Jump to content
c64orinoco

Tamiya ON THE MOON anyone?

Recommended Posts

This is for real - for high school students at least. There is a compeition to design RC racers to be launched to the moon and have a race!

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/05/bored-highschoolers-at-home-have-them-design-a-race-car-for-the-moon/

https://moonmark.space/

Space Frogs, anyone? What would be the best Tamiya car for the moon? My money is on the G6-01 King Yellow as the first MoonBus!

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Dynahead would be more suited with he portals. Stick a faux satellite dish on it, bobs your uncle.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Quite a few spaceship-type designs already in Tamiya's back catalog.  In fact the Shamana II, a single-person interceptor flown by elite special forces soldier Major Geller in my forthcoming novel Precious Cargo, was roughly based on the shape of the Manta Ray.  In fact I keep meaning to paint up my spare Manta Ray body in the Shamana II's space combat livery.

Seriously though this is a great idea - encouraging kids to work together while stuck at home.  Although none of the kids I knew at that age would have had a clue where to start, so as usual this will require the adults getting on board too.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
4 hours ago, c64orinoco said:

This is for real - for high school students at least. There is a compeition to design RC racers to be launched to the moon and have a race!

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2020/05/bored-highschoolers-at-home-have-them-design-a-race-car-for-the-moon/

https://moonmark.space/

Space Frogs, anyone? What would be the best Tamiya car for the moon? My money is on the G6-01 King Yellow as the first MoonBus!

 

2 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

Quite a few spaceship-type designs already in Tamiya's back catalog.  In fact the Shamana II, a single-person interceptor flown by elite special forces soldier Major Geller in my forthcoming novel Precious Cargo, was roughly based on the shape of the Manta Ray.  In fact I keep meaning to paint up my spare Manta Ray body in the Shamana II's space combat livery.

Seriously though this is a great idea - encouraging kids to work together while stuck at home.  Although none of the kids I knew at that age would have had a clue where to start, so as usual this will require the adults getting on board too.

Come guys, TXT-1 with diff locks would be best. Remove the bodyshell and you've got a great aluminium chassis platform for mounting solar panels, sensors, cameras, and it can handle the extra weight of the 3.6lbs of kit required. In all seriousness, If you trawl the internet, several academic institutions have used them in the past as autonomous vehicles. Not sure how the tire rubber would stand up to -173c though. Probably need to replace them with spade lug aluminium wheels.

This could actually be a massive marketing opportunity if kit based models win. TXT-1 NASA special edition anyone ?

Shame it's only open to kids.....

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

Seriously though this is a great idea - encouraging kids to work together while stuck at home.  Although none of the kids I knew at that age would have had a clue where to start, so as usual this will require the adults getting on board too.

I wish I was in high school! I have access to some awesome design software as part of my real job, so I would LOVE to do an entry for this! I'm happy to leave it to the  kids though, this would be awesome for them!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I absolutely need to see a Lunchbox on the moon...

...it'll go 2 feet and fall over.🤣

  • Haha 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The astronauts drove "Moon buggies," not "Moon trucks" ;)

e22055fdc73872717d2b14a27547d076.jpg

That aerodynamic shape would be perfect for cutting through the, uh... *checks notes* ... never mind :P

More seriously, though, this is a great contest and relevant to the current status of space exploration, so I am intrigued. Having seen some similar work from my alma mater's Aerospace Engineering department, however, I am less optimistic it will look anything like a Tamiya!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Lordy Lordy I wish I had some spare money for just a fun project at the moment. I am 62 so technically a kid if only regressively. I have a piece of plastic in my spares box that is jut itching to go on a moon buggy. It’s round, similar to a McFlurry lid that would make something. Also some boat parts. I think the TXT-1 would be a really good starting point though wheels would need to be fabricated. I think a lunchbox would have trouble staying on the ground in zero gravity 👽

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Howabout Boomerang? They even foresaw it, with an ad of Boomerang on the surface of moon.

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...