The body package on the Keen Hawk is of course the most striking thing about the car.  The shape seems like a cross between a formula one car and a jet fighter - certainly very futuristic.  The dominating feature is the huge air scoop behind the freakishly small drivers cabin.  The shell is about as low as Tamiya could possibly go on this chassis, the front sitting around, instead of above, the front differential. Certainly, on an off road buggy, such a radical design is rare on anything approaching race-level (which the Keen Hawk seems to be)- with only really Tamiyas own TRF 501X being equally 'rad'.

Love it or hate it, the low shell means space in an already tight chassis is at a premium.  The rear of the shell is swept upwards and with bulges around the servo and ESC areas either side of the car - which helps with the large Mamba Max brushless ESC.

A (very) small wing is provided also but it's so small and placed so low, that it's largely only used as a rear bumper on this car, or for decoration.  A larger wing with a higher profile would be a good addition if you want to race this buggy.

The shell is nicely moulded, with a clear overspray film on the outside. Nice clear cut lines are moulded-in and even with the odd shape there were no problems getting the airbrush into all the areas. Masking some designs up inside the air-scoop might be a problem though since it's quite tight.

As is usual with Tamiya, no window masks are provided.  I spent the time myself and came up with some tiny little window masks to turn the bubble-like cockpit into a more traditional three-window design.  If anyone wants these masks then let me know as I'm sure I can sell them if requested. For the paint scheme, well, a lack of time and energy has seen my creativity wain, it has to be said.  I have 'knocked out' this same paint scheme on the last few reviews, since I know it looks nice and I really don't have to think too hard about it. Shame on me.

All painted up, the shell mounts on the car with three body posts.  You can however use velcro on the chassis sides if you prefer, which is what I used since I lose body clips so easily! I do think the shell looks good - perhaps more toy-like than the 'Dark Impact' buggy shell which also fits this chassis. But still, with the right paint and stickers applied the car looks awesome and certainly attracted some attention at the race track.

The wing is screwed on with two counter-sunk screws and counter sunk washers. As previously mentioned, the wing is on the small side, but looks nicely in-tune with the 'small' body shell design. With the wing in place, pressing down lightly on it will actually move the shock tower a little - no, really! This is when it became apparent just how flexible these shock towers are. The plastic it not as soft as that on the Atech BX1 I reviewed last year, but still it's quite significant.

I would question anyone that claimed to have broken one of these towers - they are seriously flexible and reslilient to impacts. This is a good thing for your average youngster (or Mrs.oOple) who plans to crash at ever available oportunity. Indeed, if 'bashing' or playing is your thing, then these are fine, don't read the rest of this - but if you want to get a little serious about the handling, then shock towers as flexible as this are, frankly, no good.