PaulW

sounds painful. ?

presumably I can check the voltage output from the ESC with a multimeyer without doing any harm?

Thank's both. I've ordered a new one, sounds like I should have ordered a couple! I'm right in thinking that the speed controller will supply the correct voltage to the receiver? Would the servo hitting the limit of turn have any effect?

Just to confirm, polarity was good ...... Movement of the steering servo was too great, I was just about to limit that with the Tx.

OK, after a delay for ill health I finally got around to wiring up this afternoon. I'm using a turnigy 2s LiPo at 5000maH, Tamiya included TBLE 2S speed controller and FlySky GT3C Tx and GR3 rx. All went well, except that the Tx/Rxwere not bound. Sorted that, Speed controller into CH2, Servo Into CH1 and all was going well on first test then the Rx died. No LED's and the Speed Controller is flashing green LED and corresponding Beep. What did I do wrong?

So, 40 years late I embark on my first ever RC build. Having spent Christmas Evening helping the good lady set up her Brother Scan 'n Cut card making machine (the pay off for my Tamiya) and Bratticus Prime sort out his new drone Boxing Day belongs to me. I wanted a Tamiya as a kid, the 80's Porsche 959 being my dream, but it never happened. Better late than never, I am scratching the itch with a Plasma Edge II 4WD buggy built on Tamiya's TT02B chassis. The build is stock, out of the box with the exception of replacing the supplied bushings with metal bearings. I will be taking mental notes as I build it as to what upgrades I might like to add in the future, or from scratch with any future builds. Step 1 is the drive train: Prop shaft, differentials, pinion gear and motor. First impression if the kit is that the instructions are beautifully written and very clear but the parts bags could be better marked. The smaller bags have stickers but the larger plastic parts don't and for a blind old bat like me it's difficult to read the label on the stalks without taking them out of the not quite clear bags. At least the first parts the prop shaft, the end cups are easy to spot and on first inspection feel good. They look well made and the plastic cups are decent high density plastic. There shouldn't be any wear issues here given the flat, blade ends of the plastic drive shaft though I wouldn't trust them with a pin ended shaft. I can't see me adding the propellor shaft to my list of upgrades. For what I need the supplied plastic shaft seems fine and I was impressed by how little torque twist it allows. One thing I might think about upgrading though is the pinion gear. It sits on a 2mm pin slotted through the cup shaft. I can see that pin working loose in the plastic gear with use, and there are some very sexy looking aluminium hopups available. You can't have too much sexy! The other thing I will upgrade, and make stock for future buils is the screws. The supplied 3 x 10mm which hold most things together are not the best quality I have ever seen. The differential gears fit together nicely. I had meant to order more anti wear grease before Christmas but forgot so I am limited to the tiny blob Tamiya supply. The instructions say apply with a pointed object so I am using a bamboo skewer which is quite fiddly. A small stiff brush would be a lot quicker but would use more grease which I don't have. The motor fits into the motor mount nicely with a washer between, and more AWG which is not doing anything in terms of moving parts, so I'm guessing is helping against ingress. On goes the pinion gear cover and the drive train is complete. Cold Turkey for me mow, then onto the Suspension.

Does anyone else find that the Kodak Extralife from poundland don't last as long since they chaged the design (they used to be purple)? We use them in my sons xbox controller. A set used to last for months, now it seems we are changing them every couple of weeks.

I've got one of these, though mine is black, which I've had years. I like it because each battery charges on it's own circuit, not in pairs as most chargers do so you can charge odd numbers of batteris. Handy when lots of things you use take three batteries. It's "intelligent" but not "smart", not unlike meself, has overheat / overcharge / overload protection but charges at a constant voltage and will kick batteries from dead, unlike a smart charger which needs some voltage to check the battery before charging. Someone once told me that batteries charged like this are likely to explode, but I've never had that and I've recharged thousands of times. Likewise I'm still using batteries that are five or more years old so it doesn't seem to be detrimental to battery life. Leise Charger

For AA chargers I think billy basic is the way to go. You just want something with a constant current and overcharge protection. Smart chargers are all very well when they work, but they have an annoying habit of thinking batteries are "broken" when they aren't and hence won't charge them. I had an energiser smart charger and after a few months it started rejecting batteries, first the ones that came with it then others I'd bought. My brother in law told me to try them in an old charger and it charged them fine. They had become too discharged for the smart charger to recharge. I dread to think how many useable batteries I threw away because of that thing.

My Tamiya Plasma Edge II is sitting under the Christmas Tree in it's shiny gold paper waiting for the big day. I don't think I've been so excited since I was eight. I ordered it, had it delivered to the good lady who has wrapped it and stuck it under the tree. I ordered the kit, radio, battery, charger all from different places and all have arrived in good time. Interestingly the battery charger arrived from Hong Kong faster than the Radio from Portsmouth. I ordered the bearing kit to replace the included bushings as the only upgrade for now. I've been watching a video series on youtube (sadly incomplete) and the chap building that is upgrading everything. By my reckoning he has spent almost twice as much on upgrades as the original kit and two thirds of the parts supplied with the kit will stay in the box. I can't see the point in going that far, but what are your favourite upgrades? Aluminium motor mount? Motor? Heastink? Alloy dampers? Let us all know what your first choice upgrade would be.

Thanks everyone. It's very likely I'll add another shell at some point in the future. One for bashing and one for the shelf so to speak, so I'll probably save my artwork for that. I used to race for a procycle team back in the 80s, and whilst our bikes had a team paintjob we were allowed to add out own racing colours to identify our own bikes. I fancy adding my colours to my RCs in future. Am I correct in thinking that shells for Tamiya TT02B chassis are interchangeable?

Does polycarbonate take airbrushing OK? I've got my new Tamiya Plasma Edge, though I've got to wait for Christmas to unwrap it. I've gone for the Black Metallic version which comes pre finished (in metallic black surprisingly). I want to go to town on the finish though, give it a real 80's retro paint job. Will poly take airbrushing, or will the paint crack and flake as it get's bashed about?

I buy all my Stainless Torx screws from Gedex in Germany via ebay. Great price and quality, though they do you no favours with p+p so I make sure I order as much as I caneach time. They offer really good choice of sizes in cylinder, pan and csk heads. I do buy the need for torx, they are much more resilient than hex / cross head.

Save up to 50% at Euro Car Parts using code BLACKFRIDAY. A whole £0.90 off a Tamiya Lunchbox ..... Well it is UPTO 50%

to cut a long story short .... Liked RC as a kid, always wanted a Tamiya, couldn't afford. Bought son (8) a little RTR jobbie on recent holiday, had to fix gearbox which was slipping but he loved it and it's given me the urge to get the Tamiya, 40 years on. It will be the Christmas present from wifey. The idea is I'll love assembly and maintenance and son will love bashing about, and it's something that a) we can do together and b) will occupy him outdoors away from tablets and xbox for a while. I know Tamiya have their faults but for me it (at least this first one) has to be Tamiya. Plan is entry level 4wd buggy with radio gear decent enough to a) use on slightly better kit later b) use for rc boat which I have an ambition to build. With that in mind I'm looking at: Tamiya Plasma Edge Black Met, using stock ESC and motor but with ball bearing upgrade. Flysky FS-GT3C with included rx Battery .... is LiPo the way to go, and if so they seem to come as 2 cell 7.4v as opposed to 6 cell NiMh at 7.2. Is this voltage difference an issue? if it's LiPo yes and V difference no then looking at this https://hobbyking.com/en_us/graphene-5000mah-2s2p-hardcase-w-5mm-female-bullet-connector.html is this enough "c" and charger https://hobbyking.com/en_us/imax-b6-ac-dc-charger-5a-50w-with-us-plug-copy.html Would they suit? Finally servos. What I know about servos can be written on the head of a pin. Bearing in mind standard servos are not that expensive is it worth paying the couple of quid extra for metal geared versions? And finally finally any suggestions of good shops to buy the kit? (or alternatively if such comments are permitted, anywhere not to buy) Thank you in advance for any comments or suggestions