Mad Ax

Had a serious think about what i wanted this month since money went a bit tight, main options that have presented themselves is one of two NIB kits: A TL-01 Focus WRC (tamiya number unknown), or a TT-01 Imprezza '04 (58333). Don't really care which one I get shell-wise, as I have a Parma shell that I'll use on it. Just wonder if anyone has any idea which would make the best starting point for a smooth-tarmac drifter? Never been into tarmac before so not sure which is best - TT-01 or TL-01. Obviously ball bearings will be fitted as a matter of course, and some drift tyres or PVC plastic cut to size. Other upgrades as and when they're needed, I guess. Cheers in advance for your help and advice []

For me, it has to be the things that were big when I was into Tamiya, which was early-mid 90s. The King Cab was my first proper RC, given to me for £10 from my cousin when it was a year old and completely trashed. I bought a new shell, painted it (badly) and hammered it into the ground, eventually swapping it for a CB radio. If a NIB cab came along at the right price, I would buy it - to build and run carefully. The Hornet, of course, was the desirable "budget" car when I was younger - and now they're on re-re I'm very tempted to get one, although similar money gets me a newer, better handling car. My favourite Tamiya Junior was the Super Astute, therefore if a full-scale Super Astute came along, I think I'd have to have it. Finally, I'd mention the Midnight Pumpkin, as it was the truck I aspired to own when I was but a young boy, although in truth I'm disappointed with the re-re that I've now got. Seems very slow compared to the King Cab / Mud Blaster that I had, has virtually no control off-road, and is a nightmare to drive. That said, very soon it'll be undergoing modifications to turn it into a stunt-only car with a lexan shell

It does seem a little odd that the rear body mounts are chrome but front ones black. (Or is is the other way round?) Front and rear are both very fragile - rolled the pumpkin without a shell last week and broke one. Still waiting for the Lexan shell to arrive...

Didn't have time for Tamiya this weekend - and weather was far too hot, anyways... Might get out with them tonight if I've got time, still need to find time to buy the tools to do the intended modifications to the M04 and Pumpkin, too...

Interesting, might have to look at a Pajero tub / shocks and see how they're mounted - I guess the manual is available on TC to give me ideas [] I did recall from my days of browsing the Tamiya model database here that there was a model with a rear-mounted battery for wheelying... Main thing is to get the battery mount and wheelie bar made up first, then give it a proper trialling before messing about with ballast and axle brakes.

In a flash of inspiration, I grabbed some selotape and quickly fastened the battery pack onto the tray on the back of the Midnight Pumpkin's chassis, behind the rear shocks. Running it with no shell at the moment (lexan pumpkin shell on order) so there were no clearance issues. And does it ever wheelie [] The stock wheelie bar is a bit short, so I will be spending a few minutes with hacksaw and file to make a longer one out of aluminium. Even so, it will power-wheelie off the line and with careful feeding of the throttle can be made to sustain a wheelie for quite some distance, even on hard dirt. Not found any smooth tarmac to try it on yet, tho... Over rough gravel it's hilarious, with the front end bouncing up and down almost constantly. Handling, obviously, is appalling - but with a steady hand it can be maneouvered around to power back down the straights again. So, what are the plans for this wheelie beast? Well, first thing is to make a proper battery holder (rather than selotape []) and an extended wheelie bar for extra stability (especially when reversing - currently it just goes upside down if you try to stop while reversing). Next plan might possibly be to experiment with adjustable ballast in the front and on the wheelie bar to see if it can do full-distance sustained wheelies. And possibly, if I can raise the money, ideas and effort, I might rig up a 3rd servo to operate an independant brake on each rear wheel, to allow for some steering while up on 2 wheels. Not quite sure how the braking system will work yet, but I'm thinking the easiest method would be some "shoes" on a cantilever that rub the inside of the rear wheel hubs, actuated by pull-rods on the servo, much like a nitro flywheel brake setup. Anyone done anything similar..? If I go ahead with this, I'll post up a picture-diary of my progress, but don't expect anything in the next few weeks...

Valid point. Had a bit of a cashflow crisis today so July might be a Tamiya-free month ([]) or I might go for a cheap option, such as a Rover Mini Cooper. Used to own a real Cooper, so it would be nice to have one, or I did spot a store with an Alfa Guilia in stock... Or just save for another month and get the TT01D or the Skyline Will have to wait a few weeks and see how the cash works out []

Just out of interest, what ESCs are people using and where have they been mounted? I'm using a no limits ESC that's about as big as a standard Tamiya item, however mounted in the suggested position the shell won't fit. Are people mounting the ESCs elsewhere, or using a smaller ESC? What's a good small ESC to go for (pref. with a low turn limit, as I'll be upgrading the motor later)

Already got one of those Theo, and haven't had time to completely demolish it yet []

Guten morgen. Ich heisse Ax. Ich wohne in Writhlington, das ist ein kleine dorf in Sudwestengland, in der nahe von Bath. ...which, of course, if far more fun if you happen to live in some place which has a really long-winded English name, like my best mate, who lived on a college campus with his parents: "Bonjour. Je m'apelle Matthew. J'habite a Bath College of Higher Education." Try thinking of interesting ficticious places to live - it brightens up any boring French or German lesson []

As always, Mr.P, a well balanced and thoughtful criticism [] (but it does look cool, IMO) Maybe I'll take it off my list and replace with another modern 4wd buggy. 'cos you can never have enough Tamiya cars. Throw 'em out here - what NIB 4wd buggy should I put on my list ..?

I does, doesn't it? Plus it'd be another 4wd off-roader to go alongside my Dark Impact. Although, I do wonder what the Stadium Raider is trying to be - seems to be in a class more or less to itself. I mean, it's a 4wd chassis with buggy wheels - so basically it should drive like a 4wd buggy. But it's not a buggy chassis - it's a tarmac chassis. So, maybe it'll handle more like a rally car, and not be suited to large gravel like a buggy. But it's got those big wheels. And it has neither buggy nor rally shell but a truck - although the wheels aren't big enough for it to be a stadium truck or monster [8-)] Anyone got a Raider? What're they actually like to drive?

Yes. Comments you'd like to add..?

Van or Truck - as in, Lunchbox or Pumpkin? They are 1/12th, not 1/10th, so no, they won't fit on an XC unless you don't care about scale realism. The chassis will not only be too wide but far too short, so the wheels won't line up with the wheel arches. I guess you could modify one, but having no experience of the XC chassis I couldn't tell you how.

So what you're saying, then, is that I'll have so much fun playing with my wife that I won't ever want to buy another new Tamiya..? If they're that much fun, I think I'd best get myself one straight away! Are they expensive..?

Incredible_Serious, what's this "wife" thing..? Is it more fun than a Pumpkin, or better performing than a Double Blaze or Dark Impact? Do they respond to rough riding, or are they only good on smooth surfaces? Do they use stick packs, or hump packs? Will it be happy on a 7.2, or will I need a longer stick - 8 or 9.6, perhaps? Can I get one NIB? My favourite bit about owning an NIB Tamiya is knowing that nobody else has been in the box since it was made. Is it worth looking on Ebay, or are there any other sites I should try? Thanks in advance []

For those interested in the A-Team van build: (I've mentioned this several times recently [] I'm using a modified M04L chassis to fit a chrome pumpkin shell as a lowrider project. The M04L without the spacer (M04, I guess..?) is about half an inch too long, but the width is almost perfect. The only real issue is the front arms as a little bit wide, which could cause steering issues, however it shouldn't be too difficult to shorten them a bit and bring a the wheels inside the shell at the front. The rear can be narrowed easily as it uses wide hexes as standard; narrow ones will bring the wheels in a few mm if required. There will be a full write-up on this project in my showroom when I get around to cutting the chassis and rejoining it with alluminium brackets

I've got an M04L BMW Z3, never driven it tho - built it for a project. Was a real hoot to put together, more fun than some kits. Didn't intend to run it at the time, so didn't go for ball bearings, but I'm tempted to modify it for some attempted rear-wheel drifting, so I might retrofit bearings and various other parts. It's a very very small chassis, so expect some very nimble handling and twitchy rear-drive action []

My current g'hopper needs: ESC (mech/speed is broke) New motor (old one is seized) New wheels (old wheels are broken) New tyres (old tyres are shredded / perished) New gearbox housing (old housing is cracked) New battery tray (old one is missing) Various screw bags, as I doubt I have enough spares to fix it all up to working spec Already purchased new chassis and spring bag for it. Add all that up off ebay - more than the cost of a new Hornet kit []

I bought a Midnight Pumpkin a few weeks back and ran it for the first time last thursday - same chassis as the lunchbox. Will be modified to accept a 1/10th shell with longer wheelie bar and battery repositioned over the rear end to make it better for long controlled wheelies. OK, that means there is room for a standard lunchbox, but not just yet [] WW2 has never been on my list - for some reason it just doesn't appeal to me. I either want something that's capable of going fast over rough gravel / stones / mud, or drifting like a beastie on tarmac. Blaze is looking like a good option at the mo, although I'd really like a BX as well as a blaze and don't know which to get first [] Mr Pushrod once again comes up with some sound suggestions and reasoning, of course []

As a professional freelance photographer, I am absolutely guaranteed to lose this competition []

Yes, it's that time o'the month again, time for me to decide what to do with next months wages [] but I can't make my mind up, so it's up to YOU, the collective consciousness of TC, to make your recommendations from my wishlist (or feel free to add your own ideas that I may have overlooked). (OK, it's a boring Tuesday afternoon, so this is a self-indulgent thread for everyone to enjoy). Still looking to increase my new Tamiya collection, but this month I'm not sure what would be the best buy. I was hoping to acquire a TTO1D drift subaru, but seem to be having trouble locating anyone who has one in stock. Goldstar have it listed at a good price but are out of stock until mid-August. The LHS could possibly order one in, but would cost more. Anyone else list these that I might have missed? Can't find one on ebay. So, if I put the TT01D idea on hold until August/September, here's my current wishlist: Rebuild my old Grasshopper. Needs motor, ESC, and lots of spares. When I priced this up using ebay parts, it actually came to twice the cost of a new Grasshopper [] - might do this one piece by piece, or might just sell it and buy a complete NIB Hornet. For: I loved my 'Hopper, it would be good to have it running again. Against: Costly, time-consuming waiting for parts to arrive Stadium Raider Dunno why, I just fancy one. I think they look fantastic. Not only that, but it should be suitable for having some fun on the same terrain as my Dark Impact. For: It's a cheap kit, it looks great Against: Doesn't do anything the Dark Impact won't do better Desert Gator I'm a bit of a hoarder. I like to have "one of everything." As such, I have a modern 4wd buggy, I'd like to complete the set with a modern 2wd buggy. This seems to fit the bill perfectly. For: Gets me a 2wd buggy Against: not much, really... Blackfoot Extreme Although I love the Pumpkin's stunt-happy attitude, I'm disappointed that it doesn't want to do any kind of off-road terrain. The BEx - with its modern chassis - should be better. For: Good 2wd off-road truck Against: not much, really... Double Blaze Similar to the Blackfoot Extreme, but 4wd For: Similar to the BEx, but 4wd Against: Similar to the BEx, but 4wd Skyline Z-Tune (with lights) This thing looks absolutely ace, and comes with a set of lights to appease the scale modeller in me For: Looks excellent, with modifications could be used for drifting Against: Can't drift it without modifications; TT01D is a vastly superior drift package when it's in stock If I buy just one of the above kits in July, it will leave me enough spare cash to continue my two projects: 1) Shortening the M04L to fit the Pumpkin shell and making a 1/12th scale lowrider 2) Lengthening the Pumpkin to fit a 1/10th Parma shell, making an extended wheelie bar and relocating the battery to make an awesome wheelie-machine Indulge yourselves. What would y'all recommend?

I've never used a pistol grip radio (apart from on a cheap Nikko motorbike that my sister bought me for Christmas []) but I've never had issues with steering binding on a Tamiya model. Only problem I have recently is my NIB Midnight Pumpkin, which seems to have virtually no steering whatsoever with the standard setup. Might swap for a longer servo arm, if the servo can handle the extra torque...

In body, I am a 26 year old male In spirit, I am a beautiful 21 year old lesbian HTH

Is that so you can drive it slowly into the car park and give all us drifters tickets for dangerous driving..? That's be something to see - an RC remake of Fast & Furious - a bunch of drifters trying to escape from a Focus police car []