Thunder Shot Jr.

* Jr.
* Black Special
* RS

The **Thunder Shot Junior** (Japanese: サンダーショットJr., *Sandā Shotto Junia*) is a Racing Mini 4WD car released on March 24, 1988 by Tamiya. It is based on the R/C buggy of the same name by Tamiya.

It was featured in the manga and anime *Dash! Yonkuro* as the machine for Sugita of Team Hell's Kids. It was also featured in the original manga as Kazuki Yamamori's machine.

## General info

The bodyshell of the Thunder Shot features a futuristic body and a curved canopy as well as a small rear spoiler. The mono-shock and the rear CVA damper absorber props have also been replicated on Mini 4WD version of the R/C buggy.

### Original model and RS

The original Thunder Shot and the RS variant features the white body color, with blue and red trims mixed onto it. There's some minor design change on the body decals of the RS variant.

The original model was equipped with the white medium diameter 4-spoke Hotshot-type wheels with the black high-profile spike tires, while the RS variant was equipped with the chromed, large diameter mesh-type wheels with the black Avante-type slick tires. Both variant has their chassis frame and A parts molded in black.

### Black Special

Based on the original Thunder Shot, the Black Special variant features the smoke body color with the film-type body decals that has gray, silver and yellow stripes on it.

It was equipped with the black, medium diameter 4-spoke Hotshot-type wheels paired with the red high-profile spike tires. The chassis frame and A parts were molded in red.

### Excalibur and Legend Style

The Charatoru-exclusive Excalibur variants and Legend Style variant features the red stripes body decal with black background. The Excalibur variant comes in four colors (white, black, red and clear blue), while the Legend Style variant comes in two colors. (gold and silver)

The Excalibur variants were equipped with the silver plated, large diameter mesh-type wheels paired with the Avante-type slick tires molded in either white (on black and clear blue models) or blue (on white and red models), while the Legend Style variants were equipped with the large diameter 5-spoke TZ-type wheels molded in either white (silver model) or black (gold model), paired with the Avante-type slick tires molded in either black (silver model) or gray. (gold model)

## About the Thunder Shot 1/10 R/C buggy

   Released in 1987, the Thunder Shot is the entry-level, shaft-driven 4WD R/C Buggy that was made to be easy to assemble.

It has the ABS-molded, bathtub chassis frame that was very durable and has the mid-mounted motor placement for optimum balance.

It has the 4-wheel, independent double-wishbone suspension featuring the upper I arms and the lower H arms. The front has the mono-shock damper while the rear has a pair of CVA dampers.

The wheels are black-colored dish-styled wheels paired with the mid-profile spike tires.

The gearboxes are fully enclosed for keeping out dirt from the internal differentials inside.

## Gallery

### Boxarts

Boxart of Thunder Shot Jr.Boxart of Thunder Shot Jr. Black Special.Boxart of Thunder Shot RS.
## Trivia

* It is the first Mini 4WD car to have the special-colored, limited edition variant.
	+ It is also the first to have the Black Special moniker that often appear in other Mini 4WD kits up until the end of the 2nd Mini 4WD boom.
* The color scheme of the Black Special variant, consists of black bodyshell, red chassis, black wheels and red tires, would be reused in the Black Special variants of its successors, the Thunder Shot Mk.II and Aero Thunder Shot.
* A similar model car appears in the title of the NES game RC PRO-AM 2 and also is the final car to unlock after collecting the title plates.

## See also

### Thunder Shot series

* Thunder Shot Mk.II
* Thunder Shot Open Top
* Aero Thunder Shot

### Related cars

* Fire Dragon Jr.
* Thunder Dragon Jr.
* Terra Scorcher Jr.

## External links

### Tamiya Japan

* Thunder Shot Jr. at Tamiya Japan
* Thunder Shot Jr. Black Special at Tamiya Japan
* Thunder Shot RS at Tamiya Japan

### Charatoru

* Thunder Shot Excalibur at Charatoru (Japanese, archived)
* Thunder Shot Legend Style at Charatoru (Japanese)

### R/C Buggy That the Mini 4WD Car is Based On

* 1/10 R/C Buggy Thunder Shot (2005) at Tamiya Japan
* 1/10 R/C Buggy Thunder Shot (2005) at Tamiya America