RE: The Monster Beetle is back!

[Jay Kay 225]

dino_jr said:

I restored my ~20 year old hotshot recently... Although so many parts needed replacing, it's practically a new car

Hotshot, I would have killed for one of those when I were a boy!!!

[300bhp/ton]

The Tamiya kits might look cool. But they are tragically rubbish as RC cars!!! Worse they are utter utter rubbish.

Best to avoid and spend the money on something worthwhile that performs better. Just have a look at the Losi or Traxxas websites to get a feel for what you can get. Or if more budget minded the kits sold by Hobbyking.

[300bhp/ton]

dino_jr said:

I restored my ~20 year old hotshot recently... Although so many parts needed replacing, it's practically a new car

You really have to admire Tamiya's balls for fitting such low grade plastic shocks, the worst battery connector ever devised with its main aim to handle the lowest current ever, cause high resistance and melt if you used a quality battery pack. And simply the worst ever sealed 540 motors, which were hardly fit to even power a CD player.

[Mave]

dino_jr said:

I restored my ~20 year old hotshot recently... Although so many parts needed replacing, it's practically a new car

Have you got the original steering setup? Mine seems to have been designed by someone with no knowledge of Akermann angle!

[cookie1600]

Still got my original Vanessa's Lunchbox. It's received a few chrome bits over the years and remains on the shelf, but now has three sisters for bashing and wheelies!

[sortedcossie]

300bhpton - agreed, they are entry level, and always have been - I swap those connectors straight away on the battery too, they are rubbish.

I've got a schumacher mission touring car chassis, and that blows anything from the class form tamiya out of the water - it even has adjustable roll bars with totally adjustable camber/castor! Having said that, now way a 7-10 year old could build the schumacher chassis, it is way more complex.

[Mr2Mike]

I still have my Lancia 037 somewhere in the loft, though ISTR the body is very secondhand after an incident with a wall and a stuck speed controller.

[bigalx]

I was given the new TT-01 E30 M3 as a birthday present from my folks - this rolled into:

a complete restoration of my BigWig - I remember way back when I hopped up the engine to a 1/4hp electric which ran for about 2 mins before the battery drained and chewed through so many gears. Only thing missing and I am yet to find is one of the exhaust pipe attachments on the rear...

Following on from that I have done up an Avante, Frog, Lunchbox, Hotshot and Boomerang... Very Addictive and ideal when weather wont allow me playing with the real cars and most people on ebay don't know what they have for auction so they can be fairly cheap!

[300bhp/ton]

sortedcossie said:

300bhpton - agreed, they are entry level, and always have been - I swap those connectors straight away on the battery too, they are rubbish.

I've got a schumacher mission touring car chassis, and that blows anything from the class form tamiya out of the water - it even has adjustable roll bars with totally adjustable camber/castor! Having said that, now way a 7-10 year old could build the schumacher chassis, it is way more complex.

I've had a few Schumachers over the years, although their manuals used to be pretty good, but lots of assembly. But they do or at least did do simpler models too and of course it's the day and age of the RTR's.


Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Tamiya, but I never really saw the appeal. And I've been into RC's since the late 1980's and was heavily involved in racing them from 1993-2000+. I got back into them a year or so ago and saw to my surprise how much interest there still was in Tamiya. Now I wasn't ignorant, friends had had them back in the day, so I had seen what they couldn't do.

But to keep an open mind I bought myself a Lunchbox and built it. I admit it was fun to build, but I thought the highly raved about manuals were actually far worse than the Losi and Traxxas manuals I was used to.

The end product looked great and with the pitiful stock 540 motor it was even amusing to use, but looked and performed like a 'toy' grade product. I've sinced hoped it up a bit with some old racing gear I had from around 1998. And while it still looks good, it's design and capability are frankly rubbish.

So I still don't understand the appeal of them, unless they are only for display purposes.

I know some of the higher end models probably perform ok, but the price of them is eye watering. And I honestly don't believe they are even half as good as the other established models.


Some of my current RC's just to show there's no ignorance.

[m444ttb]

I still have my original Monster Beetle (and a Blitzer Beetle) from c.1990. It's a bit of a wreck though frankly. Think it may need a transmission rebuild amongst many other things before it's useable again. I was going to chuck all our RC cars (4 or 5 in total) on eBay as a job lot to clear out the spare room but seeing a min condition one of these makes me want to restore it.

[Limpet]

Had a Mud Blaster, a Hornet and an Escort Cosworth as a kid.

Everyone knew the Tamiya stuff wasn't what you bought if you wanted to go racing, but they were beautifully detailed models that were a pleasure to build, easy to get spares for, simple to upgrade, and were generally tough as old boots. Ideal for bashing around with your mates in the park or a school playground on a weekend.

I got a TT-02 drift car for Christmas last year. Put it together in a couple of days and had real fun doing it. Driven it three times though. The driving bit isn't much fun any more, but the build part is still hugely enjoyable.

[myhandle]

0836whimper said:

I
...and then bought an Egress.....

Nice. I had the Egress, it was pretty cutting edge for 1992. It had a carbonfibre chassis held together with aluminium and titanium parts, a flat undertray, aluminium dampers and the 02H motor - a seriously rapid car. I sold it on eBay a couple of years back in complete but used condition for restoration, and it made a great price.

[Icehanger]

what ever happened to Beaties? Still have memories as a kid staring at all the Tamiya kits on the shelves. do decent model shops still exist?
Still have my Super Sabre and Astute in the loft, might have to do a refurb on those
hahah the batteries were so rubbish in those days all of 5mins play before you needed to swap.

Heading to the loft later!!!

[TWPC]

300bhp/ton said:

sortedcossie said:

300bhpton - agreed, they are entry level, and always have been - I swap those connectors straight away on the battery too, they are rubbish.

I've got a schumacher mission touring car chassis, and that blows anything from the class form tamiya out of the water - it even has adjustable roll bars with totally adjustable camber/castor! Having said that, now way a 7-10 year old could build the schumacher chassis, it is way more complex.

I've had a few Schumachers over the years, although their manuals used to be pretty good, but lots of assembly. But they do or at least did do simpler models too and of course it's the day and age of the RTR's.


Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Tamiya, but I never really saw the appeal. And I've been into RC's since the late 1980's and was heavily involved in racing them from 1993-2000+. I got back into them a year or so ago and saw to my surprise how much interest there still was in Tamiya. Now I wasn't ignorant, friends had had them back in the day, so I had seen what they couldn't do.

But to keep an open mind I bought myself a Lunchbox and built it. I admit it was fun to build, but I thought the highly raved about manuals were actually far worse than the Losi and Traxxas manuals I was used to.

The end product looked great and with the pitiful stock 540 motor it was even amusing to use, but looked and performed like a 'toy' grade product. I've sinced hoped it up a bit with some old racing gear I had from around 1998. And while it still looks good, it's design and capability are frankly rubbish.

So I still don't understand the appeal of them, unless they are only for display purposes.

I know some of the higher end models probably perform ok, but the price of them is eye watering. And I honestly don't believe they are even half as good as the other established models.


Some of my current RC's just to show there's no ignorance.

300bhp, Thanks for all that. Amazing collection - the Mosquito looks especially wonderful.

I am considering getting my 11 year old an electric off-road RC car for Xmas. I want to get one that he will build himself (with help from me when necessary) and will then be able to blast around the local park. He won't be racing it - there are no clubs or tracks nearby. Budget £200-£250 (or less!)
What would you recommend?

As a child I had a couple of Tamiya cars and never got anything better - building and driving them was some of the best fun I had, but I would love to know of better alternatives.

[patmahe]

Ok, this thread has rekindled a love of radio control cars from when I was a kid (a Tyco Fastraxx was as good as it got for me). I've recently purchased a house with a large lawn and some decent sized gravel areas, I also go to the beach on a semi-regular basis. What R/C car/buggy would people in the know recommend to me for some off road fun, don't want to break the bank, just something capable and sturdy to have some fun with.

[m444ttb]

Did anyone ever have one of those quarter scale touring cars? I used to long for one after seeing them in RC magazines but I had a feeling they were £2k+ back in the 90s! If i remember correctly they had carbon chassis and all sorts of other clever little bits. Mostly they were DTM cars i think. Im sure the racing must have cost the same as running a club level kart!

[RevsPerMinute]

Just asked my wife to see if my 4 y/o daughter would like this instead of a scooter for her birthday.

Damn I need a son.

[Fishy Dave]

What a great thread. My first RC car was a Kyosho Raider (Hornet rival), before moving onto a Mardave Cobra (much cheaper on parts!). My first Tamiya ownership was a Celica ST185 in Castrol livery, great stuff, I raced this a bit in Attleborough and Norwich, before spending some of my student loan on the brand new Tamiya TA03F-Pro, one of the first in the country. Wow, I thought it was amazing, until it started chewing through spur gears constantly. I remember spending my cash on sending the motors away for Dyno runs and commutator skimming, oh and those awful 1700 SCE matched battery packs that despite thermal or peak charging and discharging on a bulb still had a terrible lifespan.

My wife has recently encouraged me to buy a kit again but then I remember how the bills can add up as I just know I'd end up getting back into racing again. Still remember buying brand new sets of spiked soft compound tyres and then clipping every other spike tip off with nail clippers (grip rolled otherwise), oh what a waste. Maybe I could just buy something to run around in the garden? Perhaps a reason to start a family??!!!!

[VinceM]

Had a Falcon when I was 11, loved it. My friend has The Hornet which always seemed faster, and he then bought the Escort Cosworth kit. I'd still like the Escort kit now.

[300bhp/ton]

TWPC said:

300bhp, Thanks for all that. Amazing collection - the Mosquito looks especially wonderful.

I am considering getting my 11 year old an electric off-road RC car for Xmas. I want to get one that he will build himself (with help from me when necessary) and will then be able to blast around the local park. He won't be racing it - there are no clubs or tracks nearby. Budget £200-£250 (or less!)
What would you recommend?

As a child I had a couple of Tamiya cars and never got anything better - building and driving them was some of the best fun I had, but I would love to know of better alternatives.

Thanks.

Honestly it's a bit of a tough one to answer. I think the things to weigh up are:

-how much of the experience will be the building of it
- vs how much driving

The RTR kits have soft of killed the cheaper to buy build yourself kits. Which is good in some ways of getting up and running, but you miss out on the build and maybe not be as confident at then taking it apart for repairs.

Other things to consider:

-what will be good as a basher on a poor surface won't yield well to racing, so if there is an interest in racing, you might want to consider this from the off.

-upgrades and performance. Modern RC's are VERY fast and could almost be considered a weapon. This speed can make them easy to break too. So I'd advise getting a setup that you can dial back to begin with, but that won't prove a restriction later on.



Other info that might be of help:


-Trucks tend to work better as 'bashers' due to the increase ground clearance. It's amazing how the grass of a park can really hamper many a 2wd buggy. The down side is get something too tall and they tend to handle worse and flip more.

I've always been a huge fan of the stadium truck as they are a happy mix of both. But sometimes choices can be limited on what is available.


-Gear. RTR's will come with everything to get going, but as is the way with most things, the stuff you get will probably need upgrading. Some kits come with stuff too, but again it's a similar story and you are often better off doing a little research first.

For example:

-radio gear. A good 2.4Ghz setup is the way to go. But even this is a big topic, as there are different setups, so you can't just mix and match every transmitter to every receiver. And if this is something they are likely to grow into, then a good programmable transmitter will be a worthwhile investment.

-Batteries. You'll see some advertised with NiMh. These are ok, but old tech these days. The also need a bit of TLC to keep good and performance and runtime is poor with them. But they are safe. LiPo is definitely the way to go, much more power and runtimes. The only thing here is, they are potentially more hazardous.

LiPo batteries should be treated with the same regard as petrol. I.e. if you mess about with it, you could get hurt. So if you go down the LiPo route, SAFETY is a big part of the education.


-Motors and ESC's. These can cost you a fortune. But they don't need too. Brushless motors are they way to go and practically zero maintenance. Tamiya still use 30 year old+ brushed motors. A quality brushed motor is fine, but does require maintenance.


-Whatever kit you get, it's well worth researching what the weak points are and get some spares when you buy it. Nothing worse than crashing it on your first go, then having to wait a week or so for a spare part.




I will say, you might want to have a look at some of the Tamiya offerings. They do look good and are fun to build. But using them is a real let down, even more so if you ever see a better RC car being used. And they aren't always the cheap option either.


Here is a great example of what is available:
http://www.modelsport.co.uk/ftx-carnage-1-10-4wd-b...

This is a seriously rapid RC. And being 4wd it drives very well. It does have a few short comings in design, so it is easy to break things like body posts. But it's all fixable. It is RTR, but there is nothing to stop you buying it and taking it apart if you want to learn how it works.

The charger isn't the best, you'd want to upgrade it. But it's a good setup to get you started. But it isn't a kit.


Sadly, kits are somewhat rare these days.


These are some very good models:
http://www.losi.com/Products/Start.aspx

A notch or two up from the FTX I linked too. But also in price. These are just very good overall.

As are these:
https://traxxas.com/products/showroom


The Losi are better as they are more race like, the Traxxas are great bashers and well designed. But you'll a bit of premium for either.



An alternative is to have a look at Hobbyking. They are a big Chinese RC model vendor, but have a warehouse in the UK. They are very well respected in the model aircraft world and do some nice cars and trucks too. Very good prices, just a little rougher around the edges and sometimes you need to order from their International (Chinese) warehouse, so it can take 2+ weeks for parts. I've bought a lot from them.

Oh and their website takes a bit of learning, but stick with it as it's well worth the hassle in figuring your way around it.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/897__896Cars_Parts-Offroad_Cars.html


A great thing is, they sell not only RTR (ready to run), but Almost Ready to Run (so you can choose your electronics) and complete self assembly kits too.

This is one worth looking at:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/398461_10_Quanum_Vandal_4WD_Electric_Racing_Buggy_KIT_UK_Warehouse_.html

The link I posted earlier to the FTX truck. Well in the RC world it's common place to rebrand (sometimes copy) models. FTX also sell a 4wd buggy called the Vantage.

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/ftx-vantage-1-10-4wd-b...

It is the same kit as the Hobbyking Vandal. But it's cheaper to get from Hobbyking. And you can get it as a complete self assembly kit.




That'll probably do as a start, there are other options and if you want a 2wd racing buggy (can be used for bashing), then there is a nice kit option for doing this on a budget and end up with a really high performing machine at the end of it.

Have a look and feel free to shoot me a PM if you want more info, or recommendations on anything specific.