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Home for wayward Tamiya buggies

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This little story is going to sound odd as Tamiya models are, after all, just material objects. Did you ever see a neglected or busted up Tamiya and feel the need to fix it up. I recently literally stumbled across a Madcap on Fleabay which had a chassis that was bent like a banana. Poor thing. Now I need another Madcap like I need another hole in my head but...it just called out to me. I have the replacement parts laying around so repairing it will be no problem. I just didn't need it, but I felt "bad" for it. There's a lot to be said about the satisfaction of taking an old discarded object and breathing new life into it. In many ways its more rewarding than buying new (not that that's bad either).

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hehe, sounds like most of my collection, I have a lot of junk lots that need fixing up :D  I do like the idea of bringing something back from almost trash to useable though. For me if something is repairable, then its a waste to not fix it.

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I think I saw that madcap for a while and just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger.... glad it's going to someone who will take care of it

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Yeah, I watched that Madcap for a few days. I just kept telling myself I didn't need it but my thoughts kept returning to it. Finally I caved. It looked so forlorn there with its melted chassis, I just had to give it a home. My drive to fix old things and put them back into service is probably why I restore 1:1 antique cars for a living.

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No this isn't unusual at all. I do this a bit myself, not to the standards of many in here, more back to runner status.

So if the body is rough, I'll keep it and run the car/buggy with that on it. Having said that, I do have a new body set on the way for the Boomerang I bought recently.

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Yep, sure sounds like something I have done and may continue to do so in the future if I see that I have the parts to fix something. I must have bought about 8 or 9 TA01 buggy(DF-01??) aka Manta Ray chassis etc to build my empire of that family of buggies. LOL, No actually I was just after fixing up a relatively easy to run and pretty stout chassis car and it turned into 8 or 9 purchases of parts lots etc. I am not done with all the parts yet, but have weeded out the broken bits and finally have come to part with the cracked and broken bits. I had a thing for finding and fixing up HotShot chassis too, but I have now gotten into a phase of working with the M chassis cars, but I haven't really worked on much in the last few months, so with the beginning of 2017, I will need to rejuvenate my Tamiya time.

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I've done this with WT/WR01's a few times! Reviving them with displaced leftovers from upgrades made to our own cars.

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My Ebay monster Beetle had been jumped on, just about everything that wasn't inbetween the chassis was bent or smashed.  It even had square wheels.

 

 

$_57.JPG

WP_20160606_10_51_00_Pro.jpg

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Not a Tamiya, but a similar vintage buggy.

I saw a Radio Shack Golden Arrow on eBay that was in bad shape and had been sprayed gold.

I really wanted to get that buggy, fix it up and add modern electronics to give it a new life, but it was way overpriced (about the same as what a good condition one is worth).

The listing was buy it now with best offer enabled, but the seller simply ignored my two offers (the second one was more than reasonable).

 

It was up there for several months, but eventually someone bought it.

I don't know how much it went for in the end, but I hope whover bought it didn't pay the asking price, and I hope they are restoring it.

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Restored a Thundershot a while ago:

72D32B51-C55D-4E80-B3A8-526D2B7FD4AD_zps

A41E3730-5D53-4BDA-848A-C98E01747BF1_zps

 

After:

DA9E2879-6AE6-48A2-BC58-D4B3C3E12245_zps

9CAABBDA-24D3-4F2F-A7FB-F958042D10E2_zps

 

Didn't get time to install the driver but was fun to restore

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1 hour ago, Newsh said:

Restored a Thundershot a while ago:

72D32B51-C55D-4E80-B3A8-526D2B7FD4AD_zps

A41E3730-5D53-4BDA-848A-C98E01747BF1_zps

 

After:

DA9E2879-6AE6-48A2-BC58-D4B3C3E12245_zps

9CAABBDA-24D3-4F2F-A7FB-F958042D10E2_zps

 

Didn't get time to install the driver but was fun to restore

Looks great! Same shell I suppose? How did you do it? I have a vintage Avante shell that needs treatment.

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No, its a repro shell. I did try to clean it up but the outside was heavily scuffed and there were a lot of splits

Managed to get most of the paint off with polycarbonate body cleaner, but once i'd cleaned it I realised it was beyond saving unfortunately

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hah, think we all have this issue!!

Here is a DF01 and an M05 needing to be redone...

IMG_1029_zpszpl4lga9.jpg

IMG_1030_zpsc8igykch.jpg

IMG_1031_zpsk4puunpa.jpg

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This colour was a bit wayward for me.

SuperAstute-301213012Medium_zps35d0da45.

Chassis restore was a breeze but I didn't want to spoil the original body or stickers so I spent dozens of hours over weeks and weeks to slowly chip away the original brushed on PC paint.

 SuperAstute301214001Medium_zpsd02d3b6f.j

....... and finally ended up with this.

SuperAstute1402152%20003%20Medium_zpsio9

 

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This one was a roadside verge pick up (left out as rubbish) !

image_zpsrofzqnhj.jpeg

..... now it's my boy's favourite runner.

image.jpg2_zpsfetlru1f.jpg

 

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32 minutes ago, berman said:

Wish you didnt post that Big Bear, chevelle... :(

:o^_^ Especially since the Father & Son really love driving it around :o:wacko:

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On Wednesday, December 28, 2016 at 10:40 PM, chevelle said:

mbbbaap.jpg

 

The Big Bear is just beautiful😉

 

Its like having clodbuster tyres on a blue toyota hilux....just amazing! Love the colour combination I want one!!

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I enjoy bringing them back from the dead much more than a new build.  However the wallet would rather have the new build, a restoration always cost more than you think it will lol 

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