Go Speed Racer?

[Rat Fink]

Hey has anyone here ever seen or built a model of the Mach 5? Just curious.

[Greg Cullinan]

There is a kit made by Polar Lights.I have it but haven't buit it yet.I've seen on this forum a few built up some as Mach 5 and others as just the vehicle.

[randx0]

the mach five from the original cartoon has been tooled up by polarlights in a glue or snap kit pretty decent but a little on the small size maybe. it builds up ok .from the recent movie Jada made snap kits of the mach five and mach six these have low parts count but look good when done.there have also been a few done in resin by a company called horizon maybe a few others know for sure .the resin kits came with and with out a speed racer figure.

[Junkman]

Imai did a superb 1/24 Mach 5, then issued a plethora of 'grade up' parts for it, so in the end it was possible to build it into a museum quality model. Then they upped the ante and released it in 'crystal', i. e. clear plastic, so it is possible to build one where you can see all the underbody details - if you can find that stuff.

I seem to remember that it is going to be reissued, but can't remember where I read it.

Rumour has it that Aoshima is going to release the movie version.

Edited April 4, 2010 by Junkman

[Junkman]

Here is one:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SPEED-RACER-imai-Mach-Go-Go-Go-Plastic-Model-Kit-Japan_W0QQitemZ300388748490QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item45f0908cca

Now figure it with every imaginable grade up part, resin, PE, you name it.

[MrObsessive]

Did someone say Mach 5??

Here's one I scratchbuilt/kitbashed back in 1993-94. Probably one of my older models in my collection, and one of my first attempts at custom body panel making.

I used the mid section of a Italeri Ferrari 250 GTO with AMT Silhouette front fender tops. The rest was good 'ol plain plastic and putty. The wheels were R&D Unique items--------in fact when I first saw those wheels that's what gave me the inspiration for doing the Mach 5.

I wanted to make the car as it might appear on the street if it were real, so it doesn't have the buzz saws or the bubble top, etc. The model is a little worse for wear now (it's 16 years old!), with cracking decals and a couple chassis parts that have fallen off. But I hang on to it as it represents a middle part of the hobby for me, as this was the period of time I was starting to get into super detailing.

Edited April 4, 2010 by MrObsessive

[Jon Cole]

Rumour has it that Aoshima is going to release the movie version.

You mean they assume someone actually watched the movie?

[Junkman]

You mean they assume someone actually watched the movie?

I think it was quite popular in Japan and Europe.

[Rat Fink]

I used to watch the cartoon everyday when I was a kid...probably why I liked the movie and thought it was very well done. It was very enjoyable to watch and that's what counts to me when watching a movie.

Mr. Obsessive that is a very nice scratch build. I just bought a kit off ebay, that will be a winter project. Kinda looking forward to winter again LOL.

[MrObsessive]

I used to watch the cartoon everyday when I was a kid...

Flashback to the Fall of 1968........I'm in the Second Grade and the kids are all raving about this car that jumps through the air and can go underwater! I didn't know what they were talking about until I saw my first episode of Speed Racer........I was forever hooked!

It used to come out of WPHL Channel 17 out of Philadelphia------it along with Marine Boy, Astro Boy, Ultraman, Spider Man and Gigantor. A fellow by the name of Wee Willie Webber (and the Peanut Gallery) used to run those cartoons from around 3:00 in the afternoon 'til about 6. Of course, then there was the fight in the house whether to watch Speed Racer, or Dark Shadows which came on at the same time.

Thanks for the compliment on my Mach 5!

[Scott Colmer]

I LOVED watching Speed Racer as a kid.

The original series is available on DVD. I've got the whole set It's amazing to see them now. They are a hoot on corny value alone. It's also great to see the Monster car and worlds fastest car (GRX) again.

The Mach 5 and Racer X cars are available as 1/18 die casts. There is also have a decent set of Johnny Lightings w/ a few of the cars from specific episodes, like the GRX.

The Imai models is way better that the Polar Lights.

Polar lights is actually rear engine. I think they got the design specs from a 1980's computer game fact sheet. The Imai has the front engine which matches the cartoon series. It also has PE parts.

Bill, that's a great scratch built M5. Not an easy body to replicate.

And here's the 1:1 at the Petersen in SoCal. Sorry for the phone pic.

Hosted on Fotki

Scott

[Aaronw]

I used to watch the cartoon everyday when I was a kid...probably why I liked the movie and thought it was very well done. It was very enjoyable to watch and that's what counts to me when watching a movie.

Mr. Obsessive that is a very nice scratch build. I just bought a kit off ebay, that will be a winter project. Kinda looking forward to winter again LOL.

Me too, the movie was pretty funky but then so was the cartoon, so I thought they did a decent job. Sure it could have been more of a serious action flick which might have even been good, but it wouldn't have been much like the cartoon.

I built the Jada Mach 5 and Mach 6 with my son last year, they are quite durable making them good toys, but also pretty decent models, although they have stickers instead of decals. They would work well as the starting point for a more detailed build.

Its too bad no one makes Racer X's car in 1/25.