Tamiya for [-]my son[-] me
Discussion
So,
After spending the last 2 weeks flogging all my old RC models on ebay (thanks to the phers who helped me identify them) i almost have enough cash to buy a kit and new radio gear to build with my 4.5 year old. I have fond memories of getting my original monster beetle for my 5th or 6th birthday and promptly smashing the rear body mount off by wedging it under a neighbors car.
I have a plan for a pistol style transmitter that i can tie-wrap something behind to limit the speed to start with, rather than fitting a 380 motor and different gears. Mainly so i can have a blast with it at full speed.
From reading various threads on here and rc forums i have kinda narrowed it down to either a Madbull or a TT02B based buggy. Id love a Lunchbox or Monster Beetle again but i think they will tip over a lot. At least the madbull has a lower CoG.
Our garden is roughly 10m * 8m of grass so not really big enough to play in. So it will be local parks and farm tracks. As he gets better and if he enjoys it there are a couple of local clubs with proper tracks we can use.
So, i have come up with some pros and cons for each.
Madbull:
Pros: ground clearance, front tyres forward of chassis
Cons: mad handling, poor steering (possibly improved with servo linkage mod)
TT02B Buggy:
Pros: 4wd improves handling, steering, grip etc
Cons: low ground clearance.. gets stuck, no jumps etc.
Costs are roughly the same for each, around 100€ for the kits with bearing upgrade. Ill then need to spend between 50 and 70€ on transmitter, servo and a battery. I still have my old chargers.
Can anyone push me in a particular direction? Are my Pro Con lists wrong?
After spending the last 2 weeks flogging all my old RC models on ebay (thanks to the phers who helped me identify them) i almost have enough cash to buy a kit and new radio gear to build with my 4.5 year old. I have fond memories of getting my original monster beetle for my 5th or 6th birthday and promptly smashing the rear body mount off by wedging it under a neighbors car.
I have a plan for a pistol style transmitter that i can tie-wrap something behind to limit the speed to start with, rather than fitting a 380 motor and different gears. Mainly so i can have a blast with it at full speed.
From reading various threads on here and rc forums i have kinda narrowed it down to either a Madbull or a TT02B based buggy. Id love a Lunchbox or Monster Beetle again but i think they will tip over a lot. At least the madbull has a lower CoG.
Our garden is roughly 10m * 8m of grass so not really big enough to play in. So it will be local parks and farm tracks. As he gets better and if he enjoys it there are a couple of local clubs with proper tracks we can use.
So, i have come up with some pros and cons for each.
Madbull:
Pros: ground clearance, front tyres forward of chassis
Cons: mad handling, poor steering (possibly improved with servo linkage mod)
TT02B Buggy:
Pros: 4wd improves handling, steering, grip etc
Cons: low ground clearance.. gets stuck, no jumps etc.
Costs are roughly the same for each, around 100€ for the kits with bearing upgrade. Ill then need to spend between 50 and 70€ on transmitter, servo and a battery. I still have my old chargers.
Can anyone push me in a particular direction? Are my Pro Con lists wrong?
Do FTX make kits or are they all RTR? I really want to avoid RTR as i want to build it together. im pretty confident he will like the build process given his proficiency for Lego and Technics. i may have to help out with the trickier elements of the diffs and gearboxes but that should be ok.
Over here Carson is also widely popular but again, i think they are all RTR kits.
Over here Carson is also widely popular but again, i think they are all RTR kits.
Evening all. I thought I'd reply and say that I ignored half of everyone's advice at least... But that is the pistonheads way.
So I got a cheap 2.4 ghz transmitter kit and a metal gear servo and the Mad Bull kit with bearings.
It took us about 4h for the main build and then several evenings of me messing about painting the body.
I know purple is a deviation from the normal but I can't argue when his favorite colour is purple. We have had 6 inches of snow this week so not had much of a test run yet.
I also bought myself a used Plasma edge... Because I thought it was a plasma edge 2 with the tt02b. Its not. Its also slow as hell the mad bull smokes it in a straight line.
So I got a cheap 2.4 ghz transmitter kit and a metal gear servo and the Mad Bull kit with bearings.
It took us about 4h for the main build and then several evenings of me messing about painting the body.
I know purple is a deviation from the normal but I can't argue when his favorite colour is purple. We have had 6 inches of snow this week so not had much of a test run yet.
I also bought myself a used Plasma edge... Because I thought it was a plasma edge 2 with the tt02b. Its not. Its also slow as hell the mad bull smokes it in a straight line.
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