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Problemchild

Porsche 959 - Kamtec or TBG

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About to do a repro 959 shell and interested to hear experiences with either the TBG or Kamtec shells?

ive used both companies before for various builds but unsure on which route to take this time.

clearly the main difference is cost

the TBG shell, wing and cockpit comes in at £50 with shipping from Canada (all items sold separately) while the Kamtec one is around £38 with shipping 

 

any advice greatly received 

 

JJ

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I've used 1 shell from Kamtec (think it was a Frog) and was not especially impressed with it. It seemed to have a lot of detail missing and the cut lines were almost invisible. 

I've used TBG shells exclusively since (and always recommend people who ask me to paint shells for them to use them too) - probably in the 30-40 range now - and have never been disappointed. 

That said - I don't want to sound like I'm being hard on Kamtec - as runners, I think they are spot on, especially as I think they are a bit thicker than TBG shells. Also, I love their ABS bodies - they've got an Austin Allegro I've got 101 ideas for!! :) 

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Difficult one as the 959 isn’t really a basher - which, for me, is the level of detail in both Kamtec and TBG 959 shells 

They’re way thicker than the original so def gain durability but lose pretty much all the nice touches in the Tamiya original 

If I had to choose, the TBG shell was slightly better in terms of respecting 959 angles / curves 👍

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That’s all good info 

im putting the repro shell on a non 959 chassis but not will I be bashing - it’s all about cost 

JJ

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Thanks for all the good info 

decided on the Kamtec set up 

now just got to look into the other ancillaries

 

JJ 

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Sorry to be late to party.. TBG would have been the better choice. He’s a Porsche fanatic and continuously improved the 959 body.. was a passion for him! 

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On 9/30/2020 at 11:50 PM, Raman36 said:

Sorry to be late to party.. TBG would have been the better choice. He’s a Porsche fanatic and continuously improved the 959 body.. was a passion for him! 

You are defo right 

I bought the kamtec one and it’s good but the front end just isn’t right 

so I bought a TBG one too

so I’ll paint up the kamtec one with decals and put it up for sale 

JJ

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Post some pictures of both here when you're done! We'd love to see them side by side.

I've got a NIB body set for the 959 that I haven't been able to part with yet..

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23 hours ago, Kamika007z said:

Post some pictures of both here when you're done! We'd love to see them side by side.

I've got a NIB body set for the 959 that I haven't been able to part with yet..

Yeah will do

got an original spoiler set and a resin repro set (god knows how the lexan ones are supposed to attach

2 sets of MCI decals now arrived :)

will crack on soon

 

JJ

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How do the quality of the MCI's look for the 959? I recently got a set for the Mud Blaster and they weren't bad at all.

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On 12/6/2020 at 6:32 PM, Problemchild said:

MCI are excellent 

I’ve gone for 1 standard and 1 high quality 

JJ

Nice! Do you see a difference between the standard vs the high quality? Just wondering what the difference is between the two.

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1 hour ago, Kamika007z said:

Nice! Do you see a difference between the standard vs the high quality? Just wondering what the difference is between the two.

Yeah - the colours are much brighter :)

id ordered a few different things so the extra for the nice decals didn’t really impact 

JJ

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I just purchased a set of decals from MCI and it sounds like for the same reason you are.  I am doing an MF01X.

But - I didn't see an option for high quality.  There was a check box to enable 'Premium Color Options' - but I thought this was just so I could choose changes.  Did I miss something?  I'll go back and order again if there is a better option.

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On 9/10/2020 at 12:14 AM, Badcrumble said:

An interesting, and welcome option.

 

Its 6+ years ago since i did the MF-01X with the TBG body, the one i received was wafer thin on the front lower bumper and the lowest portion at the rear - these are the highest drawn areas when creating the shells I'd guess. If I were doing it again I think I'd go with Kamtec or the L&L one - just to see if they were any better / avoid some of the disappointment I had with the TBG one. Maybe i didnt get the best example, maybe they are slightly better now ?

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I'm usually quite critical of repro bodies and stickers, as some are quite bad. But the TBG 959 body fits the chassis quite well and small details are OK. The 959 MCI stickers are good quality.

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On 1/13/2021 at 2:13 PM, brad-t said:

I just purchased a set of decals from MCI and it sounds like for the same reason you are.  I am doing an MF01X.

But - I didn't see an option for high quality.  There was a check box to enable 'Premium Color Options' - but I thought this was just so I could choose changes.  Did I miss something?  I'll go back and order again if there is a better option.

Premium colour option is the brighter more Vibrant set

if you look at my build thread you will see the difference 

the standard ones are fine 

JJ

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On 1/13/2021 at 2:41 PM, Percymon said:

An interesting, and welcome option.

 

Its 6+ years ago since i did the MF-01X with the TBG body, the one i received was wafer thin on the front lower bumper and the lowest portion at the rear - these are the highest drawn areas when creating the shells I'd guess. If I were doing it again I think I'd go with Kamtec or the L&L one - just to see if they were any better / avoid some of the disappointment I had with the TBG one. Maybe i didnt get the best example, maybe they are slightly better now ?

I found this too 

I’ve done a back to back comparison on my build thread (page 3 has the details)

JJ

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