TOPIC:

I Have started a build of The Midships RC kit  from Nichimo - a familiar brand to many.

I've never built any of their RC product before, but I'm lucky enough to be able to build this vintage beauty from a NIB kit.  

I will attempt to  doing some video footage, as well as images of different parts of the build. Though I'm not sure how those will turn out. 

First - presentation of the kit and laying out the parts .. 2 x videos and some images.  It's my first time making a video one this , so be gentle please .   


 

 

A short video --- start of a new adventure. 

IMG_5971 by Michael Andrew , on Flickr

A short video , as well as some shots of the gear box parts, etc.  The gear box cases are big - compared to what I'm used to on Tamiya .

Lots of little bags of parts to keep track of - 

IMG_5973 by Michael Andrew , on Flickr

Love the amber coloured tools .. 

Steps 1 through 3 : Build the gearbox.

Also just getting my head around the instructions and the layout.  I had to refer to the main parts sheet to help find the M parts referred to in the instructions - I can only imagine what a build attempt with this main reference sheet would be like . 

There are some similarities to the Tamiya instruction layout, but the instructions are in Japanese and I don't want to mess this up. 

*I found during the build that the sizing examples printed on the pages (for screws, washes, etc) are not quite accurate to the actual part size - points to Tamiya on that one. 

Some pretty yellow plastic bit for the gear box - I'm going "out off box"  build on this, so will be using the brass bushings and plastic spacers as supplied with the kit. 

The amber tool is used to help seat the brass bushings into the ends of the yellow plastic internal piece. That yellow piece has a hole on one side inline with the correct side of the gear case, to help keep the whole centre shaft square and in place . 
 

I've never seen a Nichimo build!  Following with great interest.

Likewise very interested in this build. Is this Nichimo’s version of the Hotshot ?
I’ve always wanted their Lancia Stratos RC, but those things are super rare !!!!

I think it is quite a bad statement to compare this thing with any Tamiya, even for the vague ressemblance with the Hotshot...

Many people speak about Tamiya being kings in terms of over-engineering, but the reality, is that they are kids compared to Nichimo designers in the matter...

This thing, like the Spirit FF (which is using the same front train) was quite innovative for quite a good number of aspects... It had 4 Wheels Driving and Steering, the internal cinematic was quite surprising...

... and it even included a central differential, with a way to control the slippage...

(for the small story, they call this differential LSD (for limited slip differential), and maybe the name of this thing stands for the magic mushrooms they were using during their brainstorms... This thing is feature over features, and it pays in the amount of screws you need to unscrew to tear the car down completrly to change the pinion or set the slip feature of the diff...

In short, a nightmare of engineering, with a nice set of potential issues (which may be what it has very common with some Tamiya 4WD cars of the same period)  


 

Al wrote:

Likewise very interested in this build. Is this Nichimo’s version of the Hotshot ?
I’ve always wanted their Lancia Stratos RC, but those things are super rare !!!

 

Thanks for the interest Al.  I too look forward to learning more about these Nichimo RC buggies as I build this vintage kit. 

No -- I wouldn't compare this Nichimo to a Hotshot.   I think it's the similar outer looks which may mislead people into making that comparison. 

The Lancia Stratos is one of my favourite rally cars, and one of the Nichimo versions would be an excellent addition to any collection.