Tamiya Midnight Pupkin
- <i><u>OVERVIEW :</u></i>
The one I have always wanted. I love the look of this truck and looked on the likes of eBay for ages trying to find a good example of it, until just by sheer chance I found a brand new sealed one at <a href="http://www.towerhobbies.com" target="_blank">Tower Hobbies, USA.</a>
The truck was up for $99.00 + $44.00 postage by airmail to the UK - I simply needed to buy it. When the item arrived I had to pay the Great British rip-off charge on the costoms which worked out to an extra £29.15 but it was the only way to get this model in new condition. The truck came very well packed and the box was in great condition considering it had came all the way from the States, although it took 2 weeks from order to delivery.
After taking a few pictures with the digi-cam I sat back with a few beers on a Friday evening and got to work constructing the truck.
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- <i><u>NEW BUILT :</u></i>
The model was made with a lot of care and attention, the parts were cut out neatly and trimmed off before assembly so the truck would look as good as possible, even close up. After finishing the main running chassis I could not resist running it on the large slate covered patio my father had just finished in the back garden. I was really suprised at how fast and nimle the truck was, the un-eveness of the running surface caused the truck to bounce along whilst giving the suspension a good work out. Using the brake on the electronic speed controller I had fitted, hand brake turns and wheelies were easily achieved and was suitably entertaining.
The great Ford F-100 shell was painted using matt black car body spray can primer, some sprays will melt plastic so it's important to test them out 1st. A good primer coat is essential to form a base for the gloss finish, gloss on its own will form patches and look terrible. I used a black gloss from the same spray can range as the primer, the key to a good finish coat is applying many light coats and leaving the paint to fully dry before attempting the next one.
Once the gloss paint had fully cured the decals were added, I cut them out perfectly (took me long enough to do !!!) cutting them right on the line. I found the flame decals pretty tricky to align, especially on the front arch, I would seriously recomend buying a spare decal set (only $3.50 from Tower Hobbies).
I ommited a few of the smaller decals (you can go over the top with them) and once I was totally happy with the look of the truck I sprayed the whole thing with gloss clear lacquer, again from the same spray can range. The lacquer melts and smooths the base colour out to remove any small imperfections in the paint work, it also adds a protective transparrent barrier, the effect not only looks good but helps prevent scratches as well as sticker peel.
The body shell supports come on a white plastic sprue and looked odd poking through the shell so they also given the black paint treatment.
The result, shown below, is fantastic and well worth the effort.
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- <i><u>UPGRADES :</u></i>
Planning to add uprated aluminium shocks, alloy wheels and few different shell colour schemes.<p align="center">
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New In Box The kit ready to be assembled