What To Get?

[gresh2811 0]

My seven year old son is mad on cars and we both wanted something that we could do together. i thought this would be the ideal hobby for the both of us to start. the problem is we can't decide on what car to do first. the choice is between the Tamiya Blackfoot Xtreme, Midnight Pumpkin and the Lunch Box. because we're both beginners we would run it as stock for six months to get used to it then after say six months look in to upgrading it. if some could please advise which is best for beginners and upgrading i would be very greatful.

[emory70 153]

lunchbox and pumpkin are the same thing, so it's really a choice of what body you like better. i think the pumpkin is only available in the metallic finish right now, so that may be something to consider. i personally find the hard bodies to be garbage for a runner. lexan is the way to go. the pumpkin has more conventional body mounts, so it breaks them less often than the lunchbox does.

i got my start in hobby rc with a monster beetle back when they were new (don't make me count the years). after all this time, i still believe that monster trucks are the best to learn with, and just the most fun overall. i'm building a brushless lunchbox now, and have about $550 in it now. so yeah, they are upgradeable, if not in the conventional sense.

i would also suggest the clod as another candidate. the buy in is more, but it's (in my opinion) the most fun you can have with an rc.

[MadInventor 3884]

I'd second emory70ss comments about the clod, but out of the 3 originals I'd go for the blackfoot extreme as it has indpendent suspension on the back end and will be less likely to roll over than the other 2. It also has larger tyres so will be better over rough ground.

[glassback 1]

I think the Lunchbox and Pumpkin are both great fun and I have both (although I cannot bring myself to use the pumpkin for fear of scratching the chrome body!). I reckon the Hornet is another great place to start - fairly quick out of the box and pretty much bomb proof! My 8 year old has bashed mine unmercifully for the last year (I hardly get a look in!!) and nothing has broken except for a crack in the front bumper after a launch off an 8ft bank onto its nose! My 10 yr old son is also fairly unforgiving with my Lunchbox and that has also only suffered a cracked front bumper and some severe paint loss (which is unavoidable on a hard bodied basher) All my cars are ballraced but otherwise standard.

A point to bear in mind is the bodies. Lexan is painted on the inside and also needs to be cut out. For a novice, one colour painting on these is easy as any blemishes / runs etc are hidden to a degree. Hard bodies are painted on the outside and are easier to paint more detailed schemes but at the first roll on any surface other than grass or sand, scratches will be inevitable whereas lexan bodies look better for longer as the paint is on the inside.

For their birthdays this year, my 8yr old will be getting a Hornet of his own, and my 10yr old will be getting the Blackfoot Extreme. Again they will be standard to start with apart from ballraces instead of the stock plastic bushings.

Whatever you choose though, you and your son will love it and there is no way you will be able to stand back and let him have all the fun! You will then need another car for yourself. Much more fun driving them together than alone too!

Just my thoughts!

Rich

[mongoose1983 3335]

I started with a Midnight Pumpkin. It's a mighty fun truck, and very resistant. It's not hard to build, and much easier to paint than a lexan-bodied model truck. I would suggest the Black foot extreme because, even though it's a bit more complex to build, it is one excellent runner. Very fast and reliable, perfect modern RC truck. You and your son will love it and you will not have to upgrade as soon as you said you would.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have tons of fun in this wonderful hobby.

You all have a great Thursday!

EB

--

[Henk4Focus 0]

I'm with Erich. I'll go for the Blackfoot. Yes, I love the other 2. I have 2 Lunchies and 3 Pumpkins. If I have to choose a starter, I would definitely go for the BFE. Similar to my first truck the Twin Detonator just 2wd. My first Twin Det was changed into a 2wd like the BFE and now runs a 12t brushless. Not very fast but man does it pack loads of torque. With some CVA's it has heaps of ground clearance and I still can't seem to break anything on it.

Check it out here.

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...00&id=22744

Henk

[Zak001 0]

How about a Baja King, nice beginners buggy or a mad bull, the baja king will handle better than the mad bull but most things do, that been said the mad bull is tough as boots and alot of fun with a few small mods.......blackfoot not a bad choice either..

Zak.

[tamiya monkey 243]

ok i have both the lunchbox and blackfoot extreme, now i do love my lunchbox but the blackfoot extreme is far better as a basher, if you buy the lunchbox be sure to get some alloy body mounts, as the stock plastic one will break on the your first or second outing.

if you go for the lunchbox you also can get a lexan body made by parma, other things i would suggest would be ballraces, cva shocks including 5th shock mod.

now if you go for the blackfoot extreme, ballraces and cva shocks make a nice difference, you could also fit a lexan body on like i did to protect the abs one, twin detonator or wild dagger lexan bodies fit as they are on the same chassis but with 4wd.

[SteelRat 46]

I would go with a 'box personally. Fantastic fun, great beginners car, and you can mod it as little or as much as you like. It'll also put up with an awful lot of abuse.

You'll find one is never enough, so start off with a 'box and treat yourself to a Blackfoot later

One other strong point of the box is that Kamtec do a range of 1/12th scale banger car bodies that fit the lunchbox perfectly, and they're only a fiver (GBP 5). I have a 1974 105E Ford Anglia shell on mine (as pictured in avatar), but there are plenty of others available if you don't want to trash your stock Van shell.

Kamtec Bangers

[30cms 7]

a mad bull

+1

a mad bull ticks all the boxes for a young lad's rc car!

fat tyres. good turn of speed, even stock. rugged. simple. harder to roll (than the monster trucks)

and for the future, there are plenty mods you can do too!!

and they are pretty cheap.

[Henk4Focus 0]

Hey he did say Pumpkin, Lunchbox or BFE? What's this Mad Bull stuff in between?

Was my first thought when I read the post but as he was asking between the 3 mention cars I gave advice on those. Mad Bull must be by far the best beginner basher and they do doughnuts without really asking for it. Some CVA's and a Sport tuned motor makes it a blast to drive. I had a 17t in mine but the Nosram ESC didn't want to keep up so I took it out. This buggy will drift on a beach with nothing more than a silver can...................... what more do you want?

Henk

[Zak001 0]

Hey he did say Pumpkin, Lunchbox or BFE? What's this Mad Bull stuff in between?

Was my first thought when I read the post but as he was asking between the 3 mention cars I gave advice on those. Mad Bull must be by far the best beginner basher and they do doughnuts without really asking for it. Some CVA's and a Sport tuned motor makes it a blast to drive. I had a 17t in mine but the Nosram ESC didn't want to keep up so I took it out. This buggy will drift on a beach with nothing more than a silver can...................... what more do you want?

Henk

LOL yeah I just thought Id throw a few others into the mix, as if things weren't difficult enough I have to add others...

[gresh2811 0]

He's finally decided that he wants the lunch box. we may get the blackfoot for xmas. we'll paint it as stock and get another body to come up with another paint design. not sure what though.

[glassback 1]

Great choice!! It is definately worth ordering bearings aswell. For less than a tenner they are well worth the money and make a noticeable difference.

I am sure you will both love it! As far as ideas for a paint scheme are concerned, take a search in the showrooms (under the 'members' banner) for inspiration. Lunchies really lend themselves to creative thinking!!

Rich

[kstar 0]

Yes the lunch box. My son has one and I have one. He got it when he was 2 years old, and it still works great. We bash at least once a week. Many vice things have been said, but I don't see why you have to get another shell for running, half of the fun is to have a highly detailed body that looks nice to run, and yes they still look great even if you roll it a few hundred times. If it should brake, A new one is not that expensive.

I also think the lunchbox is a good choice because it's fun, you can enjoy it on the beach in the skatepark, in the garden or just on a parkinglot. Not all cars are fun to just bash hour after hour on just a flat surface. But lunchies are.

Bearings is a good idea to start with, it will ad some to the speed but mostly it will increase your run time.

Have fun.

[TamiyaDan 8]

.

[Leethal Driver 86]

Great choice. Easy and fun to build, a great laugh to bash, and when you're ready you can chuck some on oil shocks, bolt in a hot motor and really cause some mayhem

Nice to hear you and your son have a shared interest as well.

[MadInventor 3884]

Talking of Mad Bulls, I had one of these a few years ago and it was fantasticly rugged. I ballraced it, put in 14 double motor and some oil shocks, and was running on a 9.6V battery (Filed the ends off the battery stops and held in with cable ties). A friend and I timed it over a measured 50m run at full speed and calculated it was doing 53mph . It was very tricky to drive though with the manual 3 step speed controller. As soon as you hit 2nd speed, one back wheel would spin and balloon ala top fueler, and flip the car over. In the end, in order to get the power down on the tarmac, I locked the rear diff. Also managed to tear a tamiya cva oil shock in half from the torque of the gearbox, ripping the shock body out of the top cap under full throttle, but never managed to strip any gears. I actually wore the rear tyres down to slicks, and the've got a lot of tread.

NB this wasn't the Mad Bull in my traderoom.

[berman 5315]

Great choice, you cant go wrong with a lunchbox, kids never get sick of wheelies

Just fit it with bearings and alloy mounts (if he rolls it a bit or likes jumps) and be done with it.

You wont regret buying it.

[gresh2811 0]

all the recommendations are fine, but ask yourself this: the vehicle will be mostly run on ______.

if you say pavement, then will it be a driveway or street. The streets more dangerous but allows for a faster car. if your in a concrete jungle then i would recommend an on-road car, or something thats at home on or light off road.

if your going to run the vehicle in grass you will need one that is tall to avoid getting hungup in the lawn, driving a car in the lawn also produces a lot of resistance and current draw. so you will need something beefy and 4wd.

a 2wd will drive in the grass but it tends to float and has a huge turning radius. plus the top speed will be reduced due to the lawn.

if your running in dirt or leaves like in the woods where the grass is very sparse then you can go for almost anything.

a scale rig is cool in small areas since the top speed is limited, if your kid wants SPEED SPEED SPEED and the thing is going to be abused then your going to want a larger truck.

2wd onroad would be for pavement only

4wd onroad would be for pavement or curbs, a little grass.

2wd off-road would be for pavement or curbs,dirt light grass light mud.

4wd off-road would be for pavement or curbs,dirt light grass light mud,tall grass, heavy mud.

basically if you got something 4wd off-road it would be able to go on all surfaces and take a beating, but its speed would be limited.

if you got something 2wd onroad it would go very fast, but would break easy.

something scale looking would need to be more cared for or it will just be expensive to repair.

are you just sticking with a tamiya product or are you open to other cars?

The car will be driven on all sorts of terrain, which include the local park and some waste ground which is just at the end of our street. i will also be bringing it to work when i'm on nights as the yard is very dusty.

Can some one please advise best place to purchase a lunch box in england. the best price i've seen is £152 which is a combo deal.

[gresh2811 0]

ok i have both the lunchbox and blackfoot extreme, now i do love my lunchbox but the blackfoot extreme is far better as a basher, if you buy the lunchbox be sure to get some alloy body mounts, as the stock plastic one will break on the your first or second outing.

if you go for the lunchbox you also can get a lexan body made by parma, other things i would suggest would be ballraces, cva shocks including 5th shock mod.

now if you go for the blackfoot extreme, ballraces and cva shocks make a nice difference, you could also fit a lexan body on like i did to protect the abs one, twin detonator or wild dagger lexan bodies fit as they are on the same chassis but with 4wd.

You mention CVA shocks and a 5th shock mod. can you describe more or show pictures of mods. as i've mentioned we're both beginners and have'nt got that deep in to it yet. can't wait to get started though and thrash it round local park and waste ground.

[Leethal Driver 86]

Seeing as how today's big game in the WC is a pile of tosh I'll use my afternoon for something more beneficial...if you need any help on this lot drop a post a d someone'll sort you out

3rd shock mod - try this tutorial courtesy of HellBelly. Something like a 50mm shock should be about right, and doesn't need to be same as the rest. Some useful chassis stiffening mods there as well:

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...9382&id=278

CVA's: oil filled shocks. Typically people will use the Monster Beetle yellow CVA shocks so just search on that auction site for "Tamiya Monster Beetle" and there's usually some up for grabs. Or you could try any oil filled shock really (Yeah Racing 80mm would be ok I think).

Steering mod - bit more advanced but does help stop the front end wallowing about and minimises the bouncy front end problem. Covered in this showroom entry from Ed (MyMonsterBeetleIsBroken) and there's a forum thread in the Monster Trucks section called LunchBox Front End Conversion that covers it in some detail as it can be done a variety of slightly different ways):

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.a...72&sid=2088

A word of warning: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PUT A BRUSHLESS SYSTEM IN YOUR LUNCHBOX.

Not just yet anyway

[SteelRat 46]

He's finally decided that he wants the lunch box. we may get the blackfoot for xmas.

emphasis mine

And so it begins

Seriously though.. good choice. You and him will have oodles of fun with it.

[Zak001 0]

Talking of Mad Bulls, I had one of these a few years ago and it was fantasticly rugged. I ballraced it, put in 14 double motor and some oil shocks, and was running on a 9.6V battery (Filed the ends off the battery stops and held in with cable ties). A friend and I timed it over a measured 50m run at full speed and calculated it was doing 53mph . It was very tricky to drive though with the manual 3 step speed controller. As soon as you hit 2nd speed, one back wheel would spin and balloon ala top fueler, and flip the car over. In the end, in order to get the power down on the tarmac, I locked the rear diff. Also managed to tear a tamiya cva oil shock in half from the torque of the gearbox, ripping the shock body out of the top cap under full throttle, but never managed to strip any gears. I actually wore the rear tyres down to slicks, and the've got a lot of tread.

NB this wasn't the Mad Bull in my traderoom.

LOL, I put a mamba max in mine, oil dampers, foam inserts and it was crazy, you right though, those gears are tough and still looked as new months later. Lots of fun but the handling is just madness.....part of the fun though..

Anyway nice choice, I sold my lunchie and really miss it, I may have to get another one !

[gresh2811 0]

What are the benifits of a brushless motor? We most likely do all the mods in a couple of months so we'll notice what difference they make. Would like to thank everyone for their help and suggestions so far.