Ernest and EJ hobbies feature: Tamiya Mini 4wd Mk2

Mk2
Finally purchased EJ 1st Mini 4wd and kid did not skimp on picking the newest, most expensive basic kit on the lineup the Festa Jaune aka Lamborghini Veneno* aping edition.
The selection on JNM's Hobby square was staggering when we visited lots of those pink specials, couple of nice black editions and re-stocks of old favorites like broken gigant but still EJ won't be swayed.

EJ First Tamiya Mini 4wd kit

Unpacking
Christmas three of plastic parts two in total, one for tires, decals, the engine and baggy of gears, shaft's and old Tamiya staple blue tube lube. Manual as always in Japanese, basic operation manual now with English translation.

Kit impression
MA chassis kit quite nice the plastic body feels solid with high quality yellow finish, the MA chassis pretty stiff.
Decals are nice, shiny and now are not a pain to apply they do not break easily when you are lining up for application.
The engine included Tamiya unbranded generic motor with double rotating pinion gears. Older chassis kit do not include the engine.
Two driving gears, 2 pinion gears, 2 gear shafts, 2 hex shafts, and 2 connecting gear for tire shafts. The MA chassis motor and chassis design forgoes the OG drive shaft found on every mini 4wd since inception.

Rims, tires low profile variety and they look good.

Double pinion motor

Assembly
Proud to say that my son assembled the kit with minimal supervision. Basically I just detached/cut the parts from the tree and guided my son on how to follow the instructions.
MA chassis layout integrates the rear roller stays, kit comes with 6 small diameter rollers (plastic) and basic brake system for the chassis. With the engine and all the rollers included the kit is ready to run, just slap two AA batteries.

Installing tires

Putting in gears

Cowl and roller

Finished

Now for the stickers

Details that matter

• Blue pinion gears are now standard before they are aftermarket
• Includes 6 low friction plastic bearing for the axle shaft, and two drive gears. No more crappy eyelets.
• Comes stock with brake system.
• Normal engine a surprise. Speed tested made a run of 18-19 kph out the box.
• Hex shafts and rims are now so hard to remove by hand (use Pliers) good or bad thing depending on who you ask.

Fresh NORMAL motor

My X chassis, Atomic motor, same batteries

Free mods

Stock brakes extension can be lengthen downwards by putting 2 washer on the screw. And cutting up, installing strips of Bathroom tape or thin sponge to improve contact friction.
Good batteries. Tested the motor with 2100 mah (bolts) Nimh (?) and speed quite impressive for a normal-stock unit.

Festa Jaune with OG Speed checker

Mk3 Next week: Festa Jaune, X chassis finalizing mods and hopefully track test.

Ernest and EJ

*Lamborghini Veneno

Ernest and EJ hobbies feature: Tamiya Mini 4wd MK1

Tamiya Mini 4wd
This week feature an oldie but goodie Tamiya Mini 4wd. It started when a friend of my mom gave me my 1st kit "The boomerang" the thing that got me hooked to Mini 4wd is it's simplicity to assemble and run. The early 80's kit came with motor and until now still powered by 2 AA batteries, no glue required for assembly "snap-on". Back then Mini 4wd was a novelty until some marketing geniuses realized the true potential of the Tamiya scaled down RC modeled toys for kids.

As seen by a fan, not a racer.
During the late 90's the anime show Let's and Go introduced competitive side of Mini 4wd racing. With Hobby shops like JMN's, Lil's, jumping on once obscure running kit's that occupied their shelves. Rental tracks would sprout-out on malls, major sponsors from huge corporations like Magnolia, Toyota, would host year long tournaments. Even small neighborhood venues would conduct races, Mini 4wd or "TAMIYA" became "The" thing. Until the boom of LAN games came crashing on Tamiya parade. All of the sudden the race tracks in mall's started to disappear, major sponsors that once fueled races where now gone, only a few local tracks remained, it was all OVER faster than you can say Let's go...
Real fans of mini 4wd kept the fire alive until today funding tracks, and weekly tournaments. TAMIYA is not dead you just have to ask, research, around. Who know's that obscure OLD mall might be hiding a gem of a track?

Technical evolution
Tamiya Mini 4wd has evolved from the simple SNAP-On toy for kids to something that a serious enthusiast can appreciate. Parts made of carbon fiber, sponge tires, ball bearing for moving parts, etc. ton's of combinations, ton's of hop-up parts for racing, and chassis layouts.

Winning formula
Simplicity, reliability, plus Mini 4wd are dirt cheap hobby to start with. Just go ask the people doing Mountain biking or Airsoft, entry level equipment alone costs 10x what you will be spending on decent Mini 4wd setup-car/cars.

Tamiya's magic

Reviving my love for Mini 4wd because I want my son to learn the value of DIY. He will be assembling a kit by himself, following instructions, while learning how to do basic maintenance and basic setup for the track. He will be using the newest chassis and parts available, he already selected one and we will be purchasing the kit later this month.

EJ has choosen the FESTA JAUNE

Right now I already restored and conducted setup on one of my brothers old chassis. Since it was in storage it accumulated a lot of dirt and crude. Soap, water, and paint thinner in tow managed to clean the plastic chassis, body, gears along with the metal parts (paint thinner) to almost new. Now the next step testing it on a track and hoping that It won't implode on first crash.

Mk2 Next week: The Festa Jaune

Ernest and EJ

Ernest and EJ Hobbies

Welcome,
To Ernest and EJ hobbies we share the passion for collecting toys from Hotwheels, happy meal toys, and others.

Tuesday will feature Happy Meal toys, Wednesdays toy or toys for the week, and on Thursdays All about Hotwheels.
Plus toy previews and reviews.

Adventure time!

Ernest and EJ