What did you learn from your first Tamiya?

[essexboyracer]

Hi All,

My first real R/C car was a Tamiya Sonic Fighter. I used to race it back when I was 12 or so (17 years ago!) and I even have a few trophies from competitions. Anyway, I used to race at Springfield R/C club in Essex (now MERCC), and when I raced, the meetings were held on a tarmac school playground, and the best drivers tended to use Schumacher Cat's with those uber-soft mini spikes, and either Orange dot or Brown dot motors (can't remember the brand). I used to have no real racing budget, so my setup consisted of Mardave oval block rear tires, bald tamiya super gripper front tires, a Kyosho Spirit 600 motor (torquey, but not many rev's) and a couple of cheap unbranded nicads.

Due to the setup above, I never got into the A or B finals... I used to compete in the C + D finals against Super Sabre's, Falcon's, Boomerangs, and a few other Kyosho's et all.. I was lucky that we mixed 4wd and 2wd, because I could at least outrun most of the Tamiya 4wd's. I had to corner by slapping the msc into reverse to unsettle the back end, and then ram forward to initiate a powerslide. I had good pull out of the corners due to the Spirit 600 (i raced the same motor for 1 1/2 years... ) and with neat and tidy driving it was still possible to win races, and I had to be neat and tidy because one mild collision could snap that nasty chassis in two! So I guess the Sonic Fighter has made me a fairly careful R/C driver, and I think I owe a lot of my R/C driving abilities to the early days with the Sonic Fighter with me trying not to break that **** chassis.

I've still got the car, and i've got a new gearbox to put in it, as the current one makes some horrific sounds!

Anyway, Anyone else want to share there 1st car experiences?

- Will.

[Backlash]

Well seeing as my first RC car was a Tamiya (a Frog), I suppose I could say the main thing I learned was how to drive an RC car.

The second thing I learned was that all RC cars break.

The third thing I learned was that they were expensive to repair as a 14 year old kid with no money.

 

[akemag]

First thing i learned was that using a 540SD Black motor(and god knows what pinion) on my Brat, instead of the standard 380, produces a nasty clicking sound. Second thing i learned (after quite some time) was that the hard body doesent like beeing driven into the thing you climb up onto the walls in the gymnastic halls (dont know what they are called in english) After that my Brat body got an early retirement, and a nasty lexan buggy shell got put on. Ouch...

[Stefan(2)]

Easy

- Did not know rc kits could be so big ! -

( my first Tamiya was a FH12 globetrotter )

These days i do a full gearbox revision in under 30 minutes, the first time around, as far i can remember it took me 2 days and a couple of rebuilds before i done a decent job

 

Stefan

[Rich T UK]

My first tamiya was a Mini which i bought second-hand in summer 1996. and I guess what i learned from it is that anything cool you take with you to university is going to get stolen...

[Guest joelvardy]

that would be NEVER use a MSC EVER again!!

The story goes that I had just finished my car (M-04L) all of the shell painted (BMW M Roadster) I took it down to my local car park. that is when the trouble began. I drove it round one lap (1min) when a stone hit the switch which stopped the servo resuming to central, so the car was running full power with no steering and a brand new shell. it was actually quite fast and I could not catch it, so it just scraped along the curb for about 3 Min's until it got stuck in one of the corners. hen I returned home my brother just laughed which almost brought me to tears. The shell was all battered and I put it in a cupboard, it is still in the same state (I think)

thanks for reading,

Joel

[Shodog]

I learned that Tamiya was getting rich off of selling Frog geartrains.  I also leaned problem solving by fixing that problem.

[steviedee]

i learned not to plug the throttle plug into the wrong channel on the receiver and then proceed to test it on the kitchen table by pressing the steering stick, the result being a burst of speed followed by all the kit parts being on the floor followed closely by the model itself. ;o)

[Saito]

My first Tamiya was a Lunch Box.  I saved up for many many months for it (my Dad was nice enough to buy me radio gear).  Being expensive for me and a quite "wild" handling vehicle actually taught me to be good driver.  I rarely flipped it and never on tarmac.  I learned about all its handling shortcomings and through that what all the handling terms meant.  Indeed, because the chassis was so bad (but the best fun I ever had) I was able to nail down all the design factors that made it as such.  Not bad for a kid of 11 or so.

[Cul-Tech]

Well where do I start, I believe my SC and Hilux helped form me into

who I am today. In 5th grade I got the SC and my father built it for

me, after that I did all the maintenance. I used to take some of it

apart just to clean everything up. Of course learning how mechanical

things work along the way. I remember my dad coming home with four ball

bearings in that plastic case for $19.00 way back then. He would

explain how these work and why they are better than the bronze

bushings. My dad was a mechanical engineer and I believe he enjoyed

showing me how things worked as much as I enjoyed working on them and

learning.

About a year or two later I had saved the money for a hilux, and

thinking back I think my dad poped for the radio and battery. I built

that truck by myself, my father would explain the transmission,

differentials or lack there of, suspension, transfer case, hubs, and so

on. With that truck it was literally like having a smaller real truck.

Those two Tamiyas certainly taught me the mechanical fundamentals I live off today.

Very nice post.[]

Mike

[secretsg]

1. Read instructions carefully. (Mounted front end in reverse)

2. Don't listen to all the things Tamiya tells you (No threadlock my ***.)

3. Helped me to not get disoriented operating a RC car.

[minijosh]

Never leave your car turned on, with the radio off trying to discharge batts on a msc, when watching a freaking scary movie, the car will move on its own and scare everyone in the room.

[john45677]

my first tamiya was a grasshopper 20 some odd years ago,the first thing i remember learning from that car was when you go flying down the straight ,you have to slow down on that that turn ,because on street those soft rubber tire's really grip ,and make your car do about a dozen body role's,after about the 15th time someone told me the theory of whats in motion will stay in motion, (ie slow down for the turn) i belive i knew that but for a kid it was just awsome watching the flip's and twist's that lil car would do over and over ,also suicide chargers are truely what they are! 

[eek!]

Great question. My first 1/10 RCs were Kyoshos. My first Tamiya was a

NIB purchased Blackfoot and while loads of fun I found parts wore out

rather quickly.

I didn't know you could buy spares![:|]

[3doorpete]

My first Tamiya was a Vanquish. First less I learnt was that if you don't tighten up the centre diff little screw enough, it'll just sit on the spot with the motor spinning and no forward motion. []

Second lesson was that the spike tyre wore out in a day on tarmac....

[Mr.Nismo]

My first car was a Alfa Romeo 155 V6TI on the TA02 chassis. I bought the car with my brother and build it in two days. Some weeks later i drove my first race. The car was completly standard. MSC, 540 motor etc. I was last in de B-final. For the next race i had bought an Actopower black motor, but still had the MSC [] Not a good iedea! Batteries were running up like crazy.

I was lucky to have a job at 13 and making lots of money for that age, because i tought that Hop-Ups were the key to becomming 1st every race [] I bought them all, but still no A-finals.

Sadly for me there was nobody who could teach me the basics of RC racing. I learned everything along the way. After 2 seasons of racing i bacame more and more experienced. In the 3rd season i was allready driving in the top 15 of the dutch euro-cup. The last season i drove i beacme 9th overall from about 90 drivers.

What Tamiya learned me???

- Hop-Ups are not made to win races when you drive your first RC race ever []

- Tamiya learned me everything about RC, RC racing and RC cars

- Tamiya also learned me how expensive a RC hobby can be

[Metla]

Not my first car and I already knew better, But the lesson learned was to take the battery out of the car before charging.

Managed to reduce the ground clearence on a Boomerang to Zero....

[DJTheo]

Learned back then with my Holiday Buggy:

1. Don't try it with a cable and a little 9V battery (was empty in 5 seconds, had no money for RC and battery pack)

2. Don't try it with 7.2V pack but no RC (steering fixed, no money for RC still)

3. Hot motors can cause gear wear (Black motor sprint)

4. Don't lift it from the front SRB bumper

Well, to my exuse I was 9 and had no help at all [:$]

Cheers

[DeeMiller]

 

[DJTheo]

Dee, original question was what did you learn from your first Tamiya RC car and not since then, otherwise we would all be filling up books LOL

Cheers

[mr_pushrod]

Wood screws aren't as good a fix as new parts.

[BiggusDitchus]

Like Theo I too learned with a Holiday Buggy and found that...

1. They dont jump as well as you think , cue numerous trips to model shop with annoyed dad

2. 6v nicads dont make great supports for cupboards.. (probably best not to ask) 

3. Dont charge and charge and charge your nicads from your friends parents Mercedes without their permission... only to see them unable to start it due to flat battery.

4. It was handy that your Dads friend brought round large amounts of AA batteries for the handset and receiver battery for free.

and mostly..

5. Dont dismantle it and leave it for years in a drawer in garage (only to find out many years later its no longer there.

[Mad Ax]

Hmm, what I learned from my first Tamiya - a 2nd hand and very well used King Cab...

1) One battery is never enough

2) Batteries cost 10 weeks pocket money when you're 12

3) Spare parts are only available mail-order and take 14 days to arrive (circa 1992)

4) An important part will always break or wear out on the first day of

any vacation in an area that has a perfect place for using RCs, leaving

you bored witless for two weeks as you gaze forlornly at your broken

car (case in point: King Cab rear hex drives, splines wore out on the

first day of my holiday to a caravan park that had miles of twisting,

turning, narrow tarmac lanes, and we couldn't find a hobby shop in the

area)

5) Before packing the RC away into the back of the car for an hour-long

journey to a good off-roading area, make sure the receiver is switched

off - or the batteries will be flat before you get there []

6) Just because a model is newer and NIB, doesn't mean it's better that

the 4-year old one you've got.  Sold my King Cab and bought an NIB

Mud Blaster - the King Cab was a far better car; the Mud Blaster was

sadly lacking in those places where the King Cab excelled...

[DJTheo]

4) An important part will always break or wear out on the first day of

any vacation in an area that has a perfect place for using RCs, leaving

you bored witless for two weeks as you gaze forlornly at your broken

car (case in point: King Cab rear hex drives, splines wore out on the

first day of my holiday to a caravan park that had miles of twisting,

turning, narrow tarmac lanes, and we couldn't find a hobby shop in the

area)

Very true, actually those are Murphy's laws and you learn them with everything you do and its always too late and at the most inappropriate time.... [:S]

6) Just because a model is newer and NIB, doesn't mean it's better that

the 4-year old one you've got.  Sold my King Cab and bought an NIB

Mud Blaster - the King Cab was a far better car; the Mud Blaster was

sadly lacking in those places where the King Cab excelled...

Also totally agree, could have bought so many older lovely kits instead of a Saint Dragon back in the late 80s... [:'(]

Cheers

[rajicon]

I learnt that Wild Willys cant compete against proper buggies. That you

might win, but it doesnt mean you have as much fun. Humpback batteries

wont fit in the tray after being left for 2 and a half days on slow

charge as they will melt and distort. Guinea pigs will fit in the back

of Wild Willy. Trailers will come off best in a scrap with your RC, and

not to lend it to people who either know nothing, or know too much.

Incidently, the battery that got overcharged was nearing becoming

useless before this happened. After reshaping it, it became the best

one I had.