Frog, one of the ugliest.

[Mokei Kagaku]

20 hours ago, Saito2 said:

I think @Mokei Kagaku found the answer to this age old question. At one time there were 3 wheeled delivery vehicles prevalent in Japan (Mazda K360) often painted pink/white and nicknamed the "Frog Express". Personally, I think Tamiya subtly inserted the animal queues  into the Frog's appearance pretty well, just like the Grasshopper Hornet, Fox, etc.

That's what a Japanese colleague and resident engineer told me when I worked for Hitachi Automotive. He told it while other Japanese colleagues were listening and instantly when I asked, so it seems likely that he didn't make the story up. Also, it seems pretty logical once the "connection" is pointed out. 

[Toolmaker72]

As in 1:1 vehicles, a change of wheels and a more complimentary colour will make a fugly into something more attractive 

[Re-Bugged]

T4Works in Japan have a good eye for for transforming ugly ducklings, perhaps that might help @kontemax?

http://t4works.tokyo/rc_special-parts.html

[Willy iine]

36 minutes ago, Re-Bugged said:

T4Works in Japan have a good eye for for transforming ugly ducklings, perhaps that might help @kontemax?

http://t4works.tokyo/rc_special-parts.html

That Brat looks awesome!  

[Grumpy pants]

8 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

T4Works in Japan have a good eye for for transforming ugly ducklings, perhaps that might help @kontemax?

http://t4works.tokyo/rc_special-parts.html

There are some very nice Tamiyas on there 😎

[Toolmaker72]

Ive been slowly building this dark grey chassis version of the frog, complete with oil dampers on the front as well as the rear.

The red wheeled version was completed during lockdown last year.  
 

[kontemax]

20 hours ago, Toolmaker72 said:

As in 1:1 vehicles, a change of wheels and a more complimentary colour will make a fugly into something more attractive 

Changing of Frog wheels and paint scheme is mandatory I believe.

Max

[kontemax]

6 hours ago, Toolmaker72 said:

Ive been slowly building this dark grey chassis version of the frog, complete with oil dampers on the front as well as the rear.

The red wheeled version was completed during lockdown last year.  
 

 

 

 

Can't wait to see the dark gray chassis Frog finished.
I'm planning for a dark chassis too, maybe black, semi gloss black.
Different wheels make the difference and darker body color helps to hyde the humps.

Max

[JeffSpicoli]

To me the Frog is legendary Tamiya.  It's to me one of the Mount Rushmore buggies -   The Grasshopper, The Hornet and the Frog.   They all have design flaws sure.  But they are durable fun to build and drive.    The Frog has a nice low center of gravity and I always found it a blast to drive.

It can be made to look beautiful but I am partial

[Toolmaker72]

48 minutes ago, kontemax said:

Can't wait to see the dark gray chassis Frog finished.
I'm planning for a dark chassis too, maybe black, semi gloss black.
Different wheels make the difference and darker body color helps to hyde the humps.

Max

Personally I think the original frog wheel centres  are a bit small in diameter.  The grasshopper 2 wheel and tyre combo look about right.  Wild one wheels also look the part but the fronts do raise the front up so you need to lower the front suspension to compensate for that.  
When painting the body the original has a pink stripe at the bottom which makes the body look narrow I think.  Best keep the body a single colour or put a stripe further up so the main colour is seen on the lowest point of the  body.  Also if using the monster beetle rear shock chassis mounts, these raise the shock into the body slightly to give the impression the body is a little lower.

For extra gearbox performance Ive used a gearbox clamp/brace which enables a hotter motor to be used without the gears slipping within.   Works a treat with my small brushless motor of choice. A 2845 3800kv.  You can use the 380 brushed motor adapter from a grasshopper kit with a monster beetle 10 tooth pinion and a 3s lipo battery to give a fantastically quick frog. The motor spins past 40k rpm.  Use the 50 tooth spur gear for this.  That’s the spec I built for my red wheeled frog.  Being a smaller motor the battery lasts a good 20mins for 2200mah.   The grey chassis car will use a regular 2s lipo or 7.2v nimh.  I’m using the 52 tooth spur gear in that with a 16 tooth motor pinion. That also will use a 2845 brushless motor.  A lower 27k rpm. This one will use the extra torque of the motor rather than Uber rpm to move it.  Haven’t tested that yet so can’t say if it’s better or not.

 

[kontemax]

3 hours ago, Toolmaker72 said:

Personally I think the original frog wheel centres  are a bit small in diameter.  The grasshopper 2 wheel and tyre combo look about right.  Wild one wheels also look the part but the fronts do raise the front up so you need to lower the front suspension to compensate for that.  
When painting the body the original has a pink stripe at the bottom which makes the body look narrow I think.  Best keep the body a single colour or put a stripe further up so the main colour is seen on the lowest point of the  body.  Also if using the monster beetle rear shock chassis mounts, these raise the shock into the body slightly to give the impression the body is a little lower.

For extra gearbox performance Ive used a gearbox clamp/brace which enables a hotter motor to be used without the gears slipping within.   Works a treat with my small brushless motor of choice. A 2845 3800kv.  You can use the 380 brushed motor adapter from a grasshopper kit with a monster beetle 10 tooth pinion and a 3s lipo battery to give a fantastically quick frog. The motor spins past 40k rpm.  Use the 50 tooth spur gear for this.  That’s the spec I built for my red wheeled frog.  Being a smaller motor the battery lasts a good 20mins for 2200mah.   The grey chassis car will use a regular 2s lipo or 7.2v nimh.  I’m using the 52 tooth spur gear in that with a 16 tooth motor pinion. That also will use a 2845 brushless motor.  A lower 27k rpm. This one will use the extra torque of the motor rather than Uber rpm to move it.  Haven’t tested that yet so can’t say if it’s better or not.

Color scheme is the key imho.
No intention to make modification on the gearbox, my Frog will be a shelf queen.

Max

[mike in pa]

9 hours ago, JeffSpicoli said:

To me the Frog is legendary Tamiya.  It's to me one of the Mount Rushmore buggies -   The Grasshopper, The Hornet and the Frog.   They all have design flaws sure.  But they are durable fun to build and drive.    The Frog has a nice low center of gravity and I always found it a blast to drive.

It can be made to look beautiful but I am partial
 

As long as you include the rough rider on that Mount Rushmore, we good.

[InsaneJim69]

I actually agree with you Max, never really liked the Frog and even after all these years it's still just doesn't look right. It almost looks half finished in my personal opinion. The way the body looks like it's been an afterthought, I just don't get it. But that's my opinion. 👍

James.

[JeffSpicoli]

On 12/22/2021 at 11:14 AM, kontemax said:

Changing of Frog wheels and paint scheme is mandatory I believe.

Max

I think the box art is very classy to be honest.  But that said I want something slightly different.   I'd like to do a reverse box art scheme and do pink top with white striping.    Most people don't have a great sense for what colors work together and some don't care either.  They just want the most functional car they can get and I understand that.

[kontemax]

17 hours ago, JeffSpicoli said:

I think the box art is very classy to be honest.  But that said I want something slightly different.   I'd like to do a reverse box art scheme and do pink top with white striping.    Most people don't have a great sense for what colors work together and some don't care either.  They just want the most functional car they can get and I understand that.

The pink itself is one of the worst problems.

Max

[kontemax]

17 hours ago, JeffSpicoli said:

I think the box art is very classy to be honest.  But that said I want something slightly different.   I'd like to do a reverse box art scheme and do pink top with white striping.    Most people don't have a great sense for what colors work together and some don't care either.  They just want the most functional car they can get and I understand that.

You are on the spot, James.
I believe that at the era in Tamiya they didn't lose too many time on the Frog body design.

Max

[JeffSpicoli]

1 hour ago, kontemax said:

The pink itself is one of the worst problems.

Max

It was part of that era.   The late 70s and early 80s had a lot of contemporary colors.    The Shirley Muldowney drag car comes to mind.   Baby blues, pinks, were very fashionable.   I like contemporary colors so for me it works.  I don't disregard others who aren't a fan.   You can def make a good looking frog in standard colors.    A black top with white stripe or vice versa could be interesting.  White with green stripe would work - there's a lot of options. 

I am biased.  I had good childhood memories of Frog ownership.  

[mike in pa]

I bought a rere frog and it's in my to build pile. I have a factory painted body and the body that came with it will be painted green, because frogs are green. If you don't like the pink then paint it some other color. If you don't like your frog at all then sell it to someone who will appreciate it..

[Bwaaatch]

Am new to Frog world myself. Suggest that if you really want it to look good you check out these guys: http://t4works.tokyo/index.html

 

[Toolmaker72]

33 minutes ago, Bwaaatch said:

Am new to Frog world myself. Suggest that if you really want it to look good you check out these guys: http://t4works.tokyo/index.html

 

Looks good but no ground clearance for an off road buggy.   

[JeffSpicoli]

On 12/28/2021 at 7:49 PM, Toolmaker72 said:

Looks good but no ground clearance for an off road buggy.   

it's sadly the drift scene's influence on Tamiya.

[NWarty]

4 hours ago, JeffSpicoli said:

it's sadly the drift scene's influence on Tamiya.

That looks like one of the MkIV Jetta scenesters in the "Dapper" club

[JeffSpicoli]

On 1/14/2022 at 6:39 PM, NWarty said:

That looks like one of the MkIV Jetta scenesters in the "Dapper" club

100%.  After 19 years in the VW scene I would know that.

[A-Baum]

I hate the Frog, but I'm grateful it brought us the Blackfoot, MB, Brat, and that lineage. 

[mongoose1983]

5 hours ago, A-Baum said:

I hate the Frog, but I'm grateful it brought us the Blackfoot, MB, Brat, and that lineage. 

The Frog was actually an offspring of the Subaru Brat. But I do agree with what you are expressing here.