Tamiya Midnight Pumpkin Project



What the @#%& is a Midnight Pumpkin?  Well, the reference to the carriage made from a pumpkin in Cinderella is pretty obvious, but what does that have to do with a 1950 Ford pickup truck?  I don't know, and neither do you.  This is Tamiya we are talking about.  The flame design was apparently inspired by a truck the designer took with him from California to Japan.  I've seen pictures of that original.  Nice truck: no pumpkin.

The first wheelie chassis came with the 58035 Wild Willy way back in 1982.  The 58070 Midnight Pumpkin showed up in 1987 with a different chassis, the CW-01 which was shared with several other vehicles. In 2006 Tamiya re-released the Midnight Pumpkin as 58365 which was a special metallic edition and then again as a 58547 black edition in 2013.  Oddly, at the time I was buying the newer 2013 edition was not available but I was able to get the one from 2006.

This thing is fun but strange to drive.  Within the first five minutes of driving it I shattered the servo saver.  It turns out that when your front wheels are not on the ground (which is a lot), you have no steering.  This makes it really easy for those big front tires to run into something.  I guess the servo was saved, but I'm surprised the saver wasn't more flexible.  I didn't have another one so I just glued it.  No more protection so I guess I have to be a better driver now.  The model is not very fast but has plenty of torque for pulling wheelies off the line.  This is really only possible from a dead stop; the application of throttle once moving is like any other vehicle.  The performance in grass is actually pretty good due to the big tires and high ground clearance, even with 2WD and an open differential.  The trailing arm rear suspension, swing arm front suspension, and friction dampers make for really terrible handling, but I don't think carving through the corners is really the point.  It is super fun to drive, and that is the point.

It was only a couple of weeks before I drove the Pumpkin under a parked car and smashed the roof and windshield.  I epoxied it back together, but I was pretty unhappy about the clearly damaged appearance.  About a year later I collected the parts to install a new body, this time in the original black.  The model now looks almost like an original except that it has chrome wheels instead of yellow, a change which I find to be an improvement.  I guess it was a fortuitous crash since I really wanted the black one to begin with. 

Update:  This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire.  It has not been replaced.

frame
Page 1: Assembly


Page 2: Upgrades!


Page 3: Final Photos

Description
Manufacturer
Model #
Midnight Pumpkin (2013) 1/12th Scale
R/C Classic 1950's Pick-up Truck Style Kit
(Metallic Special)
Tamiya
58365
Torque Tuned 25T 540 Brushed MotorTamiya
54358
10 Tooth 0.8 Mod Brass Pinion
Tamiya
3505015
TBLE-02s Sensored Brushless
Electronic Speed Control
Tamiya
45057
2 Channel 2.4 GHz DSMR Receiver
Spektrum
SR210
Standard High Torque
Ball Bearing Steering Servo
Futaba
S3010
RC Body
Tamiya
9335668
RC C Parts
Tamiya 9005258
RC E Parts
Tamiya 9000444
RC Sticker
Tamiya 9400378
RC CVA Short Shock Unit Set II x2
Tamiya
50520
CW01 Lunchbox and Pumpkin Trans Brace
Ampro Engineering
W01002-01
TS-14 Black Paint
Tamiya 85014
TS-13 Clear Paint
Tamiya 85013
5x8mm Rubber Sealed
Ball Bearings
Advantage Racing MR85-2RS
5x11mm Rubber Sealed
Ball Bearings x9
Advantage Racing
MR115-2RS

Up to RC Index

©2018 Eric Albrecht