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

Thanks folks!

Harry_the_Spider
Full Member
Going to regret this and I’ve been ignoring the crawler talk until now…but…point me at a reasonable basic rig.

Posted 17 hours ago

Maverick Scout is rather good.
Haven’t been able to kill mine.
Cheap, moddable, comes with a decent battery. Poor turning circle but great apart from that.
Equally as good as my mate’s Axial.
Stupid value at £150.

You can borrow it if you like.

Oh, I know. Thats when the brushless motor came out and the standard one went back in.

Nooooooooo.

Disappear into the shed with a junior Hacksaw like a sort of tiny A-Team and see what emerges.

Mine’s now tough enough to take terrible driving with a 10.5 turn brushless motor and big wheels. Can’t go back.

Ooops.

May have accidentally ordered another tank.

Arrives in a week. Will post some pictures.

Heng Long Leopard 2A6.

Needs some weathering and general filth.

With the Challenger 2.

These things are huge! The Challenger is 730mm long.

Jumping on this thread to comment that, from my experience, is really avoid the WLToys 124019. Yeah, it’s very cheap to buy, but my very disappointed 9 year old’s has been a basket case.
– arrived with suspension bracket loose in box, had to completely disassemble to fix
– charger was non functional. Had to get the soldering iron out and replace cable
– front lower arm snapped
– lower arm pivot bent driving across a field
– pivot cup shattered driving on a freshly rotavated veg patch
– nyloc nuts aren’t, had to loctite most of them
– driveshaft cups are eating themselves as the metal is so soft
— shock lower cup unscrewed itself, dumped oil

It’s really crap.

After a buggy for my 7 year old daughter and torn between a Tamiya TT02b (neo-scorcher or plasma-edge) or a FTX Vantage.

Both roughly the same price, obviously Tamiya is a kit and FTX is RTR. Both have hop ups available, but FTX has some up upgraded parts to start with.

What would be the best to go with or any other cars to look at?

For my lad I went 2wd (Tamiya DT-03). But then I specifically wanted to build up a kit with him. It was his 8th birthday, which I think was good timing but plenty young enough for the patience of assembly.

Hop-up wise, even for a youngster I’d assemble with bearings. Other than that, IMO mainly you might as well just do things incrementally if and when you think something is worth changing.

Cheers, no plan to go mad with hop ups, probably just replace with upgrades as and when required.

I do like the idea of self assembly which obviously sways me to Tamiya.
But for similar price (actually slightly cheaper) the FTX has oil filled shocks, adjustable turnbuckles, bearings, metal diff gears and drive shaft/dog bones and includes radio gear.

Battery expert help please

We bought a FTX Outlaw and have managed to snap it almost every time we have gone out. So bought a S/H DR8 (and now a Aarma Senton) hoping to be stronger.

Came with a single 3s battery, 11.1v 4500 3s 55c. Does it have to be paired with another with same numbers or can it be used with any another 3s?

Runs great on 2x 2s but out of control with 2x 3s. Senton seems slower running 2x3s than the DR8 with 2x 2s. Is this a motor or battery issue?

@wishiwascalledsteve if your open to slightly different options to the two buggies you’ve found you can get a truggy from LC racing that is on a much higher level of build quality. They offer pre built models and a couple of kits if you would prefer to go down that route (though the kits will wok out more expensive by the time you’ve picked up all the bits you need). The only slight issue is the RTR model seems to be out of stock with the main UK reseller at the moment.

https://www.dms-racing.com/models/models—all-types—off-road/lc-racing-emb-tgh-1-14th-scale-brushless-4wd-almost-ready-to-run-truggy-with-servo,-motor-and-esc-detail

https://www.dms-racing.com/models/models—all-types—off-road/lc-racing-emb-tgh-1-14th-scale-4wd-truggy-unassembled-kit-1-detail

Edit: you can find the one I built below

https://www.msuk-forum.co.uk/forums/topic/247972-bigginges-emb-truggy-build-thread/

Cheers bigginge, I’ll have a proper look but it’s a bit more than I was looking to spend (aiming for under £150)

Came with a single 3s battery, 11.1v 4500 3s 55c. Does it have to be paired with another with same numbers or can it be used with any another 3s?

Best to pair it with a matched battery. Slightly different can be ok, short term. If they are wildly different you run the risk of over discharging and getting swelling. I usually buy mine in pairs and use them as pairs, forever.

Runs great on 2x 2s but out of control with 2x 3s. Senton seems slower running 2x3s than the DR8 with 2x 2s. Is this a motor or battery issue?

What kV rating do the motors have? Also, have you put any restrictions on the ESC? If the batteries have low (very low) C ratings you might be capping the acceleration.

@mert

Thank you-

Aarma BLX2050kV. With 2x 3s 5200 50c

FTX 2000kv with 2x 2s 6200mah 50c

As they are both 2nd hand they may had a tuning card connected.

Got one for the Outlaw to make it easier for son to pull away and stop rolling over when braking.

I didnt expect sons new hobby to take up as much time and money😃

TBH, looking at the two cars, could i just be weight (of the car and tyres etc) and gear ratio related, as those two motors and batteries should give (broadly) the same performance. Depending on the ESC programming.

TBH, it’s pretty difficult to tell without all the info, i mean, i’ve got two TCs with WILDLY different motors in them and until you get to the edge of the performance envelope of the slower car it’s not easy to tell which is which, the differences are mostly on the stopwatch (about 1 second over a 20 second lap)
Top speed is about 40kph difference though. But how often do you hit top speed on a circuit…

It’s pretty amazing that Darren (DMS) still works with RC cars, we used to muck around on Sunday mornings with cars in a park in Watford when we were at school, that was a LONG time ago.

I keep resisting the desire dig into this thread and buy another car as I’d probably rarely use it and I have enough costly hobbies already!

My son would love that Merak, great work.

What sort of ages are you guys finding your kids enjoy these? Clearly I’m asking to inform present choices that are 100% about them…. Well … Maybe a little and me…. Daddy and kids time obviously! Hahahaha!
Mute are all different I know so I’m guessing there’s quite a spread. I’ve 2 daughters, almost 7 and 5, and a lad just turned 2. Suspect all 3 would enjoy it, the lad especially and there comes part of my dilemma. If I get 2 or 3 cars I kind of need 2 or 3 the same or else is a disaster. Anything moderately quick with the potential to keep the 7 yo engaged a bit will be way beyond the lad… Maybe I can convince him to be on daddy’s team… Probably not! Hmmm. I’m thinking something like the truggy that drP found for £60 ish. Ball court at the end of the street and surrounding grassland and forested bit would provide a range of suitable terrain on the doorstep. But maybe I ought to either leave it another year or go for something slower and cheaper for a year or so.

Had a quick browse on a website and could see this rabbit hole getting very costly but my of my… Fun.

I brought an FTX truggy for my daughters 6th birthday. She loved I then and now 8, still loves it. Though she keeps swiping my Assoc. The FTX was a great place to start, fast for their age, cheap to buy and replace. She has tried hard (unintentionally) to break it and failed. I’m really impressed. The best £70 spent in a while

Oooooo this looks good! I know it’s half as much again but to a newbie it looks like it’ll be much better, is it though?
https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/funtek-stx001-stx-112th-scale-rtr-truck-1340217

Ok or this! Bugger size appeals for some reason, would it be slower? Slower might be a good thing though perhaps 😉

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/ftx-carnage-2.0-1-10-brushed-truck-4wd-rtr-blue-444807

That/both would need better batteries and spare batteries which would add to the cost though. Oh, I’m being sucked in aren’t I?

A bit of revamped nostalgia for ya.

As a lad I had a Mardave Apache!

@neilnevil for younguns you may be better off with the smaller trucks like the ftx tracer rather than trying to jump up to one of the bigger ones you’ve linked to.

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/ftx-tracer-1-16-rtr-monster-truck-orange-1332659

You can also get a brushless version of this truck which is probably a little faster and should go for longer in the same battery.

https://banggood.onelink.me/zMT7/eq5nvyok

The really nice thing about the smaller trucks like the tracer is that they are so light that even though they can shift they are surprisingly resilient and don’t break too easily. Where as something like the FTX carnage is much bigger and heavier so when you crash there is a lot more energy involved and things are more likely to start snapping. I think a lot of the budget 10th scale is known for being a little fragile.

That makes sense, smaller seems sensible!

@neil My lad got in to playing with the cars when he was 12. Tried them with younger family members and that just resulted in a lot of broken plastic. The tanks make a regular appearance at Scouts. We get there early and have a battle on the lawn outside. Kids will queue up to have a go.

At our jubilee street party I got my Tamyia Plasma Edge out for next doors 8 year old to play with, he loved it. His 5 or 6 year old sister was surprisingly good with it too.

Probably more interested in a ready to run than a kit at that age though.

Thanks all. So the 2 girls might be ok with them but I shouldn’t be surprised if some plastic gets broken. Probably best to see how it goes with 1/16th and affordable like the ftx truggy. I am tempted to leave it until Christmas, get a pair for the girls and a few spare batteries and see how it goes. If it goes well then daddy can maybe join the party with something bigger.

I’m trying to remember what age I was when I had my Apache. About 12 I think. Although I know I’d have loved one for many years before that.

In a move that is probably bad news, I’ve discovered Kevin Talbot on the ‘tube. the good news though,,,,while watching him send a truggy ‘to the moon!’ my 6yo came over and watched for a few secnds, asked what it was, then said ‘that looks cool!’ hehe! my wife has also commented ‘I know what you want to buy.’ but thinks the girls wold benefit from the engineering side of it…I take that as approval!

mr talbot has me looking at the big stuff though!

my youtube research continues with kevin talbot, thunder rc, beyond rc and others.

I’m thinking 3 ftx tracers or the haiboxing 16889A which i believe is the same truck basically. the only reason i’m thinking the hbx is that the pro version comes with oil shocks, metal drive and bigger motor, i think. it is about £50 more though…. but daddy needs a pro doesn’t he?

of course kevin t also makes me want an x maxx or arrma kraton!hahahaha!

If it were me I would consider some small scale crawlers like he WPL C24 for the kids, My son can drive mine and he is 3.

they are entertaining and keep them in a small environment as they can design little obstacles, cheap to buy and to fix.

For you the sky is the limit but I would warn against having young ones around, they are a liability and the trucks will maim.

Yep, bought a C24 in lockdown and it’s been great, not too quick and fun to set up obstacles for them. Reminds me I need to build a better battery for it, the one it came with is just about dead.

Got one of these Grave Digger monster trucks for my son’s 5th birthday and it’s hilarious, each side is linked so it will turn on the spot and it has some sort of gyro and controller so it can wheelie and nose wheelie on demand. Tyres are big enough for grass, it’s been smashed into things, still working fine. Controller has two speed settings, and the car charges from a USB cable stashed underneath which is genius.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9491452

I’ve a WPL C14 KM that I bought during lockdown and it’s ace.

I don’t have any kids but if I did i’d definately get them an FTX tracer or similar (dependant on age). When I was a kid I had a couple of cheap Nikko RC cars before finally getting a second hand Tamiya Lunch Box and they all got abused. Racing in the street, running in grass, jumping off kerbs and raised man holes etc. It was great fun with my mates and from what I’ve seen on YouTube the FTX Tracers can take that kind of abuse all day long. They’re also 1/16 scale so similar in size to the WPL. You’d need a bit more space as they’re much faster than crawlers but they don’t need the same space as a 1/10th scale.

I really like the scale detail and crawling aspect of the WPLs, as well as the cheap spares availability, but I suspect the FTX Tracer would be more durable for bashing and possibly more fun as a first RC. The FTX Tracer spares should be easily available in the UK too. I’d probably order the HBX 16889a Pro for the brushless and better shocks for myself TBH. I don’t think you’d go far wrong with either.

If you’ve not already check out Tomley RC on YouTube. He’s reviewed loads of the smaller and cheaper RCs, he appreciates the cars for what they are and offers a different perspecitve to Kev Talbot.

Cheers
Think I’ve seen some tomley RC, there are a few reviewers that are focused on the affordable end and give the right mix of info that and newbie needs. Kevin Talbot’s channel is very different!

I had the family at the beach a couple of weeks ago, someone had an xmaxx out to play. Having not seen one before I’m not sure but think it was the mini maxx rather than the biggest scale version. It looked fun and definitely got my wife and kids attention!

RCKicks is very entertaining and TamiyaLegends (and sister channel RCLegends) shows just how deep addiction can go 🙂

RichDuperbash and RazorRC have lots of great footage and advice.

Pete Wylie, Mark Bryan and Rob Brennan are good fun and relaxing, as is the RCScotsman.

Matteo has some great videos, as does NordicRC…….

recently picked up a ftx tracer truck. Great fun. has variable speed so can dial it down for the kids. had to upgrade the shocks (£20) and buy a couple of bigger batteries for the sessions to last a decent length of time.

arguably more fun than my axial smt10 and less likely to go through a fence panel or destroy my wife’s flowers

thanks to tomley and beyond rc research ive found the mjx hyper go which seems to be a clone of the hbx and ftx, very strong, brushless, all metal drive and even lipo all for £68 after shipping from rctown via aliexpress. 3 body shapes and 4 colours, i think the monster truck may be better as its 4cm ground clearance not 3,4cm for the truggy which i assume is better on grass…but i do wonder if its adjustable, rather than different towers? the shocks are adjustable oil shocks.
truck
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004468566568.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.7a7738daClLntG&mp=1
truggy
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004468628006.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.7a7738daClLntG&mp=1
and the other body
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004104246222.html

it even has a built in gps, blutooth to your phone with an app for speed, battery, and other stuff.

i’m thinking 3 the same so when the kids break something daddy can give his up while awaiting the spares arrival. Probably also get a few spare lipos for each car, something like these
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-2200mah-2s-25c-lipo-pack-w-xt60.html?wrh_pdp=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_gb_shopping&countrycode=GB&gclid=Cj0KCQjwuO6WBhDLARIsAIdeyDLvuBEYU0KYtZ8EhalqYX7ZveJN1mnvA7rNkpTO7SkMuMt5lAdLOfoaAiyIEALw_wcB&___store=en_us
think that would physically fit, although may need either adapters or to get the soldering iron and heat shrink out and change the plug

might hit buy very soon…shipping fro china can take an age after all

wow merak!

Lovely work as usual @Merak, reminds me I really need to do something with that spare Labcia shell I have. But first I’ve got to fix the drivetrain on the chassis. As bad as bikes this RC lark 🤣

I had this land a few days ago:

Seem to have been properly bitten by the crawler bug! Going to do a few choice mods and customisations before I run it, aiming for early September to take it to the Southern Scale Trail event near Shelton Mallet.

I’ve hit buy on two hyper Go. They came in at £80 each, i had forgotten AliExpress prices are before vat, still seems excellent price though. Just got to wait an age for them to ship from China. October is the estimate. Still plenty of time for me to check them, order some extra batteries and get a bit of protective tape and the like on them before Christmas. I’m thinking a bit of lollipop stick or ice-cream tub plastic hot glued on the chassis base as sacrificial scuff guards, and on the top of the body shell in a few places for the same purpose. Maybe a few bits inside the shell and chassis for strengthening too. Might order a few other cheap body shells too just to change in up occasionally and to have a spare to hand.

3rd mjx truck ordered and 3 different colour truck body shells for £96. The shells are just generic so will probably need adjustment to fit bit were short cheap and I loved the lime green colour.

Waiting game now.