EddScott

Tamiya re-released many of their popular cars a few years ago. Their current cars look a bit carp and they haven't really got a decent chassis unless you go for the race off roader which is alarmingly expensive and still not that popular.

I guess they realised there was a need for retro cars so they released the golden oldies. They are probably more expensive because they have more parts and I would say much stronger in design - the Hotshot is a tank!

A shelf-queen bigwig would probably be a few hundred quid.

Matteeboy - It might get clobbered by customs. I used to buy lots of parts from the US when it was all pretty much half price - I ran a Kyosho MP777 Kanai which was £500 just for the chassis. I could buy whole sections of the car for £50 and with postage it was below £70 which is usually the point at which customs take a sniff. The sweetest running engine I ever bought was from some lad in California.

Matteeboy

Edd - I have asked them to clearly mark it "gift" (it's...ahem...for my son - 5 months old!) which has worked for me in the past.

Matteeboy

Bravo - modelsport.co.uk seem to be the major players and do loads of Tamiya stuff. They are on ebay too.

EddScott

Modelsport and Apexmodels are good for online although Apex seem a bit more sport orientated.

This is my XRay setup

Maxxed_Ross

iTrader: (1)

I know it's a bit on the expensive side, but I got an HPI Baja B5 about a year ago and it's by far my favourite R/C car out of my fleet (I've got 80 odd Tamiya's of most shapes and sizes now)



It's a 2 stroke petrol engine, so a doddle to start and run. Nitro's a re a royal pain in the *** unless you know what you are doing as generally they need tuned every time you use them depending on the air temp!

I'd steer clear of battery power if it's just going to be a play thing. Out of the box they are not as fast, don't run for very long and cost a fortune to get going with decent electrics and radio gear.

And above all steer well clear of UK R/C shops, they can and will rip you off royally the first time as you need to buy all the kit to get going. Buy online or even on Ebay

I've not bought a kit in the UK in years, all my stuff comes from Japan and Hong Kong at easily half the price

if you want to know more drop me a PM and I can walk you through it a bit more if you want. I've been into R/C for over 10 years so there's not much I don't know

Matteeboy

You have EIGHTY rc cars?!!!!!

Maxxed_Ross

iTrader: (1)

about that, got shed loads more in boxies waiting to be built

Here's a pic of most of them last summer. I'm about 10 short because I ran out of room!



Had to stand on the shed roof to take the picture

Matteeboy

Holy cr4p! They must have cost you a fortune?!

The car is ordered and on it's way - I'll just cross my fingers and hope. Had to be electric (brushless motor with Lipo batteries so hopefully quite quick) as nitro and petrol are too loud.

Maxxed_Ross

iTrader: (1)

be careful with the Lipo cells, they are still quite a new technology and prone to going bang if you're not careful or use a cheap charger.

Best invest in a charging sack.... just incase!


What did you end up getting then?

Matteeboy

Ross -it's on the previous page. This one:

YouTube - XSTR-PRO Brushless 4x4 RTR Off Road Race Buggy! Track Test!

An "XSTR-Pro" but ordered an 11.1v Lipo battery for it. The max you can get. Will be very careful with the battery.

pbee

ive been on and off RC cars for years.

have a few old tamiyas in the loft well worn. I have a kyosho buggy and a HPI RS4 rally.

Was really impresed with HPI for parts and low cost (ish) upgrades.

I bought a HPI firestorm from halfords when they were getting shot and a few hop ups for £150. I havent touched the electric cars since. My neighbour bought a nitro buggy mail order from the US (keeping up wit the joneses ...) anyways he got it running smoked the clutch and cant get spares for it.

we managed to get it going transferring the plates from a HPI clutch into his housing, but now he is reluctant to use it incase he breaks it.

you are probably a bit safer with electric as they do not tend to need as many parts I have found.

Matteeboy

Just ordered a li-po charger bag after advice from here - cheers!
pbee - cool. Not really seriously into it (yet) so only having a dabble.

EddScott

Its a slippery slope my friend

Just to give you some idea of how far cost can go in my picture the little car is worth more than the big car

Matteeboy

Edd - yikes! Easy to go a bit mad though. My MTB is worth the same as a "useable" car, my surf gear probably adds up toeven more and errrrmmm there's the little speed boat but that's about it! At least I don't take drugs or play golf - proper money pits!

Maxxed_Ross

iTrader: (1)

Ditto, I rate HPI kits very highly for starting out, and as I said in my first post my big HPI Baja gets the most use out of all my cars. It's very hard to break and why you do - parts are cheap and very easy to get hold of


I started when my dad bought me my first car for my 9th birthday. I farted about on the streets for a bit but quickly got bored.

Don't join a local club what ever you do, or you'll end up like me 10 years down the line!

Maxxed_Ross

iTrader: (1)

Looks like a decent bit of kit. From the video I can see it uses alot of Schumacher and HoBo buggy parts and HPI radio gear - which is a good start!

LG John

Ross where was that first picture taken? I live in Edinburgh and don't know anywhere decent to bash.

Matteeboy

Blimey -wasn't expecting a "proper" RC person to approve. I was in that "oh no what have I done?!" denial mode! PHEW!

Well had slight shennanigans - the muppets packed the wrong battery - right spec and size (11.1v 2200mAh 20C lipo, 103 x 35 x 16mm - seems to be an unusual size typically!) but the wrong connector type! They put in the Tamiya style connector instead of the Dean type. Have bought an adaptor/ connector (Tamiya male to Dean female) but may have to end up slicing and soldering a new connector on. The thought of sending it back is not an option (expensive, a pain, etc).

I'm also preparing myself for an import duty hit and delay... oh well!

Matteeboy

Well it's arrived at last!

Just did a naughty and had a quick go on only partial charge with the standard 7.2v NimH battery - WOW -it is very fast indeed!

Got the 11.1v lipo on charge but terrified I'm going to blow it up! Anyone know how long for a 2200mAh 20c 3 cell battery to charge off a 650mAh (per cell) mains lipo balance charger?! Assume 3 and a bit hours?

Anyway, a few pics:






Can't wait for the lipo to charge up!

Turbo2

I know Jack-**** about R/C cars, but also have a young lad as an excuse to buy myself one. I'm really only interested in replicas though rather than go-anywhere devices. Does anyone still do an R/C 22B or 2dr Impreza WRC 555 (1997 - 1999)?

Matteeboy

Nearly!
Tamiya Subaru Impreza WRC Monte Carlo 07
Tamiya XB Subaru Impreza WRC 2007 - LED Lights
Thunder Tiger TS-4N Plus Subaru Impreza WRC
Kyosho Inferno GT Subaru Impreza WRC

Matteeboy

And Tamiya did do one before that - could be tracked down:

EddScott

22Bs fetch big money unbuilt.

This is my holy grail of RC cars

Tamiya Avante 58072 NIB Shrink Wrapped Kit Mint Vintage on eBay, also Cars, Radio Control Vehicles, Radio Control Control Line, Toys Hobbies (end time 08-Mar-09 13:26:13 GMT)

The original Avante. If anyone remembers the later generation Egress is almost as hard to get if not harder and just as expensive unbuilt.

The shrink wrap looks a bit sus but if I don't buy what I'm hoping to buy at the weekend I could just blow a grand on that - just for the hell of it and stick two fingers up at the credit crunch!

To put in context theres a built but barely used Avante that is on £122 with a day left. I'd consider buying that just to make it a shelf queen.

Matteeboy

Edd - don't suppose you can help can you?

Got the car, tried it out with the 7.2v Nimh battery - all fine.
Then charged up the 11.1v lipo battery - it went like a rocket and was enormous fun - for about 5 minutes.
Then it stopped going into reverse. Then it stopped going forwards.
The ESC is making the "right" noises but the motor won't run. Could I have killed it already?! There was no burning smell or anything and it looks fine visually but no go.

Bit of a pain!

EddScott

Are the wheels rotating by hand? If yes, when you rotate the wheels is the motor rotating too?

From your pics I can see the ESC has some pots or buttons labled 1 and 2 and theres a little male connector - what does the connector plug into? Is there some sort of reset?

EDIT - I got to be honest brushless was just coming out when I lost interest in electric and became more nitro focused. 11.1V pack seemed quite high to me.

Matteeboy

Edd - the people that sold me the car recommended the 11.1v battery for that car so it should be okay.
The wheels do rotate by hand but the motor does not rotate too.
The male connector on one side goes to the on/off switch, the other goes to the part labelled "crystal" Can't find a reset unfortunately.

IainMilford

iTrader: (15)

You really want one of these .... 4wd, 2 speed gearbox, fully adjustable suspension, disc brake, 2.9bhp = 0-60mph in under 2 seconds