RC cars

Soldato
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Gotta say, really impressed with the Outlaw Brushless.

Some of the YouTube I've seen the thing looked hard to control but running it as a first run round on a flat tarmac area in the park at the end of the road, it was great.

Front does come up a bit but no wheelies braking feels perfect and quite natural on stock settings, no signs of it front flipping. Steering I took it easy and did roll it once, but seems fine.

Only negative the battery didn't seem to last very long, 20 minutes maybe, that's with the stock 3250ma 2s Lipo. I might invest in a higher capacity 2s.

It can run a 3s but honestly, I don't feel it needs it.

Can't wait for the weather to get a bit better there is an open grass field, farm/dirt track and BMX jump thing here, but, at the moment it's thick mud/puddles and I don't want to trash the thing quite so soon lol.
 
Soldato
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stopped my shocks on the scx 24 from been so soft, used some bits of tubing and o-rings as preload and the tyres dont seem to hit the front when steering now while going over stuff :)

plL9YNP.jpg

qNA5j97.jpg

fitted a new servo to the hyper vse along with a alloy servo horn and changed some bearings on the lunch box, been a busy rc day today :)
 
Soldato
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Could do with a bit of advice if there are any retro Tamiya guys following this thread.

Back in my youth (probably early 90s) I had (and still have) a Bigwig, being a kids toy maintained on pocket money and a 'that'll do' attitude it got into pretty bad shape. At a minimum it could do with a significant mechanical overhaul (lots of worn/damaged parts to replace) and a new body. Whilst trawling through YouTube today I discovered that this model was reproduced in 2017 which opens up some opportunities for a bit of a nostalgic project. A quick Google suggests that pretty much everywhere that lists them shows no stock or discontinued so I guess I'm looking at 2 options:

1) Try and source a reproduction kit from a more specialist/collector source. How easy is this likely to be, where should I be looking and what sort of money would I be looking at? (Does out of print Tamiya stuff just go for crazy prices like Lego or will it still be available for close to retail pricing?)
2) Use the fact that the reproduction was released (along with parts support) to enable a refurb of my old model. (Any gotchas to look out for here?)

Any thoughts on viability of either option?
 
Soldato
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Could do with a bit of advice if there are any retro Tamiya guys following this thread.

Back in my youth (probably early 90s) I had (and still have) a Bigwig, being a kids toy maintained on pocket money and a 'that'll do' attitude it got into pretty bad shape. At a minimum it could do with a significant mechanical overhaul (lots of worn/damaged parts to replace) and a new body. Whilst trawling through YouTube today I discovered that this model was reproduced in 2017 which opens up some opportunities for a bit of a nostalgic project. A quick Google suggests that pretty much everywhere that lists them shows no stock or discontinued so I guess I'm looking at 2 options:

1) Try and source a reproduction kit from a more specialist/collector source. How easy is this likely to be, where should I be looking and what sort of money would I be looking at? (Does out of print Tamiya stuff just go for crazy prices like Lego or will it still be available for close to retail pricing?)
2) Use the fact that the reproduction was released (along with parts support) to enable a refurb of my old model. (Any gotchas to look out for here?)

Any thoughts on viability of either option?
I would try this seller - I've always found them reliable https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/Tonys-Tamiya-Parts

Also might be worth heading over to the Tamiya Club forum and have a look at some of the bigwig build/rebuild threads

Edit: Tamiyabase is super useful for manuals and part numbers as well: https://tamiyabase.com/
 
Associate
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any one want to join a rc car discord channel i couldn't find one and thought it be a good idea to have one https://discord.gg/DEADT9yh
What is the most indestructible value for money option available then?

Preferably a self build option but not a must.

Preferably water proof and mud proof if possible but that's not a must.
id go from a £350is petrol baja if you can find one i have seen them around for that new
 
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Soldato
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Can you guys help me try and identify a car unused to have as a kid?

I had a Tandy Aero Buggy, blue, that was my first RC car.

A couple of years later I got another one, I think...... It was also by Tandy but I'm not 100% certain on that.

It was slightly larger than an aero buggy, but similar looking thing, longer and flatter. Mine was yellow. It was battery, 8 AAs if I remember and the controller had a forward, then a "turbo", it was much faster, especially when using "turbo," this would have been early 90's I guess when I got it.

It was very similar to a Nikko Turbo Panther, if that helps
 
Soldato
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Can you guys help me try and identify a car unused to have as a kid?

I had a Tandy Aero Buggy, blue, that was my first RC car.

A couple of years later I got another one, I think...... It was also by Tandy but I'm not 100% certain on that.

It was slightly larger than an aero buggy, but similar looking thing, longer and flatter. Mine was yellow. It was battery, 8 AAs if I remember and the controller had a forward, then a "turbo", it was much faster, especially when using "turbo," this would have been early 90's I guess when I got it.

It was very similar to a Nikko Turbo Panther, if that helps

There was the Aero Buggy - maybe yours was the Turbo Aero Buggy which is slightly bigger?
 
Soldato
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What is the most indestructible value for money option available then?

Preferably a self build option but not a must.

Preferably water proof and mud proof if possible but that's not a must.

the most indestructable, really not sure but i can recommend the hyper vse as a pretty solid buggy out the box https://www.modelsport.co.uk/hobao-hyper-vs-1-8-rtr-brushless-buggy-blue/rc-car-products/396616

it is a rtr and needs a battery and charger on top of the price but if you catch the bug a charger and battery could be used on another model as well.

you could also try a roller https://www.modelsport.co.uk/hobao-hyper-vs-1-8-buggy-electric-roller/rc-car-products/396617 which would need quite a lot done to it and you would need all the leccy stuff bought seperate which would get costly :)
 
Soldato
Joined
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Posts
2,725
Location
Edinburgh
Could do with a bit of advice if there are any retro Tamiya guys following this thread.

Back in my youth (probably early 90s) I had (and still have) a Bigwig, being a kids toy maintained on pocket money and a 'that'll do' attitude it got into pretty bad shape. At a minimum it could do with a significant mechanical overhaul (lots of worn/damaged parts to replace) and a new body. Whilst trawling through YouTube today I discovered that this model was reproduced in 2017 which opens up some opportunities for a bit of a nostalgic project. A quick Google suggests that pretty much everywhere that lists them shows no stock or discontinued so I guess I'm looking at 2 options:

1) Try and source a reproduction kit from a more specialist/collector source. How easy is this likely to be, where should I be looking and what sort of money would I be looking at? (Does out of print Tamiya stuff just go for crazy prices like Lego or will it still be available for close to retail pricing?)
2) Use the fact that the reproduction was released (along with parts support) to enable a refurb of my old model. (Any gotchas to look out for here?)

Any thoughts on viability of either option?

tamiya stuff fetches a premium even when new, they are like nintendo of the rc world.

if there are parts available from the re release i would go that route and try and fix up the old model, but after all this time the old plastics etc will be pretty brittle by now.

route 3 buy a tamiya lunch box or any other 80's kit re re like a grass hopper and get some experience and enjoy :)

edit: took some pics of my ishima and hyper 7 side by side

the hyper 7 has slicks on and the ishima has nandas

prjUjQG.jpg

425ek2q.jpg

RCMp8rE.jpg

i love they nitro cars and it is easy to see what one has racing geometry while ignoring the wheels :)

theres not a pull start on the hyper 7, he gets started on a box but the ishima just starts in a pull or 2 and sounds super grunty unlike a typical nitro engine :)

the isihma has a low grunty pitch noise.
 
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Soldato
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Decided on a full refurb of my vintage Bigwig with a few upgrades thrown in. Started the process of stripping it down, cleaning and assessing what’s needed as well as buying a few bits. Not sure how much of the original car will be left by the time I’m done but I’m hoping to at least keep it looking relatively original. Original plastic dampers were all seized up so decided on some alloy replacements rather than rebuilding them and will also be replacing the coat hanger style center shaft with an alloy dog bone type. Still deciding what to do about driveshafts, originals are worn out so need replacing, just need to decide whether to stick with standard dog bones, look into the CVD options or go full retard and spend a pile of money on a MIP ball diff upgrade. Electronics wise I’ll probably end up robbing some modern gear from one of my on-road cars so it’ll probably end up running brushless/LiPo. Main thing holding me up is one of my gearbox casings is cracked so I need replacements but nowhere seems to have stock right now.
 
Soldato
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Associate
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gatesheed(gods country)
Not sure if there is any petrol heads on here.
Heres one of mine
V2 ackerman fitted, new shoes and coat ready for Covid doing one.

50978396288_1331bdf515_k.jpg
DSC02317 by david alexander, on Flickr

Cheers
Dave
 
Soldato
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