Marui NINJA - built for the shelf.
Posted: Tue May 24, 2011 4:00 am
The 'MARUI NINJA' would argueably have to be one of the sexiest off road buggies from the 1980's. (we atleast I think so- LOL!)
Years ago I owned a pretty beaten up one of these cars and without new lexan or decals floating around back then I figured i'd never get to own a good example of this car. Well that was until now.
I got word that this car was for sale here in Australia and it was said to have never been run. When I got the car in the mail it was obvious this thing had been shifted around with numerous storage marks on the chassis and bodyshell. It was not as nice as I had hoped for.
Luckily I came into a pile of NIP Marui spares recently which I had stored away for such a project. Also with TBG doing a repro shell and TAMKYO doing repro decals I could finaly own a nice looking NINJA.
Its taken me more than 6 months to get around to this project but in that time I have sought the extra items needed to create what you see here now. New tyres and rims, a full set of bearings and a new screw kit also went into this build.
Thanks must go to my good mate ALEX (Incredible_serious) who sent me a genuine manual for this car (this really helped out mate).
The build was pretty straight forward. Obviously 4WD this car is shaft driven much like a Tamiya Boomerang with bevel gear diffs front and rear. The battery runs the length of the chassis and there's even room for a 7 cell 8.4v pack they were using back in the late 80's racing scene.
I have to say that I am really happy with Team Blue Groove's repro of this shell and wing. The lexan is thick enough and there were no issues with following cut and window lines.
Miles from TAMKYO repro decals also did a great job with the decal sheet and the proof is in the pictures.
There was a time when I thought this car might do a few gentle laps at a vintage race meeting but I dont think dirt would enhance the sleek looks of this Japanese Warrior. Now built, this car will be left for the shelf rather than the race track.
Thanks for reading. Cheers-Jason
Years ago I owned a pretty beaten up one of these cars and without new lexan or decals floating around back then I figured i'd never get to own a good example of this car. Well that was until now.
I got word that this car was for sale here in Australia and it was said to have never been run. When I got the car in the mail it was obvious this thing had been shifted around with numerous storage marks on the chassis and bodyshell. It was not as nice as I had hoped for.
Luckily I came into a pile of NIP Marui spares recently which I had stored away for such a project. Also with TBG doing a repro shell and TAMKYO doing repro decals I could finaly own a nice looking NINJA.
Its taken me more than 6 months to get around to this project but in that time I have sought the extra items needed to create what you see here now. New tyres and rims, a full set of bearings and a new screw kit also went into this build.
Thanks must go to my good mate ALEX (Incredible_serious) who sent me a genuine manual for this car (this really helped out mate).
The build was pretty straight forward. Obviously 4WD this car is shaft driven much like a Tamiya Boomerang with bevel gear diffs front and rear. The battery runs the length of the chassis and there's even room for a 7 cell 8.4v pack they were using back in the late 80's racing scene.
I have to say that I am really happy with Team Blue Groove's repro of this shell and wing. The lexan is thick enough and there were no issues with following cut and window lines.
Miles from TAMKYO repro decals also did a great job with the decal sheet and the proof is in the pictures.
There was a time when I thought this car might do a few gentle laps at a vintage race meeting but I dont think dirt would enhance the sleek looks of this Japanese Warrior. Now built, this car will be left for the shelf rather than the race track.
Thanks for reading. Cheers-Jason
I have a Coors Melling T-bird chassis that will be getting a Ninja-style makeover soon!