Scouser

Whilst I may not have the experience of building Tamiya kits over the years, I have built plenty from other manufacturers. I ended up moving away from Team Associated products after some products were horribly mounded to the point of being useless. There were not just mould flashes, but actual offset in the two halves. I also remember the Hotbodies D4 came with diff screws that were too short and diff cases that needed to be filed significantly to get clearance for the diff gears. When I put my first Tamiya kit together (TA02), it was a genuine pleasure. Since then I have built a good few Tamiyas and have never been anything but happy with them all. Other manufacturers worth mentioning are Kyosho and GS Racing who have both been spot on quality wise with every kit. Sadly, GS seem to have all but disappeared from the racing scene.

When I was building the Mad Bull, I wrote down all the screw sizes in the kit and searched eBay for stainless cap head versions. Most of them come in bulk quantities but are still cheap. I ordered them all and have enough to build about five Mad Bulls with what arrived. I got 2.5mm caps as I have found them most resistant to rounding the hex.

Not sure this would be of any benefit at all. The Mad Bull has the live rolling rear axle which is one solid unit, sway bar not needed. It would be quite simple to do on the front end but in all honesty, anti roll bars are most beneficial in racing which isn't really the best environment for the MB.

Not sure if this will count but the strongest r/c car I ever owned was the Tamtech GB02. The front end on that thing was nigh on indestructible. I only ever broke a rear chassis plate in years of racing every week and that only broke when someone stood on it.

Part numbers are #50592 and #50596 with a cut down m3 screw to act as a turnbuckle. You drill a small hole and screw one ball stud to the steering link then the other goes on the servo horn. Put the ball cups on the screw and connect it all up. Saves hacking up the front shock tower. There is a picture of the mod in a Mad Bull build thread but can't find the thread at the minute. I will see if I can find the link.

Tough, easy to build, work on and maintain. I have two Mad Bulls and a Mad Fighter and I love them. I chose them because I wanted a go anywhere type of buggy that the kids could thrash about without breaking. One of the things I saw a lot of before I got mine was tyre choice limitations. I have since found that Aqroshot wheels fit and they use 2.2 inch tyres so there is a world of choice in the rubber department. I have waterproof esc's and servos in mine with oil shocks and bearings. I have also got rid of the 'bent coat hanger ' steering link in favour of a turnbuckle and ball studs. As already mentioned, don't over think them, just accept them for what they are and have fun.

I love the drifting aspect of r/c. It is a real shame there is no club running near me as I would love to find a decent place to give the car a good run. The thing that draws me to the drift scene is the creativity and customisation of the shells and also the chassis. I am in the process of getting the M06 ready to drift and saw a great video on YouTube where an ORV chassis was used in a custom build. The replies in this thread have been really informative and given all the answers needed. For me though, I prefer to go the unconventional route, hence the M06.

Hi Gary, nice to see the car getting a good workout! If you are getting a new transmitter, might be the best thing to upgrade first. A decent one will have multi model memory which will be handy when you find yourself with a room full of tamiyas to choose from. You can always get a cheap second one that you can pass to your nephew when he wants to run a car. A strong servo and bearings are always the first things to go in any car I build, after that the World is your oyster so be aware that you wallet is in for a tougher bashing than your cars!

Charged up the cells and gave the Mad Bull a really good work out. After the run I marvelled at how easy these things are to get sand out of.

Just spotted this thread. That Hotshot is absolutely fantastic. One of my favourite aspects of the hobby is taking a car and making it more than it was designed to be (if that makes sense?) I just love what you have done to the car, makes me want a HS and have a crack at it myself. Brilliant work.

I was in this situation a while back. I was looking for a buggy that I could just use anywhere, whether that was the garden, beach, woods, park or wherever I found myself. I was advised that the Mad Bull fitted the bill and ended up buying two of them so as to have spares. I got oil filled shocks, bearings and did the steering mod and the truck has been awesome. My two kids love it and I haven't second guessed my decision once. It really is down to personal opinion though. If you like the look of one of the cars better than the others, choose that one and make it work for you. For me, that's half the fun.

I did wonder about the DT01 getting discontinued but then saw the Mad Fighter available in places that didn't have them before so wondered if this had been relaunched. I hope they carry on with the chassis as it is one of my favourites and still massively popular.

I had this on my eBay watch list but decided not to bid as I already have a Mad Fighter project. Good to see it went to a TC member. Love all the DT01's.

I have to admit to being an r/c 'prepper'. It is a spares thing for me. I will try to get at least three of the same kit and then buy a load of the most regularly broken parts as well. For me, I think it comes from when I used to race. There is no worse feeling than having your day ended prematurely by not having the right spare part. So, I now make sure I have at least three of everything. As mentioned earlier, it takes some of the worry out of giving the cars a good run.

Steering angle can be improved with c-hub removal and also changing to a single shock set up, which is what I am working on at the minute. I will try to stick this one out as I do love the m chassis cars, those vids of the m06 drifting would just wind me up if I gave up!

Thread revival!! Thought I would bring this back to the top to see if anyone made any progress with their M06 in terms of drifting. I have one and have removed the front c-hubs and am in the process of moving the front shocks. It is the gyro, gearing and any other mods that people have done that might help. Hope it's ok to revive this, any help appreciated.

Started the process of c-hub deletion from the M06 and finished painting the shell.

As others have mentioned, Hermes and Yodel are my first choices for sending cars. Went to the post office to send a B4 and they wanted £26 for a service that cost £8 through either of the other couriers. Needless to say I won't be using the Post Office too frequently.

Slightly belated update. M06 Beetle was the winner! Absolutely made up. It won because I have a few old VW's and my kids know I love Beetles.

Stripped the Mad Fighter in readiness for its repair and rebuild. Edit....and replaced all the screws in the Mad Bull with stainless steel cap heads.

Mad Bull got the steering mod, heat shrink on the wishbones and a set of alloy shocks. Virtually all the play removed from the front end and much nicer handling. Happy.

I think the reason behind the kit for birthday idea is because I lost my workshop room when it was converted into a nursery and ended up selling pretty much all of my rc kits to fund various baby related necessities. Now we are a few years down the line I have managed to eke out a work space and the kits are to replace what was sold, so I get what you mean Mad Ax. Good luck for February. As for the GF01, I actually have a sneaking suspicion that the CC01 may be the one they picked but as I say, there are no bad choices on the list and I will be very happy with any one of them.

I started with nitro and ran and raced them for a few years. I was getting pretty fed up with the unreliability of the motors and was ready to quit the hobby all together. I just stopped enjoying all the mess and noise combined with the cost. It was at this point I thought I would try an electric race with an off road buggy. I instantly loved electric cars and have never looked back. I would never try to put someone off trying something new, you may love it. I would say though, that if you intend running the car in your garden or near other people, they won't love it. Plus, the cars are heavier which means you need to fit a failsafe as runaways are dangerous. Good luck if you decide to give it a go.

Yeah that is pretty much what I guessed too. Beauty of it is that there is no bad choice! Been looking for 1/24 scale figures to make into the driver figure.

So the wife said to me that my two kids wanted to get me a new kit for my birthday (just after Christmas). She asked me to pick one to get but instead I thought I would let the kids choose and gave them a list. TT02 drift Toyota Supra CC01 Mitsubishi MF01X Jimny Hornet M05 VW Golf M03m Fiat 500 M06 VW Beetle DF03 Dark Impact white edition or the GF01 Heavy Dump Truck. Apparently there was a unanimous decision so one of the above is on its way with a set of rubber sealed bearings. Does anyone else have a Tamiya wish list for Santa? Or is it too early?