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Why doesn't Tamiya make...

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Hello All,

 

I'm sure just about everyone has wondered at some point in time or another why Tamiya does (or doesn't) make something we think many would want.  What's on your list?

 

  For example:  

-I'm finished up a Blackfoot re-re, and wondered aloud why Tamiya went back to the metal plate transmission as opposed to using the King Blackfoot design which already resolved the weak gearbox issue?  (I've already ordered the 3-D printed trans brace solution from our fellow Tamiya Club members)

-Chrome King Blackfoot wheels too much of a hassle..?  Why not just use Monster Beetle Wheels without the extra step of gold paint (wheels are chrome then painted with gold translucent paint).  

 

Just a couple of quick gripes but I'm sure some of you have brilliant suggestions for our beloved model maker..

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Absolutely have to agree about the Blackfoot! I hope they just re-re the King Blackfoot!!!  Suspension Arms that WORK, and a Gearbox that KEEPS working. 😲  Besides, prices for KBF have skyrocketed WAY higher than they're worth.

..... I'm hoping beyond hope that Tamiya re-res the King Cab!!! Still my favorite RC. BUT - do a little redesign on the Gearbox and Front Suspension...

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I have a few:

  • Use hex screws, seriously I have JIS drivers but hex is just better,
  • Why, as a 'model' company do you release cars on the wrong platforms? FWD cars on RWD platforms, AWD cars on FWD platforms, etc?
  • Why can't I buy portal axles for the GF01/G601 separately, and why are they only in red? and
  • Be consistent with part numbers, some are 5 digit, some are 8, often the same part has 2 different numbers, why?

 

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42 minutes ago, lsear2905 said:

I have a few:

  • Use hex screws, seriously I have JIS drivers but hex is just better,
  • Why, as a 'model' company do you release cars on the wrong platforms? FWD cars on RWD platforms, AWD cars on FWD platforms, etc?
  • Why can't I buy portal axles for the GF01/G601 separately, and why are they only in red? and
  • Be consistent with part numbers, some are 5 digit, some are 8, often the same part has 2 different numbers, why?

 

GOOD POINT! Especially the Hex Head Screws. Nowadays they're on the cheapest RCs...

And why aren't those Portals available separately? Clever Minded Guys (here) could likely modify them to fit things besides the GF Series Kits.

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If tamiya released the Blackfoot with a KBF tranny then it wouldn’t be a true Blackfoot rere. Where the Wild Willy 2 was such a radical departure, I like how most rere’s stayed true to their originals. The frog, hornet Grasshopper, scorcher faithful to the original flaws and all. I really like what they did on the bruiser. Looks almost like the original but everything is better.

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14 minutes ago, Shodog said:

If tamiya released the Blackfoot with a KBF tranny then it wouldn’t be a true Blackfoot rere. Where the Wild Willy 2 was such a radical departure, I like how most rere’s stayed true to their originals. The frog, hornet Grasshopper, scorcher faithful to the original flaws and all. I really like what they did on the bruiser. Looks almost like the original but everything is better.

Excellent point! So then I'm really asking for a rere King Blackfoot. 😁

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Tighten up machining tolerances.

Hex screws.

Pick a diff/pinion standard and stick with it. (48)

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41 minutes ago, Jontea said:

...Hex screws.

Pick a diff/pinion standard and stick with it. (48)

AMEN TO THAT!!!

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4 hours ago, lsear2905 said:

I have a few:

  • Use hex screws, seriously I have JIS drivers but hex is just better,
  • Why, as a 'model' company do you release cars on the wrong platforms? FWD cars on RWD platforms, AWD cars on FWD platforms, etc?
  • Why can't I buy portal axles for the GF01/G601 separately, and why are they only in red? and
  • Be consistent with part numbers, some are 5 digit, some are 8, often the same part has 2 different numbers, why?

 

Why are hex screws better when they aren't. I have stripped so many hex screws then normal Ones.

also hex screws come

in imperial and metric. Such a pain in the ***

 

JIS is one tipe of screw driver.

 

as for the number, very easy, hop ups have 5 digits, kit replacement parts have 8digits and are kit part nothing to do with hop ups.

 

if you are not so experienced and have not Tried to understand it dont have such an additue

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Why haven't they released a really good scale crawler chassis yet?  They arguably started the scale crawler scene 20 years early with the 3-speed trucks and had the best trail truck platform in the CC01, but the Hi Lift series, while looking great, was obviously never designed for serious off-road, and the CR-01 was overly-complex and under-performing, and didn't have much scale realism.

Given how Tamiya's strong point is their detailed bodies (both ABS and Lexan) and how the scaler market became dominated with big-ticket items, one would have thought it was a no-brainer for Tamiya.  But there again, maybe the scale scene doesn't exist in Japan, and that's what seems to drive their release strategy.

Seems a bit late now - the scaler craze seems to be giving way to rock buggies and rock racers, which Tamiya would probably choose to attack in an unusual scale and with 4-wheel independent suspension from a central transmission in a box chassis :s 

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1 hour ago, Jontea said:

Tighten up machining tolerances.

Hex screws.

Pick a diff/pinion standard and stick with it. (48)

They did, offroad 0.8, onroad 0.6 and racing ontoad 0.4

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If Tamiya HQ ever saw some of the collections of Ford Escorts languishing in the UK they would realise that re-releasing even just a bodyshell and stickers would be a license to print money. As for if the penny dropped and they produced a Sierra Cosworth body, well. Hot cakes.

32 minutes ago, Mad Ax said:

Why haven't they released a really good scale crawler chassis yet?  They arguably started the scale crawler scene 20 years early with the 3-speed trucks and had the best trail truck platform in the CC01, but the Hi Lift series, while looking great, was obviously never designed for serious off-road, and the CR-01 was overly-complex and under-performing, and didn't have much scale realism.

 

Well the CC02 came out last year? It's price-point places it above the likes of an SCX10 or an MST CFX / CMX, so it's largely overlooked. But it uses the same recipe! Works great in my experience - which I should state does not extend to the two aforementioned chassis, so perhaps it's actually terrible?! :lol:

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2 hours ago, Fabia130vRS said:

Why are hex screws better when they aren't. I have stripped so many hex screws then normal Ones.

also hex screws come

in imperial and metric. Such a pain in the ***

 

JIS is one tipe of screw driver.

 

as for the number, very easy, hop ups have 5 digits, kit replacement parts have 8digits and are kit part nothing to do with hop ups.

 

if you are not so experienced and have not Tried to understand it dont have such an additue

Kit prices could be a slightly cheaper....

.....if that means no ball bearings and continued Aluminium pinion than that's fine (I always have the ESC removed as well anyway).

No to hex screws! JIS is just fine.

G6-01 portal gears sold separately? That would be a good move...for g6-01 it would be nice if they sold cva's in 6 qty rather than buy two packs of four!

More spares availability on discontinued models, even if it's a special order that I have to wait for a month or so for.

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2 hours ago, Fabia130vRS said:

Why are hex screws better when they aren't. I have stripped so many hex screws then normal Ones.

also hex screws come

in imperial and metric. Such a pain in the ***

Hex head is much less likely to 'skip' in my experience. Take the JIS head motor screws on a TL01 for example, replace these with Hex-head and your troubles go away. Also consider why the high-end TRF kits have hex-head hardware throughout.

JIS is definitely not as good.

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2 hours ago, ChrisRx718 said:

If Tamiya HQ ever saw some of the collections of Ford Escorts languishing in the UK they would realise that re-releasing even just a bodyshell and stickers would be a license to print money. As for if the penny dropped and they produced a Sierra Cosworth body, well. Hot cakes.

 

Well the CC02 came out last year? It's price-point places it above the likes of an SCX10 or an MST CFX / CMX, so it's largely overlooked. But it uses the same recipe! Works great in my experience - which I should state does not extend to the two aforementioned chassis, so perhaps it's actually terrible?! :lol:

Like I've mentioned before, I really don't think Tamiya listens to ANYONE outside of the Japanese Market....

Yes.... Escort, Cossies and even the 240Z Bodies would be good sellers. IF they'd listen.

And the CC-02... Not a bad start, but it's merely a CC-01 built for harsher terrain! And WHY did they have to include those abysmal, Vinyl CC-01 Tires?? 😲😖 I have been deep in the Crawler World for the past 5 years..... 

NONE of them want a 10" WB Crawler. 12.3" is the accepted norm. When Axial came out with the Unimog on an 11.2" WB... There was an uproar!! 😠😠  I love mine! But the Cool Kids have to have 12.3". 

Tamiya just doesn't have its eyes on the prize....

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I hate hex head screws!

I even prefer the slot head wood screws schumacher used to use and there terrible 😂

The fasteners (and general lack of finesse) are the only things I don't like about my rc10 gold pan.

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If they are shipping JIS screws with carbon reinforced plastics then they absolutely should use Hex (or even Torx) OR ship tapping tools with the kit. 

For the ABS stuff JIS heads are OK but the real crime is self tapping screws on the Avante and Egress? lolwut - use a proper thread and supply a tapping tool.

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My only beef with Tamiya is those stupid plastic bushings you instantly replace with proper bearings. Just include bearings in the kits and charge an extra $5. It’s not hard!

Terry

 

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#1: Proper scale crawler. I agree with most of the points made by @Mad Axand @Carmine A. While the CC-02 isn't bad from what I've seen, it has no features that would make me want to buy one. At least the CC-01 has the IFS going for it. Tamiya could totally make a rival to the RC4WD Trailfinder 2, but I don't think that is going to happen, and I'd say even less likely for a linked truck similar to a SCX10, TRX-4, Element, ETC.

#2: RWD drift chassis. I'm very surprised that Tamiya does not make one given that R/C drifting is huge in Japan. Price it between the 3racing and Yokomo kits and include a body and you have a real winner.

#3: Add steel pinions to kits. The brass ones are OK in my experience, but the aluminum ones are almost as useless as bushings to me. 

#4: Have Tamiya USA use the same price structure as other retailers (RCMart, Plaza Japan, ETC) so I can buy kit and parts in the US for a reasonable price. 

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1 hour ago, Bash said:

#1: Proper scale crawler. I agree with most of the points made by @Mad Axand @Carmine A. While the CC-02 isn't bad from what I've seen, it has no features that would make me want to buy one. At least the CC-01 has the IFS going for it. Tamiya could totally make a rival to the RC4WD Trailfinder 2, but I don't think that is going to happen, and I'd say even less likely for a linked truck similar to a SCX10, TRX-4, Element, ETC.

#2: RWD drift chassis. I'm very surprised that Tamiya does not make one given that R/C drifting is huge in Japan. Price it between the 3racing and Yokomo kits and include a body and you have a real winner.

 

So true.  The CC01 was great, filled a niche in the market that nobody else was covering.  It's just a shame that it was released with design flaws that were never addressed in all its very long run.  IMO the CC02 should have been a new CC01, with IFS and a tub chassis with integrated arch liners.  Even if it was technically no more capable on the dirt, it would have been nice to build a kit from the box and not have to deal with its wandering steering and grinding axle.

I have no issue with the CC02 they've made, except that it seems to have failed to hit the target.  I haven't actually driven one yet, but from what I understand the MST CFX (the closest competitor size-wise) is a better rig.  The CFX is priced a bit higher (especially given lack of body) but if Tamiya had gone a stage further they might have beaten it on performance, which in the scaler world seems to be worth more than price.

RWD drift chassis is a good point too - although the drift world is a weird one, full of brands I've never heard of in all my years and setups that would drive a touring car racer insane.  I love the attention to detail but it's a very fickle world - what's popular right now could be bin fodder in 6 months, as new chassis layouts lead to new driving styles and fandom shifts from Japanese to European to American body styles and back again.  TBH I'm not surprised they stayed out of it and left the innovation to the smaller companies like MST.

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Cc-02 target was probably just to improve upon the cc01, which it does!

(It's a great model!) 

Other manufacturers are better!? Don't buy other manufacturers!? ;-)

When driving my cc-02 and there been a bit that it's got stuck on etc im not cursing myself for not buying something else, I just tackle it from a different angle! 

With Tamiya I'm fairly confident that they will probably still be selling the cc-02 in 5+ years whereas other manufacturers wont be selling theirs.....

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37 minutes ago, taffer said:

When driving my cc-02 and there been a bit that it's got stuck on etc im not cursing myself for not buying something else, I just tackle it from a different angle! 

This is actually a really good point, re: crawlers - even at a major national event, the fun is not beating everybody else with a minimal penalty score, the fun is cracking a really climb that everybody else gave up on, or that people with more capable rigs were blitzing over that I had to work really hard and choose a different line to get up.  It's even semi-fun when it all goes completely pear-shaped and I have to be winched up by a mate's TRX-4, but it's arguably more fun being the one doing the winching.

As a RadShape employee said to me as he handed over an NIB Landfreeder at a local hobby expo some years back, "the SCX10 is great, but it goes over everything with such ease that it's a little bit boring.  With the CC01, you have to pick your lines so much more carefully and that makes it so much more rewarding when you get it right."  And these days I tend to favour running my parts-bin class 1 Toyota (which has a vintage Tamiya body, TCS X-trail chassis, MavericK Scout axles and transmission, Fastrax wheels and Proline tyres) to my class 2 SCX10.

My point with the CC02 was that it seems to have been made to appease Tamiya fans rather than compete with the rest of the world.  And although I profess to being a die-hard Tamiya fan, I've already fallen into the trap of buying a Tamiya because it's a Tamiya when I should have bought [insert brand here] and had a better time in the real world.

(that said, I was actually 10 minutes away from hitting the Buy button on an MST CFX kit and this post has seriously made me consider a CC02 instead...)

38 minutes ago, taffer said:

With Tamiya I'm fairly confident that they will probably still be selling the cc-02 in 5+ years whereas other manufacturers wont be selling theirs.....

This is also a great point - it's possible many of the other brands won't even be around.  But those who are won't be selling the same model because they'll have come up with something new and (arguably) better.

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7 hours ago, Carmine A said:

Excellent point! So then I'm really asking for a rere King Blackfoot. 😁

The KBF is much wider than original Blackfoot so Tamiya subbed transmissions they would have to bring the front suspension too to match the track. So in the end you would get a KBF rere not a true blackfoot

I had a Super Blackfoot with a monster beetle body and it was a solid runner. Always scared to roll that hard body though.

 

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1 hour ago, taffer said:

....With Tamiya I'm fairly confident that they will probably still be selling the cc-02 in 5+ years whereas other manufacturers wont be selling theirs.....

As much as I'm rooting for Tamiya, and have been a Tamiya NUT - LONG before anything else....

The SCX10 was released in 2008. It's not going ANYWHERE soon.

RC4WD Trail Finder 2 was released in 2013... It's not going ANYWHERE either.

MST has been making Crawlers - directly competing with the CC-01/02, since 2014... And a Crawler in the 12.3" Axial Field. They're introducing new Models often!

Redcat has been making Crawlers since 2014, and have only gotten stronger.

I was one of MANY, anticipating the CC-02! It just wasn't quite there. For a Basher or the Tamiya Fan, it's a nice Rig! Even innovative.

To the TRUE Crawler Community (which is much larger than most people think - Worldwide - except Japan), see it as a cute trinket, in the same class and size, as the ECX Barrage, and the RGT & Carson 10" Trail Trucks....

ALL THEY REALLY HAD TO DO - was take the CC-02 Blueprint, and increase the size by about 30%!!! 

And YES!! The CC Trucks have capabilities of their own. Both offer challenges that the bigger ones don't. BUT the CC-01 might have the WORST Steering EVER, and never bothered to fix it in almost 20 years!! 

Both Tamiyas have STIFF Springs, and limited Suspension travel. Either of those could have been fixed EASILY.

Yes....... We're all here because we love Tamiya's Charm and Quirkiness, the pleasure of the Kits, and the serious number of upgrades

To the younger Guys - try to remember that Tamiya USED to be a World Leader in RC, and a Top innovator. They need some of THAT back!!

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8 minutes ago, Shodog said:

The KBF is much wider than original Blackfoot so Tamiya subbed transmissions they would have to bring the front suspension too to match the track. So in the end you would get a KBF rere not a true blackfoot

I had a Super Blackfoot with a monster beetle body and it was a solid runner. Always scared to roll that hard body though.

 

Yes Sir.... I'm actually asking for a rere King Blackfoot!! My absolute favorite of all the ORVs.

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