XV Pilot

If I go for the Yokomo, it would be without the WC pack as that is a bit steep for my pocket. I might be able to add it at a later date. I like the idea of the Durga being pretty much indistructable. My only cause for concern is the possibility of belt wear, especially since AFAIK it doesn't come with a slipper. The Durga might not have this issue, but with my slipper-less MR4BC the belts took a hammering. If the Durga was a shaft-drive, there'd be no question - I'd go for it straight away. I haven't really considered any of the American offerings, as all my tools and spares are metric and I don't really like Imperial cars. Plus I had an Associated B3 a while back, and I found it quite fragile. It did run well though. Thanks for the advice guys! Anyone else have an opinion? - XVakaMH

Come end-of-year bonus time, I'm thinking of getting myself another buggy. I've been buggy-less for a while now, but have had offerings from Tamiya (Hornet, DF01 Manta Ray, TL01B Baja King) and Yokomo (MR4BC) in the past. I have enjoyed them all, so I am considering a buggy from one of these two manufacturers. I have neither the time, budget or skill to race at National level, but I would like a buggy that is quite capable at club level without having to spend a lot on hop-ups. I have read good reports on both the Tamiya DB01 Durga and the Yokomo B-MAX 4, both of which sound competitive enough for my liking and fall within my budget. So then, which of these buggies do you think would be the better buy? And are there any other buggies of this level of performance and price which you think I should also consider? Thanks, XVakaMH

Thanks, glad you like the shell. It isn't for sale I'm afraid, but the shell is an HPI moulding and comes with all the decals, so it would be pretty easy to recreate it yourself. - XvakaMH

Here's the Team Hermit fleet. At the back, left to right, we have Senior Hermit's TL01 set up for rallying with a Tamiya Ford Focus shell, my Twin Detonator set up for crawling with twin ESCs and 4WS, and my TT01 modified for rallying with a HPI Mitsubishi Evo shell. Middle row we have Senior Hermit's hopped-up TT01 wearing a Tamiya NSX shell, Junior Hermit's Tamiya QD chassis wearing a HPI S2000 shell, and my hopped-up TT01 with a Tamiya NSX shell. Senior Hermit and I use the TT01s for weekly racing at our local club. Junior Hermit likes to play on the sidelines with the QD. In the foreground we have my MR4TC Custom with the Protoform Mazda 6 shell, which I used to race but I now use for drifting as it is less likely to damage a chassis for which spares are relatively expensive and difficult to find. Not shown are my fiance's Tamiya "Bonzer", Senior Hermit's hovercraft and my collection of RC gliders. - XVakaMH

Author's note: The more observant amongst you will no doubt have noticed that the truck pictured is still sporting the standard shocks and motor, and has no front bull bar/nudge bar. These photos were taken while I was awaiting delivery of the parts, so I assembled the truck with what I had to hand. I'll upload some more up-to-date pics of the finished truck over the next couple of days. - XVakaMH

Here are some pics:

Building a 100% genuine Tamiya

Here we go...

From parking lot racer to rally car

Review: Tamiya Twin Detonator Model overview: The Twin Detonator is a 4WD twin-motor "racing truck" from Tamiya. It is identical in all respects other than the body style and wheel colour to the Wild Dagger and Double Blaze trucks. It is also virtually identical to the Dual Hunter, which again shares the same chassis, but features a stadium truck body and comes with an ESC. Although claimed to be based on a similar concept to the TL01B, and sharing most suspension components with this model, it is nonetheless a rather different beast. It does have a lot in common with the Blackfoot Extreme though, effectively being an Extreme with an extra front gearbox. Size-wise, it is virtually identical to a Traxxas Stampede. It is a bit small to be called a Monster Truck, but a bit big to be called a Stadium Truck. I just call it a bakkie. What do you get for your money?: The first thing you'll find when opening the rather large box is a nice truck-style Lexan bodyshell moulded to Tamiya's usual high standard. Beneath that, you'll find the usual pile of black plastic sprues, parts bags, a few interesting decorative chrome bits and two smaller boxes, each of which contains a pre-assembled gearbox with a motor attached. The gearboxes contain a mixture of plastic and bronze bushings. Unlike the newer Dual Hunter kit that is supplied with an ESC, the Twin Detonator is supplied with an old-school mechanical speed controller wired to supply the two motors. Underneath all the goodies, you'll find the manual and two sheets of decals. In keeping with the old-school approach, these are not pre-cut. Like almost all hobby-level kits, you need to supply the radio gear and battery. Putting it all together: Anyone who has put together a Tamiya kit before would have no difficulties with this one. Most of the time, the instructions are not really necessary; however for a first-time builder the instructions are excellent in most respects. I started by pulling apart the gearboxes and replacing all the bushings with bearings. Vaguely following the order of events spelled out in the instructions, I then moved onto the chassis halves, mounting servos and cross-braces on them. Finally, I mounted the gearboxes to the chassis halves and attached the suspension and wheels. I had myself a rolling chassis in one evening. The second evening of work was dedicated to the bodyshell and electronics. The supplied stickers allow you to put together a very, um, bright truck with minimal painting skills. However I preferred a more subtle look, so I just went with metallic green and "mechanical" stickers (windows, grille, lights, etc). The body really comes alive with the addition of the chrome roll bar and spotlights, which are easily adapted to take LEDs for those whose tastes go that way. On a stock Twin Det, the electronics are a simple matter of plugging in the mechanical speed controller and servo to your receiver, checking that everything is neutral and travelling in the right direction, plugging in the motors and taking it for a test drive. My model was a bit more complex though. A 6-channel PCM receiver feeds two steering servos (front and rear) and two ESCs (front and rear) and is in turn powered by a stand-alone miniature receiver battery mounted low in the frame. Wiring it up neatly took a bit of time. Programming the 6-channel computer transmitter took even longer! The end result was worth it though. I can now switch between front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive, or have independent control over each motor. I can do something similar with the steering, with front-steer, rear-steer, crab-steer, opposing steer and independent steer all being selectable on the Tx. Just the thing for crawling, or for showing off! For people who enjoy modifying their models, the Twin Detonator is a great project model. For one thing, it is fully symmetrical front to back, so four-wheel steering is really easy to install by mirroring the set-up on the front. The suspension upgrades available for the TL01B will bolt straight on to the Twin Det, as will quite a number of other bits and pieces for other models. The gearboxes and diffs are as tough as they come, capable of taking pretty much any motor combo out there. There is even an active forum dedicated to the art of modifying this chassis, to be found at http://rcdaggerweb.com. Nothing is perfect though, and there are a few things to keep in mind when building and modifying a Twin Det. Firstly, the gearboxes, which come pre-assembled, are not covered in particularly great detail in the instructions. Since many builders, even first-time ones, would want to install bearings from the outset, I think this could have been covered in a bit more detail for novice builders who may not be very good at remembering how things go together once they have pulled them apart. Secondly, the stock dogbones are said to be rather weak and feeble. I haven't had any trouble with mine on the stock motors, but I gather that they tend to twist and snap if you upgrade the power side of things. It is an easy fix though

Hello All! Nick: XV Pilot Name: Keith Age: 34 Location: Lincoln As you can probably guess from my kit list below, I am more into the fun side of the hobby rather than serious racing. I have been interested in RC since childhood, but I bought my first hobby-grade RC car, a Tamiya FF01, about 15 years ago. I raced at a club in Milnerton for a while, but left when excessive competitiveness started getting in the way of having fun. After that I remained purely into the fun side of the hobby until in 2007 when I started racing touring cars at the Tokai club at Blue Route. I really liked the atmosphere there. Most people raced entry-level chassis (TT01 and similar) and the aim of the exercise was to have fun, and win if you can, not the other way around. My wife and I have since relocated to Lincoln, where there doesn't seem to be much in the way of touring car racing going on. There is however quite a strong scaler/crawler movement, so this is where my focus currently lies. Anyway, onto the cars, both past and present: ---------- Chassis: Tamiya FF01 Radio: Futaba Attack R Motor: Trinity Midnight Esc: Robbe Shell(s): Tamiya Toyota EXIV Condition: Raced extensively then sold Chassis: Tamiya DF01 Radio: Futaba Attack R Motor: Johnson 540J Esc: Robbe Shell(s): Custom CF inspired by Schumacher Cat Condition: Bought from friend after it was driven over by a truck, fixed it, used for bashing, then sold Chassis: Yokomo MR4BC Radio: Futaba Attack 2 ER Motor: LRP TC Special 2 Esc: LRP AI Runner Reverse Shell(s): Yokomo Super Dog Fighter II Condition: Raced for a while, then broke it up for spares after the front bulkhead snapped and I couldn't get a spare in two years of looking Chassis: Yokomo MR4TC Custom Radio: Sanwa Dash Saber Motor: Reedy MVP Esc: MTronics Eco Shell(s): Protoform Vauxhall Vectra & Protoform Mazda 6 Condition: Traded for a TT01 when parts became virtually impossible to find. Chassis: Tamiya WR-01 Radio: Spektrum DX3C Motor: 2 X Johnson 540SH Esc: 2 x Tamiya TEU-101BK Shell(s): Tamiya Twin Detonator & Parma '57 Chevy Condition: Ready to run Chassis: Tamiya TT01 Radio: Futaba Attack 2 ER Motor: Johnson 540J Esc: Tamiya TEU-101BK Shell(s): Blitz Alfa 156 Condition: Ready to run Chassis: Tamiya TT01 Radio: Futaba Attack 2 ER Motor: Tamiya TZ Esc: MTronics Eco Shell(s): Protoform TVR Tuscan Condition: Ready to run Chassis: Tamiya TT01 (Rally conversion) Radio: Futaba Attack 2 ER Motor: LRP TC Special 2 Esc: LRP AI Runner Plus Reverse Shell(s): HPI Mitsubishi Evo VI Condition: Ready to run Chassis: Tamiya M03 Radio: Futaba Attack 2 ER Motor: Tamiya Sport Tuned Esc: Tamiya TEU-101BK Shell(s): Tamiya Fiat 500 Condition: Ready to run Chassis: Tamiya Hornet Radio: Sanwa Dash Saber Motor: Mabuchi 540 Esc: Tamiya TEU-101BK Shell(s): Tamiya Hornet Condition: Ready to run Chassis: Tamiya DF02 Radio: Sanwa Dash Saber Motor: Reedy MVP Esc: Tamiya TEU-101BK Shell(s): Tamiya Rising Storm Condition: Ready to run Chassis: Tamiya DT02 Radio: Sanwa Dash Saber Motor: Johnson 540J Esc: Tamiya TEU-101BK Shell(s): Tamiya Desert Gator Condition: Ready to run Chassis: Tamiya TL01 Radio: Sanwa Dash Saber Motor: Hand-wound 55 turn based on a Reedy armature and Corally can Esc: Tamiya TEU-101BK Shell(s): Tamiya Stadium Raider Condition: Ready to run Chassis: Tamiya CC01 Radio: Spektrum DX3C Motor: Etronix 60 turn Sport Tuned Esc: LRP AI Runner Reverse Shell(s): Tamiya Pajero Metal-top Wide Condition: Work in progress ---------- Other Hobbies: Fishing, Warhammer 40K (where my /nick comes from) ---------- - XVakaMH