Newbie help / advice

[Nick Cox]

Hey everyone. So I’m looking to get into the world of Tamiya. I’ve always wanted one after my brother got his grasshopper when we were kids ( about 30 years ago! ). I really like the look of the Blackfoot and definitely want to mod whatever I get. Just  wondered whether there might be a better ‘first time’ car I should look at. Definitely want something that will go over pretty much any terrain. Thanks in advance for your help / advice. Can’t wait to get building! 

[sosidge]

I suppose it depends on your definition of "any terrain".

Blackfoot is a fun kit and won't be difficult as a "first time" build but it's 35 year old technology and 2wd. If you are just thinking of driving around the garden and on rural paths you'll be fine. If you were thinking of something closer to a rock crawler or a truck for big jumps you should probably look elsewhere.

Matteo always makes a great movie about the Tamiya cars...

 

 

[DayRider]

The best thing is to dive in and get the one you wanted, you will get to grips in how they go together. After that you will have an understanding of how it all works and performs and you will get bitten by the bug. Before long you will have large collection of them and still want more. 

There is no right or wrong answer to what to get, just a matter of how much do you want to spend. Don't go mad on the first one. They will be plenty of time for that later.

By the way the Black Foot is a great little unit and if that's the one you want to start on then go for it.

[skinned]

Get what you want....you can always get another one...

[Problemchild]

My monsterbeetle (same ORV chassis iirc) is running 3s LiPo and a bushless Combo

the only mod I needed to do was to design and manufacture a gear box brace (now for sale)

it’s now fast as *******

Get bearings 

follow the instructions 

enjoy 

(a hard shell is harder to paint that a clear one)

JJ

[simalarion]

My first kit as a boy was BlackFoot :), my first kit taking this hobby up again not long time was The Grasshopper, main reason that this kit was glued to my brain from childhood. Its an easy build and a fun kit to have for reason given, but it it is really terrible to drive and jumpy as ****, so the name suit it well. As my closest place to drive is the woods/hils i bought Agrios that i love to drive around in the woods, but the build itself is not for beginners (for several reasons) i believe and that kit also need the juice from Lipo batteries. A beginner kit that looks really fun to me is Konghead and it seems to handle the terrain better than BlackFoot does. If yoy prefer RC Cars that actually look like cars you can take a look at CC-01 kits but i have no experience with those. Why not end it with a picture of a jumpy legend that had a huge part in starting all this: