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I`ve got an absima AMT3.4 only had it since xmas so a few drives - seems nice and pretty well made.
very different to the Madbull i have in that it goes in a straight line but is less fun to drive because it goes in a straight line. its great for in teh rough though and seeing what you can get up. ha loads of fun on the beach razzing it up and down the shingle shelves. the mad bull struggles a bit at this.
I got it as the mad bull was too tricky for the kids to use. and also our garden isnt very well maintained and it bogs down in teh long grass. the AMT is great and jumps nice. I have the brushed version and run a 2s lipo and its plenty fast enough (too fast for the kids really). The kids prefer to use it with a regular 7.2v nimh battery as it doesnt spear off into the undergrowth when they press too much throttle - haha.
I might swap the radio gear from the mad bull as i can reduce down teh throttle on the handset on that setup for when for teh kids use it.
strapped onsome old night lights last night for a night time sesh!
https://imgur.com/a/EUBAUcz
If I get another one I’m torn between the 2CV rally or the 911 RSR. Any thoughts oh wise ones? I like the look of both. Think someone has started a 2CV further up the thread?
Personally, I found the M05-RA chassis of the 2CV nicer than the TT02-B (basically the same as the Porsche).
The M05 is smaller and a bit more complex, but has less steering slop and was more fun to build.
@trickydisco - The Absima is ace. Mate's son has one and it's very, very tough.
A cheap, simple way to limit speed for kids is to tape a bit of wood/plastic to the trigger to limit travel. Not pretty but it works.
@trickydisco – The Absima is ace. Mate’s son has one and it’s very, very tough.
A cheap, simple way to limit speed for kids is to tape a bit of wood/plastic to the trigger to limit travel. Not pretty but it works.
nice. Is there not a way of doing it electronically? I heard on some you can do it electronically
you can buy handsets with switches or throttle gain dials.
A DumboRc unit will set you back about £30 and will do that
If you get the one with Gyro it will make it easier to drive at speed too.
yeah my cheapo chinese radio handset has options to reduce the throttle effect on teh handset. not on the stock absima controller though. you have trim and stuff but not % power adjustment.
But, like i said, if you get the cheaper brushed version you can run a boggo battery for teh kids and a 2s Lipo for you.
I found teh absima uses more power than teh 2wd mad bull. i guess weight and transmission losses?
Oooooohh whatcha going to get HtS? £400 is a great budget!
I fancy a couple of tanks.
Aagh don't say that, it's the one RC temptation I've still managed to resist
Im now starting to think I'll get a cheaper one for the boy and 1 for me 🙂
Santa brought me one of these
I might start to build it tomorrow 🙂
Going to leave this out there...
Can someone tell me why a lot of the RC cars come with the trigger controllers? I',m sure when i was a boy everyone had the stalk style. I had a few RC cars and i always had a stalk type controller
I’ve got a Schumacher cat2000 which I found the other day, remember when my uncle got me into racing. The skill of the drivers is unbelievable!
@tricydisco
I got mine from modelsport. Decent service.
The absima truck doesn't come with batteries or charger so factor those in.
I had other cars so didn't need batteries. But I've since bought a very large capacity 2sLipo from Amazon to extend runtime. 6000mah (also so we can run lipos in both my car's for racing fun!)
I have this charger which is flipping ace. Can also use it in my van which is good. Does lipo and NiMH bit confusing to use initially but once you work it out it's fine. Be careful not to overcharge though.
https://www.timetunnelmodels.com/live/catalog/radient-mistral-lipo-nimh-super-fast-charger-rdna0465-p-62600.html
For smaller kids I'd get a 1/16th buggy/truck. One of the dad's at my kids school has a pair of them and the kids love them. Loads of fun and really robust. You can't run them where the 1/10 cars/absima would go but you can bung em in a rucksack for when you go on a walk or the park and are good for smaller gardens
Oh yeah - you'll get used to the trigger controller super quick. I think I still prefer the stick type (cos that's what I had back in the day) but I guess they are more complicated to make. It's a bit easier for kids to work out too.
@oldtennisshoes - snap! But my Unimog's built now. Things I learnt - if you can, buy a set of CC-01 bearings from ebay etc. Only a tenner and much better than the plastic ones you get in the box. The Tamiya instructions tell you which ones to use and when, very worthwhile and esasy.
And if you don't have a Dremel or similar it might be worth getting one for cutting out the shell. Scissors and craft knives left a really poor finish on mine, it would have looked loads better with something like that, especially for the wheelarches.
And take your time with masking, make sure you leave plenty of time between coats and get something like Carson paint killer to wipe the shell down / sort any bleeds once you've done the black. Have fun!
Triggers are easier to handle, most stick controllers need a lanyard.
I can comfortably control my TRX4 with one hand as my thumb can reach the wheel.
All down to preference.
updating the thread, 2 new motors free of charge turned up yesterday for my pandahobby. Impressed. Shame it can't be used outside now due to lockdown (not sure it counts as exercise?!)
Did someone say 2CV?😁
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@Merak - that looks brilliant! Yes, it was me. I fancy one for my next go after the 'mog. Probably won't look nearly as nice as yours due to my lack of skill.... I'm going to go for yellow with black wings I think and I'll probably leave off the sand ladder, looks too much like a stock car wing for my liking. Be later in the year for mine.
Over the christmas period i have built an old Tamiya M03 mini cooper, but coverted to 2s lipo and brushless.
Then built a Schumacher Cat K1 Aero 1/10 Buggy runnin 4s - This is such a fun car and probably my favourite car of all time for its speed and manouverability.
Then I bought a slightly use Aarma Mojave 6s - this is a 1/7th scale Desert / Short course Truct and is an absolutely animal. So easy to driver and crazy fast, its got me exploring my local arears for spots to let it go.
Tale of fail... I got myself an SCX10 kit really to gradually transfer stuff off my RGT onto, always planned for it to be a tinkering sort of a project, a build for its own sake. That was... a long time ago. Year and a half? Built it, drove it a couple of times with an illfitting body on, got a load of cheap brass and an overdrive front gear and a pair of new bodies and thought, right, let's settle down and get this finished. That was also a long time ago. Got it built, constant horrible judders like something catching. The only part I'd changed since the last testdrive was the overdrive so I figured, must be that. Stripped it all down, totally lost patience, drove my old RGT instead. That was a long time ago too.
Tonight, decided to have another look, within 5 minutes discovered that the motor was dead. Just that coincidentally it had happened at the same time as another mod. Threw in a spare cheap motor I had, works perfectly. That's been LITERALLY MOST OF A YEAR since I last took it out for a drive because of that.
Took advantage of the lovely cold spell to get the revo out on the frozen loch. Slightly nervous moment when it stopped right in the middle. Worth risking icy death to rescue it? Luckily it came back to life when I walked a wee bit closer!
I’m going to go for yellow with black wings I think and I’ll probably leave off the sand ladder
I'd leave it off as it looks like it'll snap off the first time you crash - and what's the point in getting an RC car if you're not going to drive it and inevitably crash it?
Oblongbob - that has to be the most epic location for some RC hoonage!
Argh!
All set to buy a couple of Heng Long 1/16th tanks for me and the boy to do battle with in the woods behind the house. Plenty of Tigers available, but no Shermans until April at the earliest. Arses.
Oblongbob
Full MemberTook advantage of the lovely cold spell to get the revo out on the frozen loch. Slightly nervous moment when it stopped right in the middle. Worth risking icy death to rescue it? Luckily it came back to life when I walked a wee bit closer!
What Drysuit for RC Cars!
I've been thinking about getting a crawler for the garden to keep the kids amused in Lockdown, does anyone have any advice for where to get ramps etc? They don't seem to sell them on banggood or Modelsport.
If you want jumps then look for scooter stuff. If you want climby stuff, get some debris. Break up some pallets, big rocks, bricks, logs, etc
I went to an indoor crawler comp one time and their setup was really simple, nothing flashier than a couple of plastic scooter ramps and a load of bits of wood (including a seesaw). But inventiveness was really the thing- like, one of the best features was one of those plastic ramps but turned upside down, the injection molded webbing underneath was a brilliant surface and also meant you could climb way steeper than you could on most surfaces.
The RC club I'm following on FB just use the cheap skate/BMX ramps you can pick up cheap plus a few building their own. I'd go old-school and get a plank of wood and some bricks, not as portable but more in keeping with the whole Retro vibe!
Trying to get my Neo Fighter going again but has lost pairing with the ESC (Tamiya TBLE-02S). Following the procedure through selecting brushed mode is fine but after disconnecting the motor to set the high point I just get a flashing red light at the first step. Have checked that controller and car batteries both good. Anyone know if it's borked or is there another rest procedure or something?
I’ve been thinking about getting a crawler for the garden to keep the kids amused in Lockdown, does anyone have any advice for where to get ramps et
They do look interesting and especially great for kids. Less breakage I assume too.
That scout crawler looks good
Did you carry on holding the set button down while it went into the set menu? The slightest lift and it can go straight to just a single red flash instead of the red-green-orange-red sequence. A single flashing red is the right one for setting the end point so try doing that anyway, it may have just gone into that mode straight away. Just did it on my Lunchbox and you have to hold the set button down rather hard for it to get into the sequence before you release it on red once it's gone round the colours once.
@davosaurusrex Have you got the instructions? Even then is is difficult. One button, long/slow, red/green/orange. Sometimes it takes a few goes to get it right.
Just had another go, a couple in fact as the tamiya instructions are a bit different to the ones on the wonderland models website. Either way it goes into the green orange red sequence but won't complete, now when I turn it on it flashes green and gives what I assume it a fault beep. It was easy first time round
Arrrgh, horrible isn't it?
I use the instructions that comes with the Tamiya ESC, but I'd rather have a prostate exam than reprogram it again.
Re the Arrma Big Rock:
1. It's very, very different to a Tamiya - everything is bigger and stronger. And heavier. I can shove the Lunchie in a backpack and forget about it. Not this, it's heavy to cart around.
2. It's fun and easy to take to bits and rebuild. I suppose this is a consequence of making it easy to manufacture, but it's nice and simple to rip to pieces. I think it would be much easier to rebuild or maintain for a child than a Tamiya M05, for example.
3. Bloody hell, it's tough. Vodka, next door's high roof Transit onto tarmac, not a scratch. But....
4. ....With great power comes big bills. I'm running it on 2S and haven't learned how to control it at 100% yet - it needs a lot of space. I've ruined a set of front shocks by grinding the lower eyelets off on kerbs outside my house. Not crazy at £20, but it all adds up. I've also bought a new body, tougher A arms and front skid plate as the original is paper thin after street abuse.
5. My biggest worry - Lipos. I'm following the guidance religiously, but they still live in the greenhouse, In a LiPo sack. In a tin.
Yes, it's fantastic. And fun.
But so is my Lunchbox.
BTW, cheap/knackered foam sleeping mats make great bridges for crawlers.
And yes, the Maverick Scout is just ridiculous value.
Had some upgrades arrive for the Lancia today.
The front suspension steering pivots have been getting very baggy recently, the plastic balls are worn enough that a big bump can cause them to pop out making steering a bit of a lottery! So I ordered a set of top and bottom arms and some new hubs too.
Of course they had to be alloy:
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Look lovely fitted:
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[url= https://i.postimg.cc/TPD7yhbC/20210114-150109.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/TPD7yhbC/20210114-150109.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
Match the shocks too!
Steers a lot better now but there is still some play in the steering so it can wander slightly when centred. Might have to get the matching alloy steering arms too, plus the rear arms to match of course.
I need to look into putting some diff oil in it too as it's struggling to get the power down. Making the diffs harder should help so need to try that next.
Omg, this hobby looks like another money pit!
The slowest build in history starting to exist
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Finally sorted a wheel/tyre incompatibility issue, sorted the motor problem I mentioned which was driving me insane, machined down the rear links a little to sort the wheelbase so that both my shells will fit, and next... uh, next I will probably lose interest while waiting for the other 2 tyres to arrive. But I have to admit it's damn nice to have the shell finally properly fit on the chassis
(probably won't use that grill, I love the look but it's heavy as. The truck has a stupendous amount of weight in the axles, everything is steel or brass now, no plastic or alu... but even so the hardshell is going to fight it. Totally worth it though)
Did someone say money pit?!! Seem to have got the bug. Got a trx4 crawler a couple of weeks ago.
And then got the light kit for it.
N+1 isn’t just bikes then!
Jadlam reminded me I had a discount code, fancied another lockdown build. Ended up buying something different:
https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/58642/index.htm
Local club races them indoors, pretty much a stock series. Basically 1/10 4WD car chassis but with a truck body.
Ah **** it. Just bought a tank.
Just the one HTS?
Yep. Shermans are out of stock!