Back in the very early 90's I was lucky enough to receive a Tamiya Astute radio controlled car. This followed a year or more of Saturday mornings visiting Beatties Toy Store on Aylesbury high street, drooling at their sweet radio controlled offerings. I don't think I ever asked for one but my dad bought me the car for wither my birthday or Christmas in 1990/91 (I don't recall which). was absolutely bloody delighted.
Many Tamiya models don't come assembled, you have to do that yourself and that's half the fun. I recall spending my evenings setup on the dining room table putting the kit together. It was a speedy little thing and I even got around to racing it on the weekends at a track that used to be situated behind Toddington Services.
I managed to damage the car 3 or 4 years later and never got around to getting the bits to fix it. It was around the time of my GCSEs so other things got in the way and the Astute was relegated to the loft. I had all intentions of getting it up and running back in 2014 but parts were jolly expensive as they were now discontinues and deemed to be "vintage": it was difficult to justify the time and finances with a 4 and a 2 year old.
So here we are in 2020 confined to our houses due to the nastiness that is the Coronavirus pandemic. What else is there to do other than get the old beastie rebuilt?
I've spent a good few hours tidying the garage over the past few weeks and managed to carve myself a nice little work area. I've also spent plenty of time in the loft searching for all the bits and bobs that I've somehow managed to spread all over the place. Today I decided was THE day an the great clean-up and rebuilt started.
The snap above was taken after a good few hours of further dismantling the already dismantled parts, giving them a good clean and starting to get them all put back together.
Here's what I ended up with 5 hours later.
Still a long way to go right?
From a running standpoint there isn't too much left to do. I need to source some aftermarket hubs for the front and will likely replace the rear items to. It's impossible to find original parts so I'll likely shop around for printed items or get some aluminium replacements. There are also a few other odds and sods that I can botch up from similar models.
I don't have the original body any more but managed to find reproduction item back in 2014. I have the under-tray fitted and will look at cutting the top out in the next few days. All of the electrics are fitted other than the receiving that I still need to clean and mount just behind the steering servo (just left of centre).
It will likely be a good few months before I can get the final bits purchased and fitted but I can't wait to see this think motoring along again.