Saito2
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Posts posted by Saito2
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The A1 part I can help with. Stormer Hobbies has the alloy version still available believe it or not. Fits King Cab, Astute, etc.
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I think you'd almost need an old Thorp catalog to be sure, short of someone's personal experience. I can't remember the diff being used in any RC Car Action "project" cars. I vaguely remember the ad, but can't remember if the diff was pictured with the idler or not. One company (although it sticks in my head that it was Robinson Racing) made a spur gear with the big half (that meshes with the pinion) in 48 pitch and the small half (that meshes with the idler) in "metric 48 pitch.
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I don't mean to derail this thread any further, as I'd like to see GTodd get his question answered. I do understand where he's coming from. In the States when the Madcap, Astute and King Cab were introduced they used a "metric 48 pitch" (I know this is a slang term but it was what it was called back in the day) as opposed to Tamiya previous 32 pitch compatible gears. There was much confusion as standard and readily available 48 pitch pinions would screech like a cat with it's tail under a rocking chair when hooked up to these new Tamiya spurs. At the time, it caused some confusion and the "metric" pinions weren't as easy to come by.
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I'll echo that. RC Car Action constantly spoke of the Blackfoot/Monster Beetle/Mud Blaster rounding off the hex headed halfshafts back in the day. When I finally got an Monster Beetle in the early 2000s, the driveshafts gave me no issues. In fact, only about half of the 6-8 Blackfoot based monsters in my collection gave me diff separation problems. On the other hand, every FAV/Wild One I've owned, old or re-re has eventually started skipping diff gears.
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Nice replies. It's interesting to see how we all came to the brand. It's funny how age changes perception. As a kid, I loved my bulletproof Lunch Box. It seemed so big and advanced compared to all the other kids' cars which were all Tyco Turbo Hoppers/Nikko Lobos etc. As an adult however, it seems small, somewhat crude, but lots of laughs. A Monster Beetle would have distressed me back in the day with its mechanical shortcomings. Today, I just engineer fixes for those issues (like we all do) and am pleased with its increased performance over the Lunch Box. Changes in the financial situation probably have a lot to do with that.
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Years and years ago, I fell in love with the Tamiya Monster Beetle when it first came out. While I vaguely knew of Tamiya vehicles before this point, it was the MB that truly started the addiction and got me into the whole Tamiya lineup. I wanted nothing more in life. The shop I first saw it in wanted $360.00 for a "combo" deal with radio battery and charger. $360 USD might as well been a million to a kid my age. After working and saving for just over a year, I bought my first Tamiya which was a Lunch Box and my second favorite at the time after the Monster Beetle. I loved it. It was great. I still have it to this day, running strong.
The thought occurred to me that I was actually lucky to get the Lunchie first. It was durable and trouble free. It made me respect and fall in love with the Tamiya brand. I wonder what would have happened if I bought the "dream car" Monster Beetle first? The MB suffering (like the Blackfoot and Frog) from the occasional rounded half shaft and more importantly gear separation issues made have been quite upsetting to a young kid who had saved up and spent such a large sum. It's kind of funny now that I think back on it. I would have been crushed having the MB sidelined while saving yet again for a Thorp setup (the recommended fix back in the day). So how did your first Tamiya experience go?
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Now that's sloppy reporting. The very first sentence refers to Tamiya vehicles as "TOY race cars". As we all know (or any good reporter) the first page of the RC guidebook informs us "toys, there not." They are radio controlled models
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I always liked the unique caster adjustment of the Frog. On a tight track, with proper adjustment, you could really get the Frog to "hook" around hairpin corners. The Wild One is definately rear-heavy and the front end will wash out sooner as a result. In every other measure, I find the Wild One a better drive. I've never broken the front end on either car but I find the Frog's front end gets sloppier with wear quicker.
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I see you mentioned running on the beach. Of those you considered, the Lunch Box is probably the most "sand-proof". The tub chassis is protective. The mechanicals are so simple and tough, there really isn't many places the sand can get at. The big tires float up and over the sand instead of plowing into it.
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I totally agree. I still run what NiCads I have left and NiMHs. Not yet made the jump to Lipo.
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Exactly. Well put mongoose1983. It is crazy how time flies. I still remember the excitement over the news of the Hot Shot's potential reintroduction (as well as theories Tamiya would somehow stick it on the DF-03 chassis
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A thought occurred to me today while running my re-release Hot Shot around the backyard. There is a great deal of discussion about the merits and problems the re-release cars have. Much of the talk concerns value (whether re-res are worthless collectables or de-valuing originals). While I see both sides of the argument a consistent criticism of the re-res is that they are un-original re-hashings of old designs. They somehow seem to lack the original charm and are just appliances put out there for Tamiya to trade off its past glories.
Well, perhaps they don't lack charm. To put it in perspective, a Hot Shot from the 80's would have seen backyard action from a youngster for maybe 3-5 years before other "more adult" interest got in the way. As a racer, it would have seen minimal duty until it was replaced by the next best available platform. These cars would be tucked away to be dug up years later and placed on ebay. Now on the other hand, I bought my re-re Hot Shot in 2007 and my Frog in 2005. Both have seen steady action since their purchase date up until present (and will into the future). I have more memories of fun and enjoyment built into these mere re-releases than some of my originals from the 80s. In the end, while they may be copies of vehicles from years past, they hold more value to me than any original ever will.
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Ha! I know what you mean. All my radio gear is old AM stuff with antennas. I recently bought a lightly used Bullhead re-re with new style radio-gear in it and I was looking all over for the antenna. I don't have any underguard pics handy but installing one is a breeze. The front of the guard shares the two back front bumper screws. The rear of the guard ties into the rollcage at the back. If you look at the Super Hot Shot manual available on Tamiya USA's website, it shows you exactly how it mounts.
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I don't know if this was just true in my area, but the Frog was a fairly popular car in competition back in the day (particularly before the RC10). I know it was a big step up from the earlier SRBs before it. Alot of folks heavily modded them. On the other hand, I don't know if I ever saw a single Wild One or FAV at the track. Having both now, the Wild One seems to be the better of the two. True, its heavier, but in every other respect seems to drive better than the Frog. Frogs seem bouncey, top heavy at times and appears to nose dive on jumps. The Wild One has a lower COG, stays very planted and jumps perfectly. It also looks the part. So why were folks so head over heels for the Frog but not the Wild One? Perhaps it was just timing as the RC10 might have been out around the Wild One.
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Looking good. It's such a great build. I've done 2 over the years plus a Super Hot Shot. Honestly, a Hot Shot is probably in my top 3 favorite builds. After adding the underguard and yellow CVA shocks to my oldest one, I decided to rebody it in a different color for once and went with Tamiya Metallic Blue. I went through members' cars in the reference section for inspiration. If you enjoy the build process, a Bruiser won't disappoint.
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I think 15T pinions were stock on the TXT-1. Yes, the aluminum pinions are soft, will wear down and create a nice gear-eating grinding paste composed of aluminum particles and grease. I use steel pinions like those from Robinson Racing in all my runners. It's kinda funny that every new kit order I make also includes polycarb paint, bearings, and a pinion(s).
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That's cool! You might the closest Tamiyaclub member to me. A long time ago there was a track in Cockeysville MD and there used to be one in Parkton (Nuclear RC, I think).
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Thanks. Having you guys on the forum certainly helps. I think it's a combination of both. I probably don't see kids or adults messing around with RC because there's so much more competing for their attention nowadays. The decline of the hobby has closed 7 of the hobby shops that were within a 30 mile radius of me. Hobby shops were always a great place to meet fellow enthusiast and in the 80's, Tamiya was king. The 1 or two shops I'd travel to in the 2000s were all about Traxxas and only older employees seemed to have a vague interest in Tamiya. "Tamiya? (always pronounced Tam-I-ya) I used to have a Frog, you know? I think I read somewhere they're making those again." That would be the end of the conversation. At least I could get lexan paint there.
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Southern PA here, just north of Baltimore. I haven't met another real Tamiya enthusiast face to face in well over 20 years. Honestly I've only seen two or three people messing about with RC cars of ANY kind in the last 15 years and they were Traxxas.
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While the debate of the pros and cons of Tamiya re-releasing their old catalog of models may never be settled, the re-releases do allow us some unique views of Tamiya's design past. A clear difference in those old models vs. the current ones is Tamiya's "different" ways of approaching design issues back then. The Hot Shot's monoshock setup stands as one example. Yes, much of this is the immaturity of the industry as a whole back then and the willingness to experiment. Still, it got me thinking about which relatively modern Tamiya vehicles still carry on that spirit. One of the few that comes to mind is the CR-01 chassis. It's different from the proven crawlers, employs some "interesting" design approaches and is purely Tamiya. If one were to dig deeper and look at the whimsy that was characteristic of some earlier vehicles such as the Wild Willy, Pajero and even the Lunch Box, we could point to the GF-01 chassis. Granted the Lunchie (now CW-01) and WW2 (WR-02) have been rehashed in various bodies for some time now, but the 4wd GF-01 sports some pretty neat packaging and sideways thinking in these modern times. Any others that come to mind?
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I know this is a fact of the world we live in, but how do you all feel about cheap manufacturing from China, Taiwan, etc? I do realize there comes a time when some things have to be outsourced in order to stay competitive, but I still don't like it. When other companies got on the re-release wagon, I began to wonder where they were making their kits. Associated Electrics re-re of the RC10 really irked me. The was a car originally designed and born in the US. The old two page ad even had the heading "Import Fighter" across the top. Something's just not right about it being remade in China. I can't fully place the blame on China despite questionable working conditions (at best) as greed is what drove companies to seek cheap labor to begin with (forcing other companies down that road just to keep up). I couldn't bring myself to buy a Traxxas vehicle for this reason, although buying a used example nullifies some of the guilt. Tamiya being Japanese doesn't bother me because that's what they are, a Japanese company. I'm not putting anyone down for buying outsourced products made with cheap labor. It's a personal choice for all of us. I'm just tired of seeing "made in China" on everything I pick up.
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Cool! It was a long time ago when I started this thread. It was neat to read back over it as well as reading some new replies.
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I have an old RC10 6 gear trans in my runner. I've also seen a Traxxas Stampede trans adapted as well.
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The reason for the big sell-off
in Anything not RC related goes here
Posted
My father and I restored a '66 MGB. Great cars. The beauty of them is everything is available for them. Ours was an old autocrosser which meant it had Spax shocks, lowering springs, a bigger cam, bigger carbs, a header, alloy wheels and a rollbar. They handle great even in stock form,