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 Member

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!

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:

Look lovely fitted:

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

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!

Well jell. 🙃
Dem tanks look ace.

This shit is taking up a LOT of time.

Today: Golf/RC course covered in snow, so set up a rally stage on huge, pitted local car park.
A little Tamiya Sand Viper with it’s bollocks tuned off will always beat a big, clumsy Arrma Big Rock.
Until it destroys it’s diff on 3S, obviously.
Not a nice noise.

Get a tank!

With the IR battle system we can have a skirmish!

Oh man, rc added to a pizza oven as this weeks STW inspired wants!

So after a peruse…..liking the price of that Q901….is it possible to buy it currently though? 4wd too which would be nice….got a fairly large field to play in where I’m living.

Tamiya Mad Bull looks awesome too….self build so could be a fun lockdown hobby. How much will a controller and battery cost?

Best mate fancies one too 😂

I have a Mad Bull and it is an absolute hoot.

I have the following radio and the rest is there or there abouts

Radio: Radio

Servo: Servo

Bearings : Link

You’ll need a battery (or two) and charger obviously. The Mad Bull gets through batteries at roughly twice the speed as the Grass Hopper.

It will also destroy its front shocks if you drive like a dick, but they are cheap. I got another body shell for about a tenner after partially decapitating mine by driving it under a fence.

@Tom-B looks like they are available on banggood.
Just get the upgrade oil shocks. Just tried mine out and they’re so much better than the standard ones.

PS just tried to use it on wet slightly snowy tarmac. Not a chance in “high” mode as it’ll spear off as soon as it can. It’s a giggle though. On frozen wet grass it almost wouldn’t move as the wheels are just too small. But for 70 quid it’s ace.

I need to resurrect my Madbull- don’t want to take it backwards from the brushless motor but the drivetrain can’t handle it at all, probably need to basically weld the rear diff

Was going to do a 1/10 crawler custom build. But don’t have time at the moment. So.
Just got myself the Axial SCX 24 C10.
Having a lot of fun driving up cushions, Beano annuals and the sofa etc.
It is very capable little thing and very satisfying.

The diffs were working hard today. Quite a lot of fun!

@rich-s those snow and grass comments make me think that it’s not the one for me. We’ve got lots of field to play in here!

So, Mad Bull….to blast around on grass at the farm….I can always mow bits to create tracks….build a few jumps etc! Will it/I die?!

Best mate has had the go ahead from his wife too (he’s got a little lad so he’s buying it for ‘both of them’ ha)

The Mad Bull is ok on short grass and rough terrain.

Blasted my Rival MT10 round the garden in about three inches of snow. Proved that although fun, the garden is too small (hit a few plant pots etc) to really let rip and it just fills the chassis up with snow. Waterproof electrics so no problem but will take a bit of cleaning out.

I feel an impending impulse buy….

I feel an impending impulse buy….

Izzatso?

I’ll leave this here…

Tom-B
Free Member

So, Mad Bull….to blast around on grass at the farm….I can always mow bits to create tracks….build a few jumps etc! Will it/I die?!

Basically yes. I really enjoy mine, it’s excellently crap or crappily excellent but if you want to really thrash an rc car especially with jumps, it probably makes sense to get more of a basher (basically every time I take out the Madbull, I drive it til it breaks, and that’s not always very long)

Mine has been pretty robust. All failures have been as a direct result of it being crashed at great speed. The under the fence thing was particularly stupid on my behalf. Still kick myself about it as I had spent ages on the paint job.

Izzatso?

I’ll leave this here…

Ooo…. It wasn’t what I had in mind, but it’s in mind now, maybe a vehicle or two down the line…. 🙂

Is it too over the top to think about a Tamiya XV-01 as a first build? I saw mention on here of an RC Lancia, and I am deeply smitten with the idea of a HF Integrale reipping round the garden… 🙂

NB – I will now commence this thread from the start, just in case I’ve wandered past the very post that answers the question. 🙂

My mad bull is brushed with a 2s lipo and it’s great. Excellent at the skatepark – can easily clear the jump box etc. Upgraded shocks are a must. I think is a good basher. Cheap to fix too!

There’s two of us with Tamiya Lancia’s, I have the TT02 and nicholas_yiu was doing the XV01. Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Great stuff, thank you! 🙂 How tricky are they to assemble, is it just screwing and bolting things together? That I can do – more manual things, like spraying the shell, I’m a bit more concerned about, I just run out of patience and do a half-arsed job… 🙁