Search the Community

While I was assembling my Mini 4WD 1/32 Unimog, I came up with the idea of making it remote-controlled and, of course, steerable. After doing some research on the Internet, I had the impression that my plan was not entirely unrealistic. I wanted to at least try it. It soon became clear to me that I didn't want to modify the chassis, but wanted to keep it in its original state. I had to build a new chassis myself. I couldn't keep the existing nice worm gear and central drive shaft either, as it would no longer be 4WD but 2WD. So I had to think about a new gear unit and for the front I needed a new suspension and, above all, steering. To be honest, I was pretty apprehensive about the whole thing. But one day I got to work... Here are a few photos documenting the creation of my 2WD RC Mini Unimog. Maybe it will be an inspiration for others who are planning something similar. Most of the parts I already had at home. For my project I bought a set of wheels from a Mini 4WD Land Cruiser, a bag of gears and a small 2S Lipo. After initial tests with cardboard, I made a chassis out of 5mm walnut wood. Now it was time to think about the front suspension and steering. Unfortunately all my replacement steering knuckles were too big. So I made my own, one set out of plastic and one out of wood. I chose the wooden ones. A one-piece steering rod. Two seperate steering rods are better. :-) First steering test with servo connected - it works! Now it was time to install the axles, the gears, the servo and motor in their final (and exact) positions. I had to measure very, very precisely. It took me a while to get the chassis tuned well enough. That was the moment when I really gained a lot of respect for the work of the engineers and designers in car construction. If I had installed nice 1/32 TRF oil dampers, it would have been easier. :-) And now I could finally start installing the electronics. It's been already very tight with the motor and servo, but now the controller, receiver and LiPo still had to be accommodated. What a crowded house! And of course I needed body posts! Comparison of the original and homemade chassis. And then came the big moment: My RC Mini 2WD Unimog drives. It actually drives! The gears are'nt running smoothly yet, the steering angle is too small, that could be improved. In particular, the gear ratio is not right yet, I would like it to be more like a crawler. But for now I am happy and will leave it as it is. I now know how to do it and can build a version 2 one day when I feel like doing these tiny tinkering things again.

Nine months ago I bought this little rarity: Mercedes Benz Unimog, 1/32 Mini 4WD Series No.9 — small and fine! Since the early models of this Mini 4WD Series are so rare, I'm going to create a build thread. The box is small and light, as are its contents. 🙂 The instructions are very clear, in other words very minimalist. I am going to paint it grey (TS32) to match my 1/10 Unimog.

Hi everyone, I've been stalking this forum for about a year and been really grateful to everyone for the accrued wisdom that I've been able to tap into to help me build my Avante shelfer (first RC car I've owned since 1993!). I wanted to ask for some help /inspiration for the next phase of my project. As this is fo the shelf, it's mainly cosmetic, so might not interest everyone, but, here goes … I've built my Avante box art, and I also have Black special shell and wheel tyre set to give it an alternate look when I feel like it. Just a visual flip, not all the mechanical changes. I thought I could use one more change of style to give me some options, and I went searching for nice custom Avantes online. I think the price point means not too many people have gone far from box art with these, but I did find some interesting things. I was especially taken with @neobrunox 1/10 Azente, based on the special edition Mini 4WD variants: https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=117752&id=24357 . As you probably know, the 1/10 black special is also based on a Mini 4WD, which has me excited as I got interested in RC as a child having been weened on Mini 4WD. So, I wondered if I could do another Avante variant that stemmed from a Mini 4wd. The idea I've settled on is to do something based on one of the styles in the Avante Mini 4wd Dress-up Sticker Set (I'm thinking the pin stripe one): and here, alongside someone's nice Azente: So here' say vision for the car, and I wondered if anyone woud like to add any imaginative suggestions or give me some advice? VISION: Both the Azente AND this dress-up sticker set mention "TXR", which is spelled out in very small letters as "Tamiya Experimental Racer". I understand that the 1/10 Avante was the first effort by the tema that became "Tamiya Racing Factory", so I'm going to imagine that TXR is an early interpretation of TRF. The colour scheme here is also reminiscent of the white/cyan/blue/pink used in later TRF models. So I thought I would style my car with these things in mind, though I'm on the fence about using much pink. I'm seeing this car as like a development version of the finished Avante, before everything was finalised, but also aiming for a race spec, rather than the 'retail spec' of the finished machine. ARTWORK: I plan to draw the graphics myself and get them printed at MCI. Anyone have any experience of MCI custom decals? Anything I should watch out for, or any recommendations for another supplier? SPONSORS: For the most part, I'll scale up the Mini 4wd stickers, but I'll try to add in a few more details and small stickers, the same as how the original Avante and Avante BS decals are not simply scaled up versions of the Mini 4WD version. If anyone could suggest some additional sponsors or details that might add some flavour of Tamiya's experimental racing division c 1988, I'd be delighted! DRIVER: Well, Paranoid Perry I guess, but open to other ideas? I found this fun article the other day which suggests maybe one of the other Tamiya drivers. This is really just silly fan fiction, but i guess that's the realm I've descended to with this project! Here's the quote: "First, be aware that I was the one chosen for this project among almost one hundred drivers. Among them, the promising Albert Attaboy who remained stuck in Baja Buggy races, Evert Edwards who had relatives working at Tamiya and who couldn't get more than the Vanquish. Even Greg Martin, who was popular thanks to the Hornet, was in the list. The most pathetic of all was undoubtely Ricky Roop." COLOURED BITS: TRF stuff tends to have some anodised cyan/blue elements. Anyone recommend some avant compliant shocks I could try out in this colour? Or any other metal parts? WHEELS: In keeping with most TRF creations, probably white wheels, but I'm after something that might have felt experimental in '88 Or could have been donated from another car at the time, as part of the development process? Perhaps some white Thunder Shot rims? Like on the Terra Scorcher? Anything more interesting out there? TYRES: I fancied doing something a bit crazy, like some slicks? If not that, perhaps some more modern looking buggy tyres, to suggest the car was ahead of its time, but that ultimately Tamiya went with the more conventional option in the release product? (sorry, in fan fiction territory again!) REAR WING and OTHER AERO BITS: I was toying with the idea of a wing fro another car. I've not seen other wings that I think really look good on other custom Avantes (you often see an astute or Egress wing, I think). I was thinking maybe something more out there like a terra scorcher wing? Other thoughts? I hope some of you find this interesting and might be willing to chip in. Once I've got started properly, I'll try tout a build thread together. Appreciate your help!

So I've had these Mini 4WD 80s buggys for a while now collect dust. I brought them a while back on eBay along with some of these cheap RC buggys that have the a same fix rear axel suspension as the Hornet and Grasshopper. The plain was to convert them to fully proportional 2.4Ghz using a micro DMS2 DelTang receiver or something similar. http://www.deltang.co.uk I just saw the AmPro engineering video on doing the same thing with the same yellow 27Mhz RC buggy i stated off with as it looks a lot like the Hornet. So i thought i would start this new topic to share my work so far and also maybe get some help on finish this project! As I'm really good at starting new projects but not so great at fishing them! :-)

I spy a VW engine.

I have built quite a few of these Tamiya mini 4wd racers. When I saw this new starter pack from tamiya I couldn't wait to get my hands on it ! This kit is fantastic value for money considering what you get in the box. On the side of the box we can see all the extra's (Tune Ups) you get Inside the box this is what you get. (note you even get a little screwdriver as well as the usual spanner) so on to the build - oh but first I added these to my build. building ..... note I ball raced the spur gear too. Gears in, axles in and the ballraces the motor ready to go in the chassis motor in chassis wheels on and the carbon parts laid out ready carbon parts on rolllers and mass dampers on the underneath all complete body on - I have had this one ages and put it on the car, note the stickers are different to what's on the box but it is the same style of body. I really enjoy building these little Tamiya mini 4wd racers, just a shame there is no where to race them. (what this space )

For sale:- Tamiya mini 4wd racer I have been building a few of these and this one is surplus to requirement built with tons of mini 4wd tune ups, ball raced, tough'ned chassis and parts, faster motor, wheel tires ..... it's all done and pre tuned for you ... custom paint £60 posted UK

just wanted to share a place i found some excellent deals on a couple of hard-to-find mini 4WD's. it's actually a brick and mortar hobby shop in greece, but they have an online store and ship internationally. but shipping for two mini 4WD's was only 10 euro to the US/NJ. specifically, they seem to have a lot of hornet and grasshopper II mini 4WD's in stock for like 6 euro a pop. as in plain vanilla retail pricing. here's the link: http://www.e-kalfakis.gr/login.php?language=en if you email them you actually get a response from a real human too! ben