Tamico Avante Earth Force Project

Page 1: Assembly

I've already written about the build of the Avante in great detail, so I will only address the differences here. Please see my original Avante page for more information on that chassis, and my Avante Black Edition page for those differences.

Here is the shrink wrapped box in which my Avante Earth Force edition arrived. At first glance it appears to be a unique box, but once the plastic is removed you can see that Tamico has just put a sleeve over the top of a standard Avante Black Special box. They obviously started with a standard black edition kit, opened it up to change a few parts, put on a sleeve, then wrapped it back up. This isn't much different than what Tamiya typically did with their TRF kits which used a generic box with a sleeve to differentiate them.

Inside the box we see the lovely blister packs and body separated in just the same way as the 2011 Avante and Black Edition. Nothing has been changed here; all the changes are hidden beneath. On the right you can see the individual number of my copy: #78 out of 333. I'll be saving this sleeve to identify my copy and just in case it is ever worth something.

Here I've highlighted the only changes Tamico have made to the kit. On the left you can see an insert showing how to paint the body and a supplemental sticker sheet. Portions of the original sticker sheet (which is still in the box) also need to be used. On the right you can see the uniquely colored wheels and the aftermarket foams and tires from Schumacher. I'm actually not sure why they changed the tires since the black edition versions are very similar and would have fit. I guess it was an easy thing to change and make the special edition special.

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