First RC car

[sc0tt]

I obviously had a few when I was younger but nothing overly serious.

How fast are these? How long do they take to build?

https://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/tamiya-lunch-bo...

Are they ok for a mix of grass and tarmac?

How long do batteries last? Are the shells painted?

And do you get a PH discount? I recall jadlam having a PH account.

Sorry for all the questions

[defblade]

sc0tt said:

I obviously had a few when I was younger but nothing overly serious.

How fast are these?

Depends on the motor and batteries. From brushed on NiMH, to brushless on LiPo, and plenty of range in each. You can generally have top speed or torque but not lashings of both; something balanced in the middle, possibly a bit torquier, would be fine for a Lunchbox.


How long do they take to build?

Maybe a long day, apart from painting. Again, varies by model. Tamiyas are pretty straight forward though.



https://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/tamiya-lunch-bo...

Are they ok for a mix of grass and tarmac?

Yes.




How long do batteries last?

A 3000mAh NiMh seems to do me 15-20 minutes; I have 3 or 4 with me at a time. It's not like the old days of NiCad - prices are lower, capacities higher, charge times shorter... all good



Are the shells painted?

Usually by you Generally painted from the inside to stop it getting wrecked, so you need to plan ahead well and do the surface details first, working back towards the base colour.



And do you get a PH discount? I recall jadlam having a PH account.

If you find a good one, let us know

Sorry for all the questions

[thebraketester]

When I had my Lunch Box many years ago it had a opaque shell meaning it had to painted from the outside. I presume they are still the same.

I seem to remember battery lasting about 10 mins, although as above... battery tech has improved since the early ~1990.

I seem to remember it being ok on tarmac but better off road. On road it does better wheelies!!. The tyres can spin in the wheels so worth gluing them. Also worth upgrading the suspension with oil dampers if possible. (the oem ones do not have any dampers, they are 'fake')

Steering rack arms are quite thin and fragile, I became quite handy at straightening them out :-)

[generationx]

The Lunchbox is great fun on and off road. All good advice above, and the bodyshell is indeed made from hard white plastic so requires painting. It also means it's easy to damage when you inevitably roll it...

Also worth buying a ball bearing set to install during build, it makes the drivetrain more efficient and your batteries will last longer.

Here's mine:

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=...

[sc0tt]

Can you buy a painted shell?

[C0ffin D0dger]

sc0tt said:

Can you buy a painted shell?

I've not seen the shells pre-painted but you can buy the whole thing ready built: https://www.modelsport.co.uk/tamiya-xb-lunch-box-2...

The Tamiya stuff is fun and good if you really want to build it yourself but it will soon seem quite slow.

You can get a ready to run brushless truggy with a LiPo battery for about the same money which will give you a lot more bang-per-buck as our American friends would say: https://www.modelsport.co.uk/ftx-carnage-1-10-4wd-...

Not to worry if you are keen on tinkering as it will eventually have to be stripped down, repaired or whatever.

[Steve Evil]

I bought a Tamiya BlackFoot from Jadlam recently, having never built one when I was a kid, just had a pre-built one of some kind. Was great fun putting it all together and it came with oil-filled dampers that someone else mentioned above (got to put the oil in yourself too). Didn't do the best job of painting it myself but I'm not overly disappointed as I know either I or the boy will end up rolling it over at some stage and scuffing it anyway. If you don't want to paint it you could get away without, won't look great but the ABS plastic is still reasonably shiny anyway. I bought some bearings to put in it too, search for the model number of the kit on ebay and you'll get plenty of results, think I paid about £7 for a set.

I'd say go for it as I really enjoyed the whole process.

As to discount, you could try asking Russy and see if he'd be willing to do anything for you.