G.I.Joe ROC Haul + a little BB

Picked up the regular and the Paris Pursuit versions of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow from the ROC line recently. They are currently displayed under the figure shelf in my room along with the MU Ironmans. Not sure if I will open them as I don't have any more room in the glass display cabinets. Will have to wait until I get some new units, if ever. But I really like the look of them in package, love the layout and the artwork. Being in Canada, a lot of our toys come in generic packaging which has only one or two character artwork (not the one in package) on the whole line of toys. MU and ROC are an exception to this so I really like them MOC. Plus, they are small and don't take up a lot of room!

There are still some more from the ROC series that I want, especially the City Strike SE!!! But that will take a while to arrive here.


Also open ROTF Bumblebee recently. I really like this toy, not sure why I didn't get him from the first movie, although I am not sure if they are the same mold or not. The vehicle mode fits together perfectly and the robot mode is very accurate. Transformation from robot to car is fairly challenging which is why I like this even more! It's really cool to see that the robot can transform and cram into this small car lol

Last Episode of Kamen Rider Decade

Just finished the last episode of Kamen Rider Decade subbed by MajinBror. First, props to MajinBror for putting up the episode even this late at night! I've been waiting for this today. Second, what a cliffhanger ending!?!?! We will have to see what happens in the movie and I read on some forums that it will take until July of 2010 for the movie to come out subbed! I hope it will come sooner than that!

Workshop & Track Update

Finally finished putting together the track tonight. The ramp on the left side is just a temporary setup since I ran out of materials. The incline is not as smooth as the setup on the right. Will fix that next week though.

With the new bridge/layout of the track, the pit area is much bigger and isn't as cramped as it used to be. The tradeoff is that the track is a bit smaller. I've ran my cars on the track for a while already and I think it is great! Much better than before even with the reduced size. Before this change, the drivers would have to find their own spot around the track to drive from since the track took over a lot of space. Now the drivers can all stand infront of the track to drive.

Click to enlarge pictures

Picture from driver area


Storage of cars, controllers, batteries, chargers, parts, and tools; also has a radio for some music


A look at the pit area, which currently only has one table. Maybe I will add another one in the future if needed. Additional chairs are stored under the track. I am actually planning on adding/building an airbrushing/painting booth here in the corner.


View of the track from pit area. Open space infront of the track is for the drivers. Enough space for around 7-8 people there.


Test footage

My dad driving MR02 chassis Ferrari FXX


Me driving F1 Honda Jordan


Track is officially re-open now! Pics of future gatherings will be posted here.

Tamiya 30th Anniversary Buggy Champ (Part 2)

Finished this on Thursday and finally got to post up a picture of it. Servo and receiver not installed yet.

Click to enlarge

2009 JoeCon pictures

via The Terror Drome

2009 JoeCon Single Figure Images
2009 JoeCon Vehicle Images
2009 JoeCon Mini-Set Images
2009 JoeCon Movie Prop Images

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am really liking these 3.75" G.I.Joe figures. I recently picked up the Wave 1 Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, and I must say, they are really nice figures. The packaging and artwork looks really nice. The upcoming figures look amazing too, I love all the various versions of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow and whoever the armored guy with wings is lol

Tamiya 30th Anniversary Buggy Champ Build (Part 1)

Finally started on the Buggy Champ kit today. Looking over the manual, it should be a simple kit. The only difference this has from any other kit I've built is the major amount of metal components in this kit. That just means a lot of threadlock! Luckily, Tamiya included some red threadlock jelly in the kit; however, I didn't even notice it until I had used my blue Tamiya liquid threadlock on the entire gearbox assembly already.

Something interesting with this red threadlock jelly that Tamiya included: it smells really fruity and sweet! I know the blue Tamiya stuff smells great already, but this stuff is just like candy, it doesn't help that it's in jelly state too!

I got some work done today. Building was quite smooth. The ball bearings fitting on the metal gearbox housing was a bit tight. Some slots needed slight sanding for the bearings to fit in. The only problem I had, and still have, are the shocks. I cannot get them to be work "properly". I am not sure what to think on this part because the buildup of the shocks are definitely different from today's performance shocks. Afterall, this IS a remake of a buggy released 30 years ago. I've read on the Tamiya Club forums that other owners are having problems assembling the shocks too, I will follow up on the thread to see if there are any specific way to build these shocks. I've have already tried rebuilding them at least 5 times, both according to the instructions and others.

Anyways here are some pics of my progress, I hope to finish it tomorrow.

Ball bearings equipped gearbox


The kit includes two gearing options: high speed and low speed. I have installed the low speed gearing set because I don't plan on running this beauty outdoors, probably just cruise on the track haha


Rear end mounted on FRP chassis


Will continue tomorrow...

Upgrading the track (Part 4)

Spent a lot of time on the track today. The main structure is finally complete. Tomorrow will be planning and building of the ramps that leads up to the second level.

(Click to enlarge)

The support planks for the section infront of the "Storage area" behind the track is removable. They are not screwed in place, they were made to slot into place so one could remove the supports under to access the back area. A Mini-Z Ferrari FXX is placed on the track for size comparison, it is 1:28 scale.

Long awaited haul

Finally went to the hobby shop to pick up my brand new Tamiya Buggy Champ!!! Oh man I've been extremely excited about this release and now it's finally in my hands! I ordered this sometime in March when I heard of the rerelease. I posted something about this release a while back too.

Okay, currently I am too overjoyed to say anything else, so onto the pics! The box is pretty big so it couldn't really fit in my lightbox. As with always, click to enlarge the pics.

This release is the celebrate the 30th anniversary of this buggy, originally made in 1979. It's even older than me! More details can be found on the TamiyaUSA website.


Very nice blister packaging for the shiny metal components. The blisters are a bit damage from the shipping.


Diecast gearbox


And tons of die cast and alloy parts


Stay tuned for the build coming this week!

Upgrading the track (Part 3.1)

Man! I just couldn't stand seeing that low-res webcam picture on this page, so I had to update it with something better. All of the support beams are done, now to just lay the pieces down to make a platform.

Upgrading the track (Part 3)

More work have been done on the track. It is coming together nicely, plans have been changed a lot since the actual building. Right now I would say it is about 20% finished. Here's a 1.3M webcam pic from my laptop.

Haven't been posting the past few days because my main computer got a virus that I am still trying to get rid of. So right now I am on my school laptop which is missing a lot of programs that are on the main computer.



Upgrading the track
Part 2
Part 1