Vintage Hornet MSC fuse question

[Hudson 53]

Hi everyone, I recently picked up a vintage Hornet in amazing condition (either never run or run only once or twice), all radio gear included, everything boxed and every single leftover part carefully kept, all empty blisters kept etc etc. Anyway, I've come to the MSC part of the assembly and the instructions are indicating an inline fuse that should be included, however this is not present, in place of the fuse the wires have simply been twisted together and covered with heat shrink, incidentally the motor and battery connector are also connected via 'twist and heat shrink'. I searched this forum and picked up on a thread that kind of discusses this topic. it seems that the early Hornets had the fuse and then they simply removed it. Is it possible that my kit has the instructions that include the fuse but the actual kit doesn't?? All the evidence points to the original owner of this kit being fairly fastidious so I'm surprised that the fuse is nowhere to be seen, neither fitted or kept with all the other leftover parts. Is it possible that there was an insert in the manual explaining that the fuse is no longer included and this insert is now lost??

I guess most importantly, should I be concerned that the fuse is not fitted, will my MSC function as it should without the fuse??

Thanks if anyone can help

Stephen

[mynameisdannyowens 61]

Should operate fine without a fuse so long as there is continuity throughout the MSC circuit

[Hibernaculum 933]

On 2/14/2016 at 0:11 AM, Hudson said:

Hi everyone, I recently picked up a vintage Hornet in amazing condition (either never run or run only once or twice), all radio gear included, everything boxed and every single leftover part carefully kept, all empty blisters kept etc etc. Anyway, I've come to the MSC part of the assembly and the instructions are indicating an inline fuse that should be included, however this is not present, in place of the fuse the wires have simply been twisted together and covered with heat shrink, incidentally the motor and battery connector are also connected via 'twist and heat shrink'. I searched this forum and picked up on a thread that kind of discusses this topic. it seems that the early Hornets had the fuse and then they simply removed it. Is it possible that my kit has the instructions that include the fuse but the actual kit doesn't?? All the evidence points to the original owner of this kit being fairly fastidious so I'm surprised that the fuse is nowhere to be seen, neither fitted or kept with all the other leftover parts. Is it possible that there was an insert in the manual explaining that the fuse is no longer included and this insert is now lost??

I guess most importantly, should I be concerned that the fuse is not fitted, will my MSC function as it should without the fuse??

Thanks if anyone can help

Stephen

A bit late, but some more possible info...

First, you are lucky to find that Hornet, in amazing condition - it sounds like a true "time capsule" set, which is great because you know that every part in it is original since it seems to have been in stasis in someone's cupboard since the 80s.

Second, even more lucky to find it considering it sounds like it might be an early example, with the fused MSC...

Some thoughts:

• Your manual mentions the fuse with the MSC, but the car doesn't have it. Could it be that the original owner simply ran the car enough to use up the original MSC that came with the kit, and by the time you have gotten hold of it, it was up to it's second MSC? (Which by then, was a later, non-fused type purchased as a spare).
• Personally, I think it is likely that your kit originally came with the fused MSC, if the manual mentioned it. Not that I am saying Tamiya never made mistakes, but they did not make them too often. Still, I could be wrong in this case (as in all cases ) 
• It is possible to find original new in packet original MSCs that contain the fuse, if you wanted to return the Hornet to exactly what the kit (probably) had and get things exactly to the letter of the manual . I would recommend searching (over time) not for the original MSCs labelled "Hornet Speed Control Set" but rather for Tamiya part "50209" aka "5209", which was called "Grasshopper Speed Control Set". See here: http://tamiyabase.com/?option=com_joodb&view=article&joobase=10&id=871&Itemid=775   Some of these came with the fuse, because the Grasshopper was released some months before the Hornet, and more Grasshopper kits probably carried the fuse - whereas, I think fewer Hornet kits would have had fuse (later examples of both kits omitted the fuse). Note that you will be looking for a part in the Tamiya packet with the orange header card.
• Overall, the use of the fuse in the Grasshopper and Hornet kits was quite short-lived. So when we say "later kits didn't have them", the time scales are - fuses were in the kits probably 1983/1984, but probably not beyond that. So from about 1985 until the kits were discontinued (late 80s/early 90s) there were no fuses. So it was a short-lived fuse. You might even say it was a short fuse....

cheers,

H.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Warthog 21]

My hornet had a fuse and it was a pain in the behind.   I ended up blowing a fee and then just inserting a price of metal in there.   Shortly thereafter the suspension broke.   I was young,  it was the 80s and I stopped using it...  I should find it in my mom's house... But I digress. 

It worked just fine without the fuse. 

[Pablo68 1049]

We must have been a fair way behind in the stock we had lying around in 1986 Perth W.A.
I bought my Hornet back then and the MSC had the fuse. I stuck with it for a while then one day in frustration got rid of it. I eventually replaced the old MSC with a new non fused one anyway.

It ran fine without it. Also the new non fused MSC had BEC on it too, which was great, and a four AA battery weight saving. I still have a few of those onboard battery holder things lying around.

These days I through MSCs as far away from me as I possibly can. Horrid things.

[Hibernaculum 933]

Yeah, old stock does have a way of lying around...(like the original Wild Willy chassis I found in a shop yesterday!). Was just writing earlier from the perspective of restoration  As much as any mention of MSCs on these forums arouses dislike from some, MSCs are very valuable and can be worth $81, $95, $109, $118, $135, $150 today. They are part of a true original resto, for most vintage kits.