Kids Tamiya RC

[simon_g]

Fancy a little isolation project and never got the Tamiya I wanted as a kid.

If I got a budget-end car - Rising Fighter, Holiday Buggy, Lunch Box, something like that - how would it stand up to ham-fisted kids abuse in the garden? They’re 5 and almost 3. Can I slow it right down on the speed controller or remote? What stuff tends to break and can you get spares easily?

[Zonda_]

My Hornet took years of abuse and was was secondhand when I got it, it went to a new owner after me. Spares are plentiful. I don't know what the speed controllers are like these days but it used to be a simple rod that was pushed across a contact via a servo. I assume you could shorten the rod thus limiting the speed.

[NotoriousREV]

Personally, I’d go with the Traxxas 1/16 scale stuff. It’s absolutely bomb proof, there’s loads of spares and upgrades available if you need them and they controllable enough for inexperienced kids, without costing the Earth. We have the 1/16 Slash 4x4 and it’s brilliant.

We also have a 1/10 scale HPI Blitz that you could spend an absolute fortune upgrading every last piece on from the catalogue. The problem is being so big and fast you need a wide open space to use it in and the battery is dead in less than 10 mins if you use full throttle a lot.

That Tamiya stuff has the nostalgia factor of years spent dreaming of Vanessa’s Lunchbox but the Traxxas stuff is definitely more suitable, imo.

Edit: The speed controller on the Traxxas stuff has a training mode that limits throttle to 50%

[integrale_evo]

Most of the tamiya stuff is pretty robust, but anything with the 540 motor is also pretty rapid if they're not used to rc cars.

I'm assuming with modern stepless electronic speed controls you could just set the throttle trim on the controller so they never get more than say 50% throttle.

[Mito Man]

You could trim the throttle down on the controller even when I was a lad. They’re robust enough and can always be repaired.

[integrale_evo]

You can, but a lot of the old tamiya kits used a three position mechanical switch controlled by a servo, not a truely variable speed controller.

[ShockDiamonds]

Been looking at Hornets, Bigwigs, Grasshoppers and Hotshots on eBay last few days. Very tempting.

[Carlos]

I built a pair of Rising Fighters with my kids about 5 years ago after a thread in the EVO forum and my daughter now 14 still talks about it and really sparked an interest in engineering

[Zonda_]

I used to regularly strip my Tamiya kits down and rebuild them, gave me confidence to work on actual cars.

[Orange Cola]

You'll be fine, modern electronics are the way to go and you can limit the throttle to whatever you like right down to no movement (which means you can take the limits off, break the car and blame the kids to get it past the wife).

Rev has the best suggestion, if you don't go Tamiya then go Traxxas, you can still get bits which fit models from 15+ years ago and they only go wrong when you crash it or seriously abuse it. I've had traxxas stuff for a number of years and they're forming the staple reliable model in the collection (seriously raises the bar for my home built trucks as something to beat).

[simon_g]

Am I missing something or do Traxxas start at double the money and all come RTR thus denying me a few evenings of building time?

Holiday Buggy is looking really tempting. Charmingly retro looking but on a more modern buggy chassis.

[Orange Cola]

Traxxas do kits too, check out Modelsport who are one of their suppliers. You’ll be hard pushed to break a Traxxas under normal use eg not crashing or running them over.

Tamiya kits will usually need electronics, batteries, paint, tools and glues etc and a few choice upgrade parts so they don’t break in the first few uses e.g. drive shafts or suspension bits - t’interweb forums usually tell you very quickly what can break in each kit.

[Carlos]

Traxxas do kits too, check out Modelsport who are one of their suppliers. You’ll be hard pushed to break a Traxxas under normal use eg not crashing or running them over.

Tamiya kits will usually need electronics, batteries, paint, tools and glues etc and a few choice upgrade parts so they don’t break in the first few uses e.g. drive shafts or suspension bits - t’interweb forums usually tell you very quickly what can break in each kit.

But that's part of the fun. I get more out of pulling things apart with the kids than from the driving it

[Orange Cola]

Traxxas do kits too, check out Modelsport who are one of their suppliers. You’ll be hard pushed to break a Traxxas under normal use eg not crashing or running them over.

Tamiya kits will usually need electronics, batteries, paint, tools and glues etc and a few choice upgrade parts so they don’t break in the first few uses e.g. drive shafts or suspension bits - t’interweb forums usually tell you very quickly what can break in each kit.

But that's part of the fun. I get more out of pulling things apart with the kids than from the driving it

But you don’t want it to break on the first 5 minutes then sit broken for a few months because the model shops have shut, always best to get some spares in with the kit

[Zonda_]

Traxxas must have upped their game as the one I had broke every time I used it, I ended up selling it for a fraction of what it cost

[simon_g]

Cheapest Traxxas kit I can see - OK it has radio gear but still needs batteries and a charger. And it's out of stock anyway

Looks nice but way more than I need right now.

[Mito Man]

I remember the traxxas nitro stuff 15 years ago, they ran about an hour before needing a full rebuild

Only modern Traxxas I have is the TRX4 Defender - great bit of miniature engineering with its portal axles and diffs and it’s available as a kit but much too dear for a kid’s toy.

Never liked Tamiya much, I think it’s like Peugeot or Vauxhall in that it used to be a good brand before my time but the worlds moved on and it ...hasn’t. They’ve always just been very cheap quality but they have almost all the manufacturer vehicle license rights so if you want a specific car then it’s usually your only choice. Main issue is by the time you add the model, electronics, upgrades you you’re knocking on £250 with a sub par product still.

[integrale_evo]

It's the evo way, turn a £100 purchase into a £400 one.

The kids will be more than happy enough with a cheap tamiya kit and a set of acoms radio gear.

[Orange Cola]

a set of acoms radio gear.

I think Acoms died with analogue! 2.4ghz is where it's at, even at a budget these days.

[Orange Cola]

Cheapest Traxxas kit I can see - OK it has radio gear but still needs batteries and a charger. And it's out of stock anyway

Looks nice but way more than I need right now.

Axial are another good make, they'll go almost anywhere and do come in kit form. Scalers too, so not the fastest things but sky is the limit with regards to building.