Hornet chassis tub (is this vintage/orig?)

[mongoose1983]

I thought about addressing this directly to our friend @Hibernaculum, but seemingly his TC mail inbox is full.

Anyway, I was checking this Grasshopper/Hornet parts lot that I got in exchange for a pair of those new Chinese Mabuchi silvercans a week and a half ago. I went to check H's excellent blog, and found out it should be original. At first I thought it was the cheap re-re, as I thought how noticeable brittle and cheap the plastic feels and looks, with nasty molding flashes everywhere BUT... I checked it and wow, is it really vintage!?

I really have no idea about the history of these parts (as I said I got them in a swap with some local Tamiya enthusiast) so I thought about letting you see it in these pictures so I could have your opinion. If it is vintage I don't think I'll have the heart to run it. I am now having second thoughts even about getting some screws in it!

And here's Hibernaculum's RC Memories blog tub comparison:

I thought re-re chassis tubs were exactly the same, maybe there are some like that?

I would be interested in what owners of Hopper & Hornet re-res can say about the cars they have (chassis tubs, to be specific).

You all have a fantastic Sunday!

 

[Nitomor]

Hey Erich,

That certainly looks vintage from my recollection of my original many moons ago, in particular the notches for the elastic bands. Here is my rere Hornet chassis tub, it's strong, no comments to make really, I think it is rather good quality. Are you worried about screws in because of strength or because its vintahe? If strength concerns maybe if that vintage chassis has been left out in the sun it has embrittled?

 

 

Cheers

Nito

[Terz1]

Interesting topic. I bought a re-re hornet from ebay a while back. I was lucky enough to find he threw in another hornet which was missing a few things such as a front wheel and tyre etc so it wasn't complete (this wasn't in the listing, he messaged me after and said I've decided to put my other hornet in too, nice surprise!). Anyway the one I had bought in the listing is exactly like the one in pic 2 however the one he threw into the deal at the last minute is identical to pic 1 bar one thing. It doesn't have the stamp that says 'made in Japan' or a number stamp as on the re-re. So it points to it being a vintage chassis but is missing that made in Japan stamp? Can it still be vintage without this stamp?

Yours looks very much like a vintage one but I'm no expert. I'm sure someone will come along that does know. 

[Hibernaculum]

Thanks for the kind words @mongoose1983

• Your chassis is definitely 100% vintage.
• Vintage parts often have molding flashes too. It's common on many old parts. If anything, molding technology should be better today than it was back then! (not sure it is though)
• A lot of people speculate about vintage parts becoming more "brittle" from age. I still do not believe this happens when parts are stored safely - I believe it's a myth. Only when parts have (as Nitomor says) been exposed to harsh elements like sun, damp, extreme heat/cold etc, they might be more brittle. Just my 2 cents!
• @Terz1 - please share a pic of your chassis. It might be the Mk1 Grasshopper chassis...To explain further, the original Grasshopper/Hornet chassis had mk1 and mk2 variants. My comparison pic above shows a comparison between the original mk2 and the re-re. This is because the mk2 is by far the more common original type. The mk1 original however, does have different text printed on it. And one other small difference from memory. This might be what Terz1 has

H.

[Terz1]

Oh Interesting! I didn't know that Hibernaculum, thanks for the info. I'll take some pics when I get a chance. Didn't know you could tag people in posts either. I'll try it now. @Hibernaculum 

[Hibernaculum]

@Terz1 worked

[Terz1]

@Hibernaculum  . Sorry everyone be prepared to be tagged from now on. 

So I've took some (bad) pics with my phone and I forgot I actually bought a grasshopper/hornet bundle on ebay. Lots of good parts including a spare chassis. So I have 3 in total.

So after looking at them all I noticed the following :

1. The re-re -

•  Says TAMIYA at the front of the chasis with the 2 star logo
• Circular stamp in the chassis tub with a serial number. Underneath this is wrote RCC GRASSHOPPER
• Small square hole for humpbacked battery and no tab for elastic bands

I didn't take any pics because It's identical to the pic mongoose showed as is most definitely a re-re

 

       2. The 2nd hornet I got given when buying the re-re -

• Says TAMIYA at the front of the chassis with the 2 star logo

• Circular stamp in the chassis tub saying MADE IN JAPAN. Underneath this it says RCC GRASSHOPPER. (Didn't take take a pic, servo in the way)
• Large square hole for hump backed battery and tab for elastic bands (pic taken from underneath beacuse of esc blocking the top view)

 

       3. Chassis received in job lot of hornet/grasshopper parts -

• Says OFF ROADER at the front of the chassis with the 2 star logo

• Circular stamp in the chassis tub says MADE IN JAPAN. Underneath this it says RCC GRASSHOPPER.

• Large square hole for hump backed battery and tab for elastic bands. This final chassis also has no front body post for a hornet body and the gearbox attached to it had the smaller 380 motor.

 

So from this would the first chassis be a re-re hornet? The second chassis a vintage hornet? If so what mk? And the third chassis a vintage grasshopper, again which mk?

Thanks for any help and sorry for putting this in your post mongoose. Hope it turns out helpful to everyone.

[Hibernaculum]

1. Re-re chassis

2. Original Grasshopper chassis Mk2

3. Original Grasshopper chassis Mk1

Well done with the photos

As suspected and as you have seen, the third (mystery) chassis has turned out to be a Mk1 chassis. The Mk1 has a few differences, notably the body mount. The embossed "Off Roader" is the easiest giveaway. This chassis was in production only, I suspect, while the Grasshopper existed (1983) yet the Hornet didn't (1984). So 1 year or less (more likely just a few months).

It's also interesting as it suggests the Hornet design was not fully anticipated when the Grasshopper was released. The chassis needed a tweak to suit the Hornet. 

Think I have it covered in the sidebar here:

https://rctoymemories.com/2015/03/24/tamiya-grasshopper-1984/

 

[mongoose1983]

10 hours ago, Terz1 said:

Thanks for any help and sorry for putting this in your post mongoose. Hope it turns out helpful to everyone.

Nothing to be sorry for, my friend! And many thanks to you and Hibernaculum as the purpose of these posts is to clarify the history of Tamiya, not just the background of some piece we own. Thumbs up to you guys!

[Terz1]

Great so I've got an original mk1 and a mk2 grasshopper chassis. Nice surprise . Thanks for the link too hibernaculum. Did you put that article together about the grasshopper. If you did, good job!

 

[Hibernaculum]

Yes, you are actually very lucky to have a mk1 Grasshopper chassis, as they are pretty rare.

(And yep, all articles on my site are written by me - cheers for the kind words!)