Remote-controlled, scale model, and Mini 4WD project cars of all stripes.
Although the racing Mini 4WDs are fun, there’s a lot of off-track fun to be had, too. Summer means off-roading, even if it is just in a straight line. I picked up this “Wild” Mini 4WD Suzuki Jimny in Japan, and I want to do a reasonable job building it. Let’s wide!
I haven’t thrown together an American-made car model since I was a kid. Back then, I didn’t have the luxury of airbrushes, or the most important tool of all: patience. This “retro” kit tested both my painting and modelling skills in a bigger way than I thought it would!
This model kit of a ‘71 Honda Z GSS was picked up at a Yodobashi Camera. I was drawn to its adorable 1/32 scale and its incredibly cheap price. Are these Owners’ Club kits junk? Do I have what it takes to paint and build this little car?
Other than helping out some adults (by holding tools) as a kid, I haven’t built an R/C kit before. I can build a Mini 4WD! How much harder could a Tamiya Holiday Buggy be? It turns out, not much harder. Except for the stickers.
Now that I’ve fixed the Rising-Trigger knockoff chassis’s broken motor mount in the previous entry, it’s time to move on and start building the car. Of course, since it’s a knockoff Daxing chassis, this car will mostly be used for display. So we better do a good paint job. Did I mention it’s my first paint job?
Here’s another easy-to-build pre-painted kit that I haven’t gotten around to building in well over a decade. This NC1 Miata is a pretty thing with very awkward instructions. The purpose of finishing this is to learn how to do waterslide stickers!
This ‘04 Subaru WRX model kit has been sitting on my shelves for what must be well over fifteen years. I opened it once, looked at the contents, and then closed it up to wait for some time. Let’s make that time now!
I already have a perfectly good hoard of Dremels in my collection of tools. So why am I paying Tamiya a bunch of money to buy one that runs on AA batteries? You know why. Because it comes as a kit.
Although I’ve seen them at the stores for awhile, I wasn’t particularly interested in doing any of the early Mattel Brick Shop kits. They seemed to be predominantly European cars, and although the Audi RS2 price seemed right, the kit didn’t look that good to me. Lucky for all of us, Honda was there to license them an EF Civic in just the right shade of Taihitian Green Pearl. Honda can always get…
Tamiya’s new Fun-Vroom Mini 4WD is out, and with it, the new “EZ” chassis. It’s quite a bit different from previous Mini 4WDs, but it’s just as much fun.