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Saito2

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Everything posted by Saito2

  1. I'm fairly certain the chassis won't take dye. I think its PC. Unfortunately, the one thing that will, the suspension arms, are already black.
  2. Its a shame Tamiya hasn't truly fixed the issues with the Monster Beetle because its great fun once sorted and a step up from the Lunch Box. I guess you kind of have to be open to a little tinkering when buying the Monster Beetle because they tend to have issues when built box-stock. The diff issue can be sorted with the MIP diff or by using a much cheaper ORV diff brace of some sort that members here have made and put on 3D printing websites. The other issue with the Monster Beetle (unless Tamiya have corrected it) was the universal shafts were "clocked" 90 degrees off, which could lead to vibration issues in the drivetrain. The following Blackfoot rerelease corrected this. Using the dogbone setup from the Frog would be another solution. The Monster Beetle is a platform you have to mess about with to get dialed in, reliability-wise. That's fine for me, but not necessarily right for this day and age. The Squash Van is a more modern model and lacks all these "bugs" Tamiya left in the Monster Beetle. The SV is a stretched GF01 in a sense and those are pretty popular. You probably won't run into the old design flaws like the the Monster Beetle. The high mounted battery and relatively hard Blackfoot tires probably do equal a more tipsy model. I would guess if the SV was equipped with the shorter, wider and softer Lunch Box tires, some of this tippy-ness would subside. Adding oil shocks would hurt either. Just be prepared to buy lots of bearings. For me, it would be Monster Beetle all day long. Its a much more engaging vehicle to run, but I'm also stuck in the past. It is not 100% newcomer friendly if issues crop up though. If you're will to work with it (and there's plenty of help here on Tamiyaclub for guidance) it could serve you well. On the other hand, for less hassle in the build process, the Squash Van is pretty nailed down. From what I've seen, it just needs some help in the handling department possibly.
  3. Started my TD4 finally. It was great to dig into a Tamiya kit again and a delight to be working with something new. Its unique design and quality plastics have been a real treat. The odd use of foam tape for the less-than-sealed gearbox was somewhat puzzling (as I imagined it would be once I got my hands on one). Somewhat perplexing as I know Tamiya has proven better at keeping dirt out in the past. A joy so far nevertheless.
  4. I've seen this topic come up many many times of the past decades at this point. I've seen dozens of suggested substitutions. When I hear "rubber cement" I think of the stuff we used in elementary school: Would this work or am I missing something? Plus, when you're done, if you "paint" a table top with it, let it dry, you can then roll it into a ball to throw around the classroom.
  5. I've had some experience with kit cars in the trade. The most pertinent being a Cobra. My shop did a lot of work for the late Steven Juliano. In addition to his Mopar collection, he also had other cars including Cobras. A '67 of his was slated to be sold and I was tasked with rebuilding the carbs before the sale. I was petrified of working on it, lol. Petrified of its aluminum bodywork and petrified to drive something so expensive. It sold for around $350,000 in the early 2000's IIRC. As luck would have it, later that same year, a local used car dealership that normally dealt in Corvettes and higher end Mustangs and Camaros, came into the possession of a Cobra kit car through trade. It had a McLeod hydraulic throwout bearing that needed replacement and my shop with tasked to replace it. This fiberglass bodied kit car was fairly well put together and far less sketchy than most. Powered by a built 460, this car petrified me on the test drive, lol. It was quick and a lot of engine in a small car that was none too happy with our bumpy PA roads. The dealership sold it for $40,000 after I fixed it. So what's the point? The two cars looked the same to an outsider, yet were somehow very different. I guess if you are looking for the experience of the original, than only the original will do. If you are concerned about having the appearance of the original with a unique, separate driving experience (based on the quality of the kit and the build), than a kit car is fine. I've seen great kits cars and I've seen terrible ones, but neither captures the original aside from looks. That's just my opinion from being in the trade. Personally. I've never been a fan of VW or Fiero based kit cars (and I loved both). Like a bad toupee, they don't fool anyone. In 10-15 years time they looked as dated as a C4 Corvette with a body kit from 1988. Like Mark, my father was making rumblings selling the MGB we restored together and building a VW-based 356 replica...or restoring a Volvo P1800. I love VWs and Porsches but pushed for the P1800 instead. Of course his cancer diagnosis came not long after those talks so it was all moot. Sorry for all the personal opinion stuff. The more ground-up based cars that you seem to have interest in sit better with me. They aren't cheap and they take a lot of work to make nice but can come out looking and performing beautifully.
  6. I recall people thinking that when the Juggernaut 1 came out. There was an expectation of some kind of Tamiya-made mod-Clod and some were puzzled by this big, shaft driven leaf sprung truck emulating monsters from the 80's that didn't really outperform the original Clod. The Jugg is still awesome (with the corrected drivetrain) but the TXT-1 was more in line with what was expected I'd guess.
  7. Same here. to which I say (to Horizon, anyway)... Same here. Its a good price but I don't know if you can trust a company that potentially double bills you and still doesn't send the product. Its pretty basic business. I give you money. You give me product. Well, unless your Tesla I guess.
  8. Blast from the past @tamiya_1971. Here's another shop that was blowing out Maxxum FFs, the same that was selling those Avante's cheap.... True, but the original Avante was no picnic when it came to battery removal/install. I think for much of the crying we hear about Tamiya "daring" to use the Avante name on the TD4, the buggy does share the same spirit of weirdness the original had, albeit without the pretty materials of yesteryear.
  9. I very distinctly remember that as well as well as the $79 price tag. I begged my mom to order it for my birthday. She wouldn't, until the week before my birthday. I remember the phone call to Tower was sadly brief. She hung up the old rotary dial phone the hung on the kitchen wall with a clang, turned to me and flatly uttered the words "out of stock and discontinued" before returning to making dinner. It was the first time I heard that word "discontinued", a word I learned to hate. I wound up getting the only other buggy in that price range, the freshly introduced Tamiya Grasshopper 2 Super G, which my folks later threw out while I was in college. I don't think they liked my hobby, lol. To this day my mother complains my hobby room would be better if if got rid of "all those toy cars" and made it a spare bedroom. You know, for all the spare people that don't sleep at my house. Ever. Sigh. I was thinking along those lines too but someone mentioned the TD4 is on the Japanese Tamiya site. I'm thinking perhaps it is popular in its home market and may hang out there quietly for years, drifting slightly abroad here and there at times much like the Dark Impact I'm getting one. I think several years debating back and forth is enough. I don't make any sense but when has this hobby, taken to our extremes made much sense, lol. Besides I remember this: Not that I think the Super Avante will reach such later levels of collectability, but a good deal is a good deal.
  10. Price drop. $165 plus shipping.
  11. Grey shocks were also found in the original CVA1 style on the Super Astute.
  12. The place blowing TD4s out for $250 puts a wrinkle in this discussion. The TD4 has superior plastics and probably is a superior buggy. It should be as its a lot newer. Still, I like the old DF03's looks and design better. Cursory evaluations with each hopped up to my liking lead to about a $90 difference between the two, assuming I can get the Dark Impact for around $170. Each has an entirely different set of hop-ups in my calculations oddly enough. The DF03 centers around the upgraded rear diff parts and mainshaft gear, but no universals or the desired, but unavailable slipper clutch (perhaps, as suggested, unneeded at my power levels). The TD4 would get the universals (mainly to add more steering without dogbone ejection) a slipper clutch and metal bevel gears. Drop the slipper option from the TD4 menu and they get closer in price... Edit: What really skews things are the reasonable DB01 Durgas still floating around fleabay. Good thing I'm not a belt drive kinda guy.
  13. I've definitely been here before... I'll echo a lot of the sentiments others have posted. At its worst, I had a few unbuilt kits. Any unbuilt ones are normally a rarity for me. I don't buy six of the same buggy at one whack to hoard/brag. I had several vehicles I purchased because curiosity got the better of me and they wound up rarely driven and a ton of "almost" finished projects. Even after taking the plunge and ordering all the bodies and decals, they sat. I was tripping over all the accumulation in my hobby room. The stuff wasn't making me happy. I didn't feel the need to gloat over it all but was rather embarrassed by it instead. Changes needed to be made. Firstly, I decided no matter how much I wanted a BBX, it would have to wait until I cleaned up, otherwise it would be part of the problem, not just a fun new kit to build. I'd also have quit the hype train and really think about purchases harder. I love the JJ Ultima from BITD. Did I need a ready-made copy? Would the new green Optima Mid make me happy when the first one didn't satisfy? Was this odd clear RC10 worth buying to convert into something runnable? Nope, not for me. For me, those were traps I used to fall into. Despite some folks disparaging comments about plastic Tamiyas, it was their plastic-fantastic that made me happy. The NIBs got sold off with only a stubborn Wild One left to go. Bodies got stickered and painted. A warm day this past fall was like pulling off a band aid. I just buckled down and masked and shot a bunch of bodies. Suddenly things like a Thindershot, Supershot, Big Boss and Big Brute finally had "clothing" after years of waiting. I'm down to painting driver figures I've put off and a few Clod bodies that will have to wait until spring, but there has been progress. With the exception of my RC10 pile (which is more of a retirement project) the end is in sight and I have a path to my workbench. So I guess its about selling off that which doesn't bring joy and putting the effort in to finally finish things up. It may not always be instantaneous fun like hitting the "buy it now" button but its more satisfying in the end.
  14. So who would be thinking about buying one of these buggies in 2024? Well, me I guess. I suppose I always had a soft spot for one and found its design interesting. I had one but never ran it. By the time it was completed, the alloy mainshaft gear problem had cropped up in other member's cars and it never saw off road duty. The funny thing is, despite the disappearance of hop-ups and how the DF03 seemed to fade away, it never went away. Tamiya still has them on their main site as does Tamiya USA. I have no intensions of taking it to a track or powering it with anything more potent than a Torque or Sport Tuned motor. So I contemplate if I could get some good use out of a new Dark Impact kit. I don't know if I could source a slipper clutch anymore and the whole plan hinges on whether or not I can get the RW mainshaft gear sent over here to the States. No improved mainshaft means no DF03. I'd probably like to source all-metal front diff parts to put in the rear (which were strangely half plastic). I might be crazy but then again the Dark Impact is on Tamiya's website and the TD4 is not. Hmmm.
  15. My wallet is safe as well. I was really hoping for a TD4 clad in a body less offensive than the "Super Avante" but no luck. Now, with the TD4 oddly missing from Tamiya's home site, it makes one wonder if the buggy even has a future (which is unfortunate). Nice to see the Manta Ray back I suppose. Hope the motor mount/driveshaft upgrade parts come back too.
  16. I'm guessing the Top Force's f/r ball diffs would make the most noticeable difference to the average driver over the Manta Ray. The flexibility differences between plastic tub, FRP decks and carbon decks may alter the character of the buggy to drivers sensitive to such things but that doesn't mean more expensive = better. Sometimes a little "give" in the chassis makes for an easier driving car. When it comes down to it, I often wonder just how noticeable all these add-ons are to the casual driver. Despite all the extras on the Evo, is it really that different than a standard Top Force? I'm willing to bet the better driver would be the winner between to two. In the end, despite how cool all those extra goodies are, I would posit that practice practice practice is where the real edge is at.
  17. Thanks. Its not original rather built off an Egress. The wheels are original '88 Avante pieces I bought for my Vanquish as a kid but not the correct white ones. The grey shocks are the correct CVA1 style but, from a Super Astute. I should dye them black to be more correct. I had the Vanquish, Egress and Avante and just made this up to complete the set, but I'd never claim its original.
  18. Finished off my pseudo Avante 2001 finally.
  19. The decal is just a darkened "window tint". The canopy windows should be masked off as shown in the manual or whatever body color is used will show through the decal (albeit darkened from the tint effect). Any green in the pic is probably just reflection of the surrounding body color.
  20. It looks like the rear window was masked off in the original manual's illustrations.
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