Which kit for a 10 Year Old?

[MadInventor 3884]

Just to add my 2 cents:

When I was 10~11, I went from a sand rover to a grasshopper, which I built myself. I had it a while but found it slow and the rear suspension was a joke (Even to my 10 year old eyes).  So I saved and bought a hotshot when they came out, which again I built myself, so I wouldn't discount any Tamiya on the grounds of 'It will be too difficult to build'. Since then I've had a hornet, Midnight Pumpkin, 3 madbulls (Still got one now which I run on 3S), and a GF-01 dump truck, and have just finished building a comical hornet. If I had to go with a pick out of any of these it would be a toss up between the Mad Bull and a GF-01. Hornet and Pumpkin have awful handling, the suspension, that Mad Bull drives the best out of the lot, but the GF-01 is good as it is 4wd and has great suspension. I haven't been that impressed with the build of the comical hornet. The bodyshell is awkward to get on and off with the flags on the ends of the aerial tubes, the on / off switch is in a really awkward place, and the steering geometry looks like an afterthought. I've haven't had a chance to drive it yet as the TBLE-02 speedo refuses to work with my ACOMS servo (Nice one Tamiya, that will be getting replaced with a Hobbywing 1060 first chance I get).

One other thing to consider it battery compartments. If you're spending money on startup kit there's no point in starting with NimH, might as well be LiPo from the outset, so you'll need a chassis that ideally will  take a square lipo pack (I know you can get lipos shaped like nimh packs but they are expensive). The GF-01 can accommodate square packs (As can the G6-01), the mad bull needs a shaped pack, and I think I managed to get a square LiPo into the pumpkin although it was a long time ago I used it. On balance out of that lot the GF-01 seems like the best all rounder. 

When I was trying to teach my lad to drive RC I bought him a second hand clod buster. The bodyshell was a bit rough on it, but I picked it for £65, for parts or not working. Turned out the gearboxes were tight because someone had put non Tamiya circlips on the drive shafts, £8 on a bag of bits and it ran just fine. He loved the size of it and I could set to run in parallel or series mode, we can run it on the beach without getting too much sand over it, and he still enjoys using it years after I bought it. The Clod is definitely robust, low maintenance, and fun.

Bottom line is though, I'd just ask your nephew what he likes the look of. Bring up fusion hobbies or Modelsport on the browser and see what grabs his attention. 

 

[Badcrumble 4201]

8 minutes ago, MadInventor said:

Bottom line is though, I'd just ask your nephew what he likes the look of. Bring up fusion hobbies or Modelsport on the browser and see what grabs his attention. 

 

I'd would agree with this. I thought my six year old would like 'monster trucks' and he does love his Dual Hunter (and has rebuilt gearboxes of our 'spare,' ones) but the moment I bring out the Hornet, he wants to swap controllers. Even though that means using a full size tx instead of the little one I got specially for him! He enjoyed the M05-RA on tarmac too but gets more out of the bouncy stuff.

A 10yr old will, I'm sure, have a slightly different perspective...

[Grumpy pants 4455]

20 hours ago, mud4fun said:

My daughters all started with RC cars at aged 10-11 and they started with thundershots (simply because I already had loads of them). To be honest kids have very good reaction times and can learn to handle anything after a short time (probably more so than an adult) so I'd say go with pretty much anything as long as there is readily available and cheap replacement parts for them.

Also start them off with driving the car/truck etc on a large flat open bit of grass or car park etc so no risk of hitting anything while they learn. They tend to get easily disheartened if they break the car after just a short time, even though it is easily repaired.  

My youngest daughter actually prefers my crawler as she is not keen on going fast and potentially crashing, she just enjoys driving slowly over obstacles.

While the grasshoper/hornet type buggies are tempting to buy for a child because they are rugged,  the problem is they become a bit boring after a while if the kids want to race their friends who have more modern buggies and their grasshopper/hornets can't easily be upgraded to similar levels of performance. So in that regard I would agree with Jonathon Gillham above, a more modern chassis that can be bought relatively cheaply, reasonably rugged but low powered in stock form but can be upgraded to higher performance as the kids skills grow.

This a a great steer with some really good tips.

My kids were mostly wheelies and monster trucks as they choose them by the looks. 

A modern chassis is really appealing as well. 

 

[Grumpy pants 4455]

19 hours ago, mud4fun said:

whichever kit you end up buying I would suggest that you find out which are the most commonly broken parts and maybe get a couple of spare. The kids will inevitably crash while learning and nothing worse than having to tell them you need to order parts so they can't use it again for a week or two.

A great suggestion this too, I only see my nephew a 2-3 times a year and a dust collector is not any use to him.

A few simple tips, tools, spares and FaceTime is the way forward 👍

 

[Grumpy pants 4455]

19 hours ago, Nicadraus said:

They probably said they'd go back to the hobby with their boyfriends along. Hahaha! 

With 4 daughters that’s a lot of boyfriends 😳

I’ll never remember their names 😂

Anyhow my 13 YO said she’d like to build the comical GH with me last night 🥰

[Grumpy pants 4455]

19 hours ago, GTodd said:

Comical, hands down. Modern design, a good drive, cartoon proportions kids love, fun build for you and if you go Avante 4wd for easy driving.

It’s coming up as a regular recommendation and I have one in my cupboard waiting to be built 💥

I already have a few wheelies so that would be a nice way of rehoming it 👍

[mud4fun 1696]

Just now, Grumpy pants said:

With 4 daughters that’s a lot of boyfriends 😳

I’ll never remember their names 😂

Anyhow my 13 YO said she’d like to build the comical GH with me last night 🥰

I have three, the eldest who left home a few years back went through so many boyfriends that I could never remember their names and I kept using the wrong names when talking to them.....didn't go down too well ;-)

[TurnipJF 9188]

Sharing the hobby with my 11-year-old nephew has given me a few insights which might be useful.

The first is that the type of model is no where near as important to my nephew as the opportunity to use it with others. He is 11 now but has been "playing cars" with his father, brother and myself for a few years now. We started him with a Rising Fighter - a good solid vehicle that is easy to build and maintain, and this he enjoyed driving around the garden and taking it to the track. However his enthusiasm for the hobby swelled dramatically when we got him a M-03 for his birthday. Now the M-03 is not as rugged, not as offroad-capable, not as easy to work on as the Rising Fighter, so in theory should be a terrible choice in comparison, but he drives it far more, simply because the rest of us are more into on-road M-class racing than we are into 2WD buggies, so he gets to race with us in the same class.

The second is that the chassis build, while potentially educational and a good way for the user to bond with his/her car, isn't as important to my nephew as painting the bodyshell. My nephew has a passing interest in chassis design, setup and modification thanks to his father's interest in full-size car restoration, but the bodyshell is where he actively initiates things, coming up with his own ideas, colour schemes, liveries, even seeking out alternative shells to put on his chassis. This may just be because he is more of an artist than an engineer in terms of mindset, but it may be relevant to other kids too?

The third is that there seems to be an optimum level of performance that suits him. At the moment he has a fleet of 5 cars - the Rising Fighter, the M-03, a WR-01 truck, a TL-01 touring car and another TL-01 set up for rally. The M-03 and rally car get a lot of use, the Rising Fighter and WR-01 are a bit slow for his tastes, and the touring car is a bit too fast. And by "too fast", I don't mean that he drives it to destruction and we think it is too much for him. He himself has said that he doesn't like it as much because he is worried about crashing and breaking it, whereas he feels more confident with the slightly slower M-03 and rally TL-01.

[Wooders28 4719]

You say BMX and Scooters, is that jumps and flips etc? 

At that age, I loved seeing how many people I could clear on my BMX etc (plank of wood ,and some bricks...😬) , so as soon as I got my Frog, that got the same treatment , just the gearbox woes that let it down tbh. 

The Hornet would be a shout, the modern day equivalent, is the DT03? But not sure they're as, durable, as the Hornet?

I found the lunchbox got boring, after you get over the wheelies, then it didn't like jumps.....

After 6 months ish, I wanted more power, (frog gearbox woes..) so if he takes to it like a duck to water, something that'll take hop ups?

We've a 9yr old in our club, who is now winning A finals, lapping 2nd place and one of the top drivers in the country, if their hearts in it, they learn real real quick.

So- 

Madbull - (never owned one, but tick boxes)

Hornet - tried and tested ,tough as old boots, but nothing in the way of hop ups.

DT03  - alot of buggy for the money, cheaper than the hornet, and with oil shocks etc, but not as bullet proof.

Lunchbox (cw01) - fun (for a while imo) tough gearbox, but falls over alot, busting body mounts, bodies etc.

 

Personally, I'd give him a shot of yours, and see how he is, he may be better than a, total beginner buggy (Grasshopper?) and maybe straight to the DT03 and turn it down a bit on the End Point. (Controller is another thread I'm guessing 🙄😁) , if he is straight to DT03, you'll maybe find he'll be looking at a brushless set up within a year anyway.

 

 

[mud4fun 1696]

1 hour ago, Wooders28 said:

...Controller is another thread I'm guessing...

 

 

Funny you should say that, I honestly thought my daughters would prefer the wheel type transmitters which are what seems to dominate now BUT they have tried a single stick, twin stick and wheel and they prefer the twin sticks! This proved quite handy because I could buy a new set of cheap Futuba 2.4Hgz T2HR sets including receiver for £40 each and they love them. Comfortable for small hands to hold, simple to use and so far reliable too. No need for stupidly expensive radio gear for kids, in fact I am also using one for my basher/garden racer and it is fine, better ergonomics than some sets 5x the price.

[Wooders28 4719]

3 hours ago, mud4fun said:

Funny you should say that, I honestly thought my daughters would prefer the wheel type transmitters which are what seems to dominate

I'm sticks, so my daughter's started /learned with a Core RC CR151, I've bought an Absima CR3P (cheapest i could find with EPA, a must for kids) and fitted it into a boomerang, but not really had a chance to get with them for a run really since.

[mud4fun 1696]

12 minutes ago, Wooders28 said:

I'm sticks, so my daughter's started /learned with a Core RC CR151, I've bought an Absima CR3P (cheapest i could find with EPA, a must for kids) and fitted it into a boomerang, but not really had a chance to get with them for a run really since.

That Absima looks like a nice little unit. I was genuinely surprised my daughters preferred the sticks. However my 16yr old tells me that the feel of the Futaba T2HR is similar to holding an x-box or switch pro controller and they are both used to using a finger or two from each hand to control their games controllers. The twisting motion of the wheel controller feels alien to them. And I thought I was just an old git for preferring the sticks! ;-)

[Grumpy pants 4455]

On 9/19/2020 at 7:01 PM, DrGoatboy said:

I would say lb or comical avante. 

Lunchie is iconic and you can just paint the shell over and over again. Lot to be said for a hard shell! Ok the steering is rubbish but it's still a hoot!

Comical avante I have just built one of these and it's super fun.  All the wheelie antics of a lb but with the bonus of a really tight turning circle and 4wd. Shell comes ready painted though and is a lexan shell so no changing colours. 

Buggies are great but the wheelie factor keeps my kids entertained and they are lessnlike to get stuck on all the time.

Both great shouts, the Avante sounds like a good all round option.

The tipping  over of the LB is the only thing stopping me buying one at the moment. 

[Grumpy pants 4455]

On 9/19/2020 at 8:40 PM, Ferruz said:

A lot of good advice here and plenty of great choices. Just to add to the discussion, I would consider the Hornet.

-It's  cheap

-looks gorgeous, and realistic

-almost bulletproof

-easy to handle but also challenging, in a good way

-plenty of spares available

-easy build, easy maintenance, no matter the abuse (sometimes I'm still amazed at how mine is still in one piece, in great shape actually, after all it went through)

-doesn't go anywhere, but pretty close: despite the 2wd and all the limitations of its design, you'll be surprised at how many types of surface it can handle. It's very adaptable

-it's a Tamiya icon in the looks and in the way ot drives, it's got its own character which elevates it beyond the mere concept of entry level buggy

 

So my vote is for the black ******! 

Seeing how much enjoyment you get out your Hornet and the videoclip OJ the other thread definitely make it a worthy contender.  

[Grumpy pants 4455]

23 hours ago, MadInventor said:

Just to add my 2 cents:

When I was 10~11, I went from a sand rover to a grasshopper, which I built myself. I had it a while but found it slow and the rear suspension was a joke (Even to my 10 year old eyes).  So I saved and bought a hotshot when they came out, which again I built myself, so I wouldn't discount any Tamiya on the grounds of 'It will be too difficult to build'. Since then I've had a hornet, Midnight Pumpkin, 3 madbulls (Still got one now which I run on 3S), and a GF-01 dump truck, and have just finished building a comical hornet. If I had to go with a pick out of any of these it would be a toss up between the Mad Bull and a GF-01. Hornet and Pumpkin have awful handling, the suspension, that Mad Bull drives the best out of the lot, but the GF-01 is good as it is 4wd and has great suspension. I haven't been that impressed with the build of the comical hornet. The bodyshell is awkward to get on and off with the flags on the ends of the aerial tubes, the on / off switch is in a really awkward place, and the steering geometry looks like an afterthought. I've haven't had a chance to drive it yet as the TBLE-02 speedo refuses to work with my ACOMS servo (Nice one Tamiya, that will be getting replaced with a Hobbywing 1060 first chance I get).

One other thing to consider it battery compartments. If you're spending money on startup kit there's no point in starting with NimH, might as well be LiPo from the outset, so you'll need a chassis that ideally will  take a square lipo pack (I know you can get lipos shaped like nimh packs but they are expensive). The GF-01 can accommodate square packs (As can the G6-01), the mad bull needs a shaped pack, and I think I managed to get a square LiPo into the pumpkin although it was a long time ago I used it. On balance out of that lot the GF-01 seems like the best all rounder. 

When I was trying to teach my lad to drive RC I bought him a second hand clod buster. The bodyshell was a bit rough on it, but I picked it for £65, for parts or not working. Turned out the gearboxes were tight because someone had put non Tamiya circlips on the drive shafts, £8 on a bag of bits and it ran just fine. He loved the size of it and I could set to run in parallel or series mode, we can run it on the beach without getting too much sand over it, and he still enjoys using it years after I bought it. The Clod is definitely robust, low maintenance, and fun.

Bottom line is though, I'd just ask your nephew what he likes the look of. Bring up fusion hobbies or Modelsport on the browser and see what grabs his attention. 

 

A very worthwhile 2 cents MI.

The 2nd mention of the GF01 and I’d forgotten about the Dump Truck! I was thinking about the Toyota one we had how quickly the shell was getting ruined. 
But the DT looks great and the 4WD would be a bit more go anyway. 

I was also thinking today about showing  my nephew some pictures and see what appeals to him. 

[Grumpy pants 4455]

23 hours ago, Badcrumble said:

I'd would agree with this. I thought my six year old would like 'monster trucks' and he does love his Dual Hunter (and has rebuilt gearboxes of our 'spare,' ones) but the moment I bring out the Hornet, he wants to swap controllers. Even though that means using a full size tx instead of the little one I got specially for him! He enjoyed the M05-RA on tarmac too but gets more out of the bouncy stuff.

A 10yr old will, I'm sure, have a slightly different perspective...

The penny dropped today that actually my nephew would probably enjoy any of them but if he helps choose he will probably enjoy it even more. 

[mud4fun 1696]

27 minutes ago, Grumpy pants said:

The penny dropped today that actually my nephew would probably enjoy any of them but if he helps choose he will probably enjoy it even more. 

Yep, kids can often have very different ideas of what looks good to what you think they'd like. I've given up trying to persuade my youngest that painting all her body shells black with red strips is not the best look in the world but she has decided that they are her team colours.... she also decided she quite liked to have a wing fitted to her thundershot even though me and my middle daughter think it is 'meh' ;-)

[MICHAELs TopForce17 586]

last week i got my 11 year old nephew the dt03 racing fighter black edition. so far no breakages and it comes with turnbuckles, servo saver and bearings. only hop up needed is steel pinion.

[Grumpy pants 4455]

On 9/19/2020 at 9:32 PM, MadInventor said:

Just to add my 2 cents:

When I was 10~11, I went from a sand rover to a grasshopper, which I built myself. I had it a while but found it slow and the rear suspension was a joke (Even to my 10 year old eyes).  So I saved and bought a hotshot when they came out, which again I built myself, so I wouldn't discount any Tamiya on the grounds of 'It will be too difficult to build'. Since then I've had a hornet, Midnight Pumpkin, 3 madbulls (Still got one now which I run on 3S), and a GF-01 dump truck, and have just finished building a comical hornet. If I had to go with a pick out of any of these it would be a toss up between the Mad Bull and a GF-01. Hornet and Pumpkin have awful handling, the suspension, that Mad Bull drives the best out of the lot, but the GF-01 is good as it is 4wd and has great suspension. I haven't been that impressed with the build of the comical hornet. The bodyshell is awkward to get on and off with the flags on the ends of the aerial tubes, the on / off switch is in a really awkward place, and the steering geometry looks like an afterthought. I've haven't had a chance to drive it yet as the TBLE-02 speedo refuses to work with my ACOMS servo (Nice one Tamiya, that will be getting replaced with a Hobbywing 1060 first chance I get).

One other thing to consider it battery compartments. If you're spending money on startup kit there's no point in starting with NimH, might as well be LiPo from the outset, so you'll need a chassis that ideally will  take a square lipo pack (I know you can get lipos shaped like nimh packs but they are expensive). The GF-01 can accommodate square packs (As can the G6-01), the mad bull needs a shaped pack, and I think I managed to get a square LiPo into the pumpkin although it was a long time ago I used it. On balance out of that lot the GF-01 seems like the best all rounder. 

When I was trying to teach my lad to drive RC I bought him a second hand clod buster. The bodyshell was a bit rough on it, but I picked it for £65, for parts or not working. Turned out the gearboxes were tight because someone had put non Tamiya circlips on the drive shafts, £8 on a bag of bits and it ran just fine. He loved the size of it and I could set to run in parallel or series mode, we can run it on the beach without getting too much sand over it, and he still enjoys using it years after I bought it. The Clod is definitely robust, low maintenance, and fun.

Bottom line is though, I'd just ask your nephew what he likes the look of. Bring up fusion hobbies or Modelsport on the browser and see what grabs his attention. 

 

All great tips MI.

He likes monster trucks which is making think along the lines of the WT01 which is pretty bullet proof, but a new build Mad Bull is looking promising still or a used GF01 Dump Truck as the come up for sake at reasonable money from time to time.

[Grumpy pants 4455]

On 9/20/2020 at 2:32 PM, TurnipJF said:

Sharing the hobby with my 11-year-old nephew has given me a few insights which might be useful.

The first is that the type of model is no where near as important to my nephew as the opportunity to use it with others. He is 11 now but has been "playing cars" with his father, brother and myself for a few years now. We started him with a Rising Fighter - a good solid vehicle that is easy to build and maintain, and this he enjoyed driving around the garden and taking it to the track. However his enthusiasm for the hobby swelled dramatically when we got him a M-03 for his birthday. Now the M-03 is not as rugged, not as offroad-capable, not as easy to work on as the Rising Fighter, so in theory should be a terrible choice in comparison, but he drives it far more, simply because the rest of us are more into on-road M-class racing than we are into 2WD buggies, so he gets to race with us in the same class.

The second is that the chassis build, while potentially educational and a good way for the user to bond with his/her car, isn't as important to my nephew as painting the bodyshell. My nephew has a passing interest in chassis design, setup and modification thanks to his father's interest in full-size car restoration, but the bodyshell is where he actively initiates things, coming up with his own ideas, colour schemes, liveries, even seeking out alternative shells to put on his chassis. This may just be because he is more of an artist than an engineer in terms of mindset, but it may be relevant to other kids too?

The third is that there seems to be an optimum level of performance that suits him. At the moment he has a fleet of 5 cars - the Rising Fighter, the M-03, a WR-01 truck, a TL-01 touring car and another TL-01 set up for rally. The M-03 and rally car get a lot of use, the Rising Fighter and WR-01 are a bit slow for his tastes, and the touring car is a bit too fast. And by "too fast", I don't mean that he drives it to destruction and we think it is too much for him. He himself has said that he doesn't like it as much because he is worried about crashing and breaking it, whereas he feels more confident with the slightly slower M-03 and rally TL-01.

This is where the NIB Mad Bull scores again imo, £90 he can build it with his dad, paint it himself and then run it ragged over most surfaces- cheap to fix.

Kinda look like a monster truck-buggy hybrid to me. 

[Grumpy pants 4455]

On 9/20/2020 at 2:53 PM, Wooders28 said:

You say BMX and Scooters, is that jumps and flips etc? 

At that age, I loved seeing how many people I could clear on my BMX etc (plank of wood ,and some bricks...😬) , so as soon as I got my Frog, that got the same treatment , just the gearbox woes that let it down tbh. 

The Hornet would be a shout, the modern day equivalent, is the DT03? But not sure they're as, durable, as the Hornet?

I found the lunchbox got boring, after you get over the wheelies, then it didn't like jumps.....

After 6 months ish, I wanted more power, (frog gearbox woes..) so if he takes to it like a duck to water, something that'll take hop ups?

We've a 9yr old in our club, who is now winning A finals, lapping 2nd place and one of the top drivers in the country, if their hearts in it, they learn real real quick.

So- 

Madbull - (never owned one, but tick boxes)

Hornet - tried and tested ,tough as old boots, but nothing in the way of hop ups.

DT03  - alot of buggy for the money, cheaper than the hornet, and with oil shocks etc, but not as bullet proof.

Lunchbox (cw01) - fun (for a while imo) tough gearbox, but falls over alot, busting body mounts, bodies etc.

 

Personally, I'd give him a shot of yours, and see how he is, he may be better than a, total beginner buggy (Grasshopper?) and maybe straight to the DT03 and turn it down a bit on the End Point. (Controller is another thread I'm guessing 🙄😁) , if he is straight to DT03, you'll maybe find he'll be looking at a brushless set up within a year anyway.

 

 

I've got a comical Grasshopper and a Lunchbox to build which would save me money and move a model along, I like them both but the CG looks a bit toy like and the LB falling over is putting me off.

[Grumpy pants 4455]

On 9/21/2020 at 12:37 AM, MICHAELs TopForce17 said:

last week i got my 11 year old nephew the dt03 racing fighter black edition. so far no breakages and it comes with turnbuckles, servo saver and bearings. only hop up needed is steel pinion.

I think this would make a great 2nd purchase for my nephew  

[Grumpy pants 4455]

So at the moment I am watching the online auctions to see what comes up, the prices are dropping but still higher than I want to pay but there is no rush tbh-

My thinking in no particular order is-

Mad Bull

WT01

G01 Dump Truck

If nothing sensibly priced comes up, then I have the option of either building or sending over to build a Comical Grass Hooper and a Lunchbox that would say me buying something else.

Overall I think a NIB Mad Bull is ticking all the boxes right now, good value, robust, drive over most terrains, can be painted etc. 

[Grumpy pants 4455]

I just want to say thank you to everyone who contributed,  all fantastic options that gave me lots to think about and consider.

And definitely quite a few recommendations of models I hadn't considered.

[MadInventor 3884]

1 hour ago, Grumpy pants said:

This were the NIB Mad Bull scores again imo, £90 he can build it with his dad, paint it himself and then run it ragged over most surfaces- cheap to fix.

Kinda look like a monster truck-buggy hybrid to me. 

It's what the grasshopper should have been from the outset.