I failed (again) to love the Boomerang

[Saito2]

I have a "thing" for the Hotshot series of cars, but amongst that group, the Boomerang is my least favorite. The thing is, it is widely liked by others and I was determined to see what I was missing. armed with a bunch of old and new spares, I set out to build one and drive it for an extended period of time. I had driven one for a short time in the past but it wound up being converted into my amalgam buggy, the Super Boomerhotshoterang. Inspired by @kontemax's work on his own Boomer I pushed forward. I got about half done before I gave up and the buggy on the bench began morphing back into a Super Shot-esque vehicle.

The chassis tub, again, felt twisty and unsubstantial in my hands. I tried to reassure myself that some "give" may aid durability and possibly yield more forgiving handling (if not less sharp). Then to the rear gearbox mounting where the Boomerang relied on long molded outriggers to hold it to the tub. These outriggers were originally meant only for the Hotshot's rollcage and I had seen them fractured in heavily used Boomers. At the steering end, I remembered how twigs and debris jammed the assembly on its first run years ago but tried to remind myself how much better it performed over the Hotshot's direct steering (which truthfully it does very much so). Then the blasted battery door did me in. Those tiny hooks molded into the back of it taking all the stress of not only the battery weight but also performing the duty of stabilizing the whole rear end on the bottom side. Everywhere I looked, it seemed the Hotshot-style buggy did it better when came to solid construction and durability (things that matter to me as I don't race). I failed and I failed to join the ranks of the Boomerang faithful .

Since all of these buggies were well out of my price range as a lad, I don't think I appreciated how good the Boomerang was in its day. I've read snippets on here of how a Boomer managed to fend off an opposing Cat or Optima on the right day way back when. That, plus Kontemax's love and dedication to the model was inspiring but not enough to overcome my bias for the Hotshot-based cars. I fully admit the original (and re-re to a slightly lesser degree) Hotshot, while amazing, was flawed and not cheap. I'm also keenly aware of how astronomical the Super Shot's price seemed. It was a buggy to aspire to, a rich kid in my school bragging about his...So it stands to reason that the Boomerang, which was much cheaper, made it into a lot of folks hands back then where it earned its beloved reputation. The icing on the cake was it probably easily out-performed the more expensive Hotshot (and probably even out-steered the vaunted Super Shot). So I appreciate the Boomer but it won't ever become my favorite

As always, I do or try  "little" things to these buggies when I put one together. This one is destined to be a Super Shot style runner.

The arms of this buggy were not freshly "hot screw" assembled by myself. I decided to head off any cracks by filling vulnerable areas with Devon Plastic Weld. I learned you get quite "high" doing this in an enclosed hobby room so take note. Pretty much everything seemed very funny to me after doing up these arms .

The front upper screw-in points seemed to be particularly weak. I drilled out some tubing and made little "rings" to glue over these points. Hopefully this will cut down on splits.

I'm sorry, I just don't like the look of the Bigwig front suspension on anything other than the Bigwig. I just don't. Fans of the Bigwig setup are quick to point out it has more travel than the Super Shot setup. They are correct. My fix? Use the V2 style of CVA shock. The shock body is shorter for the same overall length shock, The result is my Super Shot can bottom out like a Bigwig where the stock version admittedly can't.

Even missing its body, the Super Shot looks aggressive, detailed and purposeful to me. A small piece of brass ties the upper, inner arm pivots together for less slop. I also experimented with thin plastic sheets in the ball joint area to take up play. Everything is lubed with wax and if you use your wife's candles, your buggy can smell like fresh linen or a cranberry bog or even unicorns outgassing or whatever the candle shop professes (candles aren't my thing and perhaps I was around that Devcon stuff too much). So keep loving the Boomerang, its great but I'm afraid another Hot/Super Shot has been born.  

[markbt73]

Personally, I think the Boomerang is the best looking of the series, but that may have something to do with the photography in RC Car Action at the time. They had a Boomerang with a blue-to-silver fade paint job that they used a lot as a stock photo, and I just loved it.

Now that I have one, I... still like how it looks. Even in box-art and all scruffy and patina-y like mine is. And I kinda like how it drives, but mono-shocks are best left for nostalgic shelf displays, not for running. It's either too stiff or too soft, and I can't get it quite right. I had the same problem with a Fox. My Kyosho Progress (also a front mono-shock) feels better, but it has torsion bars in addition to the coil-sprung shock, which may help it out.

To save the Boomerang for the shelf, I boguht a Bigwig re-re when Tower had them going cheap a couple years ago. But I haven't driven it yet. I just can't get excited about the way it looks. But I get the feeling I will like how it drives. So maybe I'll look for a rally car body for it (I know... use an alternate shell on a Bigwig? Blasphemy!).

[SupraChrgd82]

Well, at least you got a good buzz off the huffing glue.

[Alangt4]

Super shot and hotshot 2 I reckon look the best. But it’s easy to see why they went the way they did with the boomerang. Fixing the steering to some degree, better access to electronics and lower costs.

I like the boomerang less but I remember racing my friends who had them so there is definitely some nostalgia. No one had a super shot so it made it extra desirable and didn’t know about its limitations. If I’d seen the re re boomerang a while back I’d maybe have got one, but now have to limit the cars. I waited too long and missed the bigwig which is pretty cool. I’d certainly pick up a hotshot 2 if they re re it tho!

[Saito2]

20 hours ago, markbt73 said:

But I haven't driven it yet. I just can't get excited about the way it looks. But I get the feeling I will like how it drives. So maybe I'll look for a rally car body for it (I know... use an alternate shell on a Bigwig? Blasphemy!).

Being the 10th anniversary car and seeing it featured in the catalogs back then reeled me in. It's utterly ridiculous to think this was Tamiya's big push into 8.4v 4wd buggies as an attempt to go up against the Turbo Optima. It seems very plastic which is probably a side effect of all the blue and yellow bits. For not having a lot of steering lock, it actually steers quite well with a modern servo. I tried 8.4v Nimh packs in it when I first drove mine for an "authentic" experience. I can see with the battery's extra weight, the servos of yesteryear and its wide tub chassis, how it gained a rep as the portly one of the series. With a modern battery and servo though, the character completely changes. It still seems plush, like an off-road Cadillac but not ponderous. The looks have grown on me.

[Exit13]

I feel you. Guess which is the least favorite car out of my collection?

 

spoiler alert, it’s the boomerang 

[Wooders28]

I quite like the boomerang , the mono shock front makes it look the part and a bit, quirky (?) , so much so, that I sold my Bigwig and kept the boomer....

Must admit, they're not the best 4wd , now or then, and no way would a like for like motor/drivered Bommer fend off a Schumacher CAT or Optima, but if I was going for the best performance, I wouldn't be choosing a tamiya anyway 🙄😜

The next step for mine, is a Castle 5700kv brushless and 4s lipo speed run (it's currently 4300kv/2s & 3s) , mainly to get a number back on the score board, but with the bonus of annoying the Internet.....💣

Then maybe an RS500 body, just because.

 

[GeeWings]

An RS500 you say? Now that I’m looking forward to. 

[kontemax]

On 1/3/2022 at 9:06 PM, Saito2 said:

My fix? Use the V2 style of CVA shock.

Hi, what is the V2 style CVA shocks, please?

Thanks
Max

[Saito2]

6 hours ago, kontemax said:

Hi, what is the V2 style CVA shocks, please?

Hi. By V2, I meant version 2. I think Tamiya refers to them officially as CVA shock unit set II. These on my Super Shot came off the Monster Beetle rerelease. There's some styling changes on the shock's caps  but mainly, the shock body is shorter despite having the same overall length as the original CVA shocks.

[kontemax]

On 1/14/2022 at 10:23 AM, Saito2 said:

Hi. By V2, I meant version 2. I think Tamiya refers to them officially as CVA shock unit set II. These on my Super Shot came off the Monster Beetle rerelease. There's some styling changes on the shock's caps  but mainly, the shock body is shorter despite having the same overall length as the original CVA shocks.

Good! Thanks.

 

Max