Tamiya RC Cars

[Suprachrgd82]

I’ve decided that over the Christmas period I’m going to rebuild and restore my original Monster Beetle.

Excellent! There are still a number of OEM parts available for that chassis. In addition, MIP makes a ball differential and axles that really beef up the rear. There’s also a number of 3D printed goods, of which the gearbox brace/skid helps to prevent the gears from slipping.

The retro illness does spread into many aspects of our hobbies….


Here’s one I recently built

 

[brocklanders023]

Very good work with the Monster Beetle. You can buy braces for the rear diff that stiffen everything up a prevent the problems all the buggies with this chassis have.

I've recently found my way back to Tamiya having threatened to do so for years. Started by picking up a second hand Lunchbox and that was followed by a new Terra Scorcher which was ace fun to build! Managed to get my son interested so that's the only excuse I needed and he's got a Midnight Pumpkin coming later this week for his birthday. This could get out of hand!

Things have gone full circle for me as I built a huge collection of late 80's Tamiya back in the early 2000's only to sell it all, bit by bit to fund retro bikes after I found this place in 2007. Already sold my Pine Mountain frame to fund some more RC and can see most of my old bikes going the same way!

 

[brocklanders023]

Things got out of hand around 2005!

 

[foz]

Some nice buggies there! I got back into Tamiya, partly because this very thread reminded me of them! I started with a Blitzer Beetle, then moved on to a Hotshot, then my beloved Fox, picked up a used CC-01 along the way for my lads to practice with, and have an XV-01 waiting to be built Unlike bikes can be built on the dining room table, they also take up a lot less space, but they're not necessarily cheaper than bikes!

 

[brocklanders023]

Yep, built the Scorcher on the dinner table while it was far too cold to bother with bikes in the garage!

Been looking at the Blitzer Beetle, are they any good? Fancy a stadium truck style thing to add to the collection as a runner but not sure if I should go modern or get a Schumacher retro truck, like I had bitd? Oh, and Hotshot is on the list so what are they like performance wise?

 

[foz]

Well I must admit to having built the blitzer at least a couple of years ago, and never driven it yet
I fully painted the hard shell, but have now taken that off and saved it for another project, adapted a DT02 sand viper shell to fit the blitzer chassis (both chassis are similar but not the same) so that my lad can bash it around. From videos I've seen, it's quite fun to drive, and the wide wheelbase will hopefully mean he doesn't flip it over too much. He's still getting to grips with the CC-01 with a 55T motor in it to keep the speed down, once he's stopped crashing that, he can try the blitzer viper II'm not sure on spares availability for the blitzer either, the chassis is fairly unique and although they still sell the kit it's not as easy to get parts as a TT02 or DT03...
Even more embarrasingly, the hotshot has also been built but not yet run either... I really enjoyed the build though, it's not over complicated but is fun and different, and it just looks the business!
My Fox has been run, and even though I was trying to be careful, I flipped it and scratched the roof it was faster than when I was 12, I guess back then I was on NiCad batteries with the standard 540, now I still only use thekit 540 motors but have progressed all the way to NiMHs
I have more fun building them than running them, that's probably why I have more than one - The XV01 is next on the list, but I have something a little different planned for that one, at least with the shell. Chassis will be stock, at least to start. If I run it enough and it needs upgrades then I'll get them, but I can't justify the expense on initial build.
That's still in the box, yet I?m already thinking of something front wheel drive, an M chassis might be good, but I might go for a full size FWD if I can find one at a good price. And I've never had a monster truck... just as with retro bikes, once you start, you can't stop...

 

[Mod-Master]

Forgive me for not reading this thread fully…

But once you’ve built these (which I very much like the look of) what do you do with them? Race them on a track somewhere?

At a boot sale I once saw a Subaru Impreza that is one of those things where you collect the parts from weekly magazines.

I haven’t got interested in these yet as my model making skills aren’t very good. And I don’t want to break open my sealed air fix starter kit from 1992….

 

[foz]

A lot of people just sit them on a shelf... They look so good once built that there is that urge to not get them dirty or crash them, but they were meant to be driven! I have a track near me but it's very race oriented so I just go with my 9 year old, we find some dirt somewhere and drive them around, spin donuts, find a few jumps, try not to crash them, and have fun
It's much better going with kids, as then you don't feel like an adult playing with kids toy cars, which is probably how the rest of a normal population views us
Building them does not take a huge amount of skills, when it comes down to it they're just pre-formed plastic parts, screw and bolts, a few gears, and some paint on the shell. Start with a cheap one if you're unsure or not mechanically/model minded, so that it's not a big deal if you mess up. I don't know anyone who has built a kit and not become addicted! if all you want to do is drive and aren't bothered about the build, there are lots of ready to run vehicles, mostly not tamiya. But I think for anyone into Tamiya especially, the whole point is building it yourself first!

 

[Mod-Master]

Ahh

I thought you had to glue it and paint it yourself. I think all of us are mechanically minded we all work with bikes right?

Might give one a go.

 

[foz]

no gluing required, or very very little, with RC cars. The shells usually do need painting, but that's not hard. Be aware though, that if buying a kit to build, you will also need to buy other stuff to make it work - RC transmitter and receiver, batter + charger, servo, and paint (at a minimum). Most hobby shops will have a "starter package" with all those thing together in one to make it easier. Some kits come with out motor or electronics, but most tamiya kits, especially at the low-mid end, all come with a standard motor and ESC included. If you do plan on running it, then bearings are also pretty essential (most tamiya kits still use a majority of plastic bushings, which are fine if you just intend to put it on a shelf and run every once in a while, but not if you plan on running it often). If looking at a basic car or buggy (DT03, TT02 chassis, for example), then you can probably get everything needed to build and run it for less than 200 quid.