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

Ace!

I bought the Ampro gearbox brace which does the same thing. No more slap.

I’ve left the front suspension alone because I rather enjoy the silly handling.

Some tyre foams improve the grip and roll problem no end, as do proper shocks.

Next up for mine is a front chassis brace between the shock mounts – I’ll just use some threaded bar and ends from some turnbuckles.
It might make it more fun, it might just show up more issues. 🙂

Battery on charge right now.

The chassis brace is the next thing on my list. Need to find a way to do it neatly as all the versions I see online use the tops of the shock mounts after they’ve fitted damped shocks, not an option on the stock ones. Not changing them either as, like you, I like the slightly wayward handling. It’s not a Lunchbox if it doesn’t bounce around a bit!

Foam inserts aren’t something I’ve thought about, the grip on tarmac is limited by the tyres flexing under load so it would sort that out but I’m wary that it’ll mean the grip off-road might suffer. Seeing as I’ve shortened the shock stroke slightly all-round the extra give in the tyres should help it find grip over rough ground. Will see how it goes once I’ve got the paint on the shell finished and given it a few runs.

Sorry, didn’t explain that properly.

I’ve left the geometry and front arms alone but fitted proper oil damped shocks with adjustable preload.
Not cheap, but they really are good.

I fitted foams which take up about 2/3 of the tyre volume. They allow the tyres to absorb smaller bumps but limit weight transfer and roll.
I have to try quite hard to roll it, even on tarmac with a Sport Tuned motor.

I posted some details about the shocks and foams a couple of pages back, but if you can’t find it let me know and I’ll message you.

I’ve considered the Ampro double wishbone front suspension, but I like it as is.
Tough too. I can’t seem to break it.

I understood fine and have seen your earlier posts, just don’t want to start going down the upgrade rabbit-hole!

Currently eyeing up an yellow ballpoint pen case as a strut brace, add some mounts to either side and I reckon it would work and look tidy.

Apologies for mansplaining 🙂

Took the opportunity of the first visit to my Dad’s since lockdown to pull my two old nitro cars out of storage. I think it must be around 18 years since they have seen the light of day.

Have ordered the bits to get the 1/8 scale buggy going again, but am thinking about converting the truck to electric if that turns out to be feasible.

(Hotshot for scale!)

I had a 1/8th nitro buggy years ago, bought it 2nd hand without knowing what a monster it was. Had to start it off a table with an electric motor and rubber wheel in it, then hang on as it careered off into the distance! Was good fun for a while until I started it without turning the radio on… one screaming OS engine and seconds later bang, one seized OS engine. In the I flogged the lot and went kart racing (screaming 100cc 2-stroke motor and bang, holed piston – sounds familiar!)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBVhifYAwGc/?igshid=1phxtwnrjvlmu

second go at posting an image

this is my LC Racing EMB1H

Dammit, shouldn’t have re-opened this thread.

Might have to get my never used beasty down now.

Go for it 🙂

Due to this thread i have been looking for a cheap R/C car for LittleMissHall and I’ve asked my mum to post down my r/c cars and kit……. Roll on for when my stuff arrives

Well the Lunchbox is finished!

Considering I haven’t done any painting of models for a very long time I’m happy with the result. Plenty of prep with primer coats, more prep, a few coats of Tamiya TS55 dark blue, a few days to fully dry, apply decals, let them shrink slightly then a few coats of lacquer to protect everything a bit more and it’s looking better than I thought I could manage. The dark blue looks black indoors and out of direct sun but you see the blue coming through in direct sunlight. Might give the lacquer a rub over with some compound just to really shine it up, it’s got a slight orange peel finish but definitely no worse than on a car, but don’t know if it’s worth the bother when I’m guaranteed to get it scratched the first time out! It’s raining now so won’t be running it for a few days but cannot wait to go down the local park with it!

Chrome wheels are on order and I might get a second shell and paint it the box art yellow as a show shell. Now just got to wait for more cars to come back into stock so I can choose what to build next. Definitely something 4WD and more of a racer than this one though.

Lovely.

Heli-Tape the edges. I have one that I taped and one that I didn’t. The one that I didn’t looks a right state.

Uhhmmm I tuned in early to this thread and then faded away as upgrade mania took over from building plywood ramps.

I’m back as my teenage daughter is really keen on tech and design at school and I’d like to build one of these with her, then elbow her aside and hog it for the ragging around outside obvioulsy.

We’d decided on the Lunchbox but looking at recent threads it seems as thought they ain’t that great at the actual driving bit unless they’re modded. Are you guys modding because its really needed or you just having too much fun?

If the Lunchbox is a bit crap then what would be the best option for beginners to this that aren’t interested yet in anything bar the standard build?

Also a general question, when I were a boy etc etc the radios were two stick types, most seem to be these wheel types now. Why is this and is there a downside to asking for a shop to supply the stick version?

Ta

@cb, I had the same thought about the new (to me) Transmitters, and was adamant I would have a Stick type, but most transmitters are the wheel type, and actually in use they are great, don’t miss the old style at all, plus there is not a huge choice of 2/3 Chanel stick transmitters.

Any of the Tamiya buggy kits would be great as a first car, but don’t kid yourself, as everyone else has found, you will upgrade it. Personally I love the look of the Lunchbox, but obviously it’s not designed to handle, but is great fun to drive.

cb – the Lunchbox is an old design but it’s fun in standard form. It responds really well to simple mods so could be fun for your daughter to understand the design flaws and figure out simple solutions. If you want something more performance-orientated or a more involved build then there are better models but as something to build and mess around with the Lunchbox is a good option. All my mods have been for free with spares that were in the kit (I’m not counting the bearings as that was done during the build and is definitely worth the few extra pounds), I’m avoiding the hop-up rabbit hole on this one deliberately as making it handle perfectly would remove it’s loveable charm.

As someone who originally went into engineering design during school and college I’d say building stuff that was perfect is less interesting than building things where you can see how to improve it. Depends on your daughter’s thought process but worth thinking about.

The engine is alive! Needs a part or two for the drivetrain, but we’re over the first obstacle.

Youngest_oab is still loving his lunchbox.

Yes it has the responsiveness of a wet fart, but that is some of the fun.

I think he’s going to rebuild his old machine as well.

reluctant – that’s a good way of looking at it, she gets to understand the concepts rather than just following instructions. Now I need to re-read 1100 posts to find all the necessary upgrades!

I can recommend the Mad Bull if you want an easy build (way less complicated than our Grasshopper) combined with “Looney-Tune” handling and performance. I guess that it is similar to the Lunchbox in that respect.

Excuse the quick post just want to be able to find this again in my post history as eldest now wants to burn some savings on a proper RC car.

Also a general question, when I were a boy etc etc the radios were two stick types, most seem to be these wheel types now. Why is this and is there a downside to asking for a shop to supply the stick version?

Back in the 80’s and 90’s, the uk, japan and europe all used to use stick transmitters. The american racers all used wheels.

Before RC cars came along America had a big slot car racing scene which some of the early rc firms were involved in. The wheel transmitter design is what you get when you modify a scalextric controller to add steering.

We’d decided on the Lunchbox but looking at recent threads it seems as thought they ain’t that great at the actual driving bit unless they’re modded. Are you guys modding because its really needed or you just having too much fun?

Some people don’t appreciate the design intent of the lunch box.

The lunch box and midnight pumpkin were designed to wheelie. They were not designed to corner well.

With the original mechanical speed controller in the 80’s you had 2 throttle speeds. Full speed made the car wheelie.(at least with a fuly charged battery.) Low speed allowed you to steer.

The car is designed with a high centre of gravity and rearward weight bias which maximises weight transfer and encourages the front wheels to lift off the ground under power. It is fitted with a wheelie bar.

A lunchbox will never handle well because of the high centre of gravity and lack of weight on the front wheels.

I’m speculating, but a lunchbox fitted with modern electronics might not wheelie as easily as the designers intended. – The reason being that modern nimh cells are much heavier than the old 1200 nicads that the car was designed for. On the other hand modern electronics are much smaller and lighter and probably fitted lower down in the car. A bit of lead fitted up high at the rear of the vehicle could solve this if needed.

Running a lunch box in low grip conditions will result in wheelspin instead of wheelies.

Basically buy a lunchbox if you want to do lots of wheelies with relatively low power. Buy something else if you want a car that handles well.

cb
Subscriber

Also a general question, when I were a boy etc etc the radios were two stick types, most seem to be these wheel types now. Why is this and is there a downside to asking for a shop to supply the stick version?

I quite like a twin stick but tbh the wheel types are ergonomically very good, just as intuitive to use, probably better for fine throttle control but most of all, you can just walk along with it in your hand and throttle on, and tweak steering if you need to, if you’re out trailing or just driving distance or whatever- not an option at all with the twin sticks.

I’m speculating, but a lunchbox fitted with modern electronics might not wheelie as easily as the designers intended. – The reason being that modern nimh cells are much heavier than the old 1200 nicads that the car was designed for. On the other hand modern electronics are much smaller and lighter and probably fitted lower down in the car. A bit of lead fitted up high at the rear of the vehicle could solve this if needed.

Some people add the stick-on wheel weights to the rear of the bathtub chassis to help it pop up on low power. I’m finding that mine is able to pop at will if you’re hard on the throttle but easy to keep down if you squeeze it, nice to have the choice at almost any time. I have noticed that the wheelie tops out at a lower height since adding the brace mod to stop the rear suspension slap but it still goes a few metres before coming back down. Plus side is it does lovely controllable power slides on gravel with a side order of lift-off oversteer. Would be ridiculous with more power. Anyway, battery is charged so I’m off for a play.

Oops…

Just a wheel nut working loose thankfully, threads look fine. Back home to get it fixed, with added loctite, and the battery should be fully charged ready to go back out after some early lunch. Will take the little socket thingy with me this time!

Oooops. The Mad Bull has “crapped a wheel” a couple of times. On the first occasion I stripped the whole transmission trying to work out what was going on.

I carry the little spanner thing with me now.

Same happened to me last week. Thankfully found the nut and had the tool with me. Now bought a spare pack of wheel nuts just in case.
Lots of parcels this week. Truck wheels for the truggy conversion. Front truck tyres to go with the rears I have. New rear tyres to replace the crappy kit tyres. Ball connectors to replace the step screw for the shocks. Paint for a new shell (still to arrive).

Just stripped and cleaned them after a couple of months of fairly heavy thrashing.

Grasshopper – Motor pinion had moved resulting in a lack of drive (hence the strip down) and damage to the Tub that has been patched up with Epoxy.

Mad Bull – Front shock has all but failed around the lower joint due to my son repeatedly driving it into kerbs. – New ones on order.

Spares and repair so far have cost about £12 and a load of glue. Can’t grumble at that.

Just a wheel nut working loose

Don’t they have Nyloc nuts anymore, or are modern motor/battery combo’s powerful enough to spin those off?

They are Nyloc. TBH I’m surprised that more doesn’t fall off them!

It’s back from the dead after nearly 20 yrs.

Apologies for the fingers on the lens but the camera man is only 7!

Can’t beat the smell of nitro!

Got the heads up on stock of the Associated Rival MT10 I’ve had on pre-order for ages at another shop being in-stock at Modelsports. Turns out the importers gave all the latest stock to them instead of sharing it across other shops. They have been fine about it although pretty peeved at the importers and refunded my money so ordered with Modelsports this morning and it’s coming tomorrow apparently – woo hoo!

Excellent.

Just ordered 2 servos from Modelsport and a radio from Rossmod.

2CV should be ready by Sunday night…….

Aaaaand have found somewhere with stock of the Blitzer Beetle in……..talk me out of it will you?

Seeing as I just had the same issue all day after having another blast of the Lunchbox in the woods and succumbed to the ‘Want!’ demon, I won’t be talking you out of it at all. I now have 1 box of fun on it’s way from ModelSport. This is more addictive than bikes!!

Get it ordered, the economy needs your support.

🙂
I might have to get rid of the buggy first, just to free up some space. Either that or actually clear out the garage (shudders).

Your Lunchie looks ace btw, as does Matt’s, hope you’re all enjoying them.

I do feel a bit guilty recommending the Lunchie to everyone, but it does make me giggle like a child every time I use it.
I don’t want to spoil it, reckon I’ve got the balance just right atm. Silly, but almost competent.

New body shell odered for the Mad Bull after a particularly freakish crash last night. Entirely my fault and it cost me £10 inc P+p so can’t complain.

Ho hum.

If I put a brushless motor in it would I need to upgrade my batteries? Asking for a friend obvs.

Recently picked up a Traxxas TRX4.

I thought I would give crawling a go, but wasn’t sure if it might be a bit tame.

It is so addictive!

View this post on Instagram

On the tilt Tuesday. Not bad side hilling considering the weight of the shell. @traxxas #trx4 #trx4g500 #traxxastrx4 #traxxas #crawling #rccrawler #rccrawlers #rccrawling #trx4crawler #letsoffroad #sidehill #sidehilling #seeyalaterbill #creepysickcrawlers #prolinehyrax

A post shared by Andy Large (@andy_getting_rc) on Jun 23, 2020 at 3:35pm PDT

That traxxas looks epic

@RustySpanner

2CV should be ready by Sunday night…….

Where are the pictures?