Jump to content
Macinnis

My thoughts on Tamiya

Recommended Posts

I live in Missouri, USA.  Pretty much the middle of the country.  Growing up in the late 80s RC trucks were a dream to own.  My brothers and I all had them and had a blast with them. We had Mauri Big Bear, an original Lunch Box (that I just found out my brother threw away years ago :(), a Radio Shack White Tiger buggy (that I know I still have and can't seem to find). Tamiya was the top of the chain for RC.   So after restoring my Big Bear late last year,  I bought a Tamiya Bush Devil 2 kit and chose Tamiya out of sheer nostalgia and recommendation from several on these forums.  Opened the box and it was exactly as I had expected.  Lots of pieces, assemble by hand, and customization.   I knew it was not a ready to run kit, and that's why I stayed away from Traxxis, I wanted to build.  It seems that Tamiya is much more hobby grade RC than Traxxis.  I located a "sort of" local RC track and it was 99% Traxxis vehicles.  Bandit buggys zipping around,  Stampedes climbing hills.  Seemed boring. However, it made sense as the local hobby shop is a Traxxis dealer and the 3 times I have been there for hop up parts, they looked at my Tamiya truck like it was some sort of alien step child and barely wanted to attempt to help me.  Even the guy that claimed to own multiple Tamiya trucks, had not come across the issues I was having like finding tires to fit and pinion gears in .6 metric.  That one stumped them.   It's been frustrating trying to get parts for my truck.  Most everything recommended is from China, local parts dealers are non-existent, and knowledge of the Tamiya line of trucks is scarce.  I do want to say that searching the web for answers has led me to tamiyaclub.com for everything and the people here have been extremely helpful. So thank you everyone.  So in conclusion with my final thoughts, Tamiya is a top notch kit.  Most of the kits are no where near complete.  They require much more than is listed on Tamiya website just to get them running.  I expected needing the radio and transmitter. The lack of steering servo, the mediocre base line ESC that REQUIRES a BEC so you don't fry your electronics, and special paint that is required to paint the clear bodies, (Do not even attempt to use anything other than paints labeled for lexan bodies because they look amazing for even an amateur painter like myself).  For the WT-01 chassis being my first truck getting back in to the hobby, I feel like I have learned so much putting it together, seeing every part and where it goes on the truck.  I think I could disassemble another branded vehicle and know exactly what was what.  I don't regret my choice, but I will admit, I underestimated the extras that were going to be needed to be competitive.  So, thank you to everyone here at TC and I hope to keep building and look forward to seeing everyone else's projects! 

 

*edit - Forgot to put a pic of my new truck!

Bush Devil 2.JPG

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Exactly my thoughts on Tamiya.

In England we seem to be able to locate parts a little easier, although I (and my son) are not at this stage yet, we're just enjoying the standard kits at the moment.

I'm sure that day will come though..........

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Congrats on your build.  WT-01 chassis was my first build coming back into the hobby after a 20 year hiatus.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, Macinnis said:

For the WT-01 chassis being my first truck getting back in to the hobby, I feel like I have learned so much putting it together, seeing every part and where it goes on the truck.  I think I could disassemble another branded vehicle and know exactly what was what.  I don't regret my choice, but I will admit, I underestimated the extras that were going to be needed to be competitive.  So, thank you to everyone here at TC and I hope to keep building and look forward to seeing everyone else's projects! 

Hi Maci, 

The WT-01 isn't competitive against say the Traxxas Stampede, no matter what you do to it unfortunately. Notwithstanding, give me the WT-01 any day though, especially the Bush Devil as it looks awesome. 

Tamiya always seems to be pretty expensive in the USA and poorly supported especially relative to the competitors, over here in the UK and EU kits and parts are pretty cheap although again not widely stocked in many UK LHSs. 

Unfortunately, the ESC included in the Bush Devil kit is not great. You can purchase the Hobbywing Quicrun 1060 for under $20 and it is an infinitely better ESC.

I would recommend these tyres. They come on the rims and include foams but fit straight on the WT-01 rims. These are the largest 2.2" tyres I have found and go great on the Bush Devil to give it the scale monster truck look http://www.tomtop.com/car-tires-1199/p-rm3675.html (can ship from the USA warehouse)

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes, I also would recommend better rims. Convert to 4WD, much better handling. Take a Quicrun WP860 ESC and 15T HPI Firebolt dual motors.

Better shock-system, ball bearings and you'll have enough fun with this "old boy". ;)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was exactly in your shoes when I got back into the hobby 15 years ago. I left and Tamiya was at the top. Everybody knew it and had one. I got back in and suddenly Traxxas had taken over. Fewer and fewer people were building kits here in the States. Now, as for the rest of the world, Tamiya is still pretty well known. As for parts support, I've read MRC (Tamiya's old importer before Tamiya USA was formed) was not the best to deal with in the US. Perhaps that's why hobby shops jumped ship when Traxxas ramped up the whole RTR thing. Who knows? To be fair, even back in the day, Tamiya's lacked radio gear. A radio set usually came with the transmitter, receiver and two servos however. The lack of BEC in the speed controllers bothers me as well though. On the other hand ESCs were quite expensive back in the day and now they're just added in the kit. Its an improvement, even for a MSC diehard like myself. The good news is Tamiya is forever. Traxxas can be fad-like at times, but Tamiya (with its lengthy history) will always be around and loved (somewhere in the world, even if its not in the land-o-Traxxas US).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...