I found out about this exhibition at the last RC race and it sounded pretty interesting. It was also a good opportunity to hand back some of RC gear that Hiroaki had lent me.
Here's a bunch of different Tamiya cars united by their TRF livery.
Noticeable exception is the 415 MS. I was hoping to see an MSX conversion.
The exhibition itself was held at TOBU shopping centre at Ikebukuro which is one of the two largest shopping centres in the world - the other also being in Ikebukuro. Imagine a David Jones or Myers the size of Southland and you're getting close to the money.
This is the Ferrari shell for the TA05. I quite like the way they've painted the headlights.
The exhibition featured a lot of Tamiya products and displays that were on show at the Shizuoka Hobby Show. They also had some miniature figure displays that were good but far from great. I saw much better examples of painting in the model displays and RC cars displays.
Evo IV in its TRF livery.
I could go on about the various displays but when you consider that they were behind glass, making them difficult to photograph, I won't whet your appetites too much by harping on about them.
The primary reason I was at the show is because this is the time when, once a year, Tamiya sell seconds and discontinued stock. They have several areas for different modeller's and it should go without saying that I headed straight for the RC gear.
A big wall packed full of discounted Tamiya bargains.
Although you would have suspected that Tamiya's older gear could have filled a warehouse (and probably does) there was surprising little on offer, however...
Hiroaki spotted a brand new blue TRF setup board for ¥2100 - the fault was the 100 number had been printed on the inside line instead of the outside line on one side.
Hiro has been restoring an F102 and managed to find some carbon goodies.
They were selling the Xanavi Nismo Z shells for ¥1500 so we both grabbed a couple of those.
The had some adjustable flasher units - perfect for running the red light on the back of an F1 car - only ¥350 each so I grabbed a couple of those.
Hiro's wife Shoko managed to find some Tamiya T-shirts in our size for only ¥900 - had to buy one considering the amount of Tamiya stuff I own.
I think Hiro grabbed a couple of other bits and pieces and they did have some current merchandise available (although the prices were a bit steep compared to Akihabara).
They had some very nice examples of airbrushing and weathering.
If you have never been to Japan and you find yourself visiting in August (which is the hottest, stickiest, most disgusting time of the year) the Modeller's Gallery is definitely worth checking out - you might even pick up a bargain or two!
This is the HUGE model is of the Yamato - the largest battleship of WW2.
They have just released a movie here (titled "Yamato") and they had this and other
props from the film on display.
FYI: this is my final report from Japan (I am planning to write one more piece from Las Vegas ) as I will be jetting off to Vegas next week (for my 10th wedding anniversary and where I hope to pick up my ICE charger). Then it's back to Tokyo for 4 weeks followed by a week in Vietnam before arriving home in Melbourne .
They also had the full size Xanavi R34 Skyline GT on show and it was generating a fair bit of interest,
I would just like to thank Benno (and Simon) for this website which has kept me sane. I'd also like to thank everyone who took time out of the day to read the ramblings of a madman. I've met some new friends online and look forward to meeting them in person (preferably with beer involved).
As you all know, I'm a huge fan of orange and black so these cars appealed to my sense
of style. Also gives me an idea for some future paintwork.
I'll still be writing reports, creating tutorials and attempting to race my 2 cars with my limited ability.
See you all soon. |
