Si Coe

Yes that servo looks right. They always looked comically big in a Blaze. As for which motor is better - can't tell from the pictures. Brushless motors have 3 wires from the motor, brushed 2 wires. As a rule the brushless one will be better even if slightly smaller. If they are both brushless you'll need to look for some numbers on the motor to tell you what it is.

That esc will work with that motor - it should be a small motor as its a 1/18th car. Its been a while since I've seen a Blaze - they were great little cars that dominated the Micro scene for ages until the somewhat larger Losi Mini 8ight appeared. They were also sold as the LRP Shark as well. IIRC they used a standard sized steering servo normally used in larger cars rather than the micro servo's most small scale cars run - you cut the mounting 'ears' off and stick the servo direct to the chassis. However this is something I'd suggest you check beyond my hazy memory as its not something you can easily undo if its wrong.

There is a lot of interest in large scale electric but its still too pricy for most. I expect we'll be seeing more low cost Far East knock off versions similar to those found in smaller scales and IC versions. I also reckon we'll be seeing more FPV systems appearing, especially on bigger models. They aren't ideal because fast ground vehicles don't make a stable viewing platform but they do catch peoples imagination and so would sell if done right.

The first Manta Ray I ever saw (Jamie Booth's prototype) had black uprights but it wasn't a production model. It gets hard to tell over time as pretty much every example ends up altered. The first Losi XX4's had black front bulkheads but these were weak and a white version soon replaced it. These days people assume they have always been white since no black versions have survived. Basically the colour people expect a Manta Rays uprights to be is red.

They aren't completely separate things but what makes them good at one tends to limit them for the other. That PR Racing buggy I linked is a good example - it can be a decent basher or racer, just not at the same time. Built in the rear motor layout with the ride height raised to the max its going to be able to tackle a lot more than your current Hornet can for example. But for racing you'd want it mid motor and dropped low. You might as well have a different car by that point. Personally I'd say get an FTX Vantage, Absima AB2.4BL or Maverick Strada all of which are also 1/10th scale buggys but 4wd and better bashers than a 2wd. You can run any of them at a race track - they aren't that competitive but good enough for a new driver to learn the ropes with. Most new racers at my club start with a Vantage then get a 2wd racer later. It helps that being 1/10th you can drop the electrics straight into one of the inevitable vast array of barely used racing chassis every clubs notice board seems to have for sale at dirt cheap prices.

I've seen a number of new young racers using this which is a very tough but pretty competitive 2wd buggy. Its as good a basher as any 2wd 1/10th buggy is, and well inside your price range, leaving you plenty left over for a good charger and a couple of battery packs. The only real downside is that Inside Line Models (who are excellent BTW) are the only supplier so spares must be ordered from them - this is not something a local store will stock. All that said I should mention that I do bash with ex-racing 2wd 1/10th buggies, and whilst they are tough enough to withstand all sorts of abuse, and far more nimble than trucks or bigger models they do not make great bashers. They have very limited ground clearance so can only handle short grass (we racing on astroturf for this reason) and lack grip at the rear when running powerful motors. The racers solution to the lack of grip is super soft tyres that only last a couple of runs which is not ideal for bashing. I can get away with bashing mine because the grass as the park near me is regularly mowed due to the football pitches, and I've got boxes of part worn tyres from racing that I can run till bald. If you really want a 1/10th buggy and want to bash and race a 4wd would be a better choice. They are less common for racing, but much more capable bashers.

Mine has red uprights. The TA01 was derived from the Manta ray so yes they fit. TBH the first time I saw red uprights it was on the TA01 so I'm not sure if is just thats everybody switched to them.

I've been fitting RC packs to electric Nerf guns for some time - not quite the same but demonstrates that yes it will work. The only thing to watch out for is that decent RC packs can deliver much higher currents than you actually need. This is not an issue if all is working fine, but if something goes wrong be aware it can get seriously melty very fast......

My two beach bashers are an HPI Wheelie King and a Kyosho Blizzard. The Wheelie King handles sand dunes really well, its a tall truck like the Lunchbox but 4wd so doesn't get bogged down and the crawler style drivetrain copes with the sand well. Salt water is a problem but I've found the best solution is to stick it in the bath to wash out the salt and then drown in wd40. Its worked for the last 3 years..... The Blizzard is best kept away from the water as its not as well sealed, but being tracked nothing stops it. Mines just been upgraded to brushless waiting for the winter snow.

The Tekno is (literally) an 1/8th scale buggy dressed up as a 1/10th truck. This isn't - because Proline don't make a 1/8th buggy but its still clearly built like one. Its not an MT but that goes for a lot of other designs too. There isn't really a collective name for these jacked up, non-racing but performance orientated trucks. I'm sure its going to be good, I'm not as sure who's going to buy one. It costs 1/8th money, it will need a similar sized space to run as a 1/8th based truck since its only a little smaller and just as fast and its going to have limited support. You've got to really want a very slightly smaller truck to go for this one.

The belt YZ4 is a great car in come conditions - on wet astro its amazing, but a lot of die hard Yokomo fans were still running B-Max III's which work at least as well on a dry track. So the switch to shaft was going to happen. Its just sad because whilst Schumacher and Losi have always run belts, Yokomo were the first major player to switch back to them after a series of shaft drive cars. And the design made great sense for people that also ran a YZ2 as some many parts are common - which must have also saved Yokomo some money. It just never really caught on. I don't race much anymore, and when I do I only run 4wd if the track is slippery so I'll keep the belt Yz4 as it suits.

For years we had a regular A-finalist running an ancient B4 against the newer mid motor 2wds and doing well. He eventually moved to a B5 but didn't really do much better. Too many people swap cars too often to whatever the latest model is, don't spend time setting them up and getting familiar with them and then wonder why it isn't the 'improvement' its cracked up to be. All that said the belt YZ4 is a very interesting car - its basically 2 YZ2 gearboxes linked by a belt, which is unlike any other 4wd out there. This version is not really that different from an Xray, or a B64 which makes sense in that they are the cars that people are buying, but takes some of the variety away from 1/10th.

Its a very interesting design, and the chassis makes sense in terms of the shell sitting on top - a real truck like that would have a live axle at the back. That said, there is a reason most RC's don't! That rear, and the very forwards mounting of the battery as a result is going to make it a front heavy rear wheel drive, which is odd.

I was thinking that too. It needs a slight bend, not a full 90, more like 45. That will help absorb some impact making it work better and be less lethal on ankles. I was going to suggest that thats some mighty fancy rig for a 5 year old to be bashing but then my kids (4 and 7) bash with my old race cars so i can't really talk! Its the first full carbon Vantage I've seen and it does look sweet.

My YZ870c Dogfighter which I ran around 89-90, when for a good sized 4wd buggy meeting you'd get 50-60 Schumacher CAT's of various forms, a handful of Kyosho Optima Mids (later Lazer's) and my sole Yokomo. At one point I got to meet Yokomo's star driver and RC legend Masami Hirosaka (think it was a Reedy Race) who signed the custom made top deck with a gold paint pen. He also gave me his prototype Yokomo charger because my Schumacher charger literally went up in smoke. I miss both the car and the charger. I know I sold the charger about 10 years back when I went lipo, and regretted it immediately. I don't recall ever selling the Yokomo, but I don't have it anymore so I guess it was lost to the ravages of time - or its buried in the chaos that is the loft at what was once my parents but now my brothers house.

I was seriously considering a Konghead the other day but glad I didn't click. This looks SOOO much cooler......

That is stunning! It won't stay like that in use but it does make me wonder why everything has to be black.....

Just ordered a set of the Rib Spikes in yellow for my RC10. It was just about the only tyre anyone ever ran on 2wds back in the day so I really need to have a set.

Turnbuckles have the advantage of letting you tune the camber, but they also let you set the lengths completely wrong and screw up the geometry completely. The fixed links in the kit aren't just cost saving measures but also make it foolproof. All my racing based models have turnbuckles, but my bashers don't. They simply aren't needed. There is one exception though, which is fitting Lunsfords excellent titanium turnbuckles. They aren't cheap, but they also virtually indestructible. They are the thing to fit if you keep killing the stock links.

Mine (original XT buggy and DTM) had ball diffs but with a weird spiral pattern for the diff balls. I think the idea was that they would spread the wear on the diff plates out. The XT's carbon tub was actually pretty stiff at least compared to the double deck flat plate chassis found on Yokomo's and Schumachers of the era. Unfortunately whilst the belt drives could cope with this flex, the Pred's shaft drive based around a super rigid carbon shaft meant even the slightest twist would move the gears out of alignment and chew them up. Modern shaft drives (including later Preds) are designed to have much more 'give' so they don't do this.

Good thread. What amuses me the most is that despite that whilst it was your child that introduced the hobby to you, its clear you are just as (or more) into this as they are. You certainly aren't the first parent I've heard that from - half the adult drivers at our club started that way - but you are the first mum. Its exclusively a dad thing, so its very refreshing to see. As for addictiveness - it sure is but there is a bit of help for those who want a fix, but live 'on the go'. I present the Carisma GT24 series - hobby grade RC's but small enough to chuck in the bottom of a bag. Mine goes with me when I take my boys to the park, beach, skatepark etc.

Proof there is such a thing as 'too good'! It looks awesome like Mond says practically a scaler. But its a monster truck, and it has a wheelie bar. That means you are going to flip it, smash it and wreck that gorgeous shell. And then cry...... I'm an electric guy myself but I do think the nitro version of the chassis just looks better. Very tempted with one of these, but I suspect it won't be cheap....

I would concur with XVP's answer. The only way to be sure of the wind is to open it up, but this type of endbell is designed to prevent that. This configuration was commonly used for 'stock' class motors because it stopped tampering with the motor. The way the RF suppression caps are soldered on is also typical of the layout for stock motors. By far the most common 'stock' wind was 27 turns, though a few 'super stock' 19 turns existed. Its unlikely to be lower than 19 because the downside is that whilst you can replace the brushes, you can't open the can to clean or skim the motor, so it has a limited lifespan. In theory if it was a good model, and was given as through an overall as possible for a fixed endbell motor it should be on par with a torque tuned in performance.

I had one of those. Feel a bit sorry for the lad I sold it to really - it was a fragile, barely driveable heap of junk (not my words, the words of the ex T-Tech team driver I got to help me set it up) Make a nice shelfer for sure but will be a bunch of parts in a carrier bag the first time someone tries to run it......

I'd consider both motors low kv myself because I normally run motors in the 6000-7500 kv region (on 2s). 3300kv is a decent number for 2 and 3s use whereas 2200 is really 3s only as too slow on 2s. I don't know the final drive ratio for an Ecx Ruckus so can't suggest the right pinon just yet. It's a good idea to have a few though as you may want to change it, especially if you swap from say tarmac to grass. Heat is best controlled by gearing correctly. Fans and vents help, but only a little.