The Tamiya F1 Thread

[Qed296 249]

Slowly getting the decals on.

 

[Dookie-Shoes 4]

I’m an F1 fanatic, but when as a kid, I was born and raised in a small town in Arkansas and there was no real RC scene. No dedicated indoor racks, no organized races, and I also didn’t really have any super smooth flat surface parking lots, streets, etc. nearby  to run an F1 RC car on... I could ride a bike a few miles with all of my stuff to a vacant parking lot, run the car for 15 minutes and then have to turn around and bike everything back home to re-charge my battery pack and then bike back? ...nah...  so I focused all my attention and limited teenager funds on the buggies and the rally cars that I could run in my yard and the woods and trails around my house. 
 

Of course, now i live in a big city that has more RC enthusiasts and indoor tracks, I have replaced an allowance with a job, and I can afford to buy more of those Tamiya kits that I dreamt of as a kid, but there are virtually no F1 cars on offer now. I REALLY wish they go back and re-release those F1 kits of the 80s and 90s.. the Mclaren MP4, the Wolf WR1, the  Lola T94, the Williams  FW11B, etc... but I’m sure that’s not likely to happen as there’s a lot of copyright laws in place. Not to mention that the tobacco livery wouldn’t fly today... still, just to have a few re-released,  would be amazing. I would snatch them up in a heartbeat.

[Qed296 249]

Any suggestions on nice display stand for the f1?

I'd guess these foam tyres will go flat on the bottom after a period of time.

Preferably a low profile type as it looks like I'm going to be able to keep it in the house.

[TurnipJF 9192]

On 3/13/2021 at 9:21 PM, Qed296 said:

Any suggestions on nice display stand for the f1?

I'd guess these foam tyres will go flat on the bottom after a period of time.

Preferably a low profile type as it looks like I'm going to be able to keep it in the house.

Mine sit on Chinese take-away containers. Nice and stable, unobtrusive, and you can put spare parts in them too!

[TurnipJF 9192]

I finished the decals on my new "M-body" for my F103, so gave it a run on the Round 9 postal racing circuit. It went well as always - I really enjoy this chassis and its almost supernatural cornering ability!

I still need to do a bit of dry-brushing on the driver's overalls and give them a coat of matt clear to differentiate the yellow fabric from the yellow bodywork, and perhaps pop a bit of black paint on the steering wheel, but I am well pleased with how the paint and decals have come out.

[Fabia130vRS 2098]

On 3/13/2021 at 3:59 PM, Qed296 said:

Slowly getting the decals on.

 

Mine was originally a kit like this. I still am sorry I sold the body.

[Qed296 249]

Helmet left to do.....

Thank goodness for the hot air gun and alcohol wipes....nothings wanted to stick.

[Qed296 249]

Just seen a brand new kit on ebay 233936538317

As daft as it seems I'm tempted so i can build the alternate driver (6 Villeneuve).....

*forget that...in the time it took me to write this its gone*

[Qed296 249]

Now I know ive done this as an oe build but something was telling me to colour match the lower part of the nose cone.

I'm hoping it looks seamless and compliments it.

Helmet also received its colour.

 

[Qed296 249]

I think its turned out a nice touch....gives it a cleaner finish I think.

 

[kwkride 41]

On 3/12/2021 at 2:51 PM, chuckjaywalk said:

I'm not going to have my TT-02 build by then, as I still need to get electronics and some other stuff, but my partner and I will definitely be showing up to spectate. She didn't even know this hobby existed a month ago and it's something I had put aside over 20 years ago, so we are stoked to even get to watch and participate.

So did you make to the HobbyPlex to catch any of the racing?

It was great weekend. I finished painting up this body Friday before the race.

 

[chuckjaywalk 89]

2 minutes ago, kwkride said:

So did you make to the HobbyPlex to catch any of the racing?

It was great weekend. I finished painting up this body Friday before the race.

 

I did! My partner and I caught the races Saturday and Sunday. She bought herself a TT-02 on Saturday and I fell in love with the M-Chassis cars. Sunday, we picked up more stuff and had a chance to see Euro Trucks, GT-2, and more Minis. Sadly, we had to go before F-1 started. We both have caught the bug pretty badly. She's building her TT-02 with racing in mind from the start and I'm planning my second car. I look forward to getting down to the HobbyPlex more frequently.

[kwkride 41]

6 minutes ago, chuckjaywalk said:

I did! My partner and I caught the races Saturday and Sunday. She bought herself a TT-02 on Saturday and I fell in love with the M-Chassis cars. Sunday, we picked up more stuff and had a chance to see Euro Trucks, GT-2, and more Minis. Sadly, we had to go before F-1 started. We both have caught the bug pretty badly. She's building her TT-02 with racing in mind from the start and I'm planning my second car. I look forward to getting down to the HobbyPlex more frequently.

I'm glad to hear that. It is a lot of fun. Just as a heads up, nothing official, but they are trying to host another TCS race later this year. Possibly the 3rd weekend in August.

I was also running the m-chassis class.

 

[chuckjaywalk 89]

 

I have a lot of work to do this summer, it sounds like. Those Miatas are fly.

[kwkride 41]

Thank you!

[Mechanic AH 581]

On 3/13/2021 at 4:13 PM, Dookie-Shoes said:

I’m an F1 fanatic, but when as a kid, I was born and raised in a small town in Arkansas and there was no real RC scene. No dedicated indoor racks, no organized races, and I also didn’t really have any super smooth flat surface parking lots, streets, etc. nearby  to run an F1 RC car on... I could ride a bike a few miles with all of my stuff to a vacant parking lot, run the car for 15 minutes and then have to turn around and bike everything back home to re-charge my battery pack and then bike back? ...nah...  so I focused all my attention and limited teenager funds on the buggies and the rally cars that I could run in my yard and the woods and trails around my house. 
 

Of course, now i live in a big city that has more RC enthusiasts and indoor tracks, I have replaced an allowance with a job, and I can afford to buy more of those Tamiya kits that I dreamt of as a kid, but there are virtually no F1 cars on offer now. I REALLY wish they go back and re-release those F1 kits of the 80s and 90s.. the Mclaren MP4, the Wolf WR1, the  Lola T94, the Williams  FW11B, etc... but I’m sure that’s not likely to happen as there’s a lot of copyright laws in place. Not to mention that the tobacco livery wouldn’t fly today... still, just to have a few re-released,  would be amazing. I would snatch them up in a heartbeat.

I think the only way nowadays for an NIB is to buy on fleabay and pay a higher price, unfortunately. Or buy from overseas or used and just upgrade the parts. I held out a bit last year and now the kits I wanted are gone.

[Mechanic AH 581]

Working on an F103 and I was looking at the manual (it's an old Lotus 107B) and they have the Adspec/CPR unit as an example tx/rx/servo in the manual. So I looked up the TP-S148 servo and I noticed how low and slow the torque (3kg-cm) and speed (.22 sec) specs are and I'm assuming this was at 6.0V. I know it's an F1 car but was this enough back in the day? And is it enough nowadays? How much torque and speed is just enough for an F1 kit? Thanks.

 

 

[Jonathon Gillham 4605]

1 hour ago, Mechanic AH said:

Working on an F103 and I was looking at the manual (it's an old Lotus 107B) and they have the Adspec/CPR unit as an example tx/rx/servo in the manual. So I looked up the TP-S148 servo and I noticed how low and slow the torque (3kg-cm) and speed (.22 sec) specs are and I'm assuming this was at 6.0V. I know it's an F1 car but was this enough back in the day? And is it enough nowadays? How much torque and speed is just enough for an F1 kit? Thanks.

 

 

That was a standard servo BITD and about as good as it got. The Futaba S3003 is widely available still and is basically those specs, and many people use them. They worked fine in my Monster Beetle, TT02B, Boomerang etc.  I have switched to some Banggood ones which claim 12kg and .1sec. My TRF102 runs a Trackstar with 10kg / .1sec and that is plenty.

Many of the cheaper servos won't make anywhere near what they claim though.

Servos are crazy now, you can get 30kg and .06sec, when you see that from a no name brand it will be exaggerated, but from Sanwa or Futaba it will be legit. Not sure why you need that much unless you're looking at 5th scale or something.

[TurnipJF 9192]

5 hours ago, Mechanic AH said:

Working on an F103 and I was looking at the manual (it's an old Lotus 107B) and they have the Adspec/CPR unit as an example tx/rx/servo in the manual. So I looked up the TP-S148 servo and I noticed how low and slow the torque (3kg-cm) and speed (.22 sec) specs are and I'm assuming this was at 6.0V. I know it's an F1 car but was this enough back in the day? And is it enough nowadays? How much torque and speed is just enough for an F1 kit? Thanks.

 

 

F1 kits need minimal torque, but the more speed you have, the better. As @Jonathon Gillham says, that was about as good as they got back in the day. If outfitting a modern racer, I would go for the quickest servo I could afford.

[Mechanic AH 581]

Thanks. Was surprised how much technology has changed and trying to imagine someone BITD racing against with someone with current servo tech. I think for general running I’ll just get something average.

[kwkride 41]

Ran the first round of our Summer Series yesterday. Managed a third place finish with my TRF103.

 

[Jonny Crumpet 112]

Does any one know what's the score with uk release of the TAMIYA 58652 1/10 R/C F104 PRO II WITH BODY MODEL KIT.

It seemed to be due for April, then June now August, with this update happening 1 day before it was expected. I know global shipping has had issues, but I'm reluctant to place a pre order for the kit without any confidence it wont just keep being knocked back months at a time!

so much for my Fathers day present!

[Jonny Crumpet 112]

Hey,

I have a F104 Pro II arriving tommorow. Very excited after completing a TT-02D and MF-0x

I'm looking for guidance on motor and ESC combos, I'd like fast and brushless, but want to keep it in Race rules incase I find a F1 club near me. 

Servo suggestions also welcome. I have Savox metal gear kit in the other 2. 

[Jonathon Gillham 4605]

3 hours ago, Jonny Crumpet said:

Hey,

I have a F104 Pro II arriving tommorow. Very excited after completing a TT-02D and MF-0x

I'm looking for guidance on motor and ESC combos, I'd like fast and brushless, but want to keep it in Race rules incase I find a F1 club near me. 

Servo suggestions also welcome. I have Savox metal gear kit in the other 2. 

I'm not sure that fast motors and F1 go together...they are a handful at the best of times!  I have a Reds 21.5T in my TRF102, and run the ESC in blinky mode.  This is for class rules.  We run 21.5T and I've found that any old motor will do.  Last season the guy who was consistently out front was running an old Speed Passion MMM motor.  The fastest guy this year has a Reds 21.5T same as me, but we both run it as it was last years spec motor for 21.5T Touring Car, so we just swapped them into the F1 and got the new spec motor for Touring Car.  I'm consistently near the front with this motor too, was 2nd in each qualifier and 2nd in the Main last meet.  You do need to gear them properly though.  I think I run a 73T spur and 29T pinion in 48p (to match all my other cars), so FDR of 2.5.  The kit came with FDR of 4 from memory.  I would swap the spur when you build it, just make sure that you get the right diff balls.  Tamiya use 3mm balls, but many use 3.18mm which is 1/8th inch.  I would get around a 70T spur if you go for 48p as that should give you a good range with the pinion.  I could do with a bigger pinion but running out of space and spurs seem hard to find right now.

If you want a good bang for buck motor look at the Surpass Rocket range.  V5R are the newest, but V4S are very close to the V5R in performance.  The V2 and V3 are also still good, and they are much cheaper than the latest.

I assume that the F104 has the same mounting as the TRF102.  I use a low profile servo as they stand upright and you don't have to cut the tabs off them like you do a standard size.  I run a Trackstar TS D99X which is about .10 sec and 10kg and metal gears.  Its basically the same spec as the Savox 1251MG.  It works well.  I run the same Trackstar servos in my TA07 and FF04 as well and have no complaints about them.  I don't think you need faster or stronger in F1.

What tyres do you have?  They will be key to you enjoying or hating the F1 car...if you are racing at a club just use what the others use.  They may use the F103 wider wheels and tyres.  You can easily (and cheaply) swap the F103 front end onto the F104 and it gives you 200mm wide instead of 180mm.  It dulls the handling a bit, but makes it easier (and therefore faster) on low grip surfaces.  We run on asphalt netball courts and I've switched back to F104 front end as traction is better than the old venue.  I really rate the Pit Shizumi soft rear and med front combo on this surface.

[Beetlemankurt 676]

Hi all, so.....I've recently decided I MUST have an F1 Ferrari :). Preferably an F104 f2012 or an F60. 

I know the F60 has not been around for a while and it appears as though the F2012 might be a but scarce now too.....Unfortunately, I can't seem to find one anywhere, I've searched ebay (which comes up with some dodgy looking listing from different sellers all using the same photos 🤔), through to our equivalent here in NZ, Trademe.....but nothing much in sight. I've chucked an ad in the Tamiyaclub WTB section too. Any other ideas? If anyone's got a tidy one they want to part with, please let me know :).

Cheers

Kurt