Different builds...whats your favourite?

[Corpse Thrower 16]

There are so many different RC kits out there in Tamiya land, so it begs the question:

 What type of kit is your favourite to build?

Do you like a quick "build, paint, and run" like an M-03 or a Gravel Hound?

How about the "massive great big complicated truck with MFC" build?

Or the "re release!! I can build it again!" build?

Maybe the" Wow this is surprisingly scale looking" F-350 build?

And lastly, the "Oh my god I can't believe I'm actually doing this to a priceless Vintage 80's NIB!" build?

 

Post up yer favourite!!

 

 Any that I've missed?

[larbut 4]

Hey, great topic!

Can I vote for "all of the above" ? ;-)

Seriously I would say building an old 80's NIB is my favourite. So far I have only built such with use of NIB parts, but I believe that qualifies. I have a NIB Super Sabre I am going to build....

I am not into building fast only to race, as I think the building itself is the most enjoyable.

I am actually thinking of buying a Truck only to build it, as I can't see myself running it. But the building part looks fun :-)

I still remember spending noumerous days on building my Hilux back in 83-84. Took a lot of days, and the worst thing was having the chassis ready, but having to wait for painting of the body.

Why does Tamiya put "body prepararion and paint" in the back of the manual? I think it should be first, then you can build the chassis when the aint dries... (Ok, most people do that already I guess, but inexperienced builder maybe don't?

- Lars

[Rat Fink 0]

I enjoy the twiddly builds.

You know, like the SRB's with loads of metal parts, pins, nuts, bolts, rods and arms.

My favorite modern chassis so far is the TLT as this is a complete build me up' The one I am looking forward to and I am waiting to start (MFU Pending from stella) is my F350 hilift.

I am not a lover of plastic as you will see from my collection of Savages (yet to be posted) but fully understand that cost as well as the use of modern materials is an issue.

At the end of the day It is what you want to make of it, I can spend many hours clipping and sanding flash lines from plastic as well as polishing alloy so the most important thing is " if all you want to do is run them, give them to someone like me to build them for you rather than rush it and make a bad job"

My downfall is paintwork, I would rather have a simple paintjob on a glitzy chassis than the other way round.

RF

Should be next week that the MFU arrives (hopefully)

[Tamiya1/10 382]

For me, it has to be the 1/14 King Hauler with the electronics and all.  Is a nice piece of machinery plus the body is detail enough.  The only camplain (off topic) I have is if only Tamiya would provide the locking differenial piece like for the XC chasis, the truck would be unstopable.

To go opposite to this topice, I build the old Leopard A4 with unassemble tracks and it was no fun hammering and gluing the link pieces of the track together.

 Overall, I enjoy the process of putting the RC kit together.

[The soldier bug 1]

I occasionally like a complicated build but I really like quick builds. I could never bring myself to build an 80's model unless I could find an extremely reseved place on my shelf queen shelf.

[HunterZero 76]

I like complicated builds with cool working scale mechanical technology, like stabilizer bars, ball bearings, suspension, dampers, gearboxes and ball differentials. The only bit I don't like is stubborn C clips!

And I did buy a couple of re-re Frogs, for that Christmas 1986 feeling when I got my first Frog.

I am very tempted to buy a Hi-Lift (put off by the rather ugly F-350 truck body and friction dampers) or a truck... Hot Shot will be my next purchase though I think.

- James

[Mad Ax 9313]

I like building pretty much anything.  I really enjoyed my Dark

Impact for its modern, hi-tech build, and mostly it wasn't too fiddly.

The

TXT was great fun but took a lot of space because it's so big - I tried

to build it on a coffee table and it just got out of hand, with bags

and boxes and trees scattered everywhere for over a week as I built it

slowly and enjoyed it.  The best bit about the TXT tho was the

pre-painted shell - I hate painting, I can't do it outside and inside

it stinks the house out, plus I usually make a mess of it and my masks

leak and the paint looks rubbish and I'm nearly always disappointed.

Because

I hate the paint-wait-paint process of painting, I usually end up

leaving it until last, so I have a completed chassis with no shell,

that sits in the shelf waiting to be run.

I'm looking forward to

building a hot-shot if I have enough spare cash when they're released,

otherwise I'll continue to enjoy the custom projects I'm working on.

A

good recent build was my Corally RDX - all aluminium and carbon fibre,

virtually no trees to cut, no flash to file off, and all the screws in

clearly labelled bags for each page of the build.  The only bad

part of that build was the turnbuckles - the ball ends threads seemed

far too small for the turnbuckle threads, making it a slow and painful

process!!

[Rat Fink 0]

 I hate painting, I can't do it outside and inside it stinks the house out, plus I usually make a mess of it and my masks leak and the paint looks rubbish and I'm nearly always disappointed.

Because I hate the paint-wait-paint process of painting, I usually end up leaving it until last, so I have a completed chassis with no shell, that sits in the shelf waiting to be run.!!

Maybe It's time for the "Visable car club"!

Just take the Lexan body, Apply the decals as best as possible and then run it. Any sign of paint renders the car in the "attempted but failed miserably" clasification.

I have 3 compressors, 5 airbruses, rolls of masking tape and edging tape, I have books on airbrushing techniques and have been instructed by a proffesional airbrush artist and car body finisher in the art of applying paint. I AM STILL **** AT IT!

RF

Sticks with what he knows, wheres my sandblaster?

[Mad Ax 9313]

Maybe It's time for the "Visable car club"!Just

take the Lexan body, Apply the decals as best as possible and then run

it. Any sign of paint renders the car in the "attempted but failed

miserably" clasification.

Actually, I've always been

tempted to make a "clear lexan runner" car.  Maybe I should do it

one day..?  We could start a new "visible SIG" for owners of any

unpainted lexan runner  

[Singapore_959 18]

 

Having never built a 'modern' Tamiya car, I am curious about these statements on the complicated build of '80s kits.

 

Are they really that much more complicated to build? I mean most of us did this when we were in our early teens, and components on cars are the same today - so surely modern kits cannot be sustancially different or easier to build, can they?

 

[:^)]

 More 'interesting' perhaps is a better term?

Interested to hear others view points!

[au]

 

[billg4 25]

I have to build and run everything I own. Granted some get run harger than others, but all are run.

 

Example, I was out with my wild one this AM doing laps around a paved oval. Steering servo saver let go at WFO and I slammed the outside curb. Bent a shock screw (no biggie) and broke a front rim. Shattered more like it. So now I looked to e-bay for new ones. The 20 yr old plastic in the tamiya servo saver just let go, it failed right at the bend like it eas cut with a lazor. Having pumpkin parts here, that was easily replaced but the rim was a bummer. I guess putting a modified motor and re-re frog driveline parts wasn't all I should have replaced.

[backtomyroots 432]

The best for me is a build that has a large bit of parts.  I enjoy the process of collecting "Genuine Tamiya Hop-Ups" for my models when they are available and building the modle with those.  My favourite builds of this type so far have been:

• TXT-1 with all Tamiya Hop-Ups
  
• Juggernaut 2 with a ll Tamiya Hop-Ups
  

But, I also enjoy using the more exotic chassis' available to add Tamiya drivelines to such as the Junfac Dragoon that I had built - I thoroughly enjoyed hand picking most of the bits with the exception of the Cldo Drivetrain obviously.

Now, I am moving into the more complex, high part count builds such as

• Full Option Scania
  
• High Lift with MFU. 
  

To me they are small "wonders" and I look forward to the many parts & realism.Nothing beats a scale Tamiya RC.  Of course I am also waiting on my bearings so that I can quickly "slap" my Tamiya Re-Release Hornet together & relive the time I built it many, many years ago when I was just a young fella.  I also plan on having the "quicky" memory cars available such as the re-release Hot Shot & possibly future ones as well to "live in the old days". 

 

[gazwilts 0]

having owned more old wrecks than NIB kits i more enjoy dismantling an old car, sourcing any new parts i need cleaning every part, downloading the appropriate manual of TC and giving it a full rebuild!! making somthing great again! see the FAV in my showroom, that was my most enjoyable build.

dont get me wrong i love a NIB kit also, my best NIB was a the mustang cobra with the full stars and stripes livery about 8 or so years back. raced it all season adding hop ups as i went,  came 3rd and won a cup

[Mad Ax 9313]

Having never built a 'modern' Tamiya car, I

am curious about these statements on the complicated build of '80s kits.Are

they really that much more complicated to build? I mean most of us did

this when we were in our early teens, and components on cars are

the same today - so surely modern kits cannot be sustancially different

or easier to build, can they?

I think it depends on the

car.  After all, 80s buggies like the Frog and Scorcher had a

number of interesting bits to assemble, whereas modern cars often have

tub chassis and it's just a case of bolting on the outside bits to make

it run.

However, that's not really fair on newer models because

there were plenty of tub-chassis cars in the 80s too.  The

Grasshopper, Hornet, Lunch Box for example, all had tub chassis. 

And many recent models like the TXT-1 and the F350 have interesting

realistic chassis to build.  Even cheaper trucks like the Dagger

series have self-assemble chassis (although the gearboxes are

pre-built).

My Dark Impact was a very interesting build, much

more so than the re-re Pumpkin that I bought afterwards.  Only

very early kits like the SRBs and 3-speeds can claim to be truly lost

in the past...

[adam1973 1]

I've built a couple of simple kits, TL01 Stadium Raider & a Wild Dagger, I loved building both of them. I loved using them as well.

 

I enjoyed buying and rebuilding/hopping up my Hummer and Nitro Blaster as well.

 

But for me the thing that enjoyed building most was my F350 High Lift. But then as with all builds, I just love re-building and hopping up the chassis etc...

 

As with a lot of you, I struggle to get decent paint finishes on my builds, it's easy doing a basher lexen body as it can be done outside in a few minutes, but hard bodies like the F350 and the Hummer are just too much for me to do a decent job.

 

Adam

[Lonestar 1]

Cool thread  

 

I thoroughly enjozed building my re-re Lunch Box last month... as I race complex 10th scale EP DTM (Currently a fully decked-out Cyclone Hara, previously another fully decked out Xray FK05, and so on...), it's a refreshing series of sessions to build a much simpler design that's designed to be bolted together by a 12 yr old! But the most interesting part is to actually get it properly prepared, based on the knowledge of others and on what's available in my parts box at the time, and a bit of anal retentiveness I must admit (I hate suspension/steering slop and have to shim EVERYTHING!)... This rig currently has oil shocks (not tamiya) designed for 8th scale buggy, front and rear chassis rigidifiers, aftermarket servo saver, torquey servo, bearings, P2K motor, light kit, and so on... I really like to find inexpensive solutions to fix problems, for instance yesterday I installed a fifth body post from a Yokomo DTM at the back of the car to remove some of the strain on the weaker four chromed ones as one of them broke... or add the occasional drop of silicon gel to make sure the headlights covers don't jump off their slot on a hit... this kind of stuff that makes me feel like I'm adding value is what gives me my kicks Now the only thing left I have to do on my VLB is the center shock mod (in the works). 

In my mind still, nothing beats building a complex, modern, thoroughbred racer like the Cyclone and decking it out with titanium/aluminium aftermarket stuff, spending hours working on the suspension and transmission to make them as smooth and efficient as possible, and making sure the radio installation is bang on in terms of weight distribution... so you can then hit the curbs at a higher speed while running your first pack ever, weeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Paul

[HunterZero 76]

Yeah, I do love restoring cars to their former glory - it was most satisfying to me rebuilding my Frog, Fox and Super Shot runners - especially the Super Shot. When I purchased the Super Shot, it was missing quite a few small parts and had a lot of wrong screws. I purchased the remains of a second car, and it just happened to have all the missing bits I needed to restore the car. Was great fun dismantling everything, picking through all the bits, cleaning them up, determining which bits were in better condition than others and deciding which bits to use...

And how cool are hopup parts? If there are stablizer bars, ball diffs, oil shocks etc. as options, I can't resist.

- James

[lee172 0]

I guess my fave was an old TA-03R S TRF kit, i found on ebay, luckily i already had the Corolla shell painted and stickered..

being a big fan of Carbon Fibre, this kit appealed to me straight away, then there's the endless list of hop-ups that came with it!

my first ever RC was a Tamiya TA-03 so it makes it even more special..

its now powered by a Mamba Max 5700kv, and its like a rocket! ive also got some red belts which will make it look even more awesome!

[Drjack 0]

I love building any tamiya kit. Their excellence in quality just makes them a pleasure to work with. I haven't come across one flawed part yet. The fact that so many of the parts are interchangeble makes it so much more exciting too. I'd have to say my favourite kind of build though apart from the complex giants like the F350 and 1/14 trucks, would be kit bashing. I just love making something unique. Even if it's as simple as swapping wheels. I put the dual wheels off my Knight Hauler on my Mini Cooper once and dummy raised the body. It looked so mean! And the funny thing was, with a bit of tinkering it would've been functional!!!

As for priceless 80's kits, well... in a perfect world I'd have three of every kit; one NIB, one shelf queen and one runner. (wouldn't we all?) But I've always wanted to own, build and drive a Bruiser but I've never had the right money at the right time. I check out members showrooms and read 'my third Bruiser' or 'scored another Mountaineer' and I get so jealous!!! To me, they are simply the best rc car ever produced, by any brand! (just how many other ladder frame rc cars have lockable front hubs and shift on the fly 4WD/2WD???) If I was ever lucky enough to buy a sealed NIB 80's kit, I don't think I could bring myself to open it. I bought a Rothmans Porsche 956 somewhere around '88-'89, built it, drove it, loved it, got bored with it, stripped it, used the running gear to make a hybrid Chevy then gave it away.... GAVE it away!!! I saw a 956 on ebay not long ago, NIB, for $1200-$1500! I kicked myself. Hard!

So, yeah. Give me any Tamiya kit and I will love building it right down to the last decal... and then some!

[Rat Fink 0]

I've just started building one of my F350 hilifts.

I can understand why there are so many problems with the gearbox as the instructions leave out a circlip and this means that shifting is both difficult and not accurate, Having built numerous motorcycle gearboxes I checked the build and tolerences at each stage and probably assembled the finished box about 2 or 3 times until I realised the circlip was the issue which caused one of the gears to float an additinal 1.3mm (Float on shaft + thickness of Eclip + float on gear). The groove is in the shaft but there is no instruction to put an Eclip in it.

Now I am happy wih the geartrain I have assembled the chassis and found that 2 0f the new alloy chassis members are not used if you have a MFU (sod it)

I am looking at losing the leaf springs completely (if possible) and increasing  body height to accomodate the 2.2 beadlocks and Mohab tyres.

So in answer to the initial question, this is probably one of the best builds I have encountered and because of the introduction of the MFU and a couple of mods to stop it from pogoing it's way over rough terain it is stimulating the grey matter.

I'll mark up the ommision on the instructions when I can focus on it, At the moment I am looking at the links and the steering mechanisms

RF