R/C car for husband - help please!!

[Emme]

Hi everyone,

My hubby's birthday at the end of the month and I know he'd LOVE a decent RC car for him (and our 4yr old :rollseyes: )

I've got about £200, but after an almost amazon purchase plunder, I've now learnt that most of the cars also need the remote control, battery packs, etc, etc all bought separately - and you have to devote the first month to painstakingly building and painting the things ()

I'm very unsure about the practicality of this with little children terrorizing everyone...

Can anyone please give me some advice? He's mentioned names to me in the past but aside from Vanessa's lunchbox and a 'proper buggy' I've got no idea where to even start.

I know this has been asked before, I did try searching threads but, honestly, most went right over my head... Please keep it simple for the totally RC car naive!

Any advice would be amazing xxxxx

[Emme]

Soov535 said:

Hi and welcome.

Google for Tamiya UK. They do ready built vehicles which come with all you need including controllers and batteries etc etc.

Building their kits is quite tricky and I suspect a 4 year old would lose patience before it was finished.

With the reday built Tamiyas as he gets older you can upgrade and tune them up.

Good luck.

I had a Sand Scorcher and a Toyota Celica - loved them both.

Thanks Soov. I'll do that, I didn't know they did ready built! Car is totally for my husband but I suspect him and the 4yr old will be heading to the park together to play - I mean drive it.

[Emme]

Kaelic said:

How about this? http://www.firebox.com/product/7260/Sphero-BB-8


If he is a StarWars fan he may love you more

thanks Kaelic - not a chance A few hours of boys time in the park I can handle but constant??!!

[Emme]

This looks fun?? http://tamiya.com/english/products/57727mighty/ind... Haven't found a price yet...

[Emme]

Thanks Shuvi, that does look like something he's shown me before! What is it please?

I thought big wheels meant off road :/ Lucky I didn't buy the lunchbox!

[Emme]

I've just emailed Tamiya's recommended supplier in the UK, hopefully they won't think i'm crazy.

I've tried to find a local place actually but drawn a blank.

[Emme]

Soov535 said:

This.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TAMIYA-RC-57755-Sand-Viper...


I present the Sand Viper - £200 ready to roll!!

Haha, thanks Soov, looks awesome, but i'm worried about buying from Amazon... thinking I ought to go to a specialist as they might be more willing to swap if i've totally not been listening and buy the wrong thing??

[Emme]

Wow! Thank you all so much. I'll try to look at everything over the weekend - little boy back from school and husband came home early so ruined my replying!!

Will definitely contact you Russ.

Thank you all again xxxx

[Emme]

SlipStream77 said:

I've ordered from Modelsport before, they've been very good.

Here's their stock list for electric models between £120 and £200.

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/rc-electric-models/rc-...

A few ideas..

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

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/maverick-strada-xb-evo...

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/hpi-e-firestorm-10t-rt...

The Vantage is definitely one he's been looking at - although, what is the brushless bit please?

[Emme]

Rude-boy said:

OP - look up PHer Russy01 - you will see him all over the Lego threads and on most of these RC ones.

He sells almost all of the Tamiya RC range (if not all) and i am sure will be able to sort you out.

FWIW the basic Tamiya kits are really easy to build for anyone with opposing thumbs and half an idea how a diff and suspension works. The last one i built was RTR after about 10 hours, and i was being anal about lining up screw heads...

The advantage of building also means that when he breaks it (which he will) he will know exactly how to take it apart and rebuild it.

I would go for a 4x4 buggie like the tamiya neo scorcher. I bought mine for about £210 with a can of paint, fast charger and extra battery from a Toymaster on an "I want it now!" whim - I'm sure you would come out under that figure via Russ.

If you are really sold on the idea of a RTR car then again I would say you should go Tamiya - I know someone who had one and we really gave it death with it still going 4 years later (a few bits might not look exactly bnib though )

Thanks again Rudeboy, the "knowing how to fix it" comment has persuaded me to stick with a build it yourself - his present will have to include a voucher for 'boy time'

[Emme]

hantsxlg said:

Have a look at jadlam racing.. they do all the tamiya stuff and if you wait a while I'm sure someone will be along shortly to post on here with a discount code for you to use. I'm a very happy customer of theirs. My 3 year old got had a Tamiya DT-03 buggy from Father Christmas that his Daddy loved putting together for him!

Brilliant site, thanks hants

[Emme]

wildoliver said:

Just to throw a left field choice.

Look at Thunder Tiger Phoenix.

I got back in to RC after a 15-20 year hiatus through one of these which was a birthday present from my OH. Circa £90 and comes with everything in the box except batteries and charger. It's a Team Associated B3 that's been rebranded which is a good quality if slightly old race buggy, the radio is very good especially for the money, speed control and motor are also pretty damn good and it's all built and ready to go, being highly critical the shocks are junk, but for a basher it's fine, if he really gets in to it though hop ups are easily available as are spares from the Team Associated catalogue.

If he does smash it beyond repair and trust me he wont then everything will transfer in to another kit as it's all separate items not toy grade.

Just a thought. Be warned though I've dropped the thick end of a grand in the last month or so on RC car kit, it gets addictive. Still got the phoenix for bashing though.

Thanks wildoliver, this looks good too. I've asked Russ if he can pick something
I'm heeding lot's of warnings about the cost, but on the plus side he might stop teching out the house!! I don't even know how to turn on the flipping light swithes anymore!!!

[Emme]

MBBlat said:

Tamiya Wild Willy 2 - http://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-wild-willy-2-wr...
£202 for the bundle + £14 for the bearings. The chassis will take 1-2 evenings to screw together, add another for a simple (olive green) paint scheme and your ready to go.

Its slightly more expensive than the Lunchbox but a newer chassis.
If getting a Tamiya kit, get the bearings at the same time, saves having to break it down later to install them.

Thanks for this one MBBlat, I LOVED it!! I'm thinking joint xmas present for hubby and boy They even have a tractor one!

[Emme]

shep1001 said:

Apex Models in Crowthorne is very good. Used them for years for my RC stuff. Be warned it's addictive and it can get expensive more expensive than a real car even! I spent more on RC stuff last year thanI did running my TVR

Thanks Shep, I've emailed Russ but i'll look these up too if he can't help with my pitiful decision making(!)

More expensive than running a TVR actually fills me with horror - he's had a few of those

[Emme]

Dan_1981 said:

Understand this is the shop owned by the PHer above who may not wish to advertise too heavily.....

http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/c-475-more-toys....

Take your pick and drop him a PM!

Thanks Dan, i've emailed x

[Emme]

EagleMoto4-2 said:

I recently bought this R/C car from emodels.co.uk. Approx half the size of the Tamiya one's and comes with everything you need in the box and is ready built. Runs great on the grass and if you have medium sized back garden you wont run out of room like you will with the bigger Tamiya model's (if they cant be bothered to go to the park). It is still quite quick though but so far seems well made as I have managed to hit a few things/roll it and nothing had broken yet.
Bear in mind if you go kit route with something like Tamiya, the body shells require cutting with scissors and then spray painting, which can be a pain if you don't have anywhere to safely use spray cans.

http://www.emodels.co.uk/maverick-ion-xb-1-18-rtr-...

My 2 year old son loves running after the car to try and catch it!

Thanks Eagle, looks like another xmas contender for our little boy.

[Emme]

Soov535 said:

WOW!

http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/p-14551-tamiya-d...

Thanks Soov, looks brilliant, do I need to get 'brushless' ?

[Emme]

kelk said:

Brushless means the style of motor - it will be faster and means that you can use lipo batteries in it. The advantage with using lipo batteries is that they are a lot more resilient to repeated charges and can offer more punch.

If you do go brushless (and therefore lipo) get a lipo sack to charge in for safety purposes

Brilliant, thanks Kelk, if I haven't scared Russ off I'll ask him for brushless.