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[radiojoe]

Hi All,  I've not done any more boats for a while the Puffer being the last one I built, but having seen a video on YouTube of a re-released Tamiya Grasshopper Buggy identical to the one I built more years ago than I care to remember, but I think it was around 1984, My interest was sparked so I ordered one and it was a lot of fun to build, I upgraded the motor to a 540 with 18 tooth pinion and fitted a receiver with built in Gyro that helps keep it in a straight line or auto corrects any rear wheel drift, Well having had so much fun with it I just had to get another one this time the Tamiya Holiday Buggy that I believe was Tamiya's first venture into RC Buggies around 1980, well this was also fun to build this one comes with oil suspension dampers and I fitted a 540 motor and a 19 tooth pinion and the Gyro receiver, plus I believe Santa is bringing me a Hornet a Tamiya icon.
There are so many build video's about I didn't want to bore you all but if it's any interest here's a couple pics of them,  Sorry I should add the Grasshopper was built a few months ago It's the Holiday Buggy that's new.




Joe

[Shipmate60]

Nice Joe


Bob

[grendel]

many years ago (back in the 80's) I had the tamiya dune buggy

[RST]

...I had this cheaper copy when I was a kid as my folks didn't have that much money but my friends were running about with Bigfoots, Clod Busters.  The front bumper broke-off on my "jet hopper" pretty quick but looking back I've had just a couple of proper RC cars since and I got as much out of that when I was a kid as I did since!  I look back fondly and I still remember the "turbo" layout of the throttle stick on the "Turbo Hopper".  It wasn't that slow on a long run-up!  It just took 16h or more if I recall to recharge the batteries!

[radiojoe]

Nice looking rig though Rich, but yeah I know what you mean about batteries and chargers back then, RC gear/batteries and chargers have come a long way since then I run mine on Himh 5000mh bats and get at least 40 minutes run time and recharge it less than two hours.


Joe

[RST]

Nice looking rig though Rich, but yeah I know what you mean about batteries and chargers back then, RC gear/batteries and chargers have come a long way since then I run mine on Himh 5000mh bats and get at least 40 minutes run time and recharge it less than two hours.


Joe

...Yea I know our neigbours all had proper R/C cars.  I didn't get enough pocket money each year to buy a tamiya ESC back then!  I was so glad of my copy!

It's increadible the progress since:  I can't go li-po for maintenence issues but the days of a 600mAH are now a 2.9AH for the same cell on ni-mh comparable with current draw!

[canabus]

Hi Lads


I still have my original Hornet with upgrade to 2400kv brushless motor with a 45Amp ESC and a 3S Lipo battery.


I have retuned the front springs and all the shockers.


Added front and rear sway bars to make it sit flat on the corners.


TOTALLY INSANE TO DRIVE !!!!


Canabus

[madwelshman]

Some of the Tamiya vehicles from the 80's were so cool.
I remember standing in Hamleys with my Dad, watching a video of their latest release, the Blazing Blazer.


I too had a Grasshopper later on, also a second hand Hotshot, Ford Ranger and the last Tamiya car I had was a Sand Scorcher.


Another couple that I had, were a Marui Big Bear and a Mardave Mini Stock. I still have the Mini, that's great fun, even still running on a 540. I have had thoughts of converting it to brushless, just to see how uncontrollable it turns out to be 


Will

[radiojoe]

Yeah some really cool vehicles mentioned there, I know the latest up to date cars are more sophisticated but there's something about the 80's and even 70's cars I like, maybe it is the nostalgia, because although the cars were cool the RC with crystals and mechanical speed controls were not but then we knew nothing else, one of my early Tamiyas had a Bob's Board speed control and the suspension was just the flexing of the thin aluminium chassis and had a run time of about 15 minuets and as Rich said took hours to recharge, so I guess now it's the rerelease of cool vintage vehicles with the modern running gear that makes them so appealing to me,.
I'm looking forward to building the Hornet after Christmas that has the added step of painting the lexan body, I plan on doing it "Box Art" I think it's such an iconic look.


Joe

[grendel]

I used to belong to a club that raced on sunday mornings, I remember the first cars we had were the mardaves with the dural chassis, and all the efforts that went into tweaking and tuning, then someone cane up with real suspension and what an eye opener that was, I was never a serious contender though, I could sometimes manage a 2nd or 3rd place in a race. they were only 10 minutes because by then the batteries were flat, then it was a 20 minute fast charge to be ready for the next race.

[madwelshman]

Totally agree Joe.
There was something about the simplicity of those older models, it made you have to be a better driver, just to keep them in a straight line sometimes. The good thing about being pretty simple, is that they were usually reliable, pretty cheap and easy to fix.


The main adjustment with the Ministock, is changing tyre compound. Talk about a basic, simple car, fun though.


Will

[radiojoe]

On the subject of nostalgia I came across The Vintage Model Co. and they had a rerelease kit of a Keil Kraft Dolphin a model I built in the late sixties, after a bit of trimming it flew very well a friend used to run and tow it up with a long tow line and you needed quite a large field, well I just had to order one and relive the build of this lovely old stick and tissue glider, so here it is, a lot of fun to build again, I had forgotten just how fiddly the tissue covering was but I managed it ok, I don't suppose I will ever fly it, it was more about the build, I did ask the wife if she would tow it for me and she told me what I could do with my tow line and enough said about that, anyway a most enjoyable project here's a couple of pics if it's of any interest.


Joe.

[Footski]

That brings back memories. Dad built me one in the early 70’s. We had to wait for good weather for the maiden voyage and she flew beautifully. Unfortunately it didn’t come down……..it just disappeared into the distance, never to be seen again….

[TheLongBuild]

Nothing like tissue paper and dope..
Nice looking build.

[radiojoe]

Footsky ...Aww that's a shame bet you were gutted, that's why I mentioned the large field I decided to glue a small card trim tab to the fin so it flew in a circle.


Joe.

[madwelshman]

Isn't that a lovely looking thing Joe.
Tissue covered models look so flimsy and fragile, but there really is something about the look of them. I don't know if I would have the patience to build one I must admit and I'd certainly be too scared to attempt flying it even if I did build one. I think that it would have to be a plane like a Lazy Bee, one that will fly so slowly and has a really low stall speed for me to build and then fly.
For now I will stick to my foamies as they bounce when they make unplanned landings     



Will

[Circlip]

With todays ultra lightweight radio gear you could ensure it doesn't flyaway Joe. Chasing down a field at our age is a non starter, literally. A"Lightweight" bungee can be made from rubber bands rather than the conventional surgical tube or shock cords.


  Regards  Ian.

[radiojoe]

Yeah your right there Will the slower the better for my old brain to keep up with,  the Lazy Bees just seem to defy gravity with that over sized wing, have to agree about the foam construction planes they have come a long way, This project was just a trip down memory lane and to see if I still had the patience to build a stick-n-tissue, the Dolphin will probably be another shelf queen or maybe suspended from the work shop ceiling.

Ian  certainly won't be running down the field   I had thought about a bungy launch trouble is I'd have to travel a fair way to find a field large enough thinking of how my original Dolphin flew, with the trim tab on the fin it was fine in calm conditions but with the big dihedral wing tips a small breeze could have quite an effect on the flight.


Joe.

[mogurnda]

Have a look at          John Woodfield RC Gliders         on youtube    all types of gliders large and small...... Excellent.   

  David

[Geoff]

When I grew up I used to bu1ld "Ezeebuilt" or something like that. Hurricanes and Spitfires and ME 109's all on a balsa frame and tissue paper with a plastic propeller and rubber band power. You used to build the fuselage in two halves and glue them together.


They were great fun and as a kid you learned so much about structure and form and how to build things. They even did a de Havilland Vampire designed for a Jet-x motor. I used to fly it like a glider and one day I attached string to the wing tip and spun it round in a circle. Great fun and you could make it climb and dive until you got giddy!


It came to grief one day when I decided to fly it through bonfire smoke to see the smoke swirl behind it. Great until I came too close and it burst into a flaming torch before it hit the ground!


Happy days!


Cheers


Geoff

[radiojoe]

Ah yes I remember the Jet-x motor, remember the Vampire too I built the Javellin around 1958 what funny things the Jet-x were, pop in a couple fuel cells coil the fuse round the fuel put the gause in place screw the nossle on with the fuse though it and after all this it often just fizzled out while you stood there with the plane in the launch mode, great days.


Joe

[Circlip]

We had F86 Sabre, problem with Jetex was people not pulling the wire core of the fuse out of the nozzle when the pellets ignited. Wonder if Dr No was exporting the guano from Crab Quay to Wilmot Mansour?


  Regards  Ian.

[KitS]

Back in the 70s I had a Kiel Kraft Elmira, a 10 ft wing span slope soaring glider kit, but I never managed to finish building it. Over the years various sections of the wings have vanished in house moves, but recently I found that same Vintage Model Co. were still making the kit!


I asked them if I could buy just the parts for my missing wings, and they quoted me a reasonable price for them, so I may yet finish my monster Elmira. 

[ballastanksian]

Your mentioning short duration-long charge batteries reminded me of my Technic Lego motor for driving gears and the like   I spent ages playing with that.


My Dad and I built a balsa and tissue glider when I was about eight. We used a carving board to pin the structures together on. The same with a Kielcraft cabin cruiser kit. I remember the coats and coats of sanding sealer we applied and sanded smooth!


Could you use one of your cars to launch the glider from Joe?

[radiojoe]

Hi Ian   that's an interesting thought the Holiday Buggy is certainly heavy and fast enough to do the job but alas there's no fields big enough around here, I may do some hand launching next Summer as it still needs final trimming but for now it's looking rather graceful suspended from the workshop ceiling.


Joe