This special edition uses the Dual Ridge Jr. design as used by the winner of the Japan Cup 2021 competition.

• Body: Polycarbonate plastic
• Chassis: VZ
• Motor: Stock 130 with a single shaft which transmits power via a prop shaft to gears on each axle.

So far I've constructed and tested the basic chassis until I decide if I'm going to complete the model as a 'box' version or modify it using various upgrade parts.  The chassis in this model is a really quite nice dark blue in colour and comes with slightly lighter blue wheels. 

The body colour scheme is based on a nice light blue metallic colour on the box illustration which is quite appealing.  What I need to decide is if I want to just paint it that colour and then use the provided stickers to finish the 'look' or if I want to use the base colour and add other decoration maybe even the original checks if I can manage to paint that. 

In addition do I want to add carbon fibre/aluminium parts and accessories to being it up to the BMAX or 'Open' class.

Decisions, decisions...

This is an interesting and very different special limited edition  of a 'Jeepney' which is a Jeep that has been converted into a small bus.  This particular version is one dedicated to the Philippines.  

• Body: ABS plastic
• Chassis: FM-A
• Motor: Stock 130 with a single shaft which transmits power via a directly to gears on each axle.

The base colour of the body is a nice bright red which I opted not to paint as there is a comprehensive set of stickers provided which cover the majority of the body anyway.  I did pick out some detail which I chromed, specifically the wheels, hood ornaments (Llama's) and the bumpers.  If I were to follow the box illustration I'd also make the roof silver, but I'm not sure as I think the red roof works well as it is.  But I can always change it, for the moment though until I decide I've left the destination board sticker in the box.

In terms of customisation I added carbon Fibre stays, twin aluminium rollers both front and rear, mass weight on the sides.  Finally colour coordinated aluminium spacers and balls to top off the posts.

I've also just added a couple of pictures of an alternative body set I recently purchased to give me the option of changing the body shell if I want.  This one is Tamiya part number 95632 and described as 'Dyipne Body Parts Set (Clear Orange)'.  This is a transparent ABS body shell suitable for any FM-A chassis.

23/07/2025 - Added this new model to my collection.  Will be updated when constructed.

• Body: ABS
• Chassis: MA
• Motor: Stock 130 with a dual shafts each which transmits power directly to gears on each axle.

22/08/2025 - Added this new model to my collection.  Will be updated when constructed.

**Update** Couldn't resist I decided to build this next, nice easy build as I always find with the MA chassis, nice quiet runner also.

• Body: ABS
• Chassis: MA
• Motor: Stock 130 with a dual shafts each which transmits power directly to gears on each axle.

At the moment I've not added any spinners as I want to tweak the running train to see what speeds I can get out of this chassis/car.

• Stock 130 motor (new) - 18 kph
• Upgrade motor Hyper-Dash Pro (broken in) - 30 kph

Having decided to jump straight to a Hyper-Dash Pro which I run in before I fitted it to the car I saw an improvement in speed immediately increasing from the stock 130 motor's 18kph to a nice 30kph which is quite dramatic.

With this sort of improvement and the Hyper-Dash being BMax legal I decided to go the whole way and upgrade to BMax using an MA basic upgrade kit, MA side mass weight kit, countersunk screw set for the underside so I could make the screw heads flat so as to prevent damage to tracks.  Also added a  strengthening stay along the front bottom to stiffen up the front of the car as well as act as a front brake when I add some to the car.  As I want this one to be race legal I used all genuine Tamiya parts including some nice 19mm alloy spinners.  Makes for a nice looking car which should have reasonable performance  in its class.

This car is a design I really like, although I do like some of the out and out racers, I also find cars designed to look like a real world or potentially real world car is far more attractive.  This one looks like a typical super car that could easily come from the stables of one of the big super car manufacturers like Ferrari (see what i did?  'stables' - prancing horse lol).

The colour scheme also works really well with this car especially with the nice silver chrome wheels.

• Body: ABS plastic
• Chassis: MA
• Motor: Stock 130 with a dual shafts each which transmits power directly to gears on each axle.

So far I've only constructed and tested the basic chassis until I decide if I'm going to complete the model as a 'box' version or modify it using various upgrade parts.

I also want to paint this body to finish it nicely before adding any stickers containing logo's etc...  But this is on hold till I get hold of a nice can of yellow paint!

23/07/2025 - Added this new model to my collection.  Will be updated when constructed.

• Body: ABS
• Chassis: AR
• Motor: Stock 130 with a single shaft with a prop shaft to power gears on each axle.

** Update 28/08/25 **

This was an interesting kit to build, although based on an AR chassis it had some good and bad points in terms of components.

First the bad the axles were slightly out of true as they wouldn't pass the straighten test, luckily I had a pack of the special hardened 60mm axles which were a direct replacement for the ones in the kit. The other thing I found a bit disappointing was the plain ABS wheels with plain black tyres doubly so as they were quite soft and squidgy rather than super hards which tend to be my preferred ones these days.

But, on the good side as well as the normal set of gears there was also included a set of the carbon high performance/resistance type crown gears and pinion gear. This seemed a bit odd bearing in mind the tyres/axle issues, but nonetheless welcome. In some ways they are a good match for the replacement axles and will probably come in handy if I decide to upgrade the motor.

Back in the 80's I had the original Hot Shot (full size R/C model that is), in fact I still have it and although still fully functional I intend to upgrade it at some point to a more modern electronic speed controller etc... instead of using the old analogue speed controller and servo setup we had back in the days.

Naturally therefore I had to get the Mini-4wd version of my old car that I love.  This kit quite nicely reflects the big brother and when complete  will be a good clone (albeit shrunken).

• Body: ABS plastic
• Chassis: MS
• Motor: Stock 130 with a dual shafts each which transmits power directly to gears on each axle.

The chassis is constructed and tested and finished as a box version of the model.  I'm likely to leave it like this as this kit is more for nostalgic reasons than out and out racing (its an age thing lol).

The final colour scheme will be the traditional Italian red with details picked out where appropriate in black and silver to represent things like the suspension, roof (which was aluminium on the original).  I will then use the supplied stickers to finish the kit off.  Photo's of the final model will like the other cars be added when its complete.

I already had in my stable the sister truck the 'Sunny Shuttle' which is fundamentally the same model except it is in yellow with a totally different set of stickers.  However, I liked that so much that I decided to track down its brother the 'Jolly Joker.

• Body: ABS plastic
• Chassis: AR
• Motor: Stock 130 with a single shaft and prop shaft which transmits power to gears on each axle.

I decided to build this one in full racing trim and as such have changed the motor for an 'Atomic Torque Tuned' motor which I ran in before fitting.  I also replaced the supplied wheels with some nice metallic green ones with super hard tyres.  I also fitted ball race bearings on the axles and for the drive gear instead of the standard plastic ones.

In addition I've added FRP stays, brakes etc... along with aluminium rollers and mass weights, the side weights however are not fitted yet as I'm waiting on an order as this design needs to have the 'slimline' mass weights as the stand types foul the 'footplates' which are the clips used in this design to clip the body to the chassis.

I decided not to paint the model, but did pick out the radiator in a metallic green and also the surrounds for the front lights in silver.  The green on the radiator was used to match in with the green parts scheme.

22/08/2025 - Added this new model to my collection. Will be updated when constructed.

• Body: ABS plastic
• Chassis: FM-A
• Motor: Stock 130 with a single shaft and prop shaft which transmits power to gears on each axle.

** Update: 30/08/25 **

So, another 'truck' added to my fleet now its constructed, this is a nice model to build and for a change uses the front mounted engine FM-A chassis.

For now I've gone for a stock box build with the exception of having changed the wheels for a nice set of green metallic plated wheels as the originals were just black plastic ones.  Oddly though the kit was supplied with Super Hard tyres so this change of wheels/tyres is purely for cosmetic reasons as they are the same size and have same compound tyres.

Being a limited edition model this one came with the fully silver plated body, another reason to go for some plated wheels.  The only other slight deviation from the instructions was to fit the rear stay as this is supplied with the kit but was listed as being 'for fitting of upgrade parts.  I felt it was worth adding purely so there could be some spinners on the rear of the truck to protect it.

An unusual but great looking kit when assembled, don't hesitate go get one if you can!

06/09/2025 - Added this new model to my collection.  I love the retro British sports car look of this car with the sweeping curves and long bonnet etc...  Personally I suspect this is based on the Morgan roadster which I've added a picture of just below the Lord Guile box shot  for comparison.

• Body: ABS plastic
• Chassis: FM-A
• Motor: Stock 130 with a single shaft and prop shaft which transmits power to gears on each axle.

** Update: 30/08/25 **

As you may have noticed I do tend to like the more unusual Mini-4wd models as I like to be different after all its not just about speed if you collect the models like it seems I am.

Build was nice and straight forward based on the tried and proven FM-A front mounted engine chassis (appropriate with a long bonnet car I reckon).

I was going to spray paint this car, but the colour is just about right anyway and the sticker set is superb so I decided not to, I've also only built it as a stock box car at the moment, although I may mod it later as it is nice and streamlined so should make for a fast car.

The only strange thing I saw in this kit was the black wheels, as I built it I thought these really should be silver chrome, which it appears Tamiya agree with as they provide silver stickers to go on the wheels which is odd, maybe it was an after thought.  When I mod it I've got a nice set of silver chrome wire wheels which would be ideal on this model, doubly so coupled with a set of super hard tyres.

This is my (current) latest addition to my collection, based on the Manta Ray Mk.II model this one is a special edition 'City Circuit Special'.  This comes in some nicely co-ordinated shades of purple (lilac?!?) with white wheels and violet tyres.  There is also a nice metallic type sticker set which again uses a range of purple colours with some highlights in other colours.  Though that sounds like a bit of a mish-mash of colours I find it actually works and to me looks pretty cool.

• The body is made of ABS plastic.
• The chassis type is the nicely balanced 'MA' design.
• The motor is a stock 130 with a dual shafts each which transmits power directly to gears on each axle.

I've yet to build this as I literally only got it today and also need to decide whether it will be a box model or if I'm going to enhance it.  If anything its the wheels that may get changed, see if I can find some metallic purple ones or failing that maybe gold.  Regardless once built and completed I will add pictures in its final form.

17/07/25 - Update.  I have for now built this kit as a box stock model and very nice it looks too.  I've added pictures of this configuration for you to judge for yourself.  For now it will stay this way, but I can see that this one will be suitable for upgrading at some point.  Note: I did hit one issue, one of the supplied axles was not 100% straight, I mean it looks straight, but sticks in the axle checking tool.  So for now there is a slight wobble on the front axle.  This will get replaced as and when I decide to upgrade it to racing standard, but for now is fine as it is as it still runs ok and looks fine.

21/07/2025 - Added this new model to my collection.  Will be updated when constructed.

• Body: ABS
• Chassis: VZ
• Motor: Stock 130 with a single shaft and prop shaft which transmits power to gears on each axle.

This model of a Ray Spear really caught my eye due to the rather nice colour scheme.  To my eyes the clear green body combined with the white and yellow chassis just works.  The clear backed stickers also enhance the design very nicely without compromising the clear bodyshell.

• Body: ABS plastic
• Chassis: VZ
• Motor: Stock 130 with a single shaft with a prop shaft to power gears on each axle.

Apart from spinners this model is almost finished as a box model.  However I did change the wheels from the boring grey ones to some nice metallic green wheels of the same configuration.  I also retained the supplied tyres rather than use the ones provided with the add-on wheels as they are a different colour.

As I've sort of deviated from the box model if you use strict rules I may upgrade the stays etc... and use aluminium spinners, spacers etc... bearing in mind this is potentially a true racer.

This is the third of the Tamiya special 'starter packs' and is based on the 'Rowdy Bull' body shell.  However this is manufactured in a rather nice transparent black body shell.  This has left me in a bit of a quandary as I quite like the body shell as it is so don't really want to paint it so may end up just using the provided stickers where appropriate.  However I also wonder what it would be like if I added say a pearl finish to the inside of the body shell for example.  I may have to have a play with the left over sprue and see how that looks with a colour added on the rear of it.

• Body: ABS plastic
• Chassis: FM-A
• Motor: Upgraded 130 with a single shaft and prop shaft which  transmits power directly to gears on each axle

This has been upgraded using various parts from the supplied upgrade kit including the stays, mass weights, screws etc...  The only additions were some aluminium spinners, spacers, and balls for the top of the posts.  These add-ons are all colour co-ordinated with the balls contrasting for effect.  I also chromed the wheels to improve them from the basic grey colour.

This car is a limited edition model of 'Santa Claus Racer'.  It is based on the design used in several other cars that have been released previously.

• Body: ABS plastic
• Chassis: VS
• Motor: Stock 130 with a single shaft which transmits power using a prop shaft to gears on both axles.

The right hand top picture is a shot of my assembled model.  In this case I did not paint the car apart from picking out some details such as the radiator and the exhaust pipes with a chrome marker pen.  The Santa figure in this kit is provided already fully painted and just needs to be  secured in place.  Long term I'm considering modifying this possibly up to a BMAX standard as it is simply a cool car in my opinion.