Be kind to a total noob

Be kind to a total noob

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krunchkin

Original Poster:

2,209 posts

148 months

Wednesday 13th May 2020
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Yes - you guessed it - Lockdown has me looking to try a few new hobbies and see if any of them click, so I've ordered a Tamiya Hornet!

Be kind to a total newbie and tell me the golden rules / must do / must have / general top tips from your collective model making brains..

It arrives in a couple of days and from what I understand I will need to purchase some additional bits - Radio, FET-ESC (?) , Battery and Charger are not included - so any recommendations for those would be good too.

Thankyou in advance for any advice

deeb0

555 posts

67 months

Wednesday 13th May 2020
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Can't help you much other than to say we are in the same position, I just bought a rising fighter. I bought it as a "package" so included all the different components needed to get ready. I've just finished building it, doing a bit every other evening ready for a trial in the grassy area near my house !

I really enjoyed building mine.

miniman

26,269 posts

269 months

Wednesday 13th May 2020
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This is what I got with my Lunchbox and have bought another for my Hotshot which had old school radio gear in it.

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/etronix-pulse-ex4g-4c...

Out of stock at the moment but I'm sure you will find something similar. I prefer the wheel and trigger to the traditional sticks.

Have you bought ball bearing kit for it? Definitely worthwhile.

MBBlat

1,834 posts

156 months

Wednesday 13th May 2020
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Instructions online https://www.tamiya.com/english/rc/rcmanual/hornet....
Look at page 2, basically lists everything you will need. Ignore the CPR setup as I think that is Japan only. Also be aware the screwdrivers are JLS not Phillips or posidrive, its a another Japenese thing.

gl20

1,147 posts

156 months

Wednesday 13th May 2020
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The Hornet was my entry into RC!

To help reconcile that page 2 to your list (or to summarise the things to focus on)
- in addition to the radio and ESC on your list you will need a receiver and servo. However, you can get these 4 bits as a package I think. (Someone more current than me can probably recommend one)
- of all the other stuff on page 2, I expect you will have most bits at home already. Enough to get by by anyway. The one exception is the paint. Tamiya Black is all you need. I seem to remember the ‘roll bars’ are meant to be painted silver but hardly essential.

On the build, I remember it was a bugger getting the rear tyres over the wheels but steaming them helped. It’s possible on this re-issue they sorted this. Everything else was easy enough. Tamiya instructions are really clear, all the bits fit perfectly, never any parts missing in the kit.

Enjoy

familyguy1

785 posts

139 months

Thursday 14th May 2020
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I'm waiting for all the sites to be re-stocked, I had thought about the Hornet, but the neo fighter and racing fighter get better reviews and seem a little cheaper.

spaceship

868 posts

182 months

Thursday 14th May 2020
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I can’t decide what to buy! Been looking at the Holiday Buggy, Blitzer Beetle & Aqroshot but can’t make my mind up.

I’m a newbie to Tamiya so just looking for something for my daughter and I to build and have some fun with.

Any thoughts on those mentioned above?

deeb0

555 posts

67 months

Wednesday 20th May 2020
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deeb0 said:
Can't help you much other than to say we are in the same position, I just bought a rising fighter. I bought it as a "package" so included all the different components needed to get ready. I've just finished building it, doing a bit every other evening ready for a trial in the grassy area near my house !

I really enjoyed building mine.
Anyone help with what sort of use you should be able to get out the tamiya RC cars? As above I bought a rising fighter "kit", with a 7.2v 3000ma battery and a charger. The charger says on the box it can muster a mighty 250mA, and 100ma of battery will charge in 31 minutes. I make this about 15hrs to full battery.

Last night I charged it for 6 hrs , which should be about 40% of the battery, it ran for about 4 minutes on a short grass area next to my house and died. This seems incredibly short for 40% of the battery?

Am I working this out wrong?

miniman

26,269 posts

269 months

Wednesday 20th May 2020
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I have one of these (from this seller):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/174277460651?ViewItem=&...

Fast charges 2 batteries at once then keeps trickle charged. Haven't watched / timed it but reckon a fast charge is about an hour.

My Lunchbox runs for a good hour on a 4000 battery; Hotshot a little less but it is 4wd.

The_Jackal

4,854 posts

204 months

Wednesday 20th May 2020
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deeb0 said:
Anyone help with what sort of use you should be able to get out the tamiya RC cars? As above I bought a rising fighter "kit", with a 7.2v 3000ma battery and a charger. The charger says on the box it can muster a mighty 250mA, and 100ma of battery will charge in 31 minutes. I make this about 15hrs to full battery.

Last night I charged it for 6 hrs , which should be about 40% of the battery, it ran for about 4 minutes on a short grass area next to my house and died. This seems incredibly short for 40% of the battery?

Am I working this out wrong?
Just buy a proper charger that does all type of batteries at different charging rates. 20-30 will do you.
Plus fully charge the battery. You will always be disappointed with a part charged battery. Grass will reduce running times because of the drag, and the rising fighter will not have a very efficient esc or motor. This is why Tamiya RC can work out way more expensive than other makes because most parts need upgrading to get the performance of other buggies. Retro costs.
You should be able to charge that battery at 2 or 3 amps and it will greatly reduce the charging times.

miniman

26,269 posts

269 months

Wednesday 20th May 2020
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It’s definitely a slippery slope hehe

deeb0

555 posts

67 months

Wednesday 20th May 2020
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Thanks for the responses. My 5 year old has been a bit disappointed by it so far as we bought an "off-road" buggy on purpose for using on the grassy area, I guessed we would get 30-40 minutes of use out of it so far the most we've had is about 5! Battery has been charging away today, I'll let it go the full 15 odd hours and see what we get tomorrow, then invest in a more powerful charger, thanks for the link.