TOPIC:

I’ve been thinking recently that I’ll need to move – and almost certainly downsize – in the next few years, and that I’ve got way more stuff than I’d like to pack up and transport. Somethings going to have to give - and soon - in the RC/modelmaking department, but I’m pretty sure that although it’ll mean getting rid of things I’d genuinely rather keep, almost certainly the last thing to go would be my Willys … especially as I’ve just bought a Wheeler on eBay.  

Before I get to that though, some housekeeping – last spring/summer I did a whole load of redecalling/repainting of a Wheeler/2015 Honda City Turbos. This was prompted by thinking (again ) about alternative colour schemes for the Wheeler/HCT beyond the obvious boxart #4, and the numbers 1 to 3 and #5 variations. This led me seeking images of every Wheeler/HCT I could possibly find, which created a long list  of colour schemes that 100% didn’t work for me, a very short list that kind of worked but were still rather meh, and one that I did want to try – the yellow/white/blue found on mid 1980’s Williams F1 cars. More precisely, the 1985 FW10 to the 1993 FW15C, I used Keke Rosberg’s #6 FW10 from the 1985 German Grand Prix as reference.  





This would mean masking & spraying yellow & blue over the existing white of one of my HCTs, using a couple of decals from MciRacing’s 58069 FW11B Honda repro decals, and drawing some up myself & making them on the plotter/cutter. This also involved the crucial decision of what text to put on the front dam instead of Willy’s Wheeler – in the end “Williams Wheeler” won out over Willy’s Willams – I know I should of used some sort of wordplay involving the more correct HONDA CITY TURBO or CITY TURBO RACING but the “best” I could come up with was “Honda Williams City” (a la Renault Williams Clio?). 

This has been done before, but I’d like to think I improved a little on the layout compared the example I was most influenced by. The wheels got a few coats of satin black, and the wig got lifted slightly on longer screws & some spacers from some or other M-chassis.








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Not exactly thinking outside the box here, but at least somewhat box adjacent, if we have numbers 1 to 5 as boxart (or at least a close variation), and I’ve used the number 6 on the Williams, what would hypothetical extensions to the boxart scheme look like? An 8-ball (and replacing the “colour” portion of the scheme with black sounds like it really ought to work, but I’m not sure it does…









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On a similar note, I like orange, and it hasn’t been used in my “rainbow” of boxart variations, so that ought to be an obvious option for number 7 – but again, it’s a bit meh …

A final try, and again I’m not sure it’s a keeper, a bit of colour swappery & aiming to look like the works Honda team cars in the British Touring Car Championship of the mid 90s:







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I like all your color variations. And the 8 ball idea is funny. The canon version could be the Andy team version.

Moving on, I didn’t _need_ this, Wheeler, and in buying it I may gone from mere completism into actual obsession – but it caught my eye by being nearly all there (just missing the ‘roo bar and aluminium rods), fairly clean & tidy, and the price was not entirely fantastical compared to some I’ve seen. These are from the eBay listing – being well presented I’m sure was a factor in me wanting it 😊 










The tyres all had flat spots & some cracking, as I couldn’t get replacements at the time they had to do. They were glued on (as it says to do in the manual ) so I had to turn off the yellowed but otherwise fine wheels  The body turned out to be completely unpainted. The glass was cracked in a couple of places & scuffed in a few more, but polished up ok so hasn’t been replaced. 

The TX was a Futaba 1st generation Attack FP-T2NL in beige (so 1984/5 ish), but the RX was an FP-R2GS & the servos are FP-52Bs with the external pins & 90 degree wire entry – it seems quite backward for the time but is correct, at least from the information I have. There was no rubber switch boot, heatshrink on the motor, antenna tube or fasteners to hold the mech box lid on, and I already knew about the missing driver, ‘roo bar & rods. 

The wheelie bar was bent, but otherwise the car presented as hardly used – all the AA battery terminals were clean, there was very little scuffing in the hump battery tray or on the underside of the car.  Dismantling went very easily with just one M2 screw causing difficulty. It was dirtier than I expected (aren’t they always) so not gloving up was a mistake, but that’s the sort of thing we have hand cleaners for. My current favourite is Zalpon Zorange, as you don’t need to wet your hands first, it’s very effective, it smells of citrus, and of course in orange in colour.  

I thought for a minute that I wouldn’t need to dismantle the switch stay, MSC & servos as it was clean & well stuck together enough – but then I noticed that the top nut was missing from the MSC & it was pretty much stuck on one speed regardless of the servo position thanks to the way it had partially dismantled itself.

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For the colour scheme, this time I looked to the Hot Wheels diecasts for inspiration, although they are based on the Mugen City Turbo II R (with significant extra smoothing of the wheelarches into the doors) rather than the wider Mugen City Turbo II R Bulldog that the Tamiya Wheeler is based on, the colour schemes should translate fairly well. Having a strong liking for orange, the #11 with the gold stripes was an obvious choice – but I did spend 10 minutes modifying a scan from the Tamiya Wheeler box to be sure it was going to work.





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I spent a lot more time drawing up the graphics for cutting out in 4 colours of vinyl. TBH I’m not entirely sure what the paint is, I was quite sure it was Ford Signal Orange typing this up, but having looked at the pictures I think it might be left over RAL 2003 from my Hagglunds build.  

I also sprayed a new (HCT ’15) set of wheels in gold, made a new splitter in red styrene pinseal sheet. The ‘roo bar came from Shapeways. I’m not sure it’s necessary, or even desirable on this colour scheme TBH. The orange on Willy’s helmet is a Vallejo colour, I didn’t test it beforehand so it’s entirely my fault that it doesn’t match.

If that Wheeler was entirely unnecessary, I’m not sure what it makes this latest acquisition … All I can really say is that I hadn’t seen a decent one up for sale for some time … it’s not much an excuse, is it?  

These are pics from the eBay sale, apart from the missing ‘roo bar and pins – and  the very yellowed wheels – the chassis is very clean and tidy, almost worth leaving alone, but although the diff is very free, the gearbox is very stiff and growls when I turn both rear wheels so it needs investigating, as does the silly soft steering servo saver. I have a spare “bitsa” mk.ii Acoms set I can use to compete the radio.










There’s a crack in the “glass” along with a lot of scratches, the decals have been put on pretty well, and the detail painting is fair, apart from the drivers helmet.  Unfortunately, the body has also yellowed with age & really needs painting so I’ll have to undo all the original good work to make it presentable IMO. Not feeling particularly inspired on the colour scheme, leaning towards the number 1 variation in green rather than teal, but maybe something else will come to mind – I’ll have to do quite a bit of bench clearing to make space to dismantle the car & run the ultrasonic tank anyway.

The priority for the moment is dismantling the body for paint stripping, I have a window tomorrow where I can stank the place up

I think that you have a real hct addiction 🤣 it's one chassis I never saw nor had in hands and maybe the last one I want to own in the 100 first .