I’m thinking of buying me and the boy a couple of tamiya mad bull cars for Christmas (he’s 10).
I’m looking at full kits with radios, batteries, chargers etc and I think I’ve found a good deal for around the £135 mark.
How long do they take to build? I’m considering building one up in advance, but if it’s only a couple of hours, we can do them together on Christmas Day?
Advantages of steering wheel / stick controllers?
Upgrades – they come with a 540 motor, but I keeping seeing talk if brushless upgrades etc.
Also, are there differences in ESCs?
Are there any other build kits I should look at?
Ta

Watches with intetest.

What deals are you looking at? I’ve been considering a Hornet with upgrades from Timetunnel/Goldstar.

This one – http://www.goldstarstockists.net/live/catalog/mobile_product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=48987

It’ll take a bit more than a couple of hours. Especially with an excited small child ‘helping’. I’d build one up in advance so he has something on the day. That way you can build the second on Christmas day but he has one to play with when he gets bored of watching dad build it.
Stick with the stock motor/esc to start with. Brushless can be a bit hectic if you’re not used to it.
If you’re not used to anything the stick or wheel is fine. I prefer stick. Seems more normal but it’s what I’ve always used.

Toppers – my thinking exactly

I wouldn’t worry about brushless upgrades now, just buy the kits, build and enjoy for the time being. If you are going to upgrade anything, the first thing would be proper bearings instead of the plastic bushes the kits normally get.

As for building, if you’re inexperienced I would say do at least one of them before and have it ready to use on Christmas day.

I always used stick controllers, never got on with steering wheels, but there’s not really any advantages, it’s just whatever you’re used to. You’ll have just as much fun either way. Maybe a youngster might find a steering wheel and trigger a little easier to get the hang of? Not sure, just speculating there!

EDIT: Toppers beat me to the punch there on pretty much everything I said!

Is the building of the model part of the fun? Or do you just want to get out and thrash a car/buggy/truck about.

Loads of RTR kits out there with superior lipo battery/brushless motor combos that are way stronger than Tamiya kits.

I’d agree with Mr. Top too, they can take a little longer than a couple of hours. You’ll probably get the bulk of it done, but it’s the tidying up, charging etc. that takes time.
As far as motors go, the 540, even the standard silver can, is still a very poky motor. I had a Holiday Buggy 2010 (another good kit that may be worth looking at) that came with a 380 motor. The 540 was a massive upgrade, you could wheel spin in sand at any speed.

Is the building of the model part of the fun? Or do you just want to get out and thrash a car/buggy/truck about.

Building is definitely part of the attraction. I’m trying to foster an understanding that instant gratification isn’t always the best.

Hey Geoff,

Look at half a day for building up

We prefer the wheel controller, just feels better. The motor upgrade to brushless is maybe one for the future. Typically it will give around 50% more speed, which is great but as a beginner maybe not so as it will mean more crashes which in turn means more broken parts etc. But it’s definitely worth upgrading down the line. Typically an upgrade kit will come with its ESC and everything you need. A fella in Glasgow sells them for around £50 for a kit and it’s great value.

Before upgrading the motor though I’d get a better battery. The stock one we have lasts around 10, 15 minutes tops. The better battery lasts 45 mins easy. This is what is most important to a 10 year old. He’ll get frustrated with it if it’s only getting a 10 minute run for hours of charging.

CMF Hobbies Glasgow is where we go to get stuff locally. The guy is really good.

And most of all, have fun 🙂

As a kid, I loved building and maintaining them as much as driving them, I’d have been devastated if someone built my car.

Maybe I was odd…

when i was 10 my parents bought me a car. building it was the best bit. I spent 1/2 of boxing day on my own building it while the rest of the family dealt with grandparents and food etc. best boxing day ever! my dad was gutted i’d built it before he got the chance to ‘help’, he was also amazed i’d been able to put together the gearboxes, electrics etc

also he wont know how to fix it, know how it works etc which, for me, is an integral part of the process.

buy one yes – it will be amazing – but let him build em.

dont worry about upgrades – let him do them.

Also, on that link you posted there is a custom package option. I’d do that. I works out a little more but what you get is better. The mad bull with bearing upgrade, mtroniks esc, fast charger, 4000mah battery and 2.4ghz wheel radio is £165. The 2.4ghz radio is loads better than the 27mhz accoms one that comes with the standard package. Also the more larger capacity batteries you can afford to buy the better. 2 each minimum really.

If you are intending to use them together, do you still need to have different ‘crystals’ in the transmitter/receiver, or do they auto choose a free channel these days?

Just a thought, as you don’t want to get them built up and then find that they interfere with each other’s signal.

The 2.4ghz package will auto-choose a frequency, but the standard option 27mhz system need different frequency crystals

Sorry I’m writing stuff without explaining why. As mentioned the 2.4 ghz radio will allow you both to use your cars without worrying about interference. The 27mhz requires different crystals to operate on different frequencies. Even so they can still pick up interference from other sources. Hence 2.4, whilst not fool proof, generally is a better bet if being used with others.
And be careful. Rc cars are a slippery slope of n+1.

The best thing about 27/40mhz radios is that nobody uses them any more! This means that you don’t actually need different crystals and you can get good ones really really cheap! The last 40mhz set I had was £300 ish new and I paid under £50 lightly used! It still works just the same. I was the only racer at the club not on 2.4ghz so I had my own private waveband, never mind frequency!

Also watches with interest….

Any good sites with more info on where to begin etc, to recommend?

Thanks all, some useful information here. Keep it coming.

As a kid, I loved building and maintaining them as much as driving them, I’d have been devastated if someone built my car.

Maybe I was odd…

Not just you. I had far more fun building one than I ever did driving the thing.

Well I loved driving them too but building/tinkering was definitely part of the attraction. Mind you, the OP said he was getting two so maybe build one before and then let geoff jnr build his one on Xmas day.

we bought a madbull for my youngest a couple of years ago – 9 at the time, I got a pre built one but since then have had to go through odd re-building, stripping down exercises with him so despite copping out on the pre-built he still gets to tinker – although his favourite was being bought a new unpainted body shell & getting to mark it up & paint it his colours (currently matt black with neon green stripes)
the other Geoffj

Few things. I have built up a few Tamiya M05s and without child involvement they still take at least 3-4hrs (3rd vehicle). 1st and second were more like twice that as I triple checked everything. With my 10yr old sons involvement that time span tripled.

I must admit, my lad wasn’t that interested in building it up. If we had bought a RTR it would have been just as good for him.

Have you considered a road version? Father son racing at a track is really good fun and tbh the son very quickly becomes the jedi master.

If you get the choice (Most good model suppliers – Try Keith at Muchmore racing) try to get them to swap out the brushed system from the off. That way you aren’t paying for both. Also, try to get an esc with lipo cut out built in so that you don’t have that expense at a later date.

Trust me, the only way you will remain at the £135 mark is if the car proves to be a disaster and gets put on a shelf. If its successful your lad will be pushing for brushless and lipos within Months

Keith at Muchmore racing is an amazing bloke. Get his number off the website for his store and call him. He will tailor a pack to suit you and your lad and give really good advice

Vaguely on topic, I built a Tamiya Blackfoot some 20 years ago, bits I can remember were fun heh. Far cheaper to buy second hand which I have done over the last 18 months for a couple of cars as I got into circuit racing. I have however just splashed out on a new 1/12th indoor car, something really satisfying (geeky) about all the organised packets etc, finished building last night and corner weighted ahead of it’s first race meeting on Sunday 🙂

I can imagine building the kit(s) with your son will be fun. For cheap upgrades based on my experience of racing a M05 Mini, a Lipo would give about a second gain around the track but you will need a compatible charger and esc, a HPI Saturn motor for about £12 is a good speed increase over a silver can, pretty much the same as a black can but far cheaper but may be better to save your money and get a brushless motor+esc kit for £60 or something from HK but they will really need a lipo I think