2002


MediaMix Hobby now offering their own GP500 decals
October 31, 2002
The mail order shop in Singapore is now selling GP500 conversion decals under their own brand name. Here are the sets they have to offer:

Check the MediaMix site for pictures and complete details.

Tamiya Spray Pastel Colours
October 18, 2002
Tamiya have added three new TS colours that they call 'pastel colours'. Here are the new colours:

Tamiya to release a 1:12 Repsol Honda RC211V GP1 Bike
October 17, 2002
As I've been expecting for a while now, Tamiya will indeed be offering the Honda RC211V in Repsol colours. Tamiya announced this at the 42nd All Japan Hobby Show. Hopefully more details will be announced over the weekend.

You can see all the scale model announcements at Tamiya's show page...

Tamiya 1:24 Yamaha TMAX with Rider
October 9, 2002
Tamiya has updated their English pages with a description of the new scooter kit.

Yamaha 1:24 TMAX with Rider scooter...

New TS-56 Brilliant Orange
October 1, 2002
Good news, the previously 'Limited' Brilliant Orange spray can for the Honda Repsol NSR500 '99 will now be added to the regular TS range as TS-56 Brilliant Orange. It will be available in Oct 2002 and cost ¥500. Also, the 'Limited' Raybrig Blue will become a regular colour, TS-57 Blue Violet.

A new bike coming from Tamiya
September 9, 2002
Nope not a GP500 or GP1 bike. Nope, not a Sport bike. Nope, not a Cruiser either.

Its a Yamaha TMAX Scooter w/Rider and it will use Tamiya's 'Snap-Loc' technology used on some 1:24 and 1:20 cars. The TMAX will 1:24, confirmed with Tamiya Japan via email. Odd Tamiya would target car modellers with a 1:24 kit and not bike modellers with a 1:12 kit. The TMAX will be kit #24256, cost ¥1,200 in Japan and be released on Oct 29, 2002.

More Tamiya news from the 2002 International Model & Hobby Show at: http://www.tamiya.com/english/news/event/chicago2002/broadcast.htm

So, you want to super detail your favourite bike
August 31, 2002
Manufacturer service manuals are an ideal source for getting to know your favourite bike. Sometimes you can find these incredibly useful manuals on-line so you can add some extra details to your models. Here are some manuals that I've found using the Google search site:

Kawasaki ZX-12R Ninja (I searched for "ZX-12R manual")

Yamaha YZF-R1 (I searched for "YZF-R1 manual")

I'm sure others are out there just waiting to be found.

Aoshima announces three new kits
August 12, 2002
Not long after the demise of Imai, Aoshima have announced that they will be offering 1:12 Honda Monkey and Gorilla kits. I'm unsure if these are all new kits or if Aoshima bought the moulds from Imai. The kits will be ¥800 and be available in late August 2002 in Japan. Also coming is a 2002 Kawasaki Zephyr X which will be ¥2000 and be available in early August in Japan.

No. 19 Honda Monkey ¥800		No. 20 Honda Gorilla ¥800
No. 07 2002 Kawasaki Zephyr X ¥2000

For more, see Aoshima's news page...

Another YZR500 coming from Tamiya
July 11, 2002
Tamiya will be releasing yet another YZR500 kit. The time the Antena3 Yamaha D'ANTIN YZR500 '02. Kit #14091 will be ¥2200 and be available August 27th, 2002 in Japan.

For more, see Tamiya's news page...

Tamiya's new Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa 
June 21, 2002
Tamiya has updated their Japanese site with information in the new Hayabusa kit. The kit looks amazing and like the ZX-12R Ninja, will include tint clear parts for the turn signal and tail light lenses. They also provide seven decal variations so you can build you model with a 1999, 2000 or 2001 colour scheme. Kit #14090 will be ¥2400 and be available July 10th, 2002 in Japan.

For more, see Tamiya's product page...

New TS-55 Dark Blue
May 19, 2002
Although intended to be used with Tamiya's 1:20 and 1:12 Wolf WR-1 Formula One models, this colour can also be used on Tamiya's 1:12 Suzuki RG250gamma Walter Wolf Special Version (kit 14053) rather than mixing X-27 Clear Red and X-3 Royal Blue.

OLFA Circle Cutter
May 17, 2002
has nice a compact circle cutter (Model CMP-1) that can be very useful to the motorcycle modeller. The cutter can cut circles from 1cm to 15cm in diameter and has a replaceable blade. I've used the cutter to create painting masks when a circle template is too awkward to use. Very handy for cutting disks for masking the centers of wheels and brake discs. Thanks to André Boucheré for suggesting I add this tool to my collection.

Two High-Tech Model re-issues from Gunze-Sangyo
May 15, 2002
Gunze-Sangyo (Mr.Hobby) will be re-issuing a couple of High-Tech Model kits that haven't been available in a while. They will be available in Japan in July 2002.

Kit G-634 Yamaha YDS1 Clubman ¥6000

Kit G-635 BSA Gold Star ¥6500

How to use Tamiya's TS spray cans
May 7, 2002
For those of you that use Tamiya's spray paints straight from the spray can, Tamiya America has a page in their 'Tips & Techniques' pages that explain how to get the best results using Tamiya's spray cans. They also address a way to try to eliminate the 'bubbling' than some modellers have encountered.

Studio27 releases a Honda RC211V '01 Test Bike
May 4, 2002
With GP500 racing being so popular, it was obvious that a GP1 kit would be offered. Studio27 has released the Honda RC211V '01 Test Bike as a trans kit. It is a die-cast metal and resin multimedia kit. You will need a Tamiya GP500 kit as a wheel, tire, etc. parts donor.

Kit #TK1205 has a MSRP of  ¥11,800. Lots of photos at Studio27's product page...

Tamiya re-issued several car kits that include Scooters
May 3, 2002
Tamiya had a set of 1:24 scooters, but that kit hasn't been available in quite a while. If you really want the scooters, Tamiya has re-issued some of their 1:24 cars that include a scooter and are currently available in Japan.

#24020 Nissan Leopard TR-X Turbo w/Honda Tact ¥1200		#24025 Nissan Skyline 2000 2000 GT-E.S w/Honda Tact ¥1200
#24030 Honda City Turbo w/Honda Motocomp ¥1400		#24034 Campus Friends w/Vespa ¥1000

Another bike from Tamiya, with a little twist
May 2, 2002
Tamiya has announced their first big scale military motorcycle, a 1:10 Zündapp KS750 with Sidecar. Yes, its 1:10 and its not a kit, its a pre-assembled die-cast. I was hoping Tamiya would do the military motorcycles in 1:16 to complement their other 1:16 military kits, but it doesn't look like that will happen now.

The Zündapp will be ¥9800 and will be available in July '02. More info and photos at Tamiya's product page...

Must be Spring! Two new kits from Aoshima as well!
April 23, 2002
Aoshima have announced two 1:12 Naked Bike kits of the Yamaha SR:

Naked Bike #43 - Yamaha SR400 '96 ¥2200, available in mid-June '02
Naked Bike #44 - Yamaha SR500 '96 ¥2200, available in mid-June '02

I believe some of you were wanting a Suzuki
April 22, 2002
More than a few of you may have been interested in getting a Suzuki GSX from Tamiya. Although the MotorcycleModelling poll indicated that more modellers would have preferred the GSX-R 1000, I think most Suzuki fans will still be very happy to get the GSX1300R Hayabusa. Kit #14090 will be ¥2400 and be available sometime in July '02.

For this and other new Tamiya releases, check out their show page...

Scale Motorsport release GP500 details sets
April 11, 2002
After almost a year after the original tentative release date (May-June '01), Scale Motorsport has released three photo etched (PE) detail sets and three  carbon fibre (CF) decal sets for Tamiya's newer GP500 kits.

Scale Motorsport will be updating their website shortly with pictures. In the meantime they can viewed/ordered at MediaMix Hobby's website.

Model Master Metallizers staying in Canada
March 1, 2002
In the last couple of weeks modellers here in Toronto, Canada were concerned that Model Master Metallizers might disappear from Canadian hobby shops.

Testors as reassured us that even though Testors closed its Canadian office and production, the paint will continue to be available in Canada.

A big relief as I don't know what I'd do without these paints. So, if you've heard this rumour and were stocking up on paint, don't worry it will be available when you need it. 

Revell-AG to se-issue some 1:9 and 1:12 bikes
February 25, 2002
In addition to Italeri re-issuing the Esci 1:9 WWII Harley-Davidson, Revell-AG will also treat us to some Esci re-issues of kits you might be hunting for:

#03070 1:9 BMW R 75 w/sidercar in October
#03071 1:9 Zündapp KS 750 w/sidecar in November
#03072 1:9 NSU Kettenkraftrad in October

Note: additional riders, such as those included in the DML re-issues, will not be included.

And for all you Vincent fans:

#07920 1:12 Vincent Black Shadow, Series C

Imai Hobby is Bankrupt
February 21, 2002
Scott Hards, President, Hobby Link Japan, has posted a message to the Usenet newsgroup rec.models.scale confirming that Imai Hobby is bankrupt. Here is Scott's full letter if you don't have access to Usenet newsgroups.

For motorcycle fans, you are no doubt aware that Imai offered various 1:12 motorcycle kits including bikes from Honda and Harley-Davidson. Until now I was unaware that Imai had exclusive rights for distributing Harley-Davidson kits in North America. As Scott points out, although unfortunate, Imai's demise might open the door for Tamiya or Aoshima to start offering Harley-Davidson kits.

Kenny's 2001 ride from Tamiya coming soon
February 10, 2002
The new Suzuki RGV500gamma GP500 bike ridden by Kenny Roberts Jr. announced at the International Toy Fair in Nürberg, Germany is the 2001 will be released in Japan on March 27th and will sell for ¥2,200. The kit number is 14089.

For more kit announcements, visit Tamiya's Toy Fair page.

New kits from Italeri
February 4, 2002
Italeri have announced a few new motorcycle related kits. A re-issue of an Esci's 1:9 kit and a couple of new racing truck and trailer combos similar to the Red Bull Yamaha Racing Truck & Trailer.

#3810 1:24 Nastro Azzuro Racing Team Truck & Trailer. Complete with Valentino Rossi's ride in a built 1:24 die-cast NSR500. Currently available.
#3815 1:24 Ducati Racing Team Truck & Trailer. Not sure if a 1:24 996 will be include. My guess is it will.
#7401 1:9 U.S. Army WWII Harley-Davidson. Available in July.

New kits from Aoshima
January 24, 2002

Five new models announced by Aoshima that will be available by mid-February:

#29800 1:12 Yamaha V-Max Latest Model Version for 2,400¥ in February
#23013 1:12 Kawasaki Z750RS  for 2,000¥ in February
#23020 1:12 Kawasaki Z400GP for 2,000¥ in February
#22993 1:12 Kawasaki Zepher for 2,000¥ in January	More...
#23006 1:12 Honda CBX400F for 2,000¥ in January	More...

Racing Photo Annual
January 15, 2002
The 'Racing Photo Annual' by 'Sport Rider' is out. 

Its 98 pages of pictures of F1M GP, World SBK and AMA SBK pictures. Not many detail specific photos, but lots of great race photos that provide a wealth of information. A bargain at $5US/$6Cdn for racing fans. It will be on newsstands until March 19, look for Rossi  #46 on the cover. 

Whats with all the screws?
January 8, 2002
I didn't notice this originally, but a friend pointed out that the Tamiya Kawasaki Ninja ZX-12R's foot peg brackets are screwed on with micro Phillips screws. I checked the kit and sure enough, 8 micro screws are used to fasten the rider and passenger foot peg brackets. I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned by those that have already built the kit. I think this is a very bad thing as it looks horrible. The foot peg brackets on the 1:1 bike are secured by countersunk Allen head style bolts. I'm sure this was done to simplify painting of the frame and brackets, but why screw them on rather than designing the kit so they could be cemented on? Now I have to figure out some way to replace these awful screws with proper fasteners.

Modelling Tip
January 3, 2002
Tired of feeling like a weakling trying to open stubborn paint bottles, etc.? If you have latex gloves, use a bunched up latex glove to grab the lid when twisting. Seemingly impossible lids will come off easily. Of course, there will be some bottles beyond all hope.

Contact Coaster http://home.interlog.com/~khartlen +/news/2002.htm Last revised on: March 2, 2004 Copyright © 1998-2004, Kenneth W. Hartlen. All rights reserved.

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