My First and Last Blitzer Beetle. FInally Completed.

[Mechanic AH 581]

Sorry if people have seen photos of this around. Since I’ve got a little break today I thought I’d share some thoughts on this build I completed a few weeks ago. I’m going to try and run it this weekend as I want to see what it’s like. Quite a longer post and I hope you guys don’t mind.

I’m not a fan of the BB, to be honest. It was a kit I bought late last year because I thought of my aunt—she had a VW 1300 and I rode in that car a lot when my parents would leave me with her for the summer. So it’s a tribute and impulsive purchase.

I was very hesitant about purchasing this because I’m somewhat new to the hobby and the idea that it’s going to be my second Tamiya wasn’t compelling. Aside from that, I haven’t really worked on RC cars that much so a hard body shell sounds quite intimidating—to work on and paint. And, I couldn't just do the BB as box art because it looks too cute for me.

Prior to this build I worked on two Kyosho re-res and so when I opened this one up and inspected all the parts, design, and engineering, I was quite disappointed. I wasn’t expecting it to be on the same level, but it didn’t even come close in my opinion (for a $60 USD difference from a Scorpion). It was more like a toy. And so, it took a back seat for a bit. The one reason I ended up finishing it is due to my philosophy on kits/builds—to never move on to the next until the current one is done. And my next build is a Super Astute and I’m more excited about that one.

I wanted this to be more personal so I did some customization. There are little details here and there and some of the limiting factors were time and money. It was quite time consuming and something I probably don’t want to get back into for a while—because I just want to build other kits. Mentally, I’m fulfilled and say I did it and so this is my first and last Blitzer Beetle!

 

Also added a video if you want to see the behind the scenes and hear the engine sound simulator if you haven’t. I think the engine sound is what makes me want to see it run. Thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgBTBw236mU

 

[simalarion 2196]

Well this was a new lvl of custom design! , last i saw of my Grasshopper now is that he went under the couch  ... Well i think he`s fine just the way he is

[B.RAD 240]

Saw the video on YouTube, it's a really spectacular build! Great work. Looks awesome. I love the look of the Blitzer Beetle and it's on my list. 

I, like you, was a bit disappointed by the build quality of my first kit build, but they've actually got a real character to them and make a lot of sense once you start running them. 

[Hobgoblin 1059]

Love what you've done!

My blitzer beetle was my first kit and I feel called to defend it 

It seems really unfortunate that it was so close price wise, for me in the UK I could have bought 2 blitzer kits for the price of a Kyosho scorpion or Superb Astute at the time and had enough change for radio gear.  This sort of sets the mental standard. Low complexity, lots of plastic, easy to out together in a couple hours. I think the blitzer is a great performer out of the 'Old Guard' re releases. It will stamp something like a frog or hornet into the ground and be a lot less fiddly to work on. 

They're better drives than builds for sure! Pretty tough too. 

[Busdriver 6209]

I do hope you’re a careful driver!!! Blitzers are designed for ragging around and yours is too beautiful to damage. With your brilliant build I think you have possibly lost some of Blitzers character but you have created a masterpiece. Don’t hit anything with the front end as the seam you took so long filling and sanding will crack, they always do😢

[foz75 93]

I saw your youtube video too, since the first car I did for 35 years was a BB, I did it non-boxart, but I only painted the shell and wheels, everything else is unchanged.

Yours is on another level - great attention to detail and it's turned out really well!

Interesting to hear about the kyosho kits too - I am getting very tempted to try one of those myself

[Mechanic AH 581]

8 hours ago, B.RAD said:

but they've actually got a real character to them and make a lot of sense once you start running them. 

6 hours ago, Hobgoblin said:

They're better drives than builds for sure! Pretty tough too. 

Definitely, the BB has a lot of character! I'm sure once I test run it I'll be smiling, and from what I've seen in other videos the BB seem pretty solid.

6 hours ago, Busdriver said:

I do hope you’re a careful driver!!! Blitzers are designed for ragging around and yours is too beautiful to damage. With your brilliant build I think you have possibly lost some of Blitzers character but you have created a masterpiece. Don’t hit anything with the front end as the seam you took so long filling and sanding will crack, they always do😢

Haha! Yeah, after I was done I'm like w t  f what if I crash this thing. Hehe. But, it's all good. Although I'm not an expert driver, I think I'm pretty careful and dexterous with the controls. And if it crashes, flips over, or breaks, I'll be fine. I also had this mindset getting into this BB that it's not a garage queen since it has no iconic/collector value. Aside from that, I;m running it on a flat surface so that should help.

5 hours ago, foz75 said:

Interesting to hear about the kyosho kits too - I am getting very tempted to try one of those myself

I think you should try one before they're gone so you can have one for baseline/comparison. I think a lot of RC enthusiasts are missing out by not trying the Kyosho re-issues. My standards and expectations are now higher because of them. This is only my opinion on Kyosho. I might be biased but because I haven't built enough kits (as as side note, on Tamiya's end, the newest engineered kit I've built was a TC-01).

The value you get from Kyosho re-re is worth it and if I thought about it more back then and had spare change, I would've bought most of the series. Opening the boxes and seeing some of the alloy pieces made me smile. Even the plastics in my opinion are better. The gears are mostly alloy and the screws are now hex—which are similar to what modern race buggies use. And it might be my own imagination but the transmission/gearbox on these re-res feel/sound smoother. When I got the Scorpion I only paid $220 US (instead of $249) and I paid almost $190 for the BB. So it's hard not to compare. Plus the re-res have some significant upgraded components.

When I assembled them they felt right and I really enjoyed working on it. I guess when a company's culture is based on RC race/engineering centered design that's the result (vs toy/marketing centered). I also have a Kyosho RTR (Outlaw Rampage) and I took that apart and did a little customization. It was $150 USD and fully complete with battery. It's actually impressive for the price especially if I compare it to a Hornet or Grasshopper—and those two aren't even RTRs and have non reinforced plastics—so they're pricey. The Outlaw uses hex screws, better ESC than what Tamiya provides, proper dampers, and a 15T motor. The one issue I had was the partially open gear box design but everything else was just better. The Kyosho re-re was one reason why I didn't bother getting a Vanquish/VQS. Makes me think of the Optima Turbo. Back in the day my brother had a Vanquish and it wasn't on the same level as our friend's Optima Turbo. Anway, that was long. Not bashing Tamiya--Kyosho's also have their place.

[Killajb 1546]

First off, I LOVE your videos.  The music and editing is top notch stuff.  I've watched them all.. 

 Onto the Blitzer Beetle then..  I can see why you are disappointed based on a comparison to Kyosho's legend series.  They are almost two completely different classes of RC in my opinion.  That said, I love my Blitzer Beetle just as much as I love my Tomahawk.  The way you have your Beetle set up (lowered suspension, slick tires) will serve it well on a surface such as the top level car park you used in your TC-01 video.  Imagine your Aunt ripping around the streets if you will..  and you can replicate that down to scale.

I found that I needed to add weight to the front end to improve on-power steering response and reduce rear-end squat during acceleration.  I used softer tires, but ended up causing traction rolls on tarmac.. but I keep it at the stock ride height and with  harder stock tires it just slides around rather than rolling. 

All-in-all a very fun car to drive and the gearbox is very durable.  I think it will provide a lot of fun on pavement and earn some nice looking "road patina" if you will, perhaps adding to the nostalgia of why you liked the Beetle in the first place.  Again, that you for providing such entertaining videos and keep up the good work!

 

[Problemchild 2149]

Wow - just wow

JJ

[Mechanic AH 581]

4 hours ago, Killajb said:

First off, I LOVE your videos.  The music and editing is top notch stuff.  I've watched them all.. 

 Onto the Blitzer Beetle then..  I can see why you are disappointed based on a comparison to Kyosho's legend series.  They are almost two completely different classes of RC in my opinion.  That said, I love my Blitzer Beetle just as much as I love my Tomahawk.  The way you have your Beetle set up (lowered suspension, slick tires) will serve it well on a surface such as the top level car park you used in your TC-01 video.  Imagine your Aunt ripping around the streets if you will..  and you can replicate that down to scale.

I found that I needed to add weight to the front end to improve on-power steering response and reduce rear-end squat during acceleration.  I used softer tires, but ended up causing traction rolls on tarmac.. but I keep it at the stock ride height and with  harder stock tires it just slides around rather than rolling. 

All-in-all a very fun car to drive and the gearbox is very durable.  I think it will provide a lot of fun on pavement and earn some nice looking "road patina" if you will, perhaps adding to the nostalgia of why you liked the Beetle in the first place.  Again, that you for providing such entertaining videos and keep up the good work!

 

Thank you! Sincerely appreciate the kind words.

Yeah, I was planning on filming at the parking lot because of the surface. Thanks for the suggestions and notes on the BB. I was wondering about that front—it's quite light and the back right now with how I set it up is quite heavy. I'll probably have to go easy on the turns as well but at least hat back is wider by 24mm. Hopefully the sound devices doesn't die hehe.

 

[Killajb 1546]

Here's where I added weights to help out with the F/R balance..

[isomer1 175]

@Killajb are those thin strips with the carbon fiber pattern to reinforce the chassis front? Building my first BB soon and wondering about the week/strong points of the chassis.

[Killajb 1546]

@isomer1 A weak point on the chassis is where the front clip mates to the main chassis.  Excessive stress from jumps or an impact from the front causes the chassis to crack at the mounting points.  Ampro Engineering @Pintopower  makes a 3D printed set of braces to better distribute load during stress.  I wanted to have a go at it myself, so  I used metal angle bracket and cut to fit, then covered with carbon-look stickers to finish it off. (you can see similar un covered metal bracket in the photo above I used as extra support for the front shock tower brace/body mount)  The bracket is sandwiched between the front end and the main chassis, and longer hardware seals it off.  Holes were drilled in the main chassis tub and standard Tamiya hardware used to fasten the rear part of the bracket.

 

[Frog Jumper 3661]

Stunning.

Don’t even point at it…

https://youtu.be/P-NgeXl-PPA