Q&A: Blockhead Motors’ Jun Watanabe
Jun Watanabe is a respected graphic artist that collaborates with the likes of fashion brands, anime properties, skate parks and more. His work hasn’t gone unnoticed by Tamiya, which has worked with him to collaborate on a dizzying array of projects including apparel and even his own versions of Tamiya’s iconic RC buggies. In fact, Tamiya’s latest release is actually based on Watanbe’s personal Wild One. We got to sit down with him to ask how this project came about and talk about RC.
RCCA: Congratulations on the Blockhead version Wild One! How did this collaboration happen with Tamiya?
JW: Thank you very much. It’s been special to be able to work on this car with Tamiya. Tamiya’s RC department told me that they would like to be more active with their off road buggies. I thought that I could revitalize Tamiya’s vintage buggies with the help of my Blockhead Motors brand. There are many different types of Blockhead custom cars that I have made including Hornets, Grasshoppers, and Monster Beetles. It was a matter of narrowing down which models I’d work on.
RCCA: Can you tell us about some of your favorite changes that you did to the Wild One?
JW: My favorite contributions are the number plate and stickers. The number plates are indispensable for expressing the vintage look and feel of Blockhead Motors. Also, today’s printing technologies are so sophisticated that computer-generated data can reproduce very delicate edges. But sharp and detailed graphics don’t give a vintage feel. So I deliberately made the Wild One’s graphics a little blurry. You can see it if you look at the stickers closely. By performing such fine processing, I think the car’s realism is enhanced. Also, the box art was actually drawn by myself. This took a considerable amount of time but I am honored to be able to work on drawing the Tamiya package. When I was young, Tamiya box art inspired my imagination. For this reason, I consider a kit’s box art as important as a car itself.
RCCA: We heard that this collab is based on your personal Wild One. Are there any modifications that your personal car has that this version doesn’t?
JW: Actually, Tamiya reproduced my original car perfectly and even improved upon it. The gearbox and suspension arms are plated, which are higher quality than my original parts, which were painted.
RCCA: Can you tell us about any upcoming projects you will have with Tamiya?
JW: We are still working on projects to revitalize the off road buggy. I will continue to bring the charm of vintage buggies to Tamiya through the Blockhead Motors brand. Please look forward to it.
RCCA: Is there is anything you’d like to say to RCCA readers?
JW: There are many ways to enjoy RC cars. I think that an RC car can be transformed into a completely different car just by changing its look with the creative use of color. The role of stickers is also important to the look of a car too. This idea stems from my being a graphic designer. I encourage you to try giving your machine a cool look by changing its colors and graphics. Also, if possible, my dream is to do a world tour of Blockhead Meetings with RC fans around the world.
as an assembly kit, which is pretty easy to build. With basic hand tools, I think beginner kit builders would not have a problem putting it together. This 2021 rerelease of the Wild One is largely the same as the updated 2012 re-release but with a few key differences. I immediately noticed that many of the kit’s black plastic parts have been plated satin silver, which gives the parts a realistic metal look. The wheels are also plated in satin silver, which is also a nice touch.
This version of the Wild One now carries four light pods instead of two. Another difference is that these light pods are Tamiya’s latest versions, which are made of a more durable plastic and come LED ready. Provisions are molded into the buckets for easy LED light installation. LEDS are not included, but are available from Tamiya.
This Blockhead Motors edition of the Wild One comes with the same polycarbonate driver figure as the original, but has two roof openings instead the solid roof of the original. I really like this feature because it gives you a better view of the driver. The sticker set is exclusive to this release and is designed by Watanabe using his Blockhead Motors branding. The classic looking graphics are brightly colored and certainly give the Wild One an even stronger throwback vibe.
You’ll also notice that this buggy comes with a realistic looking dune buggy whip, that’s fancy desert speak for an antenna with a flag on it. Whips are mounted high atop real sand dwelling machines for higher visibility to warn others that a vehicle may be hidden by a sand dune. Watanabe really doesn’t skip out on the dune buggy details. One key feature that makes his personal RC buggies stand apart is that he often adds racing number plates to them. He fashions them out of plastic sheets and adds custom graphics to them. These number plates do give his RC buggies a certain vintage flair that looks great. Luckily for us, Tamiya has included number plates with this Wild One along with an extra sheet of number graphics so we can choose which numbers to apply.
THE BUILD
I was able to assemble the kit without any trouble and even the body and driver comes pre-painted. The only thing that needed painting was the driver’s face and a portion of the helmet, which comes plated in satin silver. The fantastic looking sticker sheet is vibrant and glossy and includes a few extra optional Blockhead Motors designs for you to use as you wish.
The satin silver colored plastic parts really do pop and make the buggy look like its made of some sort of metal alloy. Its aluminum-bodied shocks are oil filled and operate smoothly. The kit comes with a full complement of bushings, which are mostly made of plastic. I skipped those pieces and added a full set of sealed ball bearings by Fast Eddy Bearings instead. Low friction ball bearings can really help your RC drive faster and for longer.
Interestingly, the Us-release of this kit comes with a Hobbywing ESC and not a Tamiya ESC. We were told that this is because of the ongoing global supply chain and microchip issues, so Tamiya America and Hobbywing worked together to make sure that most Tamiya USA kits still include an ESC. We appreciate the effort! The brushed motor waterproof ESC handles 2S-3S batteries and is marked THW-1060RTR. From what we understand, “THW” stands for Tamiya Hobbywing, which
makes it a pretty cool collector’s piece.
Being an older kit, you’ll find some older curiosities such as plastic sleeved dog bone drive shafts and rear hubs that do not use the now industry standard 12mm hexes.
All these quirks add to the Wild One’s charm. The kit comes with a brushed 540 motor and a choice of two pinion gears. I completed my Wild One with a KO Propo receiver and steering servo as well as a Maxamps 7.2v 5,000mah NIMH battery. Once fully assembled, I went out for a bash session at the local park.
ON THE LOOSE
Driving Tamiya’s Wild One can be a time warp kind of experience. With so many much more advanced RC vehicles out there, you can really feel the difference when driving this throwback. It’s plain and simple in a good way. It has predictable handling characteristics and is very easy to drive. In its stock form, it isn’t too fast to handle for even the little ones. It just cruises along, hopping and skipping over the terrain. There’s so much satisfaction from seeing this sharp looking dune buggy racing around the dirt; it’s really quite fun.
FINAL WORD
This latest edition of Tamiya Wild One is sure to be a collector’s item.
Jun Watanabe’s previous collab came in the form of Tamiya’s Hornet and that kit is way scarce now. This buggy looks so visually refined, that it almost begs to be a shelf queen. However, I for one do not intend to let this Blockhead Motors edition Wild One sit on a shelf. I’m looking to install some go fast bits to see just how wild it can get.
Circling back to whether or not this is the best time to be in the RC hobby? I’d say, yes, it absolutely is. If we can enjoy all the latest and greatest RC vehicles and tech of today while still being able to indulge in updated 80s throwbacks like the Tamiya Wild One, we must be living in a second golden age of RC and to me, that’s a good thing.