For those of you who have played around with remote control cars before might have already know about the 1/24 Kyosho Mini-z remote control cars. They are one of the hottest toy in Japan this summer 2001. The scale is made very accurately and a lot of little details. The look itself can be comparable to those Tamiya 1/24 plastic display models, also much much better than whatever model Fujimi made. It has a very fast speed and a large range of replacement, aftermarket tuning parts available. Well, all I can say is the Mini-z is very exciting to drive on mini race tracks (large cardboard on top of two long tables) and very cheap to maintain. That is what made it so popular toy in bullet cities such as Japan and Hong Kong. Many hot car models are available such as the AE86, S2000, R34, Z8, Altezza 280T, WRX, EVO6, 996 GT3, Audi TT, CLK DTM, Viper, Viper, new cooper,... The retail complete car set w/remote is at ¥14,800 (about US$110) while the retail price in the U.S. is US$148 from www.towerhobbies.com. More information about the Mini-z can be found at www.kyosho.co.jp

OK, I think you might have already noticed I put some pictures of the Mini-z AE86 on the left. Yes, that is a remote control AE86 look 100% like the geniune Mini-z...but actually is a fake one.

If you are interested in getting the Mini-z and couldn't find it by your nearby hobby shop or even too expensive that is out of your reach, then you have came to the right website for the article. The total cost of my r/c AE86 on the left is HK$150 (US$20). This is roughly the price of an unassembled Fujimi AE86 Trueno non-running display model in the U.S. Read on to see how to build one.

This body swapping job can be very easy if you have choosen the correct car donor (correct wheelbase and enought clearance for the hood area and the side. If you are lucky to find such donor car, all you need is just snapping the shell on the donor. Test fit the new shell, see if you can find a perfect alignment. The easiest way is to locate the existing screw hole for the donor that used to secure the ex-shell. Get a needle and stick it into the hole and all the way up to the shell, and make a mark on the shell on the inside. Cut a piece of core or whatever you think is work best to the require size and height for each screw hole. Use the glue gun and glue the core in place. Screw the screws on and...WOW! what a nice Trueno AE86!

The reason I have stressed on using the exact wheelbase for the shell and donor is because, I have choosen the wrong donor myself. The donor was short of tiny 1/8". That 1/8" was enought for both tires stick deadly on the fender and the rear quarter panel (in another word, all 4 tires won't move at all without modify the wheelbase. I did successfully extend the chassis by detached the motor part and the front half. Added a 1/8" and glue back with glue gun.

Do you think it is worth for the conversion? I doubt it, if you want to show up the Mini-z track with your fake Mini-z. But if you want a remote control show quality "AE86", yes definitely worth a try. If you are an AE86 fans, you already know there is no AE86 model out there, other than Fujimi's 1/24 highly off scale AE86. This Kyosho Mini-z came nicely 3 stage paint (base color, black trim, lacquer clear coat), flat black hand paint on the wipers, mirrors, window trimmings, all the TRUENO, APEX Twin Cam 16, Sprinter stickers are the same shapes and colors, just like the production AE86, and best of all, they are very accurate scaled. You can't even buy the spray paint for that price. The best craftmanship I have ever seen any AE86 models.