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

Mostly it is just assembly, once you’ve cut the pieces from the parts grid. A craft knife/side snips helps with this and you may have to do a small amount of tidying up the burr left on some parts as it can get in the way of the assembly. It’s really easy as long as you don’t rush it. As soon as I get frustrated with a bit I walk away and do something else before coming back to it (same when doing Lego or bike maintenance), helps massively. The shell is easy as it’s only one colour, the tricky bit is the decals! The ones that go over multiple surfaces are a pain to get right. I still haven’t got round to doing my second shell that will just be a single colour and the basic window decals only, doing that is a lot easier.

Have a go and if you struggle with anything we’re all here to help and if things go really wrong on the shell you can always buy a pre-done one!

A JIS screwdriver is worth having (also good for Shimano mech limit screws), it’s a slightly different shape and reduces the risk of rounding things.

I got some cheap little side cutters and they’re perfect for cleanly removing parts from sprues.

Thanks folks. 🙂 Roughly how long do they take to build, once you’ve got all the bits…?

Did mine slowly over a few evenings but you could easily go from opening the box to a running chassis in a long afternoon. The shell takes as long as you want.

Cool – I think I’d lose interest if it was going to take days and days. Well, I’ll try and talk myself out of it tonight, then buy it tomorrow. 🙂

Xv01 I think is a bit trickier to build mainly because it uses machine screws rather than self tappers. You can get away with just ramming them in but it’s nicer and stronger if you tap the holes first. Make sure you get a roll tap as a cutting one will end up taking too much material off. Also need to take care setting the mesh and the belt tension, but nothing else is difficult.

Not had a tt02 before but the XV01 feels more like a real car as the motor is at the front. It’s also a lot more complex with loads you can adjust like oil weight in diff and pretty much fully adjustable suspension geometry.

In terms of the body, it is easy to spray as it is single colour but the decals are tricky as there are just so many of them and the large ones go over quite a few curves and require stretching.

If you are not happy with that, you can get a killer body pre-painted one which I heard good things about. I am sure you can get most of the cost back by selling the original shell on.

Here is my 2 winter/lockdown projects. The buggy is a Hobbytech BXR.S1 and the touring car is a 3Racing S64 chassis with a bittydesign M410 shell/

This looks fun

So I’ve not read thread (apologies). Sweajnr (7) has had a cheap Walmart special RC “truck” that has given up the ghost. I think for an eventual replacement I’m going to go for something more robust. Back in the day I had a Tamiya that I used a lot but that’s decades ago.

I see a lot of Traxxas now but that seems pretty high end? What are the good mid-range brands? Or is it Traxxas and I’ve not even seem the high end stuff?

I’ve probably not go time / patience currently for a complicated self build unless it’s for a very compelling reason.

I haven’t used it properly yet, but I recently bought one of these to give me something I won’t cry so much over if I break it compared to my Tamiya. Although as ugly as sin it feels like a nice bit of kit and seems to be the current hotness in the cheap buggy area with the RC YouTubers.

https://www.banggood.com/Wltoys-124019-RTR-1-or-12-2_4G-4WD-60km-or-h-Metal-Chassis-RC-Car-Off-Road-Climbing-Truck-Vehicles-Models-Kids-Toys-p-1757187.html?gmcCountry=US&cur_warehouse=CN&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc_ods&utm_content=ruby&utm_campaign=ruby-sds-11sale-cnw&ad_id=479645490422&gclid=CjwKCAiA9bmABhBbEiwASb35V1MLRw2VTLt59yjNxjhvTOQD6Wrv97Y1d5mYlNobG6-GRx5Fez90PxoC2DYQAvD_BwE

I see a lot of Traxxas now but that seems pretty high end? What are the good mid-range brands? Or is it Traxxas and I’ve not even seem the high end stuff?

Traxxas and Arrma are the top dogs when it comes to mainstream Ready-to-Run stuff, they go from the £250 all the way up to £1k+. There’s then loads of rebranded Chinese stuff (FTX and the like) between them and the toy-grade stuff, lots of it is good but there is a few duffers in the mix. Tamiya are pretty much on their own as they do kits aimed at the general/retro buyer but are massively supported by aftermarket stuff. There are smaller brands like Absima, Carisma and Schumacher that specialise in certain types of car (racers, rock crawlers) but also do a few different models aimed at the main market too. It’s hard to say just go for brand X or Y as they all do good and bad models, best to go to a website like Modelsport, look at cars in your price range and then hit up YouTube and owners forums to figure out what suits best. Key thing though is spares availability, without that you’re wasting money on a car you can’t fix. You’ve also then got the cars on sites like banggood which are the non-branded versions of some things and copies of others, it’s a bit of a minefield!

What kind of budget were you thinking of?

I’ve picked up that Axial SCX24 C10 truck as well, as something my boy can look forward to as a reward for sticking with homeschooling until half term. The things we try! Obviously I’m now itching to get the thing out for a play already, so I’ve scuppered myself really.

Anyway – I’ve been looking into tinkering opportunities, and it seems like cheap chassis weights plus a spare battery and a better charger would be the easiest wins. My habit with that kind of thing before was to look at things like banggood or aliexpress, but is that realistic now? A quick browse earlier I kept getting “not available to ship to UK” which is presumably down to our current bit of a mess of a situation. (actually checking today it’s back to 15-20 business days on a few). There’s some on eBay/Amazon but shipping from China so also with long estimates that I don’t know if I can trust.

If anybody’s got specific recommendations for any of that I’d be grateful as the other problem is the vast set of options these sites fling at you when you search! Oh, and do I need to put this stuff in a fireproof bag?

https://www.rcgeeks.co.uk/products/ftx-outlaw-1-10-ultra-4-brushed-buggy-rtr

A mate has just sent me this….any idea if it is any good? I do like the idea of 4wd for thrashing around the farm. I started scoping out courses today….also found some fairly epic what I’m guessing were mx jumps in one of the out buildings here too!

Thanks. I’ve honestly not got far on budget but probably in the 200-300 range. It’d be the “one present” from parents and all relatives for a birthday. I’m keen to have something that is repairable with spares etc and a decent battery just to get out of the loop of stuff that eventually breaks and is then a throw away item.

I’m so out of the loop as I also need to decide on crawler (slower I presume but more able to negotiate stuff) vs trucks and buggies (faster and better on tarmac). I’m leaning crawler just because the speeds of modern trucks seems really faster for a 7-8 year old to control.

I got one of those outlaws for me and the boy during first lockdown, has been good fun and nothing broken (yet) despite smashing it round the bmx track and local woods.

What I like is its ability to handle quickish runs around but also do a bit of modest crawling. Easy enough to be drivable by a 7 year old too.

There’s a big thread on modelsport forum reharding potential hopups, spares availability seems good via modelsport. Only thing I’d recommend out of the box is a bigger capacity battery and decent charger.

*edit* I also tested the waterproofing by running it in recent snow, and it seems to have survived that ok. Brushed it off and then hung the chassis to drain, not had anything die.

Mmm… Donuts…

The outlaw won’t take big jumps, if you have a farm with some decent ruts and fields then I can strongly recommend a LOSI Baja Rey, they are a wicked desert/prerunner truck. about £400 but can take a lick

Well, it’s not even the end of Jan and I have official already spent this years RC budget on pre-orders of the forthcoming Egress 2013 reissue and Top Force Evo 2021. That’s my builds for lockdowns 5 and 6 sorted!

Lots of out of stockness going on, is disappoint… 🙁 Now considering rowing back a smidge to something a bit more sensible like a Plasma Edge – expecting a lot of lawn use and thinking a buggy’ll drag less, I’ll be less bothered if the decals aren’t straight, saves a few quid if I get bored of putting it together, and if I still hanker after the Delta XV 01, well maybe that’s a treat for later in the year. 🙂

Ah man, literally about to pull the trigger on the FTX Outlaw…..its not a working farm, so no rutted fields…..I can now down areas to play around on. 400 quid is over double my budget!

When you start breaking stuff it costs money, there is nothing for £200 I would recommend for bashing about, maybe a second hand Traxxas Slash or an ECX Torment ?

Outlaw ordered. Free next day DPD delivery too. £163 with a 5000nimh battery and charger.

Should keep me entertained once everywhere dies up a bit!

The Tiger Tank has arrived.

O.M.G. 8-o

It is terrifying!

Milko
I would not worry to much about modding the scx 24. I think if you make it heavy the motor will melt. Running it stock it is really good. I will struggle to fix though I think as it is so small! I just put some Vaseline on then front drive shaft as it rubs on the links. And don’t go too daft with it as motor gets very hot. Maybe spend your money on a cheaper
1/24 scale truck for you like an FTC one for about 60 quid. They only have a 3.7 volt system so makes it fair against kids.

Harry,any pictures yet? Just how big is it? (Ooh err)

Here it is next to the recently repaired Mad Bull.

I’ve only had it out of the box for function testing. At the weekend I’m going to paint it and add all of the surface bits, crew and decals.

Epic! Saw a YouTube video….the gun seems fairly potent!

Not had a dispatch email yet on my FTX Outlaw so I’m guessing it wont be arriving today.

Finished.

Posted it on the Airfix thread but I suppose that it has an equal, if not greater, right to be here too.

Dead chuffed with it. Will have to get a Sherman to go with it next.

^amazing!

Is it RC?

Whilst expressing a fair bit of bemusement at my FTX Outlaw purchase, my gf has decided that she wants a Tiger tank 😂

is it RC?

Oh yes!

#muchwant

I’ve had a brushless FTX vantage for years and it keeps on going. Bits are cheap for when I break it. I’ve got a few other cars including a Traxxas maxx and the vantage is not nearly as tough as that. But it can take a bit of jumping and whizzing around no probs. Outlaw looks great.

Accidentally just ordered a arrma felony… oops. It’ll 85mph apparently with a pinion change. Going to need a big area to play with that. Wonder how long until I trash it.

That tank is awesome!!

Arrma felony. That’s immense

😂😂😂😂

That is bonkers. My FTX Outlaw should be landing at lunchtime. Working until 7 though so will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon/Saturday morning to have a play.

My word Harry, top job. 🙂

My word Harry, top job.

Next time we meet up I’ll bring it.

That Felony is nuts. My wallet or available space isn’t big enough to cope with that!

Damn this thread and lockdown induced boredom! It’s got me looking at sub £100 mini crawler style trucks to play with the kids – any recommendations?

Been watching a few videos (always dangerous) and looking at the WPL C24 Hi lux looking truck or is it worth spending a bit more and getting something like the RGT 136131/FTX Ranger XC? Both seem to get fairly good reviews, would I realistically noticed the difference having not touched an rc car for probably 20 years?

Agree with you about this thread being dangerous to finances.