Again another Marui project : Super Wheelie and Big Bear!

[silvertriple]

The Big Bear got the same treatment, with larger parts, and with the rear hook under the axles...


Obviously the print took was way longer...


This is another element done...

[silvertriple]

I got this morning some news from Australia, and the stickers are on the way...


Looking forward for it, and thanks to my friend

[silvertriple]

The stickers arrived yesterday from Australia...

I could not wait to apply them... And it looks like the project can be called done...

Marui Super Wheelie unreleased Mitsubishi Jeep (kit MT60-RC09 as presented in Marui RC Catalag from 1986). With two chassis I could probably reproduce the catalog imagery...



The stickers are really nice... And the cars is now having nice colors...






And I also took some family pics, as usual...






When I started this project I had this overal target in mind, and the result is clearly above my initial expectations... And thanks again to Johann who made the last leg of the project possible...

[XLR8]

Amazing, simply amazing!

[silvertriple]

Amazing, simply amazing!

Thanks Doug,

On a side note, for those searching for parts for Big Bear or Super Wheelie chassis, I put them on Cults3D (with what I expect to be a fair price with the amount of work there was on this project). The bodyshell will come at some point within the next few weeks (I have a few really minor things that bother me a bit and I want to fix them before I publish the part files)...

[silvertriple]

A toy caught my attention recently on one website where it was indicated as "Marui"... This was very special, and I never saw any before. I've heard/read in the past there was some clone or copies of the Super Wheelies that was done, but I never saw any in flesh, or even in picture... I contaacted the seller, and for the first time ever I bought a toy grade rc car

It arrived yesterday. Protech Willy's Super Warrior, 1/10 scale Radio Controlled Jeep.


It was apparently in shops in Europe around 2000...


I've put it next to the CJ-7, and I believe the CJ-7 was used as a basis to do this clone (dimensions are the same, with some removed details...







The chassis has been modified slightly (in particular the battery room). The tires are clear copies of Tamiya oval blocs, with removed markings (and replaced by a protech logo and a "4x4" mention)...


The gearbox is also different as the left arms is merged with it...


The electronics is clearly in a toy fashion...

The radio looks a bit more serious and although it looks like, crystal can't be changed...


I'll have to diff into the internals of the gearbox, but I would not be surprised at all if it is a plain copy of the Super Wheelie original geabrox content.

[silvertriple]

Clone examination - the gearbox...

I unmounted the rigid axle. The right arm is slightly different and add some additional freedom... I may have to try that car, finally


I found some suprising difference inside the gearbox...


More teeth on the main gear than there is usually on a super wheelie... Idle gear is also different with less teeth on the smaller end than the original one, and it is likely stronger than the original zamac alloy...

The diff iteslf is different, probably to make it more robust (bevel gears are metal).


Overall, more different than what I expected...

[Dadio]

Very interesting , do you think the body moulds changed hands or just got cloned ?

[silvertriple]

Very interesting , do you think the body moulds changed hands or just got cloned ?

There is small details making me thinking it is rather a clone than a modification of the existing mould (there are areas which required addition of material, while some which required removal of material)... But clearly, it is definitely highly inspired by the Marui CJ-7 Golde Eagle bodyshell... And it is the same for the chassis parts...

[silvertriple]

I spent a part of the afternoon to review the files in details for the Mitsubishi bodyshell : during the build, I noted a few things to adjust in my todo list...

There was very few holes I needed to review to correspond to the manual, with the idea that anyone using my roll cage parts replace missing parts for a Super Wheelie.

Another thing I changed was the rear profile of the bodyshell, in order to ease stickers applications (and I still need to see with my friend how he want to proceed with the stickers).


I'll have to prepare the few pics going with the files and I should be able to publish them on Cults3D within the week-end...
The kind of pictures I need to do is elements explaining the optional led mounts and the way they work...


On the other side, Not sure exactly what I'll do with the Protech Willy's Super Warrior : my interest was to know better about it, as a curiosity and to check what is different. Now that I know, the interest has disappeared ...
Anycase, I have some time to think, and now I need to get back to the 44B chassis to finish them...

[silvertriple]

I just published the parts on Cults3D for the bodyshell, for a price I hope to be fair as there was a lot of work involved on this little Jeep...

It doesn't include the driver... I would need to learn Blender first to be able to work this out... And this is a learning curve by itself...

[silvertriple]

This Marui Mistubishi Jeep is quite interesting, somehow...

It appeared in Marui RC catalog from 1986, on the same page as the Marui Samurai (MT60-RC10), just behind the kit 7 (CJ-7 Golden Eagle) and 8 (Toyota Land Cruiser), which were both 7,2V re-edition of the 6V version from 1983...


But the story don't stop there. I already mentionned that there was parts for the Mitsubishi Jeep on the original Roll cage parts cluster as the roll bar front part width was not the same between the Toyota (short), CJ-7 (long), and medium (design for the Mitsubishi)... I had in my Marui document folders some pictures I gathered when I was searching information on the Hunter, and I found some interesting things on those... The Hunter on those pics were still a prototype, without its definitive bodyshell (presumably a Tamiya Rough Rider bodyshell with some modification at that stage), with some other indication it was still a prototype (there is a motor cover with a air vent, and the final rear monoshock is not in place, but some springs setup (which I found indications there was some provisions in the cluster with an number present and unused on the Hunter cluster). I had this picture only for the Hunter research... It's likely dated from late 1983 or early 1984. And when looking back at this picture I can see some indications the CJ-7 presented on the picture was not final yet : the bumper is different from the one which was released at the end. The Datsun Pick up which is presnt in the picture is also not the Big Bear : the wheelbase is still there, but the wheels are not the final ones : it is still with the Super Wheelie wheels... Big Bear Wheels came later.


Another picture I found later on is taken from a Japanase magazine, and is closer to the release of both Big Bear and Hunter as the Hunter is in its final mk1 form, while the Big Bear is now closer to the final version (bodyshell in its final form, monster truck tires but not the final ones, the final ones were even larger). And the Datsun Pick-up is still there, as well as the Mitsubishi Jeep...


Ultimately, this is also indicating this car was planned by Marui as soon as they started the Super Wheelie project. It was never released, maybe for licensing reason or because the bodyshell was too close in its form from the Wild WIlly from Tamiya (based on Willys Jeep, most likely)...

[silvertriple]

I'm not sure I'll publish the Land Cruiser or the CJ-7 bodyshell at any point of time, but I have included all the parts published in this specific collection in cults3D, and if I add the other bodyshell, they'll join this collection
https://cults3d.com/en/design-collections/marcweckerfr/marui-super-wheelie-and-big-bear

[silvertriple]

Since a few days, I'm thinking about the Land Cruiser... I have a white one which requires a few repairs, and the only car missing in my Marui collection is a Blue Land Cruiser... And it starts to bother me. I have a new bodyshell, but the dashboard and windshield did not came with it (because that's the way Marui was selling parts : there was no NIP with the dashboard ans the windshield, which were apparently only in kits)...

And while I modeled a Land Cruiser bodyshell, it was initially not targeted for printing, and further I did not have the dashboard when I did it, so it was likely way off... I printed one to do some checks, and the bonnet profile was way off, as well few other details. That confirms I will need to redo the bodyshell completely if I want to do something with my files...


I spend a good part of my afternoon to work a proper dashboard this time... It's definitely easier to have one in hand to do something, and it is easier to measure the elements of the profile than basing this on the bonnet...



At the end the profile matches better the bonnet. I still need to work out the two bonnet hinges, but this is much better already....



Normally the windshield should be right, but I launched a print to complete the checks.

I will take some time to redo the Land Cruiser body shell at some point, but this time with the proper bonnet profile...

[silvertriple]

Final test prints for dimensions...


The windshield is exact match...


And i'm really surprised by the dashboard print: all the details on the dashboard were printed on supports (see first picture of this post) and it is really not that bad (I really like this 3D printer )