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The Most Complicated Tamiya Kit?

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Tell him to get a hot shot and throw the instructions away ....

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I’m struggling slightly with vintage 3 Speeds being the most complex ?

Sure they’re fiddly - and whatever anyone says, vintage metal frames / chassis plates never ran wholly true ... - but they’re not salty language (build only when the family are out) tricky ...

That honor surely rests with bonkers design, complex dampers, too many e rings, wedged electronics and a motor / gearbox / drive only a sadist (or Land Rover owner) could love !

Which brings me back to the 959 

Especially when you add the body - which is surely the hardest to get right inside out !

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1 hour ago, skinned said:

Tell him to get a hot shot and throw the instructions away ....

This is probably the best advice.  Tamiya aren't overly complex.  Even the trickier ones have excellent manuals.  If someone wants complex then tell them just don't look at the instructions.  Tip all the bags into one pile for an extra challenge.  :lol:

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1 hour ago, Blista said:

This is probably the best advice.  Tamiya aren't overly complex.  Even the trickier ones have excellent manuals.  

Tamiya has probably the most well explained and best illustrated manual of all RC/model makers. I have never heard of anyone complaining about Tamiya manual being inaccurate.

So if the build goes wrong, then it's the builder that went wrong. 

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On 3/20/2020 at 7:20 PM, skinned said:

Tell him to get a hot shot and throw the instructions away ....

Agreed.  I found the Hot Shot to be an enjoyable and more involved build compared to most Tamiya kits.  As such, the Super Hot Shot would be the same level of build.

As previously mentioned, the re-re Bruiser and Mountain Rider are also good challenges and take a long time to build (don't forget to thread lock every screw going into metal). 

The new generation 3speeds (Ford F350 Highlift, Toyota Tundra Highlift, Toyota HiLux Highlift) are also quite complicated and time-consuming to build, especially if you add the optional lighting kit parts.

An alternative choice would be to purchase a vintage wreck off eBay or other web platform and painstakingly disassemble it part by part, clean the parts, source suitable replacements and build it up again.  That can get rather complicated and time-consuming depending on what was purchased but the end result can be very rewarding.   I find myself doing this with vintage Kyosho cars.  ^_^

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Terra scorcher is a more detailed build that sat a TT02

im looking for something that’s not dull to build too

JJ

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On 3/21/2020 at 2:11 AM, Nicadraus said:

Tamiya has probably the most well explained and best illustrated manual of all RC/model makers.

 

"I have never heard of anyone complaining about Tamiya manual being inaccurate."

So if the build goes wrong, then it's the builder that went wrong. 

Actually not true. The Top Force manual says use Threadlock in the lower chassis plate bolts.

Then, later says remove 4 of them to fit the under tray. Good luck with that. They are aluminium screws.

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3 hours ago, FoxShot said:

Actually not true. The Top Force manual says use Threadlock in the lower chassis plate bolts.

Then, later says remove 4 of them to fit the under tray. Good luck with that. They are aluminium screws.

Well there goes one complain... Haha!

Still, Tamiya manuals are very easy to follow.

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4 minutes ago, Nicadraus said:

Well there goes one complain... Haha!

Still, Tamiya manuals are very easy to follow.

Overall, I agree with you.  99.9% of the time the manual is pretty good.  But it's also fun to note where things have not always been right.

A lot of people miss the tiny arrow in the DB01 manual telling the builder to flip the diff before installing the screw, spring, and lock nut.  The result is the screw is installed backwards and loosens upon use, causing the ball diff to slip and melt the pulley.  There's also the perpetual mystery of what "synthetic rubber cement" actually is (used to hold the diff rings in place).

The first release of the TB04 PRO needed an addendum/errata for the instructions to minimize the misalignment between the center and rear gearboxes, saving the prop shaft from wear and tear.

:D

 

 

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And the Wild One steering ball end where it asks you cut the flange off. Its only after you completely cut them off and then dont have enough to thread on the steering rods that it becomes clear what the diagram actually meant (and then you have to buy more ends)

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Astute manual had confused positive & negative camber and included a correction slip.

Super Astute manual shows how to extend or reduce the wheel base using extra spacers on the rear hubs but both of the optional positions cause the suspension arm to foul on the inside of the rear wheel so are not functional.

This has turned into a different thread now hasn't it !

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15 hours ago, Thommo said:

 

Astute manual had confused positive & negative camber and included a correction slip.

Super Astute manual shows how to extend or reduce the wheel base using extra spacers on the rear hubs but both of the optional positions cause the suspension arm to foul on the inside of the rear wheel so are not functional.

This has turned into a different thread now hasn't it !

Thought that was pretty funny when I built the Super Astute, too.

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15 hours ago, Thommo said:

This has turned into a different thread now hasn't it !

Has become a manual accuracy/inaccuracy thread. Hahaha!

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