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HI!... I just picked up this Tamiya Supershot. The previous owner did a great job restoring it but only got about 90% of it done. I still need to get a new body from TBG due to this one either had bad paint or something was on the body when it was painted. Also needs the MSC, electronics, driver's head and the driver needs to be painted. And the window netting. This one will also be a shelf queen when it's fully restored.

Very nice purchase,
I picked up an original last week also,
It really needs a new body shell, replacement wheels and tyres, the driver painting and the elecs sorting and then she will be good to go.
Not sure where to get the decals as i don't want to install the re-re version??

Have fun, Mark.

Nice to see you guys restoring ORIGINAL Supershots, not the "Super Hotshot".

As for original decals, just keep an eye on ebay. They will be expensive, but you will see them come up eventually. The key skill in any vintage original restoration, is patience

H.

Well said H (Rome wasn't built in a day)
Keep it real keep it as close as you can get it, without breaking the bank

Mark

HI!... Just got a new Supershot body from TBG. I also just bought a original set of mint NIP decals. They should be here next week.

I was wondering, when you restore your cars, do you usually keep with the original MSC or do you upgrade to an ESC? Also, if it's just a shelf queen do you bother with other electronics like the receiver and such?

FACE wrote:

I was wondering, when you restore your cars, do you usually keep with the original MSC or do you upgrade to an ESC? Also, if it's just a shelf queen do you bother with other electronics like the receiver and such?

HI!... I try to restore my cars to out of the box condition, the way they would of been when they were introduced. So all period correct electronics. Some of the MSC's are getting hard to find these days. I'm currently on the hunt for two NIP Bigwig MSC's.

Face, I think you'll find many purists among vintage Tamiya fans. Trying to get all the exact parts and a box art body.
Even with electronics from the time period - or a mockup of it at least.

I would only go so far myself if I were to build a shelfer...
But usually I'd like to be able to drive the car, leading me on the path of hop up mania.
And an ESC is definitely one of the first things on the list.

ESC yes if going to run.
MSC if its just a shelfer.

With the ESC there is less chance the MSC will stick open and the buggy disappear's off into the distance/sea/curb etc

Personally, I also build my cars to absolute vintage standard only

As in, exactly as they would have been if built from a kit back when they were first released.
I got into this hobby in order to experience all the vintage Tamiyas I never had as a kid, and I absolutely refuse to compromise
Here are a few of the things I do and don't-do...

- I build cars to exact original kit spec.

- I only ever use original spec items. If the manual says Mechanical speed control and plastic bearings, that is what I use - including for runners. To me, the only spec is original spec, as I'm interested in how the cars perform in absolutely standard form. Just like kids would have built them in the 1980s!

- When I restore some old car to use as a runner, I do the following as a minimum:
a) Pull it apart 100% and clean all parts.
b) If something is broken, I buy an original release NIP part to replace that item.
c) Put whatever body/tyres/msc it came with, to one side.
d) Rebuild it to original spec, using a NIB original body set, tyre set and MSC. These three are essential.
e) If I happen to have any other NIP parts in my spares stockpile, I also use these instead of the used parts.

Other things:

- I absolutely refuse to use any re-release parts, repro parts, or parts from other brands.
The *only* exception to this is: re-release tyres on runners. While many of Tamiya's re-release plastic parts seem to have had modified molds, the tyres are in most cases indistinguishable from the original release tyres.

- Having said that, I would only ever use re-release tyres on a runner. For anything 100% new built, I only use original release tyres.

Example case:
A few years ago I picked up a used Sand Scorcher for just $40.
It was complete, but old. I cleaned up the old body (removed paint) and sold it.
I bought a NIB original body set, original tyres and original msc.
Then I disassembled the car completely, and did a full check of which other parts were ok vs broken parts vs missing parts. Anything broken or missing, I bought NIP original vintage parts - this turned out to include things like dampers, bumper, well nuts, rear guard.
Then I cleaned/polished all the other used parts, and assembled the car.
I haven't got around to painting the body yet, but once I have this will be my runner Sand Scorcher

cheers,
H.