tamiya production & design video

[skinned 134]

this is so cool...are there any other similar videos like this...it just sucks I did not see a sand scorcher In this video :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Nv7MlFbQ8

 

[Juggular 4961]

It made me think, "Why didn't they run the Juggernaut 1 before releasing it?"  (it came out in 1999) 

 

This film was made in 1991 when they were doing good work.  After this, things kinda fell apart for a while.  Juggernaut 1's gears broke down immediately.  Tamiya re-designed it in a hurry.  (15t gear to 15t gear meshing was changed to a 15t gear meshing with an 18t gear)   Thankfully, upgrade kits to Jugg 2 were issued to Jugg 1 owners.  Tamiya might make mistakes, but it stands by its products. (I'm sure it was an expensive mistake)  Below happened within 15 seconds (to be fair, I used stock motors with advanced timing).  But by further refining Jugg 2, TXT was a hit, and Tamiya probably made up for the loss.  

 

(Also in 1999) Mad Bison's counter gear should have gone above the chassis pan.  Maybe to produce a couple parts less, Tamiya cut the floor and put it through it.  It was like the arresting hook of an airplane landing on a carrier.  It got caught everywhere.  And if that gear is destroyed by a tree root, the whole car would be useless.  I put a deflector in front of it.  But still not jumpable, because it will land on that gear cover and make a dimple on the ground.  If that is a pavement, you might not have your Mad Bison anymore.  Why bother with counter-sunk screws, if they are going to put that hunk down there?  This problem wasn't fixed.  Please, please, please ~ test your cars before putting it out for sale!  

 

 

 

The tires of Terra Crusher (2002) were made out of lead. (no, they were rubber)  But 4 tires weighed more than 2 entire buggies!  If tires weigh more than 6 cans of beer, it can't run fast.  That just a common sense.  The 80's innovative Tamiya might have given us something cool like light tires we can pump air into, instead of ultra-heavy tires to support the weight.  Terra Crusher is an awesome truck if it weren't for the 2.3kg tires.  Since it was Tamiya's answer to T-Maxx, shouldn't they have tested it against T-Maxx and discover how sluggish it was?  

 

Juggernaut 1 + Mad Bison + Terra Crusher = substantial $$.  But, I still love these cars, and I am still a fan of Tamiya.  But if mid-80's was Tamiya's best time, the early 2000s feels like a confusing time for Tamiya.  

 

After that, Tamiya discovered the "re-releases."  No testings were needed?  I seem to remember some of the re-releases with new parts having teething problems...  

 

It's odd how Tamiya showed all the testings themselves, but didn't seem to do it for a while.  There is no quick solution to anything.  Everything needs to be tested.  Hopefully, Tamiya will have a long list of wonderful cars without these problems from now on.  

 

 

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

That's a nice video.  It made me reflect on how much capital is invested in their business, and how much of a process they follow(ed).

I think it's interesting to consider how different market focuses affect how a business chooses to make its products.  In Tamiya's case, their focus is on scale accuracy and the best way to achieve it is through injection molding.  All that molding drives a complex upstream process of tooling and design.  It's their heritage coming from static plastic models, and they use the same processes and tools for making RC products.

Then you have race-oriented brands, and you'll notice the focus is on performance.  There are yearly iterations of products -- not enough of a market and not enough time to amortize tooling costs.  So you see fiberglass or carbon fiber decks and damper stays cut from a router, and CNC-machined bulkheads, posts, and shock parts that are anodized, and maybe a few plastic parts like suspension arms, uprights, and adjusters.  To my eye there is less tooling involved in making a race product, but the cost of part production goes up because of materials, machine time, and material waste for many parts.

Even the drift-oriented brands change on a regular basis to follow trends in the drifting crowd.  The experimentation in that market has led to multiple drivetrain styles, different suspensions, steering mechanisms, weight distributions, etc.  Responding rapidly to these trends means you can't predict the production volume very well, and amortizing tooling is a nightmare.  So you see these boutique brands popping up, and they design and manufacture like the racing brands.

There are some budget-focused brands making pan cars, and they cut fiberglass and use the most basic of brackets and fasteners to make something simple with the idea of supporting specific racing classes (ala Legends, oval, etc.).  The designs haven't changed in years, it seems.  It's almost like these businesses are run like a hobby!

Anyhow, there's been evidence over the past few years that the RC hobby is shrinking.  With a smaller market size you have to wonder if we'll see some innovations in design and construction that make running a business in a shrinking market more palatable.  Maybe there will be new design techniques, new materials, or new manufacturing processes that will allow a business to adjust to market conditions (up or down) more easily instead of going out of business.

 

[_oliK 108]

I would love working there one day. What better job is there than designing toys?

[Fabia130vRS 2098]

I like this one, since these were the years me as a kid standing in a rc shop the first time.

[Pablo68 1049]

22 hours ago, _oliK said:

I would love working there one day. What better job is there than designing toys?

Yeah I would too, and I've worked in Japan before.
But I think there would be drawbacks. Not the least is the way most businesses in Japan are run along the lines of a strict hierarchy.  You can't pop your head up in most Japanese workplaces to say say whether something may not work very well, or not at all, and be listened to or have anything done about it.
It's the home of top down management in a sense. And nothing tends to change until something catastrophic happens.

More like as not, as a foreigner you'd be working on writing for the manuals rather than any designing.

Still, I wouldn't mind working there for a bit.

[Juggular 4961]

I've noticed (in some Japanese animations), that people (characters) say things like "that's for the important people to decide."  

We do have the expression of "that's above my pay grade."  But that's usually used to get away from responsibility.  The way Japanese say it is like, "we accept that we are little, and we must accept our lot in life."  I suppose that's their culture.  My ex-roommate taught English to kids for 2 years.  He wasn't impressed with the hierarchical structure.  Having heard that, I wouldn't want to work in Japan.  But I wouldn't mind visiting for a couple months after retirement... that'd be many years away, though.  

 

[_oliK 108]

I heard that the hierarchy rubbish is getting better lately. Don't know how much that applies to Tamiya though. I'll have to see, I'm still in college anyway.