1st RC buggy for 6yr old..?
 

I've been into rc in various forms for most of my life, the last thing being a 1/8th nitro buggy a few years back..:norty:

Now my eldest is six any showing a keen ability to control 'indoor' 1/32 cars I'm thinking of dusting down my buggy and getting him one to tag along with..:cool:

I'm thinking an electric 1/10th buggy, plenty of spare batteries and a plentiful supply of spares/hop-up's. Most importantly, as a first proper rc, it has to be reasonable cost. Probably too much to ask..!? :lol1:

When I started Tamiya were the only real choice to fit this brief, however when I was last into this, ~6yrs ago, Kyosho were one of the best choices for beginners.

Finally, is there any advantage of stick v's wheel tranny control, given my boy seems perfectly at ease with sticks- lol as am I- ie old git..!?

Any thoughts..?

Get him electric unless you want him with broken legs/ankles.

I hadn't planned on getting him anything else, hence the need for extra battery packs, as mentioned in my op lol..;)

We have a Tamiya Dark Impact, good fun but went Nitro not long after, I know he is only little but I would go brushless and set it up so its doesnt get full throttle on the speed controller when he uses it and you can set it for full beans when you do.

I'd get an associated B4. A brilliant buggy for beginner or pro and spares are easy to get hold of. You can pick used ones up at good prices on ebay or from your local RC club.
I personally prefer stick radio, wheel is poop in my opinion.

I've just realised that I can still get parts for my OLD Tamiya Frog, which is sitting in the loft with a few minor broken bits.

May as well get that up and running, lol my first ever proper rc buggy, ahhh the memories..:)

Just need a reliable but cheap 2ch stick radio set..... any thoughts, acoms, futaba..???

IIRC I can still fit a ESC to the Frog, afterall it's using a basic 540 motor..? Sorry it's been a while since I last had t think about these things..lol..:D

+1

I'm left handed and found the wheel impossible. The yanks almost seem to only use wheel. Most RTRs come with wheels. I'd probably give him a try with both.

A B4 will have good parts back up and if you fo find a local track there will be folk there who will help set the car up. Granted you won't be worrying about camber angles and toe just yet but YOU (as your boys mechanic) will get an idea of how setup works - just look forward to your lad screaming at you in a couple of years because you've got the setup wrong. See this so many times :D

Tamiya do do race specific cars but they are mostly for play.

Its a very good hobby/sport doesn't have to be too expensive (at first) and its good bonding time for you and the lad. I have a daughter with no interest in it and I had to stop. Almost worth popping a lad out so I get the excuse to go again :D

Ed, lol I've two boy's 6 & 3 and although they never stop (talk about BOYsterous) and drive you to despair at times, I can now see the big boy's benefit's on the horizon..:)

Poor wife has always been a dancer and would have loved a girl to take dancing, lol what a shame..:D

I'm looking into getting the frog up and running, for a few quid it'll be a great starter/trainer imho. If he gets into it I'll give the B4 a go..;)

That was my first RC car too :D Remembered building it Christmas Day / Boxing Day and then while trying it out around the house (bad move ;)) I clipped something with the front wheel and broke a suspension arm. Boy was I pissed off :lol1:

Tamiya re-released it recently and for the most part it's the same as the old one so you can get all the bits. I've also got one floating around somewhere so tempted to rebuild. If you can sort out the weak drive train then I'd love to rebuild mine with a brushless motor, Li-Po, etc. I expect there are better gear boxes, LSDs, driveshafts, etc. for it now :) Would be a right laugh.

Trouble is, once he has got the hang of it he will leave you for dead!

Les :D

there's only one 10th scale buggy to buy :D and its little baby Team Durango - Home of the DEX410 Radio Controlled R/C (RC) Car

you know you all want one :D

Thats such a nice looking car. Made me dribble the last time you pimp'd it on here :)



I've always considered buying one of these as a shelf queen

Tamiya Avante 58072 Nice Con Ideal for Restore project on eBay (end time 26-Jan-10 20:56:13 GMT)

Or even

Tamiya Avante 58072 NIB New 1988 on eBay (end time 03-Feb-10 22:00:57 GMT)

I love the engineering of the Avante.

£2.5k :eek: You could have a real car for that price! :eek:

here's a preview of our new 8th scale beast ;) DNX408 Spec & Price Announced, Plus More Details Of Pioneering Features | Team Durango Blog

The centre diff mount is an odd one. Is that to reduce the height? Wheres the centre diff?

Looks a lovely bit of kit. My XB8 was such a nice car to work on and it replaced my 777 which out of the two I liked to drive more. Although I ran the 777 for 2 seasons and the XB8 for the one before the wife called time :(

I've been thinking about getting a kit together for fun.


I would say its too much. £1500 I could see someone buying it. Mint built will get to £500.

Having read this thread I really want a tamiya F1 car. Must resist...

I still have a Tamiya 'Super G' Grasshopper II complete with all Futaba radio gear, complete with all original manuals etc. The shell has had the graphics removed but apart from that its in great nick! It had the 540 rather than the standard puny motor.
I also have a Tamiya 'Terra Scorcher', which is in original condition, shaft driven 4WD, also has all the manuals etc. After seeing some of the prices I might have to start some restoration projects!!!

I bought an HPI MT2 Nitro stadium truck a few years back, but that's hardly been used. Just about run in. Hopefully my lad will show some interest in a couple of years!!!

Its all CNC machined porn. What you see there will be as the customer gets it :thumb:

Centre diff not shown but will fit between the brakes

A little off topic (sorry) but I looked on Ebay at the RC cars, wow what an amazing range. Some look real bargains, are they? because I'm really tempted.......

Theres nothing quite like opening each little bag and smelling the machined new-ness. The coffee fuelled build process which sees a 3am finish as "about right". That first time on the line without any pre-flight checks and the moment of realisation when the car shoots off in reverse at 30mph to maime an 8 year old marshal that you put the diffs in the wrong way round.

I got a trophy for that. :D



The Xray kits were a delight to build.


I would avoid the buy it nows that come first as these are mostly "dropshippers" which means the stock isn't on hand and the seller is just the middle man. I'd also avoid obscure makes as when it breaks parts will be a nightmare to get (even some well known RC shops will sell you the car knowing full well parts are difficult to get) I ran an Academy car for a season and it was excellent but the spares were non-existent.

I'd consider buying 2nd hand on the basis that if you don't stick with it you can stick it back on the bay without losing too much. If its just for fun its not such a big deal what you get but if your serious find your local club, see what classes they run and buy something in that class. Don't spend a fortune and be prepared to get your a55 handed to you by youngsters. All part of the fun :)

NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooo...!!!!!!!!!!!!. .:mad:

I recon I binned the Frog when we moved house a few years ago..!!!!!! :brickwall

I've looked everywhere and all I have for it is the tx and a case of spare wheel/tyres and a few oe parts..!:cry: iirc at the time parts were hard/impossible to come by and needing a few key parts my thinking was that the frog would never run again..doh..:(

I'm gutted now I've realised, wish I'd never started this idea now..lol..:lol1:

I'll keep my eye out for a cheap s/h 1/10, tamiya would be ideal actually as they sort of bridge the gap between toys and proper rc.

BTW what ever happened to Blue Thunder nitro fuel, can't find it anywhere now..? Model Technics Big Bang is all that's available at my local store, any thoughts about this..? For my Hobao 1/8th .21 buggy btw..;)