nick205
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| posted on 15/10/10 at 10:14 PM |
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RC car for a beginner
Thinking of realising a missed childhood toy in the form of an RC car. No idea where to start other than Tamiya as it's a name I recall from
the past.
Been looking at the Tamiya "Dark Impact" to use in the garden/woods/gravel etc...
http://www.wonderlandmodels.com/products/tamiya-110-dark-impact/
Is this a reasonable place to start?
What sort of controller should I look for etc?
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StevieB
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| posted on 15/10/10 at 10:30 PM |
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I had a couple of Tamiya's when I was a kid (in fact, still do - my 3 years old likes to play in the garage with me - me on my midget and him on
my old escort cosworth using the little spanners).
They were great - I had a Bush Devil IIRC (monster truck) and escort cosworth. Loads of fun and I'm considering getting another now that
they've relaunched some of of the more classic models.
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austin man
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| posted on 15/10/10 at 10:36 PM |
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classic has to be the Baja bug
Life is like a bowl of fruit, funny how all the weird looking ones are left alone
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big_l
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| posted on 15/10/10 at 10:42 PM |
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Mate tamiya do what I would consider to be really slow !! Kids cars
Look at a traxxas rustler etc etc they do cars for less than£200 wich do a real 35 mph +
Ring mb models in Leeds they are really good guys and won't rip you off speak to Bally (micheal) the owner and tell him leon morrell has sent
you and he will look after you 
Check out my blog mnrvortxhayabusa@blogspot.com
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Davey D
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| posted on 15/10/10 at 10:44 PM |
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Is it definately an offroad buggy that you want?
There are 3 main styles:
Touring car ( low racing style chassis for use on flat tarmac/concrete surfaces)
Offroad buggy (raised chassis with long suspension travel, and knobbly wheels. ideal for all offroad)
Monster truck ( even higher than offroad buggy with even bigger tyres)
Do you want battery, or Nitro powered? both have their advantages/disadvantages
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 15/10/10 at 10:46 PM |
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I got an xmods one, build-it-yourself shell out of the basic kit but you can get parts like mad if you wish. I'd actually be using it but sonny
boy has ripped the tyres and a wheel off...
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dlatch
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| posted on 15/10/10 at 11:06 PM |
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save your money u will use it twice then it will sit there until it gets sold on ebay 
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 15/10/10 at 11:39 PM |
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There's some organisation that plays (for want of a better word) with them at the community centre at the end of my road. I imagine
there's something similar near you
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Werner Van Loock
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 05:21 AM |
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i'd advise to go to a store and get informed there, there's so many models and brands these days that it's more a thing about
availability of spares, so better buy something that your local store has spares for. If you don't have any shop nearby and need to weborder,
i'd say HPI racing and Tamiya are the most common available.
http://www.clubstylus.be
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big_l
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 07:51 AM |
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Talk to mb models in Leeds he is the man !!!
Traxxas are the biggest company in the USA for a reason !!!
Check out my blog mnrvortxhayabusa@blogspot.com
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BenB
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 08:36 AM |
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That Tamiya looks old school  I'd at least want a brushless set-up and lipos....
Personally I prefer 3 dimensions to 2. In fact I'm just off to fling my Zagi flying wing. Happy days.
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matty h
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 08:55 AM |
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I would look at traxxas rustler,hpi firestorm or losi desert.
Take a look at this website it will give you a idea of what is available.
http://www.modelsport.co.uk/
Matty
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Irony
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 09:41 AM |
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I can only speak from my experience but it depends on what you want.
I had as a kid of 13 a Tamiya Bearhawk and I still have it in the garage now at 30. Tamiya's are great bits of kit.
I also own a modern tamiya racing car, I forget the chassis model but its one where you can enter compititons etc.
I also own a Traxxas Tmax. The T-max is a awesome bit of kit. Its this huge monster truck. I got a one horsepower motor and it goes like the
clappers.
It depends on what you want. A battery powered RC car will be plug and play (depending if you buy a RTR (ready to run) or a kit) onces that batteries
charged and away you go. In my experience a battery car will never be as fast as a nitro powered car. A nitro car/truck will be stonkingly fast, my
Tmaxx is literally to fast. You need a massive area just to use it. Theres so mush torque it'll pop wheelies on take off and when changing
into second gear (yes two gears!!). Then theres the crashes. Commonly called Maxx bashing which is enormous fun and I have literally jumped the
Tmaxx over fences and hegdes, people anything. Maybe perhaps chased a few cats possibly. The things are insane.
However - I have literally corkscrewed driveshafts due to so much torque, cracked drive gears, bent stuff, broke stuff. There is so much power that
I get carried away and use it. Then I have some ridiculous crash where the thing cart wheels over a wheelie bin or something and ends up in a tree.
Then back to ebay to buy another part. When using it I am forever buying new parts.
If I could have my RC time again I would stick to batteries rather than Nitro. You have to be bothered with fueling and starting and maintainence. A
sadly (can't believe I'm saying it - to much POWER, I can't control myself)
I think the tamiyas are great for a bit of fun and a cheap laugh. But I would go for a battery powered big toy. A traxxas rustler or similar.
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MkIndy7
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 10:01 AM |
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I'd recomend the Traxass 1/16 E-revo VXL or the stadium truck version
http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=35652
I've had Nitro Touring cars etc and unless you find the perfect surface they are rather unstable, even carparks with big white lines or stones
on have it hopping about allover the place.
The Nitro's are also a pain to get going if you've not used them in a while and without lots of practice or knowledge you never know if
there running quite right, Yes they have no batteries to run on.. but they have batteries in the controller the same, in the reciever extra and even
another one in the Glowplug starter and another in the electric starter if it has one.
I'd say there not worth the Hassle now brushless electric is available.
The Mini E-revo above is brilliant, its smaller than a monster truck so is much more portable, I keep mine in a Rucksack with the controller and 2
charged batteries and away ya go anywhere. You can use the 2 batteries in Parallel for double runtime (bet you'd get 1/2hr easy!) and 30+mph or
in Series and you get stupid allmost power i.e Standing backflips and wheelies and 50mph.
Its a little unstable when doing turns at high speed, but on the other hand you can use it wherever. I enjoy taking mine down the skate park, where
it'll jump clean out of the half pipe landing on the top and thats with only 1 battery!
So far i've broken 1 rear wishbone and replaced it with a much better designed pair from RPM that have beveled edges to deflect blows (rather
than the square blunt originals) and they were about £10.
I'm massively impressed with mine and i've only got the standard and cheap NIMH batteries which are easier to lookafter, but when looking
for an upgrade later I can go for Lipo Lithiuim batteries.
There is also a training mode on the speed controller which massively limits the power of the car until you get used to it or want to let somebody
else or a child have a go
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nick205
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 10:14 AM |
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Excellent, looking at the Traxxas stuff now!
This is for some locost fun in the woods with my older son and nephew so battery power is fine (for now). The restricted speed setting seems ideal as
well for the younger ones.
cheers chaps
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Stott
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 10:45 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Irony
I can only speak from my experience but it depends on what you want.
I had as a kid of 13 a Tamiya Bearhawk and I still have it in the garage now at 30. Tamiya's are great bits of kit.
I also own a modern tamiya racing car, I forget the chassis model but its one where you can enter compititons etc.
I also own a Traxxas Tmax. The T-max is a awesome bit of kit. Its this huge monster truck. I got a one horsepower motor and it goes like the
clappers.
It depends on what you want. A battery powered RC car will be plug and play (depending if you buy a RTR (ready to run) or a kit) onces that batteries
charged and away you go. In my experience a battery car will never be as fast as a nitro powered car. A nitro car/truck will be stonkingly fast, my
Tmaxx is literally to fast. You need a massive area just to use it. Theres so mush torque it'll pop wheelies on take off and when changing
into second gear (yes two gears!!). Then theres the crashes. Commonly called Maxx bashing which is enormous fun and I have literally jumped the
Tmaxx over fences and hegdes, people anything. Maybe perhaps chased a few cats possibly. The things are insane.
However - I have literally corkscrewed driveshafts due to so much torque, cracked drive gears, bent stuff, broke stuff. There is so much power that
I get carried away and use it. Then I have some ridiculous crash where the thing cart wheels over a wheelie bin or something and ends up in a tree.
Then back to ebay to buy another part. When using it I am forever buying new parts.
If I could have my RC time again I would stick to batteries rather than Nitro. You have to be bothered with fueling and starting and maintainence. A
sadly (can't believe I'm saying it - to much POWER, I can't control myself)
I think the tamiyas are great for a bit of fun and a cheap laugh. But I would go for a battery powered big toy. A traxxas rustler or similar.
haha, did you used to be on maxbashing.com?
I was, and I used to go up to their track all the time in the army firing range, wherever it was. I was even part of a "stunt display"
once with maxxbashing magazine with my t-maxx and backflipped it over a volvo estate (length ways) at the Model Expo in Birmingham.
I've had loads of RC cars, about 5 Tamiyas, 2 Schumachers, a t-maxx 2.5 (now with picco 21 small block and side pipe) and an FG marder + monster
conversion. That last one was the nuts, would only just fit in my boot but would do about 70+ flat out and I'm sure more when it was on the
bigger wheels.
I sold em all apart from the traxxas. The FG was costing me about £50 a week to bash, as inevitably it would break every time I bumped it at those
speeds.
Saying that the traxxas wasn't far behind at one point. But I too suffer from too much power with the maxx, it stripped the diffs on the second
tank of fuel while running in the picco so I turned up solid spools to bolt the CWs to, it's good now but doesn't like turning much,
lol
Anyway, I digress, to the OP, you won't go far wrong with a traxxas, factory order of parts from bristol for dead cheap and they always come
next day. They are tough and great fun and pretty much every model shop stocks them and parts for them too so advise is abundant.
ATB
Stott
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Stott
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 11:15 AM |
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Get a monster truck one you know it makes sense!
This vid opens with me jumping my truck with it's 3rd shell on, a chevy silverado, still looks like that now, much fun:
LINK
Then you can spend ages airbrushing a shell like me so it looks awesome. (only the lights grille and logos are stuck on there, everything else is
paint including the black pin striping)
Then you can trash it all in a day!:
This was the big bugger, again, no stickers, bart is completely painted by my fair hands!
[Edited on 16/10/10 by Stott]
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ravingfool
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 12:34 PM |
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Hmm, keep meaning to fix my cars...
Always been tempted by a huge marder but they are very expensive and I already have a kyosho inferno and a little 1/10th rally car which I forget the
name of.
I can't recommend kyosho cars enough as everything I have by them has completely outlasted any of my friends' cars. They just seem to be
better quality through and through despite not costing greatly increased amounts over comparible kits. Unfortunately I cannot actually recommend that
you buy kyosho as the parts availability isn't there since there hasn't been a proper UK importer for the last 5/6 years.
Have to agree with the earlier posters that you should go to your nearest shops and find out what kind of cars they specialise in and if you actually
buy your car from them rather than getting it £10 cheaper on the internet they will be a lot more helpful when you have problems or need replacement
bits.
Overall nitro is where its at if you've got the space to use it, obviously a lot more power than electric and when the petrol tank runs out you
just top it up and carry on rather than having to go home and charge your battery for another * hours. Although if you're going to be doing it
with your kids and they're under 14/15 you might prefer to stick with electric for the time being, at least til they've learnt to drive
the thing!
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lotusmadandy
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 03:32 PM |
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I have a pair of subaru touring cars.
One is a kyosho sandmaster nitro.
The other is a spanish electric model though the makers name eludes me for the time being.
They are both great fun to use when i get them out once a year.
The nitro model is much more fun imho.
Andy
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sonic
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 05:19 PM |
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Everybody has different opinions but i wouldnt go near MB Models in Leeds only from experiance below.
I went there the day before my sons birthday and bought a HPI monster truck nitro type,took it home and it woudn't steer at all,took it back and
they took it out the back and they couldnt get it to work either so they gave me another one.
Took it home and my son played with it for 3 mins on grass and it stripped the diffs!! took it back the following day and they said they would have to
send it away for a week and have it repaired as they didnt have time to fix it although they had everything in house to do so!!!!.
After a heated debate i rang the manufacturer and they were very disapointed and told me to take it to a place in Kiethley West Yorkshire (i cannot
remember there name ) which i did and they fixed it within the hour and gave me £50 worth of extra's and goodies to go with it for my
trouble.
The car has been great since,the only thing i would say is the monster truck type with the big wheels seem to strip the cog's in the steering
servo easy,uprated to the steel type and its been ok but not a cheap fix.
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Canada EH!
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 05:26 PM |
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I build the display models for the Canadian Tamiya Importer, my son runs the Tamiya Canada Race series, so I am a little biased.
Tamiya make good products and have repair parts available for almost everything they make.
My son started at 6 yrs small dirt track in the rear yard, he is presently developing an electric race truggy which is as fast or faster than the
nitro ones.
Start with an inexpensive electric R/C, your choice off-road or on-road, see how it goes, you can always buy bigger and better.
Start with something reasonable and simple so that an excursion into a tree does not stop the progress.
If it is for you and your son, do not buy a pre-built, build the car from a kit together, so when it gets broken ( which it will) you know what you
need to replace and how it goes together.
That's from 30 yrs experience with Tamiya products.
I am presently building the Baja Bug, not a beginner car, too easily damaged, display model for all us old types.
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loggyboy
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 05:44 PM |
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Apex arent far from you, they have some pretty good stuff instock.
http://www.apexmodels.com/
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Stott
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| posted on 16/10/10 at 11:36 PM |
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Agreed, Apex are famous, been selling bits for as long as I remember. I got my first 1/10 car in 1990 and they were a big player back then.
Takes me back that does, my old neighbour who was originally from Wokingham used to get bits from them for cheap to have their name on his shell while
racing. Almost like sponsorship but not quite so good, lol. That was on a losi XX those were the days, lol.
I remember his f**in around car was a Tamiya thunder dragon, 4wd with a modified in it, 4 wheel drifts everywhere, awesome.
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Marcus
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| posted on 17/10/10 at 08:37 AM |
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You see, this thread is why I hate forums
Yesterday I got out my 25 year old Kyosho Rocky, charged up the batteries and went for a blast. 25 year old NiCds last about 2 minutes so the local
model shop had a visit. 3000mAh NiMh and charger later she's off like a rocket, I can't remember being that quick! Now I'm hooked
again, but thinking along the lines of a Mardave V12 Caterham, oh, my wallet hurts!!
Marcus
Because kits are for girls!!
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ChrisW
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| posted on 17/10/10 at 12:33 PM |
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I've got an old Koyosho Sandmaster I built years ago. In fact, I've probably got enough bits to make another. I've always had great
fun with it, but then I'm not the most experienced at RC so maybe ignorance is bliss!
It's nitro powered. I'd probably sell it for a half decent offer to be honest...?
Speaking of 3D, I now want one of these....
 
Oktopkopter
Small matter of 2500 euros between me and buying one though
Chris
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