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Webphut

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I have four daughters who all want to drive RC cars. Well let’s be correct, bash RC cars. I have two Traxxas cars that get weekly parts replacements from two of my older daughters. I have meticulously assembled two older RC Tamiya kits. The Toyota Tom and the Mach GoGoGo. I am so at unease with letting my kids bash the Tamiyas. The Traxxas are awesome bashers no matter how broken they come back to me. I know the Tamiya RC model kits are designed to be used for exactly this, but I keep making up excuses why they can not drive them.  I love working on them, just kills me to picture in my head broken suspension arms, bent hinge pins or a beautifully painted body just torn up.  Should I just let my kids have at them?

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I wouldnt really on anything that parts arent very easily available for. Even some of the recent Tamiya kits or re-re's of mine have been out if action due to not being able to get a simple spare part eg; like replacing a bent piston rod etc.

The two Tamiya kits you mention arent what I would call bashers. If they are interested in driving on road cars it might be worth considering something more economical with easily available spares like a TT02?

 

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I have a five year old daughter and she currently discover that it's fun to drive a RC car. No problem as I just set the throttle to 40%  and let her go. But I wouldn't give her every car I own. Some are just to beautiful for me to let her drive it into a tree or kerb or something, even at low speed. I understand that you feel uncomfortable when think about giving the cars to your daughters just for bashing. There is to much effort put into them.

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@Webphut No. 

It’s your cherished toy, there is no reason you have to let your kids break them just because they are your kids.

I’ve been a dad for a while and I always draw a line where my kids are just not allowed to do some things just because they are kids and are not ready for it nor understand the responsibility.   It’s a good way to teach your kids too, that there are boundaries in life.

I would just buy some junk RC cars from Amazon and drive those.  Bash them to their content.  :lol:  have fun.   And when they are ready for it, then decide later.  

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2 minutes ago, Willy iine said:

@Webphut No. 

It’s your cherished toy, there is no reason you have to let your kids break them just because they are your kids.

I’ve been a dad for a while and I always draw a line where my kids are just not allowed to do some things just because they are kids and are not ready for it nor understand the responsibility.   It’s a good way to teach your kids too, that there are boundaries in life.

I would just buy some junk RC cars from Amazon and just drive those.  Bash them to their content.  :lol:  have fun.  

Indeed just pickup a few redcat trucks and let them have at it they are cheap easy to fix and parts about everywhere... Just buyup spare arms, shocks, tires etc when you buy the cars... Then when they break show them how to fix them and what it costs to show them how to be responsible and grow with the hobby

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if you're children can destroy Traxxas models, the tamiya's will get vaporised...........

:ph34r:

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Ok, I think I am buying a couple more Traxxas then. Thanks.
Just needed to make sure I wasn’t turning into a self indulged dad that never gave anything fun to his kids. Ok.

LOL, the one younger one, 8 years old, is all over the XMAXX. Hmmmm, lol I don’t think so! That thing is over a grand. Was thinking another couple of the 2wd slash. 

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1 hour ago, MadInventor said:

if you're children can destroy Traxxas models, the tamiya's will get vaporised...........

:ph34r:

give them the ARMA test, see if they can break those also LOL.

let them have at it with the traxxas first before going onto your more precious kits.  you can buy a cheap basher shell if needed so your hard work wont be damaged in that case. i dont mind letting my brother 31yrs old drive the slash, the tamiya's would be a bit more resistant to it until i see him handle the slash. he is quite responsible enough but traxxas is tough and cheap to replace for the most part.

i already treat the slash with less care for minor bumps or rollovers though breaking the aerial tube is annoying to say the least.

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A couple of Arrma Sentons would be about right for heavy bashing. We use Granites as our demos, and other than replacing spurs once in a while, they're nearly bulletproof.

Upgrading to the aluminum motor mount and 32p slipper unit would make the motor the weakest part.

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2 hours ago, Webphut said:

Ok, I think I am buying a couple more Traxxas then. Thanks.
Just needed to make sure I wasn’t turning into a self indulged dad that never gave anything fun to his kids. Ok.

LOL, the one younger one, 8 years old, is all over the XMAXX. Hmmmm, lol I don’t think so! That thing is over a grand. Was thinking another couple of the 2wd slash. 

Dads (and moms too) usually burn out when they sacrifice  too much for their kids.  Not so happy dad in the house is not good for your kids nor the Mrs. so best you keep your sanity and have a happy atmosphere..:lol:

It’s like the oxygen mask in planes.. put yours on first, then you can help others..

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I like the Armma RC cars, but they are just way too fast. I am having a hard enough time now teaching them how to control and manage Traxxas Brushed cars. 

Honestly though, Even though I have grown up driving Tamiya, Traxxas has a great product and I live 20 minutes from a Traxxas only store. I mean it literally is just a store that sells only Traxxas. It is like a Traxxas Disneyland for adults and kids. I do wish Traxxas would make a few cars that were more designed around competition and or racing. Tamiya offers this, but I hope Traxxas will eventually.

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3 hours ago, Willy iine said:

@Webphut No. 

It’s your cherished toy, there is no reason you have to let your kids break them just because they are your kids.

I’ve been a dad for a while and I always draw a line where my kids are just not allowed to do some things just because they are kids and are not ready for it nor understand the responsibility.   It’s a good way to teach your kids too, that there are boundaries in life.

(generally talking about my static models and Gundams here)

I actually have two lines, one is the "never touch line" and the other is a "touch it and you will get a lesson line". 

What is the difference? 

The first one is, they are so treasured that I keep them hidden/stored away safely. It is impossible to keep something completely safe from the hands of a over active 2yo if he can see it. 

The second one is the interesting one, they can touch it and break it, but they will get a lesson about breaking things, my things. But what's broken is not so treasured that I will be totally upset about them breaking. Don't get me wrong, I still did usually put in effort when they were built, but they maybe very old, built at a time when my skills were not as good. Or perhaps they were released at a time when details were poor/lacking. If I were to build the same today, it will be better than the same/similar I built 2 decades ago. But if my kids break them, they will get a lesson out of me, and then I will probably go out and get a replacement, which will be build better than the one that was broken. Effectively, if they break them, it gives me an excuse to build a new one to replace the void, and a chance to "educate" them. 

If it makes sense... 😅

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50 minutes ago, Willy iine said:

Dads (and moms too) usually burn out when they sacrifice  too much for their kids.  Not so happy dad in the house is not good for your kids nor the Mrs. so best you keep your sanity and have a happy atmosphere..:lol:

It’s like the oxygen mask in planes.. put yours on first, then you can help others..

This is so true!

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I hear ya @Webphut I am currently restoring a battered Grasshopper II for my very soon to be 4year old son. I'm putting the effort in, because I enjoy it and because I want to do it for him and also I get to tinker and have some practice at spraying etc. All the while knowing that within a few mins of use he will scratch up the body shell and probably break a steering component:lol: I am however going to start him off the football field at the local rec over the road where there's lots of space. The last two times he's driven my Mad Bull he's driven it full throttle vertically up a tree where it then proceeded to flip up and down a ravine and he's also driven it into a fence post, again at pretty much full thottle, which smashed the body shell almost in half. Not that I would expect anything else though, that's just kids and he's never driven one before, so I'm all good with it (...sort of:lol:)

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7 hours ago, Webphut said:

 

Ok, I think I am buying a couple more Traxxas then. Thanks.
Just needed to make sure I wasn’t turning into a self indulged dad that never gave anything fun to his kids

 

Maybe consider one of the Traxxas LaTrax models . Smaller, lighter and cheaper than the big Traxxas cars, but just as easy to get parts for. 
proby more friendly for little one to drive, too

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I would take a two-step approach.

  1. Let them drive only something that is harder to break and suitable for their age. I also have kids and many of my models are strictly off-limits.
  2. Make them participate not only in breaking the cars but also in fixing them, specially if they are old enough to use a screw driver. Dads love to fix stuff, but kids will be more mindful and careful next time if they are the ones doing the fixing. Plus it will teach them plenty of hands-on skills.
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I think Arrma is probably generally a better choice than Traxxas (especially, given what Traxxas has been up to with all their patent trolling during the last couple of years... personally, I wouldn't give them a single cent/penny any more). But the Arrmas might indeed be too fast - unless their power can be reduced somehow (either by D/R on their radios, somewhere on the ESC or simply using batteries with fewer cells, e.g. 2S instead of 3S).

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37 minutes ago, hIghQ said:

I think Arrma is probably generally a better choice than Traxxas (especially, given what Traxxas has been up to with all their patent trolling during the last couple of years... personally, I wouldn't give them a single cent/penny any more). But the Arrmas might indeed be too fast - unless their power can be reduced somehow (either by D/R on their radios, somewhere on the ESC or simply using batteries with fewer cells, e.g. 2S instead of 3S).

Arrma has a 3 position switch on their spektrum radios that do 50%/75%/100% throttle. Their 3s line is safe for any age with a 2s lipo an 50% throttle.

I have a brushed Traxxas stampede that my 4yo boy loves. It's fast at 50kph for him, but he's ok if he concentrates. It's when he gets distracted (talking with the throttle pegged) or tries to show off to other kids that it gets hairy.

He has tried to ask to drive my tractor trucks etc, but he is learning there is some stuff that's off limits.

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I bought a lunchbox specifically for my neither to use. I also bought a spare shell for the shelf. But parts are plenty. So I let him do what he wants with it. I do cringe from time to time but hey ho. My other cars are for me alone.

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22 hours ago, MadInventor said:

if you're children can destroy Traxxas models, the tamiya's will get vaporised...........

:ph34r:

THIS!

Tamiya cars equal poor bashers IMO. Check out Arrma's offerings if you haven't already...

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