A tale of two (new) Tamiyas

[Saito2 7245]

Surprising probably no one at this point, I'm a vintage/re-release/AM radio/Nimh/brushed motor kinda guy. With a pretty firm grasp of all the Tamiyas up to ol' 100, the Top Force, I decided to give something new from the big T a try after moving some other models on from my collection. A $100 price cut finally got me to buy a TD4 and I got a BBX also. I know these models have been discussed ad nauseam but this viewpoint is from a total stranger to new Tamiya product. So how did it go? Both I found to be and interesting mix that both delighted and confused me in ways the older cars don't.

The TD4 greeted me with plastics that oozed quality from the old shinny ABS and PC that proliferates the average Tamiya buggy. Feeling the grainy texture through my hobby knife as I trimmed off sprue was wonderful. The lovely blue motor plate, prop shaft and ball diffs spoke of high quality too. But, it wasn't long until things went a bit off the rails. For Tamiya, the masters of molding, to make a drive train so "un-sealed" from the dirtier elements was bizarre. Using foam tape to fill in gaps was something the forums warned of, but until you see it in person, well....Even the various gear covers seemed to just bolt on to surfaces with very little in the way if raised ridges to help seal things up. Speaking of molding, the rear diff was horribly sloppy in its home, even radially, which was a surprise. Certain tiny pieces were tacked on just to plug up holes. The L2 part in the front gearbox was an example of this. I nearly lost it (which would have required the purchase of an expensive sprue for a part smaller than my thumb nail). I guess those crisp plastics do fall of the sprues easier. Many of mine were lose, floating around in their bags since Fed Ex used my package as a soccer ball before delivery.

So did I hate it? Not really, but was glad to relax and get some familiar CVA shocks to build though, lol. The design is perfectly quirky and perfectly Tamiya in some ways. I guess so many of the short comings were strange because they were issues Tamiya normally had sorted decades ago.

The BBX was definitely more straight forward. I will say, its assembly dragged on a good bit though. Usually, painting the body means we're in the home stretch. But then there's a driver to do and window netting to fool with and spot lights with lens to build. Its a great kit in detailed ways like the early SRBs were, but honestly, after the more-involved build, fiddling with spacing the driveshafts properly and tucking all the wires in a tight chassis various under covers, I was ready for a break. Its a real "modellers kit" and despite its differences from the TD4, is still somehow perfectly Tamiya. But were they really?

Maybe on the surface, I could point to the hex hardware as being off-putting to a Tamiya JIS die hard like myself. I can "feel" the torque easier with the old stuff and had to be very aware of how hard I was cranking the hex hardware. I may be in the minority, but I still don't like them. I also don't like pushed toward brushless. I stubbornly installed brushed motors in both. Not a fan of needing extra-cost low profile servos either. But, those are surface level gripes. The core issue for me for these two new Tamiyas is they lacked a certain ease of assembly found in the older kits. Weird or lacking in some ways as the older kits were, they were "fun" to put together as opposed to potentially frustrating, like an old Schumacher. That was what was missing for me. I expected a technical challenge with a Bruiser, High Lift or even a CR01, but not a buggy. Even a parts-content heavy kit like an Avante seems easy in a Tamiya sort of way. Space in both was tight. So, for a fresh challenge or a build to sink your teeth into, they are awesome. For me, I'm doing a simple Manta Ray next to cleanse the palette and remind me what a more care-free building experience is like, shinny plastics and all.

[SlideWRX 880]

It takes a while to remove the bias from Phillips screwdrivers on phillips screws.  JIS screws and an appropriate driver are noticeably different, but that lifetime of phillips, and to be honest, cheap screws that strip easily really mess things up.  I definitely like hex hardware, but the last couple projects for me have been on used platforms with JIS screws and since I have good drivers now I have not had any issues with the screws, taking out or going back in.  I have accepted that not all projects need hex hardware.

I have a TD2, and the oddities of the chassis it shares with the TD4 come off as 'Why?' more often than not.

[Pablo68 1094]

The subjects of this thread might be done ad nauseum, but I find your posts to be gold usually Saito. So it's all good.
 

I recently bought and built the BBX and I totally agree with the feeling of frustration at times. As much as I like the BBX and the design direction Tamiya took with it, I really feel like some of Tamiya's designs are overly complicated for no real discernible reason. I also felt like this when I built an M06 chassis for the Lotus Europa kit. There seemed to be more parts than strictly necessary. Sometimes a simpler design makes for a better build.
Oh yeah, the screws, I really like hex hardware. I have been trying for years to get the right screwdriver for Tamiya screws, yes I know they are JIS, but even with a JIS screwdriver, or the Tamiya tool kit, they still never feel quite right and I frequently have to change tools to see which one feels like fitting right.

The undercurrent for all this though is the fact  that it could just be me getting older and more irritable as each year passes. Very possible.

[Kowalski86 3983]

I suspect that Tamiya has a different design team for their "beginner" and "advanced" RC kits. The latter would be the team that usually designs their fancy on-road chassis.

Back when I had an XV01 and began looking at the manual, I kept wishing that I had something like a Hornet instead! So many spacers and needless bits just to make an on-road car.