I use the Kit screws they work great if you have the right screw driver. They aren't Philips screws, they are JIS screws. with the right screwdriver you can crank some torque to them. The philips screwdrivers "Cam out" of the JIS screws and cause all sorts of headaches.

I file off the driver tips to make them fit perfectly. I can crank them very hard without breaking the heads.

ALL taps are oversized. They need to be to make sure that a screw will enter the tapped hole without binding. (There are different classes of taps and screws depending on the desired design clearance.)

For plastic, I use taps made from spare screws or turnbuckles. I go through several and pick the one with the smallest major diameter, then cut a short, shallow lengthwise slot at the end of the screw with a Dremel cutoff wheel. Presto! A tap with no design clearance, and very cost-effective, too!

When using these to tap plastic, the plastic will stretch a little, so after tapping the full length of the hole, a screw will still be a snug fit, and not readily back out.

Like I said before-----smart guy that Howard. That's brilliant. Clean the threads up with a die and you've got a very effective tap.

What I used to hate was how difficult it was to run the screws in the last few mm. You almost had to have gorilla forearms.

Yep, he's a fairly bright guy. I did this once, but completely forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder!

I don't see a problem with this. I consider my ape-like physique quite charming. (And I use an electric driver most of the time.)

Oops, I forgot to mention that part!

That's because it's not a metric tap but a badge engineered SAE (or some other stuff like that). I don't think Dubro make anything in metric sizes.

True. Still need to apply pressure whilst turning.

Besides, have you seen the looks on peoples' faces behind the counter when you ask for a JIS screwdriver?

Outside Japan I only found them in old (sixties/seventies) Toyota/Honda OEM toolkits and they're a bit on the large side for 3mm screws.

I bought the screw drivers from Tamiya. Theirs work just fine.

I bought mine from a Yamaha motorcycle shop. All the Japanese bikes use the JIS screws. They were even a decent price.

Sorry to high jack but figured a die hard mini racer may have an interest. Rare mini cooper tire sets...

http://www.rctech.net/forum/r-c-item...l#post14061658

What you keep forgetting is that you live within earshot of perhaps the largest Tamiya presence in the world outside Japan. In Oz, you'd be lucky to find some of their run of the mill kits on the shelf and special things like tools, TRF stuff, etc are not even on the importer list. My guess is this would be pretty much the situation replicated elsewhere in the world.

Good idea. Now to find that Yamaha shop here.

Niznai - no need to have JIS dedicated drivers. I don't use any. Just get a nice phillips driver and file the tip. I don't strip any screw heads.

Nah, I don't keep forgetting that since I spend most of my track time at the Tamiya facility. However, what you might not be aware of is that most of us do not buy directly from Tamiya cause they do ding us full retail. The street price of most Tamiya items is about 60% of retail. Very few of the LHS carry the Mini kits and finding Mini parts is difficult at the LHS level. Most of use online suppliers and the Hong Kong or Japan shops. From my contact with some of your Aussie counterparts, that's pretty much your situation.

Also, I believe some of our online suppliers will ship internationally, but the Asian shops are probably less expensive.

You make it sound as if you live in some backwards and isolated part of the world. I may be wrong, but my impression of Australia is that it is a a modern country with a vibrant economy. Surely, you don't have any more trouble finding and obtaining Tamiya items than our Canadian counterparts, but as always admit to the possibility that I'm mistaken.

I bet his problem with Tamiya is teh same as ours in Canada. The distributors are horrible. Our national Tamiya distributor Borgfeldt has low stock levels and not really hobbyshop friendly. Their opening order is more then what horizion or hobbico want and all Borgfeldt carry is Tamiya.