Having enjoyed mucking about with cheap r/c cars in my youth I thought it might be a something my children would also enjoy, but before splashing for new toys that might not have lasting appeal I thought it might be wiser to resurrect an old Tamiya Hornet that I have to see how things go.

Knowing that there are a number of threads on here about old Tamiya’s I’m hoping someone can help tell me what I need to get it up and running. My Hornet is in a pretty bad way, must be best part of 30 years since it last got used, it will need a lot of attention to make it ‘showroom’ again. But, below are the immediate problems.

NiCd battery charged enough to check that the motor still runs but will need replacing.

MSC melted from when the motor was changed to a RX-540SD so I need a new speed controller.

I’m thinking something like Battery and Charger for the battery.

But the speed controller has me confused. I assume replacing the original MSC with a DSC would be a smart move, but I’m not sure whether that’s possible, what would I need to work with the ACOMS AR-227F reviever? Would something like Mtroniks Auto Sport Tuned 20 ESC replace both the old MSC and the battery pack for the receiver?

Thanks for any help!

Yes, an ESC will replace the MSC, it’s servo and the receiver battery pack. Everything will be powered by the 7.2V pack via the ESC.

Great, thanks for the quick response!

So will the existing receiver and steering servo ‘just work’ once I fit the DSC and is it a straight forward task?

Yep the old Tamiya MSCs were horrible. Effective three speed. All you’re doing is replacing the servo and MSC with a DSC. Everything else is still powered from the receiver.

The really old Tamiya MSC in the early-mid 80-‘s was a great piece of kit, a proper wound rheostat that was fully variable. Later ones were 3 speed.

A digital will solve a lot of problems in one go.

Thanks for the replies, glad I seemed to be looking at the right things.

Am starting to question the logic of getting the Hornet up and running as cost effective. A new ESC, battery and batteries for the transmitter are going to cost ~£45 and ultimately I need a new chassis (it’s broken in a couple of places) a new body shell (it’s destroyed) and the tyres are shot. I’m also running old 2.7 radio which appears to be replaced by much better 2.4 than plays more nicely with multiple cars.

I’m now wondering whether just to get something like a Helion Animus SC which should establish whether there is an interest from the kids, and means they (and I) can have the same models in different colours if they enjoy them.

It was so much easier 30+ years ago when decisions were constrained by whatever the local model shop sold!

The Helion Animus that you linked to does look very small according to the listed dimensions.

You can ge a battery cheap enough for your old car, I got this one a couple of years back when I tried reviving my old gear.

You are right though, it can get expensive. My old Hornet and Lunchbox were too broken to be cost effective to repair. I ended up buying a used Tamiya drift car off eBay with some old radio gear and an ESC to see if I got in to it again. The shell was wrecked but the chassis was good and it had been ball raced, I think it was around £50 posted. I would suggest either going down this route or buying a new Tamiya Neo Fighter or similar to get going. If like me you only end up using it twice it’s less money wasted. I really should try and move that on.

There was a thread on here a few years back, I think Traxxis were deemed to make very good and durable cars and trucks, but they don’t come cheap.

Thanks for the responses.

This isn’t looking like a cheap option so I’m changing approach and have started another separate topic.

Might still pursue this as a little hobby project for my own amusement.

Drove my old Tamya dune buggy into a rock pool on the beach when I was a kid. Never worked after that!

Drove my old Tamya dune buggy into a rock pool on the beach when I was a kid. Never worked after that!

You want a crawler for that!

This was a video a mate made of us playing around with a crawler several years ago – R/C cars was a middle-aged phase I went through… still have a couple of cars and all the kit.

[video]https://youtu.be/uMk_5lXm0bg[/video]