Hornet and Falcon found in the loft!

[Richie W]

Hi all,

This is my first post. Pleased to be here.

Back in the 80's, I owned the Hornet and my brother, the Falcon. Having just popped back to the UK for a week, I found them both in the loft at my folk's house. I have just flown them back to Spain, where I now live to show them to my children. Naturally the children are now pestering me on a minutely basis as to when we are going to get them up and running again!

I think the last time these two bad boys were used must have been around 1988/89, ish. They are both completely original. I do not recall as to whether the cars were fully operational when placed in storage. Aside from buying loads of new batteries, is there anything I should do / know before powering them up? Do you have some recommendations as to which batteries I should now buy please? Do you think it's worth taking them apart and performing a complete rebuild or would you just power them up and use them, assuming they do actually work?

Any advice will be gratefully received. I am by no means a Tamiya expert but loved these cars to bits when I was but a nipper!

Thanks,

Richie. 

[toyolien]

Nice. They look like they've provided a lot of fun in the past?

[Frog Jumper]

IMO, clean them, rebuild them, put them on a shelf.

Then buy a pair of ReRe Hornets and paint one red like a Falcon.

From my own experience with my 30yo Frog, the vintage plastic is brittle and will break.

Terry

[Richie W]

12 hours ago, toyolien said:

Nice. They look like they've provided a lot of fun in the past?

They have indeed! They were well used. It'd be great to smarten them both up a little now, just for the sake of posterity!

[Richie W]

10 hours ago, Frog Jumper said:

IMO, clean them, rebuild them, put them on a shelf.

Then buy a pair of ReRe Hornets and paint one red like a Falcon.

From my own experience with my 30yo Frog, the vintage plastic is brittle and will break.

Terry

Useful advice Terry, thank you. I hadn't thought about the plastics becoming brittle over time until I read about it on this forum.

I do want to see if they still run. Are you able to recommend the 7.2V battery pack that I should buy for these cars please as the originals have long since disappeared and I guess would probably have been useless now anyway.

Many thanks.

[Frog Jumper]

1 hour ago, Richie W said:

Useful advice Terry, thank you. I hadn't thought about the plastics becoming brittle over time until I read about it on this forum.

I do want to see if they still run. Are you able to recommend the 7.2V battery pack that I should buy for these cars please as the originals have long since disappeared and I guess would probably have been useless now anyway.

Many thanks.

NiCad had been replaced by NiMH.  Visit your local hobby store (LHS). They’ll be able to sell you a new battery and charger.

You may want to invest in a charger that does different battery chemistry.  In the future, if you decide to go LiPo, you’ll have the charger.

[mk4savage]

11 hours ago, Frog Jumper said:

IMO, clean them, rebuild them, put them on a shelf.

Then buy a pair of ReRe Hornets and paint one red like a Falcon.

From my own experience with my 30yo Frog, the vintage plastic is brittle and will break.

Terry

I'd probably do the same, clean and re build and display them. It would be a shame to get them damaged.

They look great, a nice find 

[Willy iine]

@Richie W Nice find!   Honestly they look pretty beat up so if on the cheap, I'd get some NiMH batteries and a charger on Amazon or somewhere and see if they run.  Then maybe get some new wheels and tires if they do run.  

It might be better just starting fresh with a new kit and building it with your kids.  New electronics and all.  GL with whatever you decide and have fun!  

 

[naturbo2000]

Nice one. I started with a Hornet, but know for sure it's not in the loft. Probably got £10 for it at a car boot sale >30 years ago.

My recollection is that I broke a bunch of chassis and gearbox casings back in the day. I can't believe time has been kinder to the plastics, so go easy on them.

What has surprised is how cheap bearings have got compared to what they used to cost. Maybe it's just the availability of aftermarket ones. If you you turn them into runners, it'd be a shame not to make that upgrade. Not a lot else worth doing to a Hornet.

[Richie W]

4 hours ago, Frog Jumper said:

NiCad had been replaced by NiMH.  Visit your local hobby store (LHS). They’ll be able to sell you a new battery and charger.

You may want to invest in a charger that does different battery chemistry.  In the future, if you decide to go LiPo, you’ll have the charger.

Hi Frog Jumper,

Can I run a vintage Hornet / Falcon on a LiPo battery or should it be the NiMH?

I take your point about about the charger. Are you saying that if we may only run my cars with a NiMH battery, then I am able to buy a charger that would also charge a LiPo battery should we go the Re Release route in the future?

Thanks.

[Richie W]

3 hours ago, mk4savage said:

I'd probably do the same, clean and re build and display them. It would be a shame to get them damaged.

They look great, a nice find 

Very kind mk4savage, thank you! They were never destined to be shelf huggers and were used and enjoyed. I was made-up to find them looking at me when i opened the loft hatch!

[Richie W]

2 hours ago, Willy iine said:

@Richie W Nice find!   Honestly they look pretty beat up so if on the cheap, I'd get some NiMH batteries and a charger on Amazon or somewhere and see if they run.  Then maybe get some new wheels and tires if they do run.  

It might be better just starting fresh with a new kit and building it with your kids.  New electronics and all.  GL with whatever you decide and have fun!  

 

Thank you Willie! They are a little rustic, I agree but much enjoyed!

Thanks for the advice.

[Richie W]

27 minutes ago, naturbo2000 said:

Nice one. I started with a Hornet, but know for sure it's not in the loft. Probably got £10 for it at a car boot sale >30 years ago.

My recollection is that I broke a bunch of chassis and gearbox casings back in the day. I can't believe time has been kinder to the plastics, so go easy on them.

What has surprised is how cheap bearings have got compared to what they used to cost. Maybe it's just the availability of aftermarket ones. If you you turn them into runners, it'd be a shame not to make that upgrade. Not a lot else worth doing to a Hornet.

Thank you naturbo2000. I don't recall ever doing any bearing upgrades back in the day. I will take a look and see what's there. Was the Falcom also sold with bearings which would have benefitted from an upgrade?

[Frog Jumper]

33 minutes ago, Richie W said:

Hi Frog Jumper,

Can I run a vintage Hornet / Falcon on a LiPo battery or should it be the NiMH?

I take your point about about the charger. Are you saying that if we may only run my cars with a NiMH battery, then I am able to buy a charger that would also charge a LiPo battery should we go the Re Release route in the future?

Thanks.

The chemistry inside may be different, but the output is the same, ie volts is volts.

You can use a 7.4v LiPo with your vintage Hornet and/or Falcon MSCs.  Be warned that the 7.4 LiPo is a huge improvement over the old NiCad (both in terms of raw power and run time).

And my point about the charger is to find one that can charge batteries with different chemistry, ie one that does NiMh and LiPo.  That way you can charge your NiMh now, and then in the future you can charge a LiPo (if you go that route).  I have a HiTec X2 AC/DC charger.  It ran me $75 about 5 years ago.  Its been totally solid since for both NiMh and LiPo.

Terry

 

[mk4savage]

35 minutes ago, Richie W said:

Very kind mk4savage, thank you! They were never destined to be shelf huggers and were used and enjoyed. I was made-up to find them looking at me when i opened the loft hatch!

Yes, I bet 👍 Good luck whatever you decide to do.

[naturbo2000]

1 hour ago, Richie W said:

Thank you naturbo2000. I don't recall ever doing any bearing upgrades back in the day. I will take a look and see what's there. Was the Falcom also sold with bearings which would have benefitted from an upgrade?

I definitely never did such upgrades back in the day, but I did dig out my also well loved (worn out) Madcap recently. All the white plastic bushes were so worn out, with so much play, I'm surprised it used to run ok. Full set of aftermarket bearings was £10, so I figured I could afford that to make it back into a runner. I picked up some 3300mah NiMH and a generic charger because I (currently) don't want the hassle of LiPo. Pretty sure it was a 1200 NiCad pack I used to have...

Falcon would have similar bearings available. Probably needs a few more.

Simple thing is to check how much the wheels wobble on the axles, particularly at the front. I bet it's loads, and if you undo the hex bolt to take the wheel off, you'll find a little white donut shaped bush on either side of the wheel and they're really worn down. It's not required that you change them, but if you're going to run either vehicle you might be glad of upgrading to metal bearings.

[James76G]

They look fantastic and it resonates with me as the first Tamiya car I ever saw in action was a Hornet and then a good friend at school had a Falcon. 

Regarding batteries, I've recently got in to the hobby and have picked up a vintage Monster Beetle. I invested £20 in a NimH battery pack and a wall plug charger as a pure "get me going" option to see how I got on with things. So far so good and the Monster Beetle hasn't broken yet. 

I agree with the point about ball races though. I remember buying them for my Hotshot 2 in the late 80s for about £15 and I've just bought some for the MB and a full set was £7 posted!

[Exit13]

Drive them. Don’t hide them!!

[dmelczer]

I'm definitely with Exit13...take 'em apart, clean 'em up, get a few upgrades for 'em, and definitely run 'em!  Just...don't jump them.

If you're going to run those beauties, for the falcon, I'd definitely recommend a set of bearings...I know FastEddy sells sets for the Falcon as I just upgraded mine a few months ago (https://www.fasteddybearings.com/tamiya-falcon-58056-sealed-bearing-kit/). 

I would also take apart the gearbox, clean that, add the bearings, and then give it a good coating of molybdenum grease...(https://www.ebay.com/itm/265102903104?epid=1900266936&hash=item3db95d4740:g:J3gAAOSwArFgXtrA).  It will definitely help with wear.

On the Falcon, the front uprights also tend to break.  I'd replace those preemptively...A nice set of aluminum ones from Jazrider work well for me (https://www.ebay.com/itm/352658920693?hash=item521c1c14f5:g:lAAAAOSwxXZc0sAs).

If you really want to go crazy with the Falcon, I'd get a CRP replacement bumper with the steel reinforcement for the bottom...(https://www.ebay.com/itm/234441264314?hash=item3695c9ccba:g:OGkAAOSwupJhNQ0v)

As for the hornet, I'd do pretty much the exact same thing.  I admittedly don't have a hornet, though I did recently build a grasshopper re-re for my brother...

 

Where batteries are concerned, I wouldn't really waste the money on a LiPo...from my experience with my Falcon's silver can the run time off the LiPo is great, but if you're always running near full throttle, that motor (and especially the ceramic resistor) can get VERY hot.  Not worth it in my opinion.  I'd save the extra money you would spend on a LiPo and get a 3600 NiMH.  Less chance of needing to replace the motor due to overheating and seizing.  Don't forget, that motor is likely the same 35 years old...

 

These units should run just fine assuming you're responsible with them and realize that the plastic may break if you jump it or do foolish things.  I've got 2 Falcons running great...  I probably take them out twice a week.  One has the internals of a Team Associated DR10 drag car...with a LiPo 3S that thing does about 50 MPH...I just can't run it too fast (bad aerodynamics on the car) or the car will go airborne...

 

Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

[dmelczer]

Also...bearings for the Hornet...(https://www.fasteddybearings.com/tamiya-hornet-58043-sealed-bearing-kit/)

[Richie W]

On 3/4/2022 at 9:16 PM, dmelczer said:

I'm definitely with Exit13...take 'em apart, clean 'em up, get a few upgrades for 'em, and definitely run 'em!  Just...don't jump them.

If you're going to run those beauties, for the falcon, I'd definitely recommend a set of bearings...I know FastEddy sells sets for the Falcon as I just upgraded mine a few months ago (https://www.fasteddybearings.com/tamiya-falcon-58056-sealed-bearing-kit/). 

I would also take apart the gearbox, clean that, add the bearings, and then give it a good coating of molybdenum grease...(https://www.ebay.com/itm/265102903104?epid=1900266936&hash=item3db95d4740:g:J3gAAOSwArFgXtrA).  It will definitely help with wear.

On the Falcon, the front uprights also tend to break.  I'd replace those preemptively...A nice set of aluminum ones from Jazrider work well for me (https://www.ebay.com/itm/352658920693?hash=item521c1c14f5:g:lAAAAOSwxXZc0sAs).

If you really want to go crazy with the Falcon, I'd get a CRP replacement bumper with the steel reinforcement for the bottom...(https://www.ebay.com/itm/234441264314?hash=item3695c9ccba:g:OGkAAOSwupJhNQ0v)

As for the hornet, I'd do pretty much the exact same thing.  I admittedly don't have a hornet, though I did recently build a grasshopper re-re for my brother...

 

Where batteries are concerned, I wouldn't really waste the money on a LiPo...from my experience with my Falcon's silver can the run time off the LiPo is great, but if you're always running near full throttle, that motor (and especially the ceramic resistor) can get VERY hot.  Not worth it in my opinion.  I'd save the extra money you would spend on a LiPo and get a 3600 NiMH.  Less chance of needing to replace the motor due to overheating and seizing.  Don't forget, that motor is likely the same 35 years old...

 

These units should run just fine assuming you're responsible with them and realize that the plastic may break if you jump it or do foolish things.  I've got 2 Falcons running great...  I probably take them out twice a week.  One has the internals of a Team Associated DR10 drag car...with a LiPo 3S that thing does about 50 MPH...I just can't run it too fast (bad aerodynamics on the car) or the car will go airborne...

 

Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

Thank you for the info! 

I have just received a brand new GOLDEDT 7.2V 3300 mAh battery through the post! Quick question! Should I charge it before use or is it ready to connect? If I need to charge it, for how many hours? 

I was planning on using the original Acoms charger that came with my Hornet when new which if I recall, was the slow charger. 

Sorry for the daft questions but I don't want to ruin a brand new battery. 

Thanks, 

Richie. 

[dmelczer]

I'd definitely charge the battery, as most NiMH or NiCd batteries come at only a 50% charge so that they last longer on the shelf for sale before going bad.  Usually these chargers have an LED On them that will go on or off or change color when charging is complete.  If you don't have that, I'd leave it for about 3 hours since your charger is a 0.86A trickle charger.

I would strongly consider a real peak charger though to keep that battery well maintained.  Something cheap like this will do the trick:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/363202478025

Enjoy!

[Richie W]

On 3/18/2022 at 3:13 PM, dmelczer said:

I'd definitely charge the battery, as most NiMH or NiCd batteries come at only a 50% charge so that they last longer on the shelf for sale before going bad.  Usually these chargers have an LED On them that will go on or off or change color when charging is complete.  If you don't have that, I'd leave it for about 3 hours since your charger is a 0.86A trickle charger.

I would strongly consider a real peak charger though to keep that battery well maintained.  Something cheap like this will do the trick:  https://www.ebay.com/itm/363202478025

Enjoy!

Thanks for the advice. Very helpful. 

I hooked up the Hornet first. The Acoms stick controller battery needle went straight to green which was promising however it is not talking to the car..?

On moving the speed controller on the car with my hand, the motor sprang into life although it is making a sort of screaming whining noise and smelt a little concerning! Not sure whether the screaming noise is from the motor or gearbox..? 

Regarding the Falcon, there is a cable from the battery holder which is not connected to anything. I have looked at the instructions but m still none the wiser as to where it goes. Any ideas please?

Thank you! 

[Andreas W]

The loose cable is the power cable to the receiver. Should go in the batt connection. And you need 4 AA batteries in the box. Then it should come to life. 

[Richie W]

13 hours ago, Andreas W said:

The loose cable is the power cable to the receiver. Should go in the batt connection. And you need 4 AA batteries in the box. Then it should come to life. 

Hi Andreas, 

Thank you for your response. I cannot find where to plug the battery cable into. You say it should plug into the receiver? Where is the receiver please? 

Tha for your help.