hirobo.co.uk - hirobo lepton

HAVE YOU EVER FOUND an old Tower Hobbies catalog under your bed, come across an old Pure-Tech battery strap, or stumbled across a Hirobo Alien at a yard sale and found yourself instantly transported back in time? Us too. This month, we thought it would be fun to pile into the way-back machine for a trip to the '8os and a look at some classic kits and images from the days when bodies were hard plastic (and so were the tires), knowing how to set up a wiper speed control actually mattered, and "ready to run" is what you got after you spent eight hours at your workbench (and you loved it!).

[black left triangle] VINTAGE POWER

When this O.S. Engines VF-BR .21 was a hot powerplant, machined heat-sink heads were unheard of, but it has a few interesting features: check out the crankcase; the nose is a separate component and can swap places with the backplate. If you wanted to have a "front-exhaust" engine, the VF-BR could do the job.

[black left triangle] START BUILDIN'!

Just about all the Japanese kits looked like this under their box lids. This is a Kyosho Stinger MK ll. With a presentation like this, how could you not be excited about building?

[black left triangle] BROWN BOX

This is the first ever Futaba wheel radio, the 2F. Using a wheel instead of a stick was breakthrough enough; the throttle trigger and pistol grip would have to wait! Other features include a metal body and battery access that was labor-intensive, to say the least: you had to remove four screws and then completely take the back of the radio off!-all this for $120, according to the price tag still on the box.

[black triangle up] TRUCKIN, TAMIYA STYLE.

Here's a real slice of history. Most people think the Bruiser was Tamiya's first, heavy-duty, steelchassis truck, but the Toyota Hi-Lux and Blazin' Blazer came before it. They all had 3-speed gearboxes, 750 motors and virtually all-metal construction, but the Hi-Lux and Blazer had a really trick bonus feature: manually lockable front hubs! RC trucks have never been more "real."

hirobo.co.uk - hirobo lepton

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