MadInventor

Dumb question. but you have checked that the jumper switch is set to LiPo and not Nimh ?

Square Lipos (Certainly 2S Zippy hardcase Lipos) will fit straight into the hotshot battery tray with no mods required (Maybe the 8.4V battery holders are needed, I can't remember if I've got them fitted to my car or not)

What are you doing for rear uprights ? (The super hotshot rear uprights won't fit the boomerang arms and red rear uprights are only available as vintage items, or are you going to use re-re boomerang bits and dye / paint them)

For me, the buzz of buying new has gone completely. Knowing I have models I don't use at all, the practical part of my head says if I buy any more they'll just get built and then shelved after 1 or 2 runs. I have an unbuilt Terra Scorcher I bought in 2020, couldn't wait for it to arrive at the time, then had to put off building it as I couldn't get paint for it at the time due to the pandemic. I even made a custom set of alloy wheels for it. Now, I have no desire to build it at all. I've owned most of vintage models I liked as a kid apart from the Rough Rider, but adult me now knows that although it looks good, the handling will be garbage by even hotshot standards. Having spent 3 years building my War Rig, I ran it a handful of times and it has now sat idle since 2019. I would now quite happily part with a significant proportion of my Tamiya RCs, as I just don't use them or have suitable spaces in which to run them. (I still have an advert for a FAV and a Wild one lurking on the sales forum from last year). They are fun to build and use for a while, but I would now quite happily shave my Tamiyas down to my Hotshot, TXT-1, Terra Scorcher I haven't built yet, and modified Juggernaut 2. Currently I'm trying to build another 6x6 lorry having spent a lot of hours playing Snowrunner, and that's meant shelving my 4x4 tractor for the time being (I got that to the point of being to run it, and have now kind of lost interest in doing the cosmetic stuff like the bonnet and the cab. What you're describing is a bit like hoarder mentality, where there's the buzz of acquiring something, but once acquired the buzz quickly fades, and although said item is never used, the owner is very reluctant to part with it. Plus being an adult, I just don't think we get excited about things the way we did as kids, and it's pointless trying to chase it. In the 80's Tamiya's motto on RC's was 'Toys they're not'. Perhaps now it should be 'Shelf Queens they're not'.

Sounds sensible, but I can't confirm as I've only put 1 diff lock in each model. I would point out though, that from my experience it's better to have the front locked than the rear. If the rear diff is locked it tends to try and push the model in a straight line regardless of the steering position, but with the steering axle locked it's trying to drag you in the direction of the steering. Plus locking the front rather than the rear makes the model less prone to try and tip over backwards when trying to go up a steep bank or over a steep obstacle.

I've got remote locking diffs (TRX Summit) in my scratch built skidder and tractor. They're brilliant. Nothing like being able to turn a sharp corner, then get stuck, flick a switch, and off you go. Got to be one of the biggest plus points of the kit.

Looking forward to seeing this. I put all my scratch build in the 'Builds' forum and they're definetly not Tamiya :). I think some of the negative comments are aimed more at the 'ready to run' culture and Traxxas just seem to cop the flak as the poster boys for RTR. The traxxas components I've used in my builds (Revo and Summit diffs, and assorted drive shafts) all seem to be well made and pretty bombproof. Revo drive shafts also seem to be the 'go to' drive shafts for TXT-1 owners when the brass Tamiya centre drive shafts turn to cheese and eat themselves.

Can answer some questions Super hotshot supension kit will be a lot more saleable than an original hotshot monoshock. But as you say, if you want HSII front suspension, you're going to need the FRP front stabiliser stays, front anti roll bar, and the silver ball joints. Super Hotshot also has the correct roof with the air scoop on it, which the HS I re-re does not have. You'll also need boomerang rear arms and uprights, and yes, the HSII has it's own rear shock tower, which used to be as hard to find as hens teeth, but should be readily available as I think the D parts tree, when the HS II is re- released. Don't forget HSII also has a different underguard to both HS I and HS II, also on the D parts tree. This sprue also gives you the wishbone extensions you need for the front mono shock. Can't answer the universals question I'm afraid, I've neever found any that work adequately (Even with TA-02 front uprights), but I can say that terra scorcher / Top force don't fit, and neither did some after market DF-02 universals, although they did work fine in my thundershot. Looks like your best bet will be to get D parts, and R parts when the HS II re-re comes out. Getting E parts in red might be interesting. If you need runner parts that don't need to be pristine, I might be able to help out with the front anti roll bar bits, but I'd have to check what I've got. Don't want to sell my last set....

That's brilliant. Just goes to show we're massively overpaying for polycarbonate shells (£20+ a piece) when you've got something there that is just as durable, and cost pennies to manufacture.

Totally agree with this. Shame that full size car manufacturers will not learn the same lesson. With electric cars becoming more popular, I wonder how long it will take them to figure out that they can make far more money by using standardised motors, motor controllers, and power cells. If they left making the motors and electronics to other specialised firms, they could concentrate simply on the design of the cars. When you came to buy a car you could then specify what motor your want in it, controller, and capacity of power cells. (Think buying a Kyosho kit then adding the motor, ESC, and battery from 3rd party manufacturers.) The motor / ESC, and battery firms would also be able to make more money by being able to sell to more than one company. And it would make sense environmentally in the future by being able to give existing cars a mid life update with a new motor or cells without it being cost prohibitive as they wouldn't be bespoke to the car. It will probably never happen as car manufacturers would be too scared that their products might have too long a life span. I'm sure Mr Ford would have been horrified to think that people are still driving Mustangs made in the 1960s nearly 60 years after they were made.

Well, as this post has be brought back from the dead, I am pleased to report that 3 and a half years on, the 3 'Hop Up' cooker knobs (and the cooker) are still going strong

For me personally, I never fully discharge my nimH. They naturally lose voltage over time, so if you don't use them for a year they'll be at a low voltage anyway. I've got cells that are nearly 20 years old that still work, but if I don't use them for a long time they need repeated charge / discharge cycling to get the capacity back in them. You're not going to like me saying it but invest in a smart charger. You can at least see the ambient voltage of the battery packs and the capacity that goes in with each charge or discharge cycle. They are also great for revitalising packs as you can set them to do up to 5 discharge / charge cycles, which can bring the cells back to life, and you can't overcharge packs. To get the capacity in the packs back I would charge them at 2.5 to 5 amps and repeatedly charge and discharge them. Using a trickle charge won't hit the cells with enough current to bring them back to life. I have done this successfully with a smart charger but it should work with your peak charger. If you have a multi-meter you could set it to measure volts and connect it to the battery leads whilst you're charging them so you can see what's happening with the voltage. This will help you determine if the packs are toast or not. I've found 6 cell packs with voltages as low as 3 volts that I've been able to bring back to life, so don't give up on them too easily :).

Is it worth asking on static model forums if anyone has built one with wings unfolded and has spare parts you could use to repair yours ? An extreme solution might be to buy another kit and use the parts from that to build 2, one with folded wings, and one with unfolded. Unfortunately having been in similar situations with snapped off landing gears, my experience is that once something snaps, it never has anywhere near the same strength if repaired with glue. There's always the option of doing a crash landing diorama before consigning it to the bin. Sorry I can't be of more help than that.....

90 deg bends with a tight bend radius is going to be tricky. MIld curves would be a lot easier. I would suggest making a former to bend the sheet round, fix the sheet at one end, then apply pressure and heat. There's also probably a ton of videos on youtube on how to do this. I used a wallpaper removal heatgun to bend ABS sheet for my War Rig roof with a reasonable degree of success, that was in the order of 1-2mm thick if memory serves.

I use 2litre ice cream tubs. Only problem is I get fatter every time I build another model and have to add to the spares stack.

I'd fill up the server in a day.........

Yep. Quite a lot actually. Spent a lot of time, effort, aluminium, and cash on building a walking beam axle for a 6x6 truck, including a custom front axle, only to think that the front axle did not have enough ground clearance and so abandoned it. That was after 3 attempts to get the walking beams to work properly. My 4x4x4 lunch box went through 3 rebuilds before I got it to where I was happy with it. I wanted to rebuild my 6x6 Scammel truck as i'm not that happy with some aspects of it, but my son won't let me touch it so I've started building another one now (which I thought would be simple but is now causing some significant engineering difficulties). I'm almost never happy with the aesthetics of what I build as scratch built models. In an ideal world I'd build a working rolling chassis (Which is generally what interests me, building things that are mechanically different) then hand over building a scaled, detailed body to someone else. I look at the War Rig I built, and I could spend another year at least putting more details on it, but it's never going to happen as I'm now more interested in the next thing I'm building. Don't forget you only see the end products of peoples successful builds. I tried making a simple axle rod on the weekend, should have taken me about 20 minutes, but I ended spending 4 hours making scrap with holes in whilst turning the air blue. You'll get to see the 1 finished item on Tamiyaclub, not the 6 mistakes I made before I got to where I want it, so don't be harsh on yourself. Even on TC, the internet is a filtered version of reality

Best: My first Hotshot I got in 1986. Worst: Vintage 1/16 RC King Tiger with the 540 gearbox. Turret rotator never worked properly as the cork clutches slipped, clutches in the main gearbox fried after I ran in on 9.6V, ended up rebuilding the gearbox to use 2 540's and 2 ESCs with an aicraft V tail mixer to enable it to drive like a buggy. But sooo much hassle.

I'll limit my choices to what I've owned at some point in time. 1. Best. How do you categorise this ? Model I had most fun with ? The one I think has the good design features ? The ones I would buy in a heartbeat that I don't have now ? The question requires as much debate as the answer really. I can't think of a single car that I wouldn't want modify in some way to improve it. My TXT-1 is the model I've owned for the longest, but I've heavily modified it to get it reliable so it's only really part Tamiya now. If I had to buy a car and use it as stock (not including bearings and pinions), off the top of my head I would probably go with an original hotshot II (Not a fan of the new blockhead colour scheme) 2. The worst one for me personally, and I know this is going to be a controversial opinion, is the hornet. I bought one back in the 80s after owning a hotshot, and although I really liked the looks of the Hornet, I was instantly disappointed in it after having driven it for the first time. The handling is just appalling. Then in the early 2000s when the pound was worth about $2, I got another one cheap off EBay, realised my first impression back in the 80s was correct, and after having it languish in the loft for a couple of years, sold it on and haven't looked back since. As a complete aside, there are loads of models on this forum that have been built / modified by members that would grace the Tamiya catalogue. Just some of the colour schemes that people come up with look so much better than stock. I sometimes think they must block the site for all employees that work in the design office...........

The high roofline is part of what is putting me off. Not knowing it had been altered, I was looking at the photo of it and thinking 'Something doesn't look quite right, but I can't put my finger on it'. I'm really surprised they went to the effort of altering it really. They go to the effort of designing a new roll cage on the hotshot for a re-release, which is essentially a cosmetic item, but they won't update the Clod Buster variants with TXT-1 wheels / adapters / stub axles, to improve the reliability and handling, and they already have the bits in the parts bin. There's logic in there somewhere I'm sure, I just can't see where... It is however nice to see a re-release of a model that has not been previously re-released. I wonder if Team Bluegroove are already ramping up production of their clear HS II body kits.

The 'basher scene' seems to me a master stroke of advertising. It encourages people to actively try and replicate these stunts, or to put it another way, to go out of their way to try and break their model. It would be a bit like a full size sports car manufacturer using an advert done in the style of a BBC Top Gear test drive to encourage people to go out drifting their cars and drag racing down runways at every opportunity.

Quite. Although the supershot still looks better than this. You can't go wrong with black. Burt Reynolds would have agreed with me . The yellow shocks would have looked fine with the black shell, especially if they'd added some black Egress wheels instead of the silver hotshot wheels.

I've got one that if I sold it I'd be looking for £600. But that's ballraced with aftermarket aluminium axle guards, plus I've got the box, manual, and a spare clear body.

What I liked most about this is the lock on the inside of the doors, to keep the distractions out ......

Sorry this is a little off topic, but my son and I went out with the FTX crawler today and it was so much fun I just wanted to share some photos. I took along my scratch built tractor as well for a bit of a comparison, it's got Juggernaut tires on it, but only the front diff is locked. So driving up and down some small banks around 40 degrees, the crawler easily kept up with the tractor and in some cases was making easy work of some of the banks compared to the tractor which was a bit of a surprise considering the size of the tractor wheels. The crawler does have a bit of tendency to roll when getting sideways on a bank, but I think that's down the relatively high position of the battery. It would possibly be better placed sideways across the lower part of the chassis rails at the front, where the receiver and ESC are currently placed. However, we were out there for nearly an hour, drove to and from our location and found the crawler was plenty fast enough to outpace me walking, and the 2000mah battery that came with it showed no signs of going flat by the time we got back. And in what I think is a first for me, I took out 2 models and they both came back without any damage. Normally I have to take at least three tamiyas to bring back 1 survivor unscathed. So a thumbs up from me for the FTX, but of course I've got no other crawlers to compare it's performance to.