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Today I present to you my Tamiya 1966 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. I got two of these kits sometime September of last year and i finally got one done

The kit was straight forward and easy to build. I purchased an additional clear body kit just in case i had a mishap the included body. Im glad to report there was no mishap

The build was upgraded with a Fast Eddy ball bearing kit, and a set of HPI Fuchs style Porsche wheels otherwise it was kept stock. The car comes with an ESC and brushed motor.

A Traxxas receiver was installed. She is only missing the steering servo and the Tamiya plugs have to be replaced with a set of Dean's plugs.

The car was painted in copper with white rooftop.

The Box Kit

The built chassis. HPI Porsche true scale wheels mounted.

Cutting and trimming the body with my buddy

Body mounted


Paint choices


Money Shots










I must say that the body is beautifully detailed and was a pleasure to work on.
Im not a Tamiya fan but i liked this build. I especially liked the way the copper pops.
The suspension is soft so i may be looking into stiffer springs.

Let me know what you think

Very cool! Looks like a fun runner.
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Such a pretty car , nice colour scheme well done If there's one thing Tamiya does best it's beautiful detailed body's .

That...is freakin' awesome.

Nice!

Love the copper. I bet it really blows-up in your eyeballs in-person. It's a joke I've seen on here before so I can't take credit for it but.....

Where did you find the 1:1 body posts and clips?

Scale, so damn scale. I had to zoom in and look for tells. Next level.

Frankentruck wrote: ↑Fri Sep 09, 2022 11:30 pm Very cool! Looks like a fun runner.
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PXL_20220621_002822606~2.jpg

Thanks!!! Hoping to start the second kit and have fun running them with my wife. Already nervous about the body as my wife wants glitter on her car

Dadio wrote: ↑Sat Sep 10, 2022 2:56 am Such a pretty car , nice colour scheme well done If there's one thing Tamiya does best it's beautiful detailed body's .

Gracias man...was nervous about using the Copper especially since that can was in my stash for many years. Tamiya does have great detailed bodies. Thats one reason i had to use their bronco body for my build

Diggley wrote: ↑Sat Sep 10, 2022 5:40 pm That...is freakin' awesome.

Nice!

Thanks Diggley

TRX-1-3 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 11, 2022 10:21 am Love the copper. I bet it really blows-up in your eyeballs in-person. It's a joke I've seen on here before so I can't take credit for it but.....

Where did you find the 1:1 body posts and clips?

Scale, so damn scale. I had to zoom in and look for tells. Next level.

Hahaha Thanks...it does blow up your eyeballs in person....the copper pops and is awesome looking outside. As for the body post and mini clips, those were included in the kit. The only thing i did was clip the excess of the post protruding from the body.

LoboNYC wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 5:19 pm Already nervous about the body as my wife wants glitter on her car

Glitter, glitter? Or something with a glittery metallic finish?

If the second, do some experiments with gunmetal and metallic silver backing colors. I keep a box full of lexan scraps for color experiments.

The gunmetal will make many lighter colors have a metallic finish, when used as a backer instead of black.

juicedcoupe wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 5:46 pm
Glitter, glitter? Or something with a glittery metallic finish?

If the second, do some experiments with gunmetal and metallic silver backing colors. I keep a box full of lexan scraps for color experiments.

The gunmetal will make many lighter colors have a metallic finish, when used as a backer instead of black.

Uh, glitter glitter... Like fairy glitter or Martha Stewart craft glitter....

So, have any suggestions? Lol

I think my best bet is to convince her on a metallic color or to apply spray adhesive inside the body, grab a handful of the magic fairy dust, and ABRA-CADABRA, POOF, OPEN SESAME, BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULL, HO-YU-KEN, and hope for the best

Oh course I'll have the vacuum ready

By the way, thank you for the paint tips

I have some glitter type paint , more metaflake really , like the old 70s custom cars used , you spray it on first and it just adds a clear glitter that you back with any colour , I'll dig it out later and give you the details .

The Porsche wheels take that kit up a notch! Very well chosen.

The dog doesn't seem to rate your painting skills too highly. He has a worried look when he sees you with the clear body in hand.

Dadio wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 2:55 am I have some glitter type paint , more metaflake really , like the old 70s custom cars used , you spray it on first and it just adds a clear glitter that you back with any colour , I'll dig it out later and give you the details .

Metalflake paint sounds like a the perfect compromise. Yes, please send details at your convenience. Very much appreciate that!

1911Colt wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 9:20 am The Porsche wheels take that kit up a notch! Very well chosen.

The dog doesn't seem to rate your painting skills too highly. He has a worried look when he sees you with the clear body in hand.

Thanks man, Ive had those HPI Cup Racer True Ten for many many years. I tried using them on a DS Porsche project years ago and found them to be too small for my car. At least they are perfect for the tamiya kit

No worries with regards to wheels for the DS porsche project..I purchase a set of porsche wheels in aluminum for that project...

The metaflake stuff is made by Fastrax and it's in their "fast finish " polycarbonate range called "Starburst Silver 280" .

Dadio wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 12:23 pm The metaflake stuff is made by Fastrax and it's in their "fast finish " polycarbonate range called "Starburst Silver 280" .

MANY MANY THANKS!!!

Really hard to get pictures that show it .

Dadio wrote: ↑Thu Sep 15, 2022 12:36 pm Really hard to get pictures that show it .

Nah, I can definitely see it sparkling. This is great! Thanks again