I
didn't know anything about the "Dragon" bodies when I started this
project. Why would Tamiya release another body on the Thunder Shot
chassis only 4 months after unveiling the new 4WD chassis in the first
place? It turns out that this was a marketing crossover with a
manga company called CoroCoro Comic. This comic had a character
called Radicon (R/C) Boy who raced Tamiya Mini4WD models. There
were 4 CoroCoro themed "Dragon" bodies that came out over the course of a
couple of years starting in the late 1980's, first as Mini4WD models
then as larger scale R/C counterparts. The 58073 Thunder Dragon and 58078 Fire Dragon came out in 1988 and 1989 on the Thunder Shot chassis. The 58083
Saint Dragon came out in 1990 on the Madcap chassis. The final
body type, the Super Dragon, was not released on a chassis and was only
available as the 50364
body kit. All of the others were also available as separate body
kits. All of these models were re-released decades later with the 47459 Saint Dragon moving to the Thunder Shot chassis and the 47438 Storm Dragon (now called the Super Storm Dragon) now available as a kit with the Grasshopper chassis. My 47458 Thunder Dragon is the 2021 re-release.The Thunder Dragon chassis is identical to the Thunder Shot from a year earlier. This model has four wheel double wishbone suspension, but the front is not quite independent since the left and right sides share a single shock absorber. The main chassis is a bathtub type with front and rear modular gearboxes which assemble to it. The suspension arms are made from a softer blue plastic to absorb impacts. The shocks are early plastic CVA oil filled type. There is a front sway bar supplied as stock, but no ball bearings. Like most early buggies, there is a driver included.
As described previously, this is a great chassis with much improved handling over the Hotshot. It would have been almost a perfect Hotshot successor if it were not for the weak A5 part which has never been corrected, even after decades of production. Luckily, aftermarket upgrades to fix the problem are readily available.
I really had no intention of buying the other Thunder Shot chassis models since I figured one was enough, but the collector in me usually wins out, especially once I realized I could have a complete collection of all 4 Thunder Shot models as re-releases.
Update: This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire. It has not been replaced.
 Page 1: Assembly |
 Page 2: Final Photos |