Tamiya RC Radio Control Car 1/10 Electric Wild Willy 2 Jeep Kit

Product Information

Let's start with the most obvious difference between the two: on what Tamiya call the "Arm Stay". The SWB version has a round hole, and the LWB parts are longer overall with a slot. As a footnote, a prototype version of the Wild Willy, which can be seen in an "action" pic on the Body Set box and in a least one Tamiya Catalogue, didn't have any sort of perforation. Also needing a mention here is part J5 (on the inboard end of the servo saver shaft) has a raised pip, I would guess to try to reduce friction. In reality all it did was wear a pronounced ridge in the inside of the chassis tub. Enjoy some thrilling wheelies with this assembly kit R/C model! The chassis is constructed around a lightweight and durable monocoque frame, with 4-wheel double wishbone suspension and sealed differential gears. A roller on the rear support bar ensures longer, more stable wheelies. The model features a detailed ABS plastic boy with driver figure included. Wheels already have tires pre-attached, and the motor comes attached to the gearbox to ease the assembly process. I managed to get hold of a spare driver from RiKo and used him on a Tamiya moped kit mated to some bits from other 1/12 bike kits to make a caricature Police motorcyclist as a presentation piece for a Police motorcyclist who was an excellent modeller and good friend of the Bristol shop. RIP, Howard. Might have some 35mm photos somewhere (remember those?).

The long rear arms - for the LWB version an ornamental hole is deleted, and the stabiliser bar mount points move forward. The original Wild Willy released in 1982 was purposely designed with its weight center in the rear. The motor was positioned behind the rear axle and the battery placed toward the rear of the chassis, giving rise to dynamic wheelie potential. The original Willy was equipped with an independent spring axle suspension on the front and a sturdy trailing link, coil spring on the rear. These mechanics allowed for highly effective off-road performance. IBIFTKH pretty much sumed it up already, but now I know first hand from actually having built the chassis... It's been a while since I penned part one (detailing the differences between the Wild Willy M38 and Wild Willy 2 body and fittings), this time I'll be covering the differences in chassis parts on the earlier "Short" wheelbase (SWB) and the later "Long" wheelbase (LWB) versions.Next up, the "Mechanism Box Lid". The SWB has holes on the top for (from left to right) the antenna wire, speed control resistor wiring, and battery cables. The "Switch Stay" also sees some changes between versions: the LWB pressing is narrower & loses the reinforcing fold, but gains an upright section which helps to position the MSC servo.

The new Wild Willy has an all new chassis and larger tires allowing it to tread over rough terrain. Of course, the Wild Willys trade mark is the animated wheelie capability thanks to an all new wheelie bar. The chassis is after all a direct 4WD conversion of the Wild Willy 2 chassis (WR.02), and from what I understand the kits comes with Wild Willy body mounts included. The Wild Willy 2 kit and Wild Willy 2's designers have been up until the wee hours of the morning putting the final touches on this exciting stunt vehicle.J1/J2 (sparewheel) I usually assemble it before painting, sand the edges where the two parts come together, same glue/screw prosedure as first mentioned parts With the sturdy Wild Dagger gearbox within a ladder frame with even an indication of a V8 engine and the TL01 suspension arms and chromed Mad Bull wheels, Tamiya has a winner. Top this chassis with the Wild Willy body, and you have a future classic. Rear Spring Stays have a larger hole on the LWB and the brass fitting has a corresponding extra step. The Wild Willy II performs much better than the Wild Willy and it sure it's much more durable. Because of the better handling, it feels slower than the original, but the high center of gravity and short wheelbase doesn't make it suited for a hotter motor, if you care about the rather fragile body.

Conclusion: Like the original Wild Willy a very "unserious" model, but with the masses of fun that made the original a legend. A must for any collector. The side rails are an issue though. The chassis has three of the mounting points but not the rearmost. You either have to shorten the chassis rails or trim the body post mount on the chassis. The rails can be made to fit with a little work. The front arches do not line up with the body-posts well enough, the chassis bars need cutting up and shortening and the batter means that you have to fit the body higher than I wanted. The LWB on the other hand has slots (that match corresponding ones in the chassis tub) for those wires, in theory making it easier when you have to remove the lid. The Wild Willy II is great fun to build, but for those of us who can't let be (why should we?) replacing the bushings with ball bearings the preassembled gearbox is slightly irritating. Apart from ball bearings the Wild Willy 2 doesn't really need any hop-ups, but many of the TL01 hop-ups fit the model, and it's a lot of fun hopping it up as so much is visible even with the body in place.

The body is quite similar the original Wild Willy body, but to avoid problems related to licensing, Tamiya changed the vertical slots in the grill for horizontal slots, and added ribs on the bonnet. Now the model partly resembles the Ford Mutt rather than the Willys Jeep, but it still looks great. Tamiya deleted the hinges for the windscreen too, so it can't any longer be folded, but that's OK with me.

the slats run horizontal rather than vertically. That grill looks like it’ll be a pain to paint so because you get the original grille. L10/L15/L14/L3/L2/L9/L16 (Willys body) glue it all together, do a test fit with steeringwheel/shifterknop fitted before glueing on his arms though, so they're fitted in the right angle I also came across HPI Wheelie King rims and the tires on the net and they have the look I'm after. They look closer to the WW2 tires, but bigger. And I like the chevron look better as of the Traxxas ones. Well it starts looking like a regular model kit. I guess the only difference is nuts and bolts and wires rather than glue and paint. Well for the first part anyway.I had to chop the driver's feet just like BMT said. But it's worth noting that we both removed the 'lump' that protrudes on the underside of the body (the bit that fits around the switch on a Wild Willy M38). The driver's feet would be unscathed if the body was left standard, but the body would have to sit noticeably higher. Then starts the body work - like Theo said, I never use primer for Olive drap color (see his explaination why) - I rather sand the body a bit to get better "grip" for the later to come paint I keep my fingers crossed, and hope if this is released, that Tamiya take their time to update with some cool new details, like jeep wheels and new tires for it, to make it a new release, rather than just a GF-01 Willy release with the same parts that have been available for almost 15 years now. Shudder! 😩 😲 😮 I can’t leave it like that. I marked out some tape. Popped it on some plasticard and made a filler.