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Flare65

Getting back into the hobby after a +10 year break....general questions.I

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Hello all,

I'd like to get back into the hobby again and I got my hands on a Wild WIlly 2 kit and well.......that's about it.  No battery(s). no radio, no steering servo. Not even paint for the body yet.  I do have the itch to get started with this kit and maybe splurge on another kit (or two!) down the road.  If some of you would take a moment to answer a few of my questions, that would help.  I'd like to make an order for some gear relatively soon.

The last radio I had was on old Futaba AM radio with changeable crystals.  It looks like these are not the the standard these days and everything has gone to Spectrum?  Is there a radio around $100 or less that you all recommend?  Any rechargeable batteries for the radio?  I know battery technology has changed quite a bit since the old NiCad days.  Is there a radio that can control multiple cars if I just buy an extra receiver?  Id like to also spend a little more for a better-than-basic-steering servo too.

Is LiPo batteries the standard for R/C cars these days?  I'd need a charger to go along with a couple of battery packs.  I'm not looking to race.  Just want the WW2 to get up and move.  I plan on upgrading to the sport tuned motor and 20T pinion right away with this kit.  Will the stock ESC that is included with the WW2 kit handle this?

Two additional upgrades I'd like to do while building the kit is ball bearings an some better shocks.  Is fasteddy's the go to place for these bearings?  The kit looks like it needs 16 of them.  The second upgrade would be some better shocks.  I doubt that they will make that much of a difference, but if they look better than stock and makes a marginal improvement in handling worth it to me.

I'm in the USA and have ordered from TowerHobbies in the past for a lot of gear.  Looks like they are still around.  Any other sites besides them that you all order from?

Thanks and I'll be sure to post some pictures when the kit is complete!

~J

 

 

 

 

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I bought a goolrc radio and receiver kit for around ~$50 that seems to do a great job.  I also just picked up a 2 pack of goolrc receivers one bay for $13 so I can put them in other cars and use the one transmitter.  I also have an older Tower Hobbies radio setup but I can't find receivers for it anywhere.

Tower Hobbies is good, they still have a lot of stuff.  I notice they have fewer radios than I would have expected, and I guess the Tower Hobbies brand stuff is gone now?  You'll have to go elsewhere mostly for replacement parts though.

As for servos, a 9kh servo can be had for I think anywhere form $15-$30.  I picked up a futaba s3003 to steer my incoming Blackfoot kit.  If I was doing a clod buster or bigger truck I'd go with a faster, more high performance servo.

Not sure if lipo is the standard, but they are gaining in popularity.  For casual runners like myself, I am sticking with the 3000-3600mAh NIMH batteries as they are pretty cheap and I can get a good 30+ minute run out of them which is more than I need.

The WWII I believe comes with an ESC that should handle moderate motor upgrades.  If you want to go nuts you may have to swap that out. 

For bearings, you can get a 'kit' from FastEddys for the car you're getting or you can piece meal the bearings out on ebay and buy in bulk.  If you plan to dive in more and get several cars, probably makes sense to buy them in bulk.  For most Tamiya cars there's only a few sizes shared across most platforms.

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Hi! Welcome. For a radio, check out the Flysky GT5. 20 model memory and flysky receivers are only a few bucks each. 

You don't ned to go lipo straight away. Nimh batteries are better than nicad and easier to look after than lipo. Get lipo once you are happy enough back in thr hobby. A WW2 will runs for ages on a 3500-4000mah battery. 

Fast eddy seems to be the place in the USA. 

The stock esc will run a sport tuned fine. 

For shocks Tamiya 53619 will get you oil dampers to fit kit springs to. Will improve the car plenty. 

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Welcome back, it sounds like you're already accepting its a slippery slope and 1 kit won't be enough.  You're story is familiar, most people on here had a long break and came back.

Radios - 2.4GHz is the way to go.  Spektrum is a brand which is popular as its good value for money.  Futaba and Sanwa seem to be the preferred for racers, but anything at the top end is great.  On a budget and with no plans to race look at the Flysky GT3C.  The C not the B.  The C has an included lipo battery but the B requires 8 AA batteries.  The GT5 is a step up and work looking at as well.  They have all the functions you need and can have multiple receivers bound to them, and receivers are cheap, like US$10 each or something.  For something better you really need to go a mid-level Futaba (4PV, 4PM) or Sanwa (MTS, MT44) and they 3 or 4 times the price and receivers cost heaps more.  They are nice though.

Servos - the standard was always the Futaba S3003 which is still available.  I run Savox 1258TG in my race cars, Trackstar D99X in onroad race cars and JX 4409MG in my bashers.  The JX servos are low profile, metal gear and about 9kg / .1secs so specs are great, and only about US13 from Banggood.

https://www.banggood.com/JX-Servo-PDI-4409MG-9kg-Large-Torque-180-Degree-Digital-Servo-p-1069744.html?rmmds=search

Battery - you can get round case lipos which fit in the old cars.  Its easier to buy them locally as shipping lipos can be a problem

Battery charger - there are plenty to choose from, get one that can charge all battery types.  Its also worth looking at the power output as well as amps it can charge at.  A charger with 6amps and 60watts may seem like enough, but if you buy a 4S lipo then you won't get near the 6amp charge rate.  You can get them with AC or DC power input.  I prefer AC as then you don't need a separate power supply, but you have to go DC if you want crazy power and charge rates.  I have just bought this one, specs are good enough for me and its a dual charger, so can charge 2 batteries at once.  I find having 2 separate chargers is a pain (first world problem) but this should be easier.  Also, I need 3 chargers as my son and I race.  Also look at SkyRC chargers, they are the OEM for a bunch of brands.  Its worth spending a bit more on a charger as you'll have it for years, and if you go cheap you'll no doubt end up buying another.

https://www.banggood.com/HTRC-C240-DUO-AC-150W-DC-240W-10Ax2-Dual-Channel-RC-Battery-Balance-Charger-p-1242905.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=USA

Bearings - I buy them in packs of 10 of the common sizes rather than packs and keep a stash of them.  RCMart have them for about US$4 per pack and I just add them to my orders as I go.  A pack will cost a lot more than buying them this way, but of course is easier as you don't have to work out how many you need.  You can download most manuals before you buy a kit so you can work out how many bearings you will need before you order.

I order from Amain and TQRC Racing in the USA.  RCMart, rcjaz and Hobbyking in Hong Kong, or Modelsport and Fusion Hobbies in the UK.  Also, Tonystamiyaparts on ebay is great.

 

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1. 2.4ghz (WiFi) transmitters and receivers 

1 transmitter can control many cars (like crystals) but they auto deconflict with other users

 You can get a transmitter for under £20 and I buy flysky receivers for my cars at £6 each 

Tx - https://www.modelsport.co.uk/0/rc-car-products/436135

Rx - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143426400538

2. Batteries - stick with the standard stick packs for now - LiPo are complicated for manage / charge / store

I get these - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321874076061

3. Bearings - always get bearings. Range from £6 a set for the grasshopper or say £15 for a clod Buster 

4. You have to buy servos separately now - AliExpress / banggood / eBay 

I always aim for £5 per servo but obviously if you are a pro then go expensive 

most of all though - enjoy 

you will have 10 Cars by the end of the year - bet ya ;)

JJ

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[1]  I'd cut half the price from the radio budget, if you were thinking about the old AM radios.  AM radios used to cost $100 for a basic unit back in the 90's.  Nowadays, $50 will get you a 2.4ghz radio with "new basic" functions like trims, servo reverse, exponential, dual rate, 3rd channel, anti-lock braking, etc.  I'm using Flysky GT3B (8 AA batteries), but go with Flysky GT3C (4 AA batteries) as mentioned by Jonathon.  Or Flysky GT5 or Radiolink RC6GS (6GS has a gyro that could stabilize the steering too) would be a step up, at around $70.  Futaba 3PV is a good starter model if you want to spend about $120.  It's a bit sparse in functions, but it gives you faster response time.  It would be important if you were racing. But few thousandth's of a second won't make a difference for Wild Willy2.  

[2]  SkyRC iMax B6 is a well known charger for about $50-$60.  There are tons of clones. The rumor is that they do equally well.  There are dozens of other brands offering similar functions.  The original B6 required a 12v power supply (I'm using one for a laptop), but they offer 110v one too.  Most of these contemporary chargers charge LiPo, LiFe, Li-ion, NiCd, NiMH, even lead acid battery.  You'd be set for good 10 years until something new comes along.  

[3]  Look into Hobbyking for cheap servos (though many seems to be out of stock with Covid19 and all).  Futaba S3003 is a measuring stick I still use to this day.  But you can get much better servos for less than $10.  S3003 had about 4kg of torque at 0.2 second.  Anything stronger and faster would do.  Since Wild Willy 2 is hefty, I'd go with 9kg or above (JX 4409MG digital servo is a 9kg and fast. Though it's a bit smaller it should fit. You can get one for about $14 on ebay).   

[4]  If yours came with older Tamiya ESC, you might want to be careful with digital servos.  I prefer analog servos, they seem to be stronger with higher voltages.  What happens with older Tamiya ESC was that they'd give servos unadulterated juice.  Sometimes that could fry the digital servo.  Recent ESCs downgrade it to 6v, but not older ones.  Some servos are marked as "high voltage servo" to handle the extra voltage.   When in doubt, switch to Hobbywing 1060 ESC.  It costs about $20. It can handle down to 12 turn motor, though, you'll only end up doing back flips with stronger motor.  But Sport Tuned should be fine.  

[5]  You can search "5x11x4mm bearing" (aka "1150") on ebay.  I have not come across any Tamiya kit that doesn't use at least one 1150 bearing (you are going to need LOTS of them).  If I had ordered "bearing kits" for 36 cars, I'd have paid $540 for bearings.  In fact, bearings cost only about 30 cents a piece.  RC Mart sells 10 Rubber shielded Teflon bearings for $3.40 (Yeah Racing bearings are top of the line quality too).  https://www.rcmart.com/yeah-racing-rc-ptfe-bearing-5x11x4mm-10pcs-yb6014b-s10-00001611 Bearings just make it go 15-20% faster, and make the battery last longer too.  

Though coming from Hong Kong might take longer.  My latest RCMart order was from late Feb.  It arrived on March 6th, which was normal 7-10 days, even as people were panicking with the virus.  A kit I ordered from Korea (Academy CV90 if you must know) last week arrived today.  But another from within US is taking over 4 weeks, so I don't know what's going on with the USPS (I'm thankful that they are working hard for folks stuck at home though).   

 

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I go with a different philosophy.   As I have gotten older I learned to spend a little more up front to save in the long run.  3 areas i find it better to buy quality name brand products with actual customer support is radios, servos and chargers.

For a radio I would recommend a Spektrum DX5C or DX5 Rugged.  They are very good, reliable  radios and if there is a problem you can send in to be repaired.  I still have a 10 year old DX3R I use with my bashers and vintage cars I do not drive much.  The roller wheel went a little funky on it this year, I called Spektrum and they sent me a new switch assembly to replace it at no charge.  If I sent it to them for repair they estimated cost at 25.00 plus shipping.  Standard 2 channel receivers are around 30.00 each, fairly small and I have not had any issues with them.  I have a fly sky, and did not like it at all.  It did not "feel" good in my hand, response was slow, and it was not as easy to program.

For servos I tend to use Savox with my faster and my crawlers.  Nothing is more frustrating than to pop a servo and have to pack up early.  Savox also has a cheaper line, they run 30-40 for a metal geared servo.  I do not use plastic geared servos any more, would rather pay a little more up front than having to deal with replacing servo gears.  Hitec also make a good updated line of servos with a 25 tooth spline, same as Futaba.    I have tried some of the cheap servos and they did not meet their advertised specs, do not center well, and I have a couple that are loud and get a little bit warm.

For chargers, I still think the best beginner charger is the Hitec RDX1.  Costs around 70.00.  It will charge pretty much any battery being used in the rc world now.  They have excellent customer service and have the capability to repair their products. 

Sorry this is so long, I like to share a different perspective. 

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All,

 

Thank you very much for the detailed responses.  I've been looking at each one of these suggestions and been ordering a lot of parts.  So far I have ordered the following:

Bearings

2 x NiMH batteries

Sport Tuned motor

and various Tamiya paints.

I'll be deciding on a radio, servo, and charger later today when I get off of work.  My boss says I'm 'essential'.

This weekend I'll be cleaning off the workbench and then waiting for the parts to arrive.  As soon as the bearings arrive I'll start changing out the bushings in the gearbox.  The body will have to wait until next week when the weather warms up a bit.

I do have another question about painting the body though...  I'm going for a bright red color, I can't remember the specific Tamiya TS-?? code for it, but I was going to coat the body with regular auto body primer before I paint and then use a clear coat over it.  I'm looking for a high gloss finish.  Do I need to stick with the Tamiya brand for primer and clear coat?

Thanks and looking forward to joining the discussion here!

 

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No - I use auto primer BUT remember to get plastic primer not just normal auto primer

then go with the tamiya (is it TS-8?)

once done then see what the paint is like 

using lacquer can be hard and can react with paint and you need to lay it down my heavier than you would with your light coatings of base paint 

this clod I used HU cite white plastic primer, Tamiya TS-8 (Italian red) then just some lacquer I had in the garage that I’d used to paint 1:1 plastic wing mirrors 

3IT4yZ0.jpg

 

JJ

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