Frog or Hornet?

[roadrunner440]

OK, reading UKBobs thread has got me going, I had a frog and a Brat back in the day and now it is time to re-visit the fun!

So which one do I get, the Frog or the Hornet? is there a noticable difference in performance ( speed or handling)? or any major tech difference (full diff Vs direct drive like the Brat was)?

Thanks in advance, soon as I get some feedback I am off shopping !

[Pvapour]

frog is waaaay better from what remember, reasonably competitive within the SWORDS championship

Hornet (basicly a Grasshopper) had a very weak gearbox (dont know on new one) main gear and bevels on diff kept stripping, plus it was solid rear axle, frog was independant plus it had oil filled shox as opposed to the hornets spring only bounce every where system

I'd say go for the frog unless they have vasly improved the hornet.

edited to say: we should organise a vintage race somewhere, it'd be awsome to see them all battling it out on track again (for me anyway (i was 10 )

Edited by Pvapour on Sunday 22 July 20:08

[roadrunner440]

OK, I get some of that, though reading UKBobs cool thread, the new Hornet has oil filled shocks and some form of damping on the front which my old Frog diod not, you had to buy an upgrade thingy if I remember well, I must say the Hornets looks are making me slightly moist and it looks lighter as well, the Frog frame and suspension was pretty heavy from memory although I have a slight concern how strong the top front suspension mounts may be on the Hornet?

[UKbob]

Pvapour said:

main gear and bevels on diff kept stripping

My hornet was *juddering, RC shop put me in touch with the company who imports them, and their main techie guy (who has been building and racing models for 20 years, says he seen em all) told me that it would be very very difficult to strip the gears on a Hornet, although it "might" be possible, if you tried very very hard indeed. I wouldnt worry, based on what he said.

• The hornet was juddering as the ESC cuts power to the motor if you apply full throttle when the battery is nearly flat, doh!

The frog sounds like it might be the better car. Id go for whichever one you want the most as they are both retro models. The hornet really surprised me, I didnt expect it to be as fast or as much fun as it was, and I also fell in love with it as far as the looks are concerned. The front suspension mounts seem pretty solid to me, the top ones also look ok, but then Ive not compared them to anything else. I have no fear whatsoever of breaking them if that helps

[roadrunner440]

Thanks Bob, good reply, I think form over function rules here, the Hornet is the looker! Did you order yours from Modelsport? how were they to deal with and what was the dlivery time like?

Thanks in advance, and get some pics of yours posted up, especially any build up pics

[Pvapour]

UKbob said:

Pvapour said:

main gear and bevels on diff kept stripping

My hornet was *juddering, RC shop put me in touch with the company who imports them, and their main techie guy (who has been building and racing models for 20 years, says he seen em all) told me that it would be very very difficult to strip the gears on a Hornet, although it "might" be possible, if you tried very very hard indeed. I wouldnt worry, based on what he said.

• The hornet was juddering as the ESC cuts power to the motor if you apply full throttle when the battery is nearly flat, doh!

The frog sounds like it might be the better car. Id go for whichever one you want the most as they are both retro models. The hornet really surprised me, I didnt expect it to be as fast or as much fun as it was, and I also fell in love with it as far as the looks are concerned. The front suspension mounts seem pretty solid to me, the top ones also look ok, but then Ive not compared them to anything else. I have no fear whatsoever of breaking them if that helps

like i said, this is how they 'used' to be, the new release one has probably adressed the old issue, I competed for a few years & nobody would go anywhere near a Hornet if they were interested in winning good toy though still think the Frog looks better.

Have fun

[UKbob]

roadrunner440 said:

Thanks Bob, good reply, I think form over function rules here, the Hornet is the looker! Did you order yours from Modelsport? how were they to deal with and what was the dlivery time like?

Thanks in advance, and get some pics of yours posted up, especially any build up pics

Good Man The Tamiya Hornet just had to be bought the ultimate retro car for me

Model Sport were not bad, reasonably friendly and very helpful. I couldnt find the aerial sheath anywhere in the hornet box, so they promised to stick one in the post to me free of charge.

Delivery is "next day" providing orders are received by 2pm. You are charged £8 for ordering over the phone - Id guess they deal with thousands of kids who are eager to talk tamiya and all the other makers and products till the cows come home, fair enough... you get and about £10 off if you buy the combo package.

Next day delivery for Saturday is about £20, I mention that in case you were planning on building the hornet this weekend coming

Dont forget the black paint if you dont have any, it seems some people have been spraying their hornets white - just doesnt look right, imho hornets must be black! And the ballrace set of course for 8 quid.

I erm... will be uploading pics to, cough/ahem, www.tamiyahornet.com as soon as I have time. I really should have used my studio lights as the pics didnt come out all that well, ho hum.

[Roop]

Frog is a superior model. I have both (surprise, surprise ) and the Frog has fully independent suspension and such. Hornet gearbox is unburstable, literally. The Frogs is breakable but hey, them's the breaks. Hornet is point and squirt, Frog is more driveable. Both great fun.

[UKbob]

Roop said:

Frog is a superior model. I have both (surprise, surprise ) and the Frog has fully independent suspension and such. Hornet gearbox is unburstable, literally. The Frogs is breakable but hey, them's the breaks. Hornet is point and squirt, Frog is more driveable. Both great fun.

If tamiya made the hornet and the frog, why didnt they give the hornet full independent suspension all round?

Also, would someone like to explain exactly how a car benefits by having independent dampers on all 4 corners? Im sure more is better, but if the hornets whole rear end is dampened and can rock like a cradle left and right too, what "happens when driving" that is better with full independent. Just curious (to learn what is probably obvious to others).

[roadrunner440]

Thanks for all the great answers ! Plan is buy and run the Hornet and get a Brat later, the Brat uses the Frog chassis etc and the re-release comes with a light body now

[Roop]

Don't bank on the re-release cars being available for ever. The Hornet is being made still but some like the Top Force were a very short production run and supply dried up after literally a few weeks. Not sure if this will be the case with the Brat - so far so good.

roadrunner440 said:

Thanks for all the great answers ! Plan is buy and run the Hornet and get a Brat later, the Brat uses the Frog chassis etc and the re-release comes with a light body now

[roadrunner440]

Thanks, I sent an e-mail last night to the model shop asking a couple of questions before putting in my order tonight, sadly and somewhat dissapointingly they have not bothered to reply so I don't know what to do now? this place was the only one I saw that did the good package deal, if anyone knows somewhere in the Manchester area I can try please let me know, cheers, Roady

[UKbob]

roadrunner440 said:

Thanks, I sent an e-mail last night to the model shop asking a couple of questions before putting in my order tonight, sadly and somewhat dissapointingly they have not bothered to reply so I don't know what to do now? this place was the only one I saw that did the good package deal, if anyone knows somewhere in the Manchester area I can try please let me know, cheers, Roady

Pick up the blower, they dont always answer on first ring, but you can fire off your questions tomorrow morning or during your lunch break, and order before 2, you'll have it by thursday

tip: If its being delivered to work or a different "during the day" location, leave your work number. They rang me to confirm that I was who I said I was, before shipping (online card order)

[roadrunner440]

I would but I have little time to make calls during the day maybe they will reply tomorrow? if not then it's not meant to be.

[UKbob]

roadrunner440 said:

I would but I have little time to make calls during the day maybe they will reply tomorrow? if not then it's not meant to be.

Mail me your questions. Ive got some of my own and will be ringing em tomorrow anyway, besides which... Im a phone whore and on the phone all day every day, its no trouble at all edit... Im also nosey and want to know what they are, and I might even be able to answer one of em myself

Edited by UKbob on Tuesday 24th July 22:08

[roadrunner440]

It's nothing major, main thing is I noticed the TX is out of stock on the website so was wondering about delivery times etc..thanks

[roadrunner440]

Hurrah ! they replied and I have ordered my Hornet should arrive Friday if I am lucky , thanks for the replies and I will let you know when it arrives !

[UKbob]

roadrunner440 said:

Hurrah ! they replied and I have ordered my Hornet should arrive Friday if I am lucky , thanks for the replies and I will let you know when it arrives !

Yay! You'll have to take some pics of your hornet when its finished. I take it youre doing it black not white?

I made the mistake of taking my hornet for a drive before it was finished (shell not done, dont know if I'll have time this weekend) so Ive got to clean the whole bloody car now, just so I can get some decent photos of it looking pristine and fresh, before I get it filthy again... or wreck it.

If I wasnt obsessed with getting decent photos, I might have been able to take it for a quick drive tonight

Whats the top model as far as the Tamiya hornet goes, or tamiya cars in genera? Id like another electric car one day, and id like to stick with tamiya for now, and definitely get another buggy before a street car.

Just how much faster/better is best electric tamiya buggy type car anyway, or are all electric buggies the same in terms of performance.

[roadrunner440]

Black ! it has to be black, are you putting the wee driver dude inside? I ordered the paint and an extra battery

I will do pics, looking forward to seeing yours soon!

[UKbob]

roadrunner440 said:

Black ! it has to be black, are you putting the wee driver dude inside? I ordered the paint and an extra battery

I will do pics, looking forward to seeing yours soon!

Im going to stick the driver inside, but had the idea of asking around to see if anyone else was keen to paint him. Without wanting to take the piss, I thought Id ask, just havent got round to posting yet.

I also got an extra battery The car dies (speed controller prevents full power) when there is still a fair bit of juice left in the battery... Your kit will come with a small rectangular housing which takes 4 aa batteries, for the hornets receiver. You can plug the receiver directly into the new speed controller, eliminating the need for that pack. I did that without realising what I was doing and wondered what the spare battery housing was for.