Welcome to this web site dedicated to RC Models

The main theme on this site is radio controlled vehicles, and more specifically Tamiya Vintage and current models, from 1976 to now. It is a hobby, better said a passion, in which I fell back into after some 20 years You will also find some information about grid computing that uses the unused spare power of our computers for scientific projects. Go and discover how you can make science progress for the benefit of the Human Kind.

Thanks for your visit and good surf  

News

26/08/10: Update on my Toyota Celica LB Turbo Gr.5 article
At last, I found time to finish and publish the article about this very time-consuming project. This last part is about the bodyshell and chrome. The model is finished and was even already driven.

16/08/10 : Chronicle of a Hit Foretold
With time and thinking, I decided to publish the exact opposite to my entry of july 7th about the Holiday Buggy 2010. I didn't change my mind in anyway about this model, but I felt it was unfair to publish my personal view without giving you the opportunity to make your own opinion about it.

This is why I took time to read as many favorables comments on internet and to synthesize them here: they are not what I think, but my opinion only belongs and matters to me. Everyone is free to have a different opinon: I think it was important for everyone to make his own opinion based on true facts. The announce of this model generated so many negative comments that fans who are excepting this model bareley dared to express their mind about it.

So, the question is: why is the Holiday Buggy 2010 much appreciated and therefore promises to be a real commercial hit for Tamiya?

The 1980 Holiday Buggy

The 2010 version

The Holiday Buggy 2010 has very serious arguments to be a commercial success that may even reach the Grasshopper's:
 the bodyshell is an exception on today's market: no other is so unique with such a retro look. This applies to the driver too
 the chassis is the modern DT-02 which is reliable and performant. It feature a modest RS-380 motor in order to preserve the body and to be easier to be controlled by young people and beginners. The easy upgrade to a 5450 type motor is very interesting since the fans will be able to make their model evolve once they have enough practice and control
 the model is very easy to build, even for a beginner, and most of all, the tainted body avoids painful paint operations which can be tricky for beginners (and not only for beginners if you see what I mean)
 the model pricing is one of the lowest

The overall result is an entry-level model, easy to build and to start, a model that looks like no other on the market and that can easily evolve: this is the exact definition of a commercial hit. The bodyshell and the name will probably remind memories to older people, memories of a model they may have own when they were younger. But a 1980 model, an entry-level econominc model with a very fragile chassis and an overall poor performer.

The Holiday Buggy 2010 should not be considered as the 1980 re-release: the 2010 version targets exactly the same maket segment, it uses the exact same concept and features a body that closely looks to the original from 1980, but the model now offers a reliable and evolutive chassis which is a performer. These are the arguments the original was desperately short of.

With the Holiday Buggy 2010, Tamiya made a model that features all necessary arguments to follow the footprints of another tremendous success in all RC history: the Grasshopper's. Grumpy vintage fans may think this model is Tamiya worst ever mistake in history and that they betrayed their logo: now it's time for fans to prove the opposite by turning this model into a world success. At the time, another model received the worst comments: it was called The Grasshopper...

13/08/10: Collection update
As I announced in June, I want to keep modern models to drive with no fear to break and to orient the rest of my collection towards pure vintage models. This is the reason why I've just sold three of my models, my Grasshopper II, my Lunch Box and my Baja King.

You are right: my Grasshopper II was far from being modern, but it was my Hornet double. Same thing with my Lunch Box which is already replaced with a model I still have to write about. About the Baja King, it was right in between of my modern Dark Impact and my vintage Boomerang. For a question of room but also for a question of personal taste, I made choices. Logically, all the other models in my collection should stay and new ones are on their way to join them.

04/08/10: Tamiya distribution in Europe
Ever wondered why the rest of the world is jealous of us, the European people? Our tremendous purchasing power, our patience when waiting for new items to be imported and our worldwide known sense of humor? Because we, Europeans, we have privileges: for the best and for the worst, and for laughing too, all the secrets of Tamiya distribution in Europe are now revealed.

21/07/10: RSS feed activated

Some of you asked for this feature in order to get automatic notifications when I publish a new article. Sorry, it took some time before I looked into this, but now I set it up and it works. Your browser should automatically find the RSS feed, otherwise you'll find it on the icon at the left side. Concerning a mobile version of my site adapted to mobile devices like smartphones, I'm sorry I have to say no. This site is entirely coded by me: I don't have either time nor the coding skills required to start working on a mobile dedicated version.

20/07/10: Openning of the Tamiya Museum
Thanks to two friends who sent me their photos, you can now make the Tamiya Museum virtual tour right from your computer.

07/07/10: Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Today should be a day of modelistic happiness since Tamiya announces the Holiday Buggy re-release. Well, to be honest, they announced the Holiday Buggy 2010 release.

The 1980 Holiday Buggy

The 2010 version

S.O.S. (Save Our Souls), or in this case, Save Tamiya's Soul. For us vintage and Tamiya fans, it will probably be time to Save Our Money.

In fact, this Holiday Buggy 2010, already mocked as the "Holiday Ugly" by many fans, is a non-sense from Tamiya, a marketing fault both monstruous and far beyond comprehension.
 the original body was slaughtered with two holes in the front bonnet to leave room for the damper tower
 the chassis is the modern DT-02 but powered by the modest RS-380 motor in order to preserve the very fragile body
 the front and rear tracks are way too wide to pretend to any kind of realistic look
 the body is placed way too high on the chassis resulting in an horrible overall look

The result of this Tamiya Chain Saw Massacre is an illegitimate model no one or so few will ever be interested in: the original model fans will not forgive Tamiya for destroying the body and for the missing original chassis (despite of its flaws like its poor suspension and its open-air gearbox that wears with sand and dust). On the new customer side, they will not accept either the poor motor (compared to other models based on the same chassis), nor the very fragile body. Not to forget any hobby store with minimum honesty standards to their clients that shouldn't list this model since they know their client will come back very angry because of the body destruction before the end of the first pack.

To date, despite of a very comptetive expected sale price, the Holiday Buggy 2010 can already be considered as Tamiya worst ever mistake in more than three decades: willing to reach a very wide market target, the two star brand will miss the DT-02 chassis target public but they will also miss the re-releases public who wants authentic Vintage.

With this shameful model, Tamiya betrays their logo which is their symbol for passion and precision. Within a few months, expect the chain saw massacre to continue with the Sand Rover: at fans greatest despair.

I hope the expected Holiday Buggy 2010 complete failure will not be understood by Tamiya as a disinterest for re-releases. This would be another tremendous misunderstanding, the sign that Tamiya would not be aware of the worst mistake they have ever made in their long history.

22/06/10 : Technical update
I've just finished to entirely migrate the whole site into php: this is a language that will both help me to maintain and updat the site, but it also offers new perspectives for future articles.
On your side, nothing changes: every article is still available and all links to the old pages are automatically redirected to the new ones. The only visible change for you is located in the page addresses: they previously ended with ".html" and now they have the ".php" extension. But their content remains the same.
Now, I just need time to learn how to make use of the new php possibilities .

07/06/10: Huge update in my collection
If you're a regular visitor, you couldn't miss that my collection hadn't changed in months. In fact, it did evolve as you'll see: I only chose not to publish updates as the new models were coming in. I wanted to keep secret some of my new models in order to have my friends Teamneogordini, J-F and Boo54 discover them at a special meeting.

First, let me tell you something about my collection: so far, I think I own a complete range of modern models to drive in the different kind of uses I like. From now on, my collection will focus on old models, not for any financial value of it, but for the pleasure to discover old models and make them run again. As far as my bank account can support such a treatment.

In other words, my modern models will be used for races with friends, with no fear to push the throttle stick. Old models are also meant to run, but with much more care and attention not to damage them. Only for the pleasure to drive ancients and live those pure vintage moments with friends who also share this passion.

So now let's see what's new in my collection:
 Ford Focus RS WRC 2001 : this is not a true new model. I only decided to dedicate this chassis to rallye and to give the Lancia Delta HF Integrale body another chassis.
 Lancia Delta HF Integrale : this beautiful body now has its own chassis, the TA-01 of the 58117 kit. It will only be run on asphalt to preserve the fragile bodyset. This project started back in february 2010.
 Toyota Celica LB Turbo Gr.5 : the bodyset comes from the 1978 58009 kit but I made it fit on a completly different chassis. As far as I know, I've never seen any adaptation of this kind. This project started back in december 2009 but is not yet totally finished.
 Porsche 959 Paris-Dakar Rally Winner : the model every collector dreams about is now part of my collection. This project started in november 2009.
 Footwork FA13 Mugen Honda : the first Formula 1 in my collection arrived in march 2010.

I also updated the Monster Beetle page.

As you can see, the passion is still alive: I still have at least one more new model in my collection to present within the next months, but I do hope I can finally open the racing section.

05/02/10: The real Sand Scorcher!

Both for the Nuremberg Toy Fair and the Sand Scorcher official re-release, a band of fans present a totally mad project: a true real size Sand Scorcher! Everything started at the end of october 2009 and I do recommend you to entirely read the blog that tells the whole story about this tremendous project. The pictures you see here just show the final result and how M. Tamiya got happy. Walter and his team at The Bug Box just made such a great job that Tamiya decided to present it on their booth at the Nuremberg Toy Fair. Let me stand up and respectfully salute Walter and his team

Da Real Thing !

M. Tamiya on board

15/01/10: Ball bearings for all
On RC forums, I often read this question: "what ball bearings do I need for my model?" I have the same question every time I get a new model. So I thought that listing all the ball bearings for every Tamiya chassis would help.

06/01/10: Tribute to Alex JUNG
There are websites thanks to which a passion was born or revives. That's what happened for me with Alex JUNG's TAMIYA R/C Collector Site. Since 1998, this site could be reached at www.classictamiyarc.com but sadly, it disappeared from the web since the end of 2009. In order to preserve this very valuable ressource for fans, I made a miror of this site onto mine to let fans still access it. This is Alex JUNG's website, his great work and absolutely not mine. You can now visit it by following this link or by clicking the menu entry. Enjoy!

02/01/10: Happy New Year!
I wish you the best for this new year: could it be full of happiness, health... and RC passion.

The site grew a lot along the past year, and statistics show that you liked it: you were over 25.000 visitors and read over 70.000 pages. It's 4 times more than in 2008! A big thanks to all of you as this is a proof that you show interest in what I share with you.

For 2010, I have some nice surprises in stock to be shared with you for the next months. I also hope to open at last that "Racing" section that desperately remained empty for so many months. 2009 was pretty rich, 2010 should be even richer.

Thanks all for your interest to my site and for your many mails to felicitate and encourage me.

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