Tamiya and other R/C vehicles (not just for Christmas)

Anyone know if Modelsport are generally realistic with their estimates of when they are getting stock in? I’m a tad sceptical looking at how much they look be expecting on the 10th May!

Video of pub carpark trails course, complete with grumpy Tweenager commentary.https://photos.app.goo.gl/aNqyU2zm3AZgL32y8

@timmys, there’s big shipment of Tamiya due, but everything is coming by boat since most flights from the Far East are grounded.
When I was shopping around a few weeks ago, most model shops were quoting the same kind of drop dates. All depends how quickly stuff gets through customs as well.

Before all this Covid19 started I only had the 1 RC car

I think I now have an addiction 😂

Some great looking cars and trucks in this thread.

Merak:

Does the Rally 2CV shell have the holes for the sand ladder pre drilled?
Noticed them in the previous photos but not sure if you’d open them up yourself?

Just about to order the kit but don’t want to fit the ladder – if the holes are pre drilled I’ll buy a standard Charleston shell too.

Also, what motor and shocks are you planning on running?

Fancy the rally version for the increased ground clearance 😀

Cheers fella!

Crashed and burned… wishbone broken, so waiting on parts…. No parts about the moment, so waiting even longer now !!!

Think i need to learn/buy a plastic welding kit. The Grasshopper seems far more resilient at crashing.

My Grasshopper has taken a massive beating over the weekend, but it appears to be intact.

I’ve raided my daughter’s extensive Sharpie collection and have touched up the decals so it is looking OK again.

Had a chat (from 20ft) with a bloke yesterday who used to race Nitro cars and said that he jacked it in because they were too expensive and made him miserable. I’m quite happy with my relatively cheap battery job.

I’m with you 🙂 it’s all just about a bit of fun really.

I don’t mind throwing £3 here at a part, or a fiver there… but more than that, it’s going to get very wearing very quickly.

This is why my 58117 Lancia Delta is sitting on the shelf with a shagged body and the wrong wheels, replacements to make it look nice would be circa £80. Been like that for 25 years…

@RustySpanner

No mate, body comes one piece. Ladders are optional.

All stock running gear. It’s all about the body for me. It’ll be for sale on FleaBay as a ready to run kit radio, battery the lot, when I’m finished.

Lets me do another one. Maybe that R5 Turbo although it looks like a real challenge to paint.🤔

Another update, nearly there.

Bloody hell that looks stunning. I bet none of the full sized versions ever looked that good

That is excellent.

Cheers folks, it’s no finished yet!

Ta.

That’s saved £35 on a new body. 😀

Just posted a new thread before someone kindly pointed me in the direction of this one. I’ll copy and paste my post below –

Morning folks,

I used to build fpv quadcopters a few years ago but got frustrated with the technology generally being a bit crappy and failing which resulted in things falling from the sky a little too often. I’d probably spend. about 10% of the time flying and the rest fixing things…

I’m a bit bored at home and have been tempted to have another go with quadcopters (I sold all my stuff a few years back) but think I want to try something a little different.

I live on a quiet estate and have a large field directly opposite me. It’s mostly short grass but half of it is a bit wild. I’d like some sort of RC truck to play with over there and have absolutely no clue where to start.

Any recommendations?

I’d think I’d like something –
Big and heavy (monster truck style?)
Can take a bit of a beating
Electric
Budget about £300 give or take a little.

I’d consider popping an FPV camera on it.
What’s the range like on these things?
Any particular brands to look at?

Any other hints and tips for someone new welcome.

Looks like I have killed the 370 motor in my colt.
Does anyone know if the 370 motor is a standard size and I can fit a tamiya version as the ftx ones are out of stock everywhere

@stumpy01 what set up you using on your front shocks? Build manual for mine said to use the medium preload collar, so that’s how I built it. After Saturday’s testing I’ve put all three on and today there was a definite improvement on turn in. The back end still bouncing around but it was already running all three collars.
Spring kit has been posted out, so hopefully stiffer springs all round will improve handling. Also added in a bottle of heavier shock oil as it cost peanuts and I’d paid for postage anyway. Planning to refill only the rears with this.
Found a surface that ribbed front tyres work ok on, dug up golf links. Round the practice area (well is did say “driving range”) and there’s the area where they dig up the turf repairs. Massive bit not long been lifted and not reseeded yet. Lovely surface. Firm but with a sandy top and the ribs were pretty good. Getting better on grass but I reckon that’s down to me actually concentrating and lifting off before turning in rather than just keeping the power on the whole time.

New tyres also ordered. Gone for a Schumacher Cut Stagger slim for the front, for hopefully a bit more bit and a Proline Sand Slinger to go on the spare wheels with the original fronts for beach running.

Going to change the gearing as well. The Torque Tuned motor spins the rears from standstill pretty easily in the loose or wheelies madly in grippy grass, so added a bigger pinion to the order to tame this and add a bit of top speed. Gear diff quite loose in its power transmission and have read adding thicker grease helps, so going to try this when I have to split the gearbox anyway.

Looked at the other hop up parts I fancied and added them all to the basket just to see. Bit of a reality check. Could buy a 4wd buggy kit for what it came too.

Unfortunately have also been looking at crawlers. Oops.

clubby

@stumpy01 what set up you using on your front shocks? Build manual for mine said to use the medium preload collar, so that’s how I built it. After Saturday’s testing I’ve put all three on and today there was a definite improvement on turn in. The back end still bouncing around but it was already running all three collars.

I’ve got a medium on the front, I think. I can’t remember if I fiddled with the pre-load collars or not. It was something I meant to do.
A bloke I work sells RC stuff online (Fusion Hobbies) lent me some white Tamiya springs which I think are of some DF-03 shocks and are firmer than the stock ones. I put them on the rears. I can’t remember now if I tried them on the front, but didn’t like them…

Which springs did you go for? The red/blue pack? I looked at the DF-03 spring pack earlier today, but it’s around £20 which seems a lot.

You definitely do need a lift-turn-power technique to get it moving into the corner.

Funny you mention the Shumacher Cut-Stagger tyres for the front. I was looking at them in my lunch break!
I’ve not considered changing the pinion, but I have seen various information about sticking some thick grease into the diff to bind it a bit. I have some old Pace fork grease in the garage somewhere – I should give that a go at some point.

Yeah, the hop-up parts are just ludicrous. I frequently look at the red/blue spring kit, turnbuckle kit, roll-bar kit, some tyres and then realise that I’ve got the thick end of a new kit in the basket & just give up!

I’d be interested to hear how those cut-stagger tyres perform.

I think I need to do a test; fiddle with pre-load collars on the front dampers, adjust the steering rods to see what affect some toe out/in has on the steeering response & then once I’ve done that get some tyres ordered.

Which springs did you go for? The red/blue pack? I looked at the DF-03 spring pack earlier today, but it’s around £20 which seems a lot.

Went for the DF03 kit. Red/blue kit was only a few quid cheaper.
Is quite a lot for 6 small springs but did a LOT of reading over the weekend (wee man still napping for 2 hours straight and won’t settle in cot during the day. Cue daddy welded to sofa.) That guy on Tamiyaclub has made a lot of changes and also linked to another site where someone else has done similar things. Conclusion DF03 kit is better, soft front with medium rear.

Not sold on the turnbuckle set. Lots to change but also lots to screw up. Geek in me loves the potential but don’t know I’ve the patience to change-test-change-test….. Still won’t matter if spring rate isn’t right. Also, standard wishbones are pretty tough. At my skill level I’m not sure I’d want to remove one and replace with a skinny metal rod.

Wee video from earlier of some kid skids, hopefully the link works.

So after admitting defeat with the drift car, I coughed up £15 for a gyro. What a difference that makes, genuinely fantastic fun to drive now and went through 2 lipo packs last night messing about in the village hall car park.

Definitely recommended and much cheaper fun than crawlers!

So this thread has been super fun to follow, i’ve been wanting one for a while and dropped the cash the other day on a tamiya plasma edge 2 which has been super fun (but i want some lipos and a faster motor obviously). I’m also looking at the 1/24th crawlers that have been posted earlier. they look a laugh for building little obstacle courses.

Anyone know if Modelsport are generally realistic with their estimates of when they are getting stock in? I’m a tad sceptical looking at how much they look be expecting on the 10th May!

@timmys, there’s big shipment of Tamiya due, but everything is coming by boat since most flights from the Far East are grounded.
When I was shopping around a few weeks ago, most model shops were quoting the same kind of drop dates. All depends how quickly stuff gets through customs as well.

Boat must have got stuck as the date had gone from 10th May to 9th June :SAD FACE:

@weeksy is that 3 cars I count there now?
That kind of surface is my favourite. Found a big patch today and had great fun. Could have spent the whole battery pack doing donuts, but the boy was getting fed up sitting in the trailer so cut it short.

@timmys what you waiting on?

@weeksy is that 3 cars I count there now

2 were his school mates who were standing in the other side of the waste ground.

Finished.

Bloody hell, that’s stunning.

Love the trimmed arches.

Yeah, that 2CV looks amazing!!

I managed to find a screw for the one that was missing from my servo saver – it fitted, so it’s staying in.

I also unhooked front steering roads & have adjusted to give a bit of toe-out. No idea exactly how much but will see what it does….

Any tips on how to paint the driver figure in the Terra Scorcher?

I have cut it out, but I can’t tell if there is a film over the top, like there was on the shell, I am pretty sure there isn’t.

I have the ‘X’ acrylic paints, but not sure if they should go on the inside or out. I did a test on a corner (should have kept the off cuts!) and it looks like outside would be better.

There is no film on the inner tray. I just painted mine black from the inside. I think for the best finish you will need to use polycarbonate paint as the acrylic stuff will flake off. I might paint the driver’s arms and shoulders with some polycarbonate paint on the outside surface at some point.

Well thats a bummer, 6 pots of paint I probably wont ever use!

@timmys what you waiting on?

It’s my birthday mid-June and I’ve decided there’s a Hotshot shaped hole in my life I need to fill. I know a modern car would be much more capable but for some reason I can’t look past it. Not even sure it was what I particularly lusted after back in 1985, which was peak Tamiya amongst my better off school mates.

I would have thought that it would be OK to paint the driver with an acrylic if you prime it first. It isn’t going to be subjected to any flex like the outer body shell.

“Ayrton Senna” in my Grasshopper is acrylic and he seems to be doing OK.

We are just over three weeks in waiting for Wonderland Models (our ‘local’ shop) to not dispatch a Lunch Box. I’ve just messaged them to cancel the order.

So frustrating – they appear to be doing the selling items without stock thing…then pleading lockdown challenges.

Youngest son had saved his paper round monies for it, he’s so frustrated…

Try these guys.

Home

I got mine last week within 48 hours of ordering.

…also, you can speak to them on the phone.

excellent thread. Its great seeing everyones build.

As per many that have ventured in here, I am now browsing the interwebs looks at Tamiya cars. Brings back so many memories! I used to have a Ford Black foot and an Alfa 155 touring car back in the day.

And I see the Terra Scorcher, which my mate used to have some 25 years ago! amazing stuff.

Although I do wonder what Tamiya’s inspiration is when choosing some models?! GT3 race cars, trucks and then a Suzuki swift?!

Hypothetical questions…

1) Would the Rising Righter be an equally matched running mate for the Grasshopper if they both had the 540 motor?

2) I assume that the “Channel” button on the controller would allow me to run on different frequencies so that we could race the cars against each other.

Asking for a friend. Obviously.