Tamiya Beetle "plated" body?

[Rbray47]

Saw one at a hobby shop. It was sealed, so I couldn't see anything. Wondering what the deal was. Is it chrome plated for a reason, or just some gimmick? I assume the plating can be sprayed over? 

[Sandboarder]

Would be a great base for a Candy paint job if you wanted to spray clear colors over the top of the chrome. 

[peteski]

Never heard of that kit.  Was it in a special box that described it as being plated?

I suspect tit was some sort of special release (gimmick).  If I had one, I woudl not build it or even open the box.  Sounds like a collector's item.  I just recently bought those "regular" kits on eBay for $24 a piece.

[Fat Brian]

Tamiya does plated bodies for a lot of their RC cars. The only model I've seen like that is a Lancia Stratos but there may be others.

[jaymcminn]

I have a plated version of the Ferrari 360 Berlinetta I bought back in the late '90s. 

[Rbray47]

Hastily stolen image off of duckduckgo.

[peteski]

One always learns something new in these new-fangled online forums. 

[ybsluos]

On 1/24/2022 at 8:55 AM, Fat Brian said:

Tamiya does plated bodies for a lot of their RC cars. The only model I've seen like that is a Lancia Stratos but there may be others.

I am working on this one now.  I built the Alitalia issue when I lived in Germany at 15 years old.  The decals punished me!  I lost that model somewhere along the way and always wanted to replace it.  Though my skills are nominally better than in my teens I still was intimidated by the decals should I have gotten an old Alitalia issue.  To say nothing of the fact that those decals would be 35 years old if I got a replacement kit! I would’ve probably had to re-print them and still have the nightmare of applying them.  So when I saw this kit I said Aha!  That’s the one I will build and 2 years after mom gave it to me for Xmas I have started it.- Mark

Edited February 7, 2022 by ybsluos
Typos