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This arrived today !!!
After a quick check I can see my first job is going to be taking the pre-assembled gear box apart to replace the plastic / nylon bearings for metal ones.
Okay on second thought, my first job will be ordering more bearings 😂.

The box is a decent size, which is nice, rather than the newer stuff that feels a bit more like a shoe box. Hopefully if I can do a decent enough job on the body this will look really good next to the Wild Willy !!!

Awesome Al!!! Mine was supposed to be here by now but now I am seeing that the next shipment is in August!

Can't wait to get mine....... oh but I have the bearings and shocks already. LOL!

Nice I'm wondering if there are any revisons to parts or manual to adress the front wheel/arch and front air dam/ground touchery of the previous release?


I did think about pre-ordering an HCT (or two), but all the places I looked wanted full payment up front, not just a deposit or details on file. That's fair enough, they're entitled to conduct business as they see fit - and that rule probably exists due to being messed about in the past, I just didn't think it was a good investment. 

Turns out that when U was thinking about it, it probably would have been far too late anyway - ModelSport (www.modelsport....02c-388821) went straight from "pre-order" to "out of stock" immediately.

Time Tunnel Models (www.timetunnelm...74274.html) say the UK was very undersupplied and only those who pre-ordered before the 11th of February got one from this batch. 
According to them, the next batch is expected autumn/winter this year, which probably means November/December.

SK Models had 4 on eBay at reasonable prices on Friday, they'd gone by Saturday afternoon.

If I was really desperate to get one from this batch, it's possible, but only at prices that feel a but scalpy (15% over the 185 GBP RRP or thereabouts). 

I'm wondering what price the real spivs, profiteers and flippers who managed to get one will be selling them for by the end of the week, I've got to think it will be at least the 300 GBP NIB 2015 models were getting.

Hi Jonny, I got this from Jadlam Racing, ordered on Friday, delivered on Monday.
For some reason I thought I was pre- ordering for the second batch, so I was surprised on Saturday when they said they were processing the order. But happy days.
I’ve never had one before and figured getting a vintage one would be a tough find, so I’ll be interested about the front wheel and arch fitment.
Cheers !!!

This isn’t helping me finish any of my outstanding projects though and I’m running out of storage space. 

 

JR, L&L Models has them as pre order still at £10
landlmodels.co....-pre-order

It was the 2015 HCT that had the tyre rubbing/bottom of the body scraping issue (even more than the vintage Willy’s Wheeler), IDK if there was ever an “official” fix but all I did was put the lower body clip on the front post in the 5th hole up from the bottom rather than the 3rd one up as shown in the manual, which made the car look a bit more level (rather than nose down) anyway, and added an O-ring to limit wobble ( tamiyabase.com/...?start=240 & onwards) 

There was some discussion about the issue TC at the time ( www.tamiyaclub....1/&page=10 and the pages before/after), other fixes included shaving1mm off the trailing edge of the front arches or putting an o-ring behind the front body mount to pull the body forward by 1mm or so. I seem to remember there being some discussion modification of the rear body mounts too, but I found there was such a lot of slack you could just angle them forwards before tightening up the fasteners.

There’s also a separate correction sheet in the 2015 kits showing that the front top suspension arms should be fitted behind the front uprights (with the step screws being fitted from behind) rather than the front as shown in the manual, so I’d expect that to be fixed in the 2025 manual.
IDK if it was even possible to put it together as shown in the actual manual, if it was I’m sure it would have made the situation worse. 


The driver sprue on the Wheeler also included the rear roll loop/body clip attachment loop, apparently it was still there (minus the metal insert) on the early Jimny & VW T2 (as well as a very few, earliest Willy “torso” drivers sold as a spare part) IDK know if that part was ever in even the earliest HCT ’15 kits, it’s not shown in the manual.  

Waterbok was kind enough to send me one of those bare roll loops for my yellow Wheeler ( tamiyabase.com/...s?start=70 ). 


As for the ’83 wheeler being a tough find, there have never been that many come up for sale, for every 3 long wheelbase/late Wild Willys that appear on eBay UK at least there is just over one SWB/early Wild Willy, and fractionally less than one Willy’s Wheeler.
My Wheeler that became yellow was mostly there, in pretty good shape, boxed and came with (used) Wild Willy wheels/tyres and body in very good body parts box (all vintage). I really sucked air through my teeth at what I paid for that way back then, now I think now you’d get a lot less for a lot more money, and a really good one would cost even more than that – there’s a very strong argument for having Multiple ’25 HCTs rather than one Wheeler .

The HCT is one of the better re-hashes anyway, helped by the same wheels and tyres in roughly the right places, and a hopelessly inaccurate RWD chassis   



I did look at Jadlam, I’ve bought plenty of stuff from them before without issue, but the way they went from “pre-order” to “usually despatched within one working day” rather than “in stock” made me a bit sceptical if they had any, rather than “shadow “stock.  


L&L, I didn’t look they but have had multiple polycarbonate bodies, “chassis in a bag” kits and wheel from them I just haven’t thought of them as a new release kit supplier. I’ve also found that even “in stock” items seem to take a week longer to recieve from them than other suppliers. I didn’t look before 2 days ago, but that 10 GBP preorder page must be for the second batch of ’25 kits?

Thanks for all that back ground info Jonny, much appreciated.
👍

Added a few kits to the collection I didn't need.... 

Nice work Jim. I’ve got the Ford High Lift, it’s a great build. As is the story of my life I’ve still got the body shell to finish 😂😂😂😂

Cheers Al!! I can relate to that one. 

Gonna put my spare Clod body on the High lift chassis as a Fall Guy hybrid. Did one before but sold it and wish I hadn't.

Very excited for the Kyosho build, such quality and metal parts at a great price. Just no motor and ESC of course.......