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

No worries, I’ve ordered it anyway. I have a spare controller/ receiver on order and I’ll either keep the ESC and motor it comes with or stick something brushless on there as I have a spare 80A (or 60A, can’t remember…) ESC sitting around too.

Ive not posted on this thread before but I have a Traxxas revo 3.3 (awaiting a replacement dynamite .19T engine from America) and 3off wltoys 12427 (one is for parts, one is being converted to brushless).

I started with a wltoys, using the kids as an excuse, they do play but I now only have 1 12427 that’s working and that’s the stock one 🤣

I’ll post some photos if I ever get anything finished and running, I definitely enjoy the fiddling aspect of the hobby!

Done.

Merak youve some talent and patience doing the painting and decals on these!

I used to race offroad about …. 35+ years ago but the painting back then was very basic. I still have my cars that i saved up like mad for. There was an original Kyosho Optima which was chain drive but i converted it to belt as it was much more efficent, I then had a PB Maxima which i think was my favorite and then finally a Schumacher cat XL or XLS i cant remember it was another really good car. I used to race at stonehaven but being a kid using pocket money and the like I was up against folk that worked in the oil industry and had money to burn on their toys so was never going to win but had a great time 🙂 We also had an 1/8th scale road track and remember seeing a european round being held there and the speed of the nitro cars was just stupid I think were running without diffs to save weight!

Used to race 8th rallycross almost 10years ago, quite tempted to get back into it again, track just down the road at Gaydon in Warwickshire and there a couple of others not too far either. Don’t think I can be bothered with the faff of nitro and the N1e is looking good and different.

I’ll just leave this here 🙂

Hi, Hopefully some one on this group can provide a little help?

I brought a Team Associated SC10 a couple years ago. All has been good until recently when its failed to respond to the transmitter. I have replaced the battery and repaired the transmitter/receiver (no issues reported here). But as soon I try and operate the car the ESC beeps and red light starts flashing and the car is unresponsive. I assume this is down to either the receiver or ESC failing. Any ideas which I should buy first or if I am completely off track?

Thanks

Ernie

@ernie does the steering respond? If not it’ll most likely be the receiver, as the steering has nothing to do with the esc. Edit – I suppose it provides the power but you’ve got a light and a beep.
If the steering is ok then you would assume the receiver is working and the esc is at fault.

@clubby Nope, steering does not work either. I will grab a ew receiver and test. Thanks!

Battery voltage ?

Hiya.

Just a quick note to say how much I’m enjoying the Associated RB10 RTR.

I know it’s nothing special, but compared to the Tamiya TT02B it’s a revelation. Much less slop, much more intuitive and it doesn’t need tweaking every five minutes.
We set up a tight little track on some flat, newly mown grass and even on 2S managed to beat my mates 3S, crazily upgraded DT-02 Sand Viper.

I reckon it would benefit from a stronger, quicker servo, but what wouldn’t?

If I was starting again, I’d definitely buy one of these as my first car.
It’s a very simple little thing, not hugely fast (20 odd mph?) but so much fun learning it’s abilities.

Also took the Arrma out with changed gearing, a tweaked ESC and some belted street tyres.
Huge local car park. We even swept it first.
Managed 64 mph according to the GPS, but was paranoid about taking it home in a bin bag.
Fun, but I don’t think my nerves could stand it again.

Hope this is useful to someone.

64mph! I’d be terrified.
I’m still reeling from the trip of shame to Screwfix last weekend after shattering the guttering down pipe brackets in DT03 related incident.

Looking at the Tamiya Neo Fighter, it appears it would be fun for me and kids/grandkids.

So what would i need to buy to make it work? I assume i need one of this car style controllers, a receiver, a steering servo and a lipo battery pack. We have some 2S 1300 and 1500 from drone flying but they are a block shape. Im not sure they would fit. We have a charger and we have Eneloop AA batteries and a charger.

Also id like to make it robust, so what should i buy to minimise damage and extend its life?

What would you recommend?

Thanks

Ian

so what should i buy to minimise damage and extend its life?

Something else for the kids/grandkids?

@beej is that really you Oscar Wilde?

As a fan of Tamiya, I’ve got a Grass Hopper and a Mad Bull, I’d say get a bearing upgrade if it comes with nylon bushes as standard. My transmitter, receiver and servo sets are nothing special and they have lasted for 3 years without issue. Not sure about Lipos, I didn’t bother. I upgraded the shocks on the Mad Bull as the ones supplied were like pogo sticks and they broke quickly anyway.

There is scope to spend an absolute shed load, but I have managed to avoid it. 1/16 scale RC Tanks on the other hand have cost me nearly a Grand.

Also id like to make it robust, so what should i buy to minimise damage and extend its life?

The Neo Fighter is what I have and it’s pretty strong. Not much it needs apart from bearing kit as mentioned. Make sure you have these for the build step, as you’ll dismantle half the car again if you don’t. Original tyres are pretty crap, especially the fronts. Car gripped and handle much better on aftermarket tyres with foams in the rear.

I cracked the front of my chassis by putting a stupid brushless motor in it. Hilarious fun but pretty uncontrollable. Still drives ok (with original motor in it). Amazed nothing else broke in some of those crashes.

Battery compartment will only take a stick battery. Could maybe fudge a way of strapping a block pack but standard kit esc will come with Tamiya connectors so you’d need a connector wire or solder on new connectors.

Other prebuilt makes will be much better cars and probably more robust, but for men (big kids) of a certain age, you can’t beat a Tamiya build. Just don’t expect the grandkids to feel the same.

Hoy hoy.

Anyone recommend a servo for the RB10 rtr?
Savox 1285 looks good, but £55.
AstroTurf and carpet.

In other news, the 5 year old has fallen in love with the Lunchbox, now she can steer it. 🙂
‘Grandad?’
‘Yes?’
‘Can I have one for my birthday? It has to be purple with my name on it in big blue letters.
And you’ll have to teach mum and dad how to fix it, cause it breaks when I hit big rocks’.
‘Yes sweetie’. 🙂

Anyone recommend a servo for the RB10 rtr?
Savox 1285 looks good, but £55.

I’ve got an SV-1270 in the front of my Wraith. It’s got stupid amounts of power, and sounds like it’s spitting angry sparks even at rest.
I love it.

Savöx 1285

Dunno if it’s still the case, but some Savöx used to be quite current heavy, and don’t play nice with the output from the BEC on cheaper ESCs, especially those in RTR cars.
Some of my early attempts at using Savöx servos gave me brown outs under heavy steering loads.

You will need a powerful servo though, especially on carpet. Can generate a massive amount of grip (especially with slicks and traction compound).

Quick question, if I was to get an AX24 would I be okay to run the 25C batteries off my Tracer (with an adaptor)? The axial takes a 350mAh 30C whilst the FTX runs 1000mAh 25C, both are the same form factor to within a couple of mm either way. I’m guessing peak power on a crawler isn’t going to be anything like a basher but that’s just ignorant guesswork.

An update from me…
The neo fighter took ages to arrive from Germany to Australia but it did come with the ESC and upgraded shocks. I started building it but sheared the bolt stud on one of the ball joints that go on the servo saver so is currently waiting for parts ☹️

In the mean time I ordered a holiday buggy as they were going cheap locally, I was house bound for a weekend (yes I looked up the picolax thread to prepare for that weekend!) And between visits built it up. I finished the painting this weekend, fitted a sport tuned motor and Tamiya ESC, resoldered the battery connector so I can use lipos…

Also a couple of pics of my wltoys 12427s, mine is upgraded to brushless, my daughter’s is still stock…

And finally got the new engine installed in my Revo 3.3 project. It starts but that’s as far as I’ve got as I haven’t had the time to run it in properly yet and don’t want to just rag it!

Quick question, if I was to get an AX24 would I be okay to run the 25C batteries off my Tracer (with an adaptor)? The axial takes a 350mAh 30C whilst the FTX runs 1000mAh 25C, both are the same form factor to within a couple of mm either way. I’m guessing peak power on a crawler isn’t going to be anything like a basher but that’s just ignorant guesswork.

The C rating is the maximum discharge rate as a multiple of capacity, so your 350mAh 30C battery can supply a maximum discharge of (0.35 * 30) = 10.5A whereas 1000mAh 25C can supply (1 * 25) = 25A. Your ESC will draw whatever it needs to to supply the motor for a given speed / torque requirement up until it limits. So yes it should be fine, the battery will just last loads longer!

The other consideration is the battery adapter, I’ve read a bit about some of them being unsuitable for high current draw but then its just one of those internet things that different people seem to have different opinions on. I’ve resoldered my battery connectors so they’re all T-plug but that’s because all my batteries use those connectors. I think it’s only really the Tamiya style connectors that aren’t rated for high current flow and I can’t see that being an issue given your application.

If anyone is looking for something a bit different and just stupid, the ftx buzzsaw is a laugh. Metal tracked vehicle, doesn’t go so fast which is ideal for my trigger happy son. But can climb a remarkable amount of stuff. Cheap too

@squirrelking, further to above I just thought, you’ll need to check the voltage is the same on both batteries, the small one may be a single cell whereas the other might be 2S

Dunno if it’s still the case, but some Savöx used to be quite current heavy, and don’t play nice with the output from the BEC on cheaper ESCs, especially those in RTR cars.
Some of my early attempts at using Savöx servos gave me brown outs under heavy steering loads.

Ah, thanks.

I’ll give Modelsport a bell and see what they recommend. If it needs a new ESC, I’ll just stick with the stock bits for a while and check what everyone else is using.

Much appreciated.

Took a couple of RC cars out for the first time in over a year… plus a boat that was a hand me down and so slow it’s not worth talking about

Playing around in the harbour as it was low tide. Forgot how much fun the crawler is (Axial SCX10.2) and what a cracking bit of kit it is. So capable

@mrjmt cheers, I knew someone would know! Both are 7.4V 2S packs so it sounds like they should be fine. I’ll take a look at the adaptors, worst case I’ll solder on some beefier wires to match the Axial.

have this been posted up yet?

https://wildonemax.com/

Quick stealth ad before I put it on ebay, anyone want a tank? Got myself a Heng Long T34, built it, drove it around the house, shot a bunch of stuff, decided I’d scratched that itch and I’m going to move it on, and get the crawlers back out instead

(it’s the metal gearbox upgrade but rubber tracks. 7.0 board so fully 2S lipo ready, I’ve added red can 390 motors and the 360 degree turret kit because the limited rotation did my head in. Never been outside, comes with the box and all the stuff plus extra bbs and smoke juice. Also can throw in an older Heng Long Walker which has no electronics but is otherwise good, could be good for spares or you could swap bits between them for variety, or maybe you have spare electronics?)

Already got one, but they are great fun and increasingly difficult to get hold of for a sensible price. If you fancy one snap Windy’s hand off!

No!

Still not properly played with my AX24 I got a couple of weeks back (that my Tracer batteries should fit but don’t 😭)

Argh, not this thread again. Luckily I’m not tempted by the tank as shipping to Australia prohibits it.

But can someone convince me I don’t want to buy a brushless Kyosho Mad Van? Please?!?

@Northwind how much are you selling the tank for and could you post some pictures please? I don’t know anything about all the upgrades mentioned but my 15 year old is tank mad and might be interested.

I took my four tanks to Scouts this week. The kids that turned up early got to have a four way battle using the onboard IR system. Great fun. The Challenger 2 won, but I think that was down to the ruthlessness of the driver.

I love the idea of the tank battle!

I’m hoping the rain holds off tomorrow afternoon so my daughter and I can take the holiday buggy and neo fighter to the beach for a blast 😎

Argh, not this thread again. Luckily I’m not tempted by the tank as shipping to Australia prohibits it.

But can someone convince me I don’t want to buy a brushless Kyosho Mad Van? Please?!?

I have absolutely no idea how to convince you you don’t want one of those. Only reason we haven’t got one is I refuse to buy anything RTR. Otherwise, my son and I would most likely have one each.

Ah, but these aren’t RTR! Takes an hour or so to put the bits and stickers on.

And a lot longer if you want to paint or weather them!

Hope that helps.

I missed this a month ago but unless you’re desperate to build a kit then for hamfisted kids then get an FTX Tracer (also sold under various other brands). Pretty much unbreakable, there’s a speed dial on the controller so they can start slower, it’s big enough to run fine on grass but small and light enough that slamming into solid things at speed doesn’t break stuff. Regular is around £70, they do a brushless one now around £100. Has everything you need in the box, you might want a spare battery at £12ish but not essential. I put some cheap oil-filled shocks on my son’s one and it’s made the bounciness go away.

I love Tamiyas and they’re great if the kids are old enough to be into the building part but for just mucking about without fuss the FTX Tracers are brilliant.

Also ❤️ the Holiday Buggy – built mine in lockdown. I have a 540 motor and the hop-up CVA shocks to go on it when I get the time.

I have the HBX version of the brushless Tracer. Took it over quarter pipes, landed on its face and kept going, smacked a half brick a few metres along the ground and kept going. I really don’t want to find it’s limit but I am curious what you have to do to break one!

Yeah the mad van is really RTR but it’s still a fun Japanese RC and I just can’t see something similar from Tamiya, I want something with a bit more ground clearance but don’t want a lunch box. I’ve been looking at Blitzer beetles but I’d have to get one from Japan I think as so much Tamiya stuff is just out of stock here.

I stopped in at the local hobby shop today as I needed a new spur gear for the Revo (I stripped it while on the first tank running the engine in), they had some really tempting cheap 1/10 scale brushless truggys in but I resisted the temptation and just bought what I needed and a little Lego friends set for my daughter.

My brushless 12428 died a horrible death and I was fed up of fixing it as it was just overpowered for what it was so I pulled the motor out (3300kv 540 with 60A ESC) and put it in the holiday buggy 😀. Interesting it doesn’t wheely, I think it’s just because the stock rear tyres are so bad it just spins them but it’s a lot of fun with the brushless in and I think less likely to die than the 12428 as it’s a different style of driving.

Must not buy a mad van. Must not buy a mad van.