has that gorgeous, super detailed drawing. The real thing sports a pizza shovel that just hangs there, a solid inch in front of the car. Presumably to pickup what the dogs leave behind? 

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I'm amazed no one has mentioned the original (and in my opinion, the worst) culprit - the Sand Scorcher.

Chrome wheels? Nope.

Alloy nerf style bumper? Nope.

Dinky little wing mirrors? Not on my watch.

Swoopy arches? Nada.

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On 5/29/2022 at 10:23 AM, mastino said:

Really, not so exciting...:(

Thunder-Shot-041.jpg

I wonder if it fits the Hornet chassis any better? Like the comments above re: Thundershot, it needs bigger wheels or something...

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My personal example is the Subaru Brat:

box art:

subaru_brat.jpg.84d31b974164eabff8c5c1489244bbbb.jpg

vs reality:

real_subaru_brat.thumb.jpg.b4e33bd115e2c0ebb3f09407f727414d.jpg

 

real car's wheels are about 1.5x (maybe 2x) the size in the box art,  two front brush guards, no wheel wells, and what is all that "crap" hanging down below the side doors?

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Yep. And the guy on the box is too cool to wear a seatbelt ;)

 

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3 hours ago, GeeWings said:

Yep. And the guy on the box is too cool to wear a seatbelt ;)

 

But he has a seat to clench.

And a torso, which always helps.

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9 minutes ago, jonboy1 said:

But he has a seat to clench.

And a torso, which always helps.

True. He's hopped-up.

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4 hours ago, tim.senecal said:

My personal example is the Subaru Brat:

box art:

subaru_brat.jpg.84d31b974164eabff8c5c1489244bbbb.jpg

vs reality:

real_subaru_brat.thumb.jpg.b4e33bd115e2c0ebb3f09407f727414d.jpg

 

real car's wheels are about 1.5x (maybe 2x) the size in the box art,  two front brush guards, no wheel wells, and what is all that "crap" hanging down below the side doors?

Yeah now I'm looking at it I get what your saying:) and the two bumpers! But it's such an iconic rc truck and the body itself is pretty spot on I kinda forgive its aesthetic flaws! Its similar to the Ford ranger the box art is the same then you build the truck and it has the same (I wouldn't say problems) flawes? But its such a excellent iconic truck I just don't see what is obvious? emperors new clothes you could say?.......... But I still say the driver of them both looks like Michael Myers! And the trio lancia rally, Audi quattro, and Opel ascona they look so odd that they are just so cool!

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