Basic Tune-up parts sets

Sometimes you choose a Mini 4WD kit purely because it looks cool, nothing to do with whether it comes with parts that are any good for racing.

This is exactly what I did with my Cannon D Ball, I bought it purely because it’s the re-imagined version of my very first Mini 4WD, Dash 4 Cannonball. I wanted to use it to make a very basic tuned build, similar to one of the Starter Packs, but still keeping the aesthetic of the Cannon D Ball.

In situations like this Tamiya have a range of Basic Tune-Up Parts sets. These sets provide all the parts for setting up the front and rear rollers on FRP plates that widen and strengthen the front and rear of your machine, spacers to mount both low and high rollers on the rear, and rollers with basic stabilisers on the front, along with some basic mass dampers.

To keep the Cannon D Ball aesthetic I swapped out the yellow parts for red from the FM-A tune-up set.

At the time of writing there are 4 tune-up sets available:

• #15435 Mini 4WD Basic Tune-Up Set (MS, VS, Super-II/X/XX/TZ-X)

• #15450 Mini 4WD Basic Tune-Up Parts Set for AR Chassis

• #15746 Mini 4WD Basic Tune-Up Parts Set for MA Chassis

• #15514 Mini 4WD Basic Tune-Up Parts Set for FM-A Chassis

These are pretty good value at around £12, however, by the time you have upgraded the motor, and tyres, added a front under-guard and rear brake set you will have spent more than what you would on a Starter Pack, but you are starting with a machine you think is cool.