Tamiya

Is MadCap re a thing? That was the first one I had back in 89. Was a better car than I was driver!

I ended up converting it to a Super Astute with the FRP chassis and TTC gearbox.

Madcap. Where it began for me.

We’ve got an original Sand Rover in the loft back home somewhere, with the dude with the cowboy hat driving. From memory it’s not in great shape, body shell was fragile as hell.

Not yet, but it's the best looking tamiya buggy by far!

Also pretty decent as it's basically the astute but less high end parts, more durable though. In fact the year it was released the 1:10 2wd world's were won by an astute/madcap hybrid

I'm kinda hoping that if the do re release it they give it oil dampers and the TTC ftom the newer Super Astute.

Iirc the shared Astute / Madcap gearbox was bad so it would have to be modified for a re.

Yeah, it wasn't great. Had a few of them but not long after that proper slipper clutches and ball diffs game along and the game changed

Wow, this brought back some memories - had a Grasshopper as a kid. Used to take it to Walton and thrash it about on the beach with my Granddad. Happy days.

This cursed forum, now I'm hankering for some RC fun.

Is there a forum approved online store?

eBay is an option but I fear for snides or lemons.

Quite fancying a Hornet or Grasshopper.
Also would need all associated gubbins so brace yourselves for noob questions from me in the near future.

I've ordered from rcjaz.com. it's been a few years and I'm honestly not sure if it's the best place, but I got a sandscorcher and an egress from them without hassle. I don't think I even had to pay import duty on them.

I really fancy a hornet with all the ampro engineering parts to pimp it...

@Howard may have ordered more recently.

For Tamiya Stellamodels.net is always good and low/zero customs.

In the UK wheelspin is usually one of the cheapest

How does the stuff come in from HK/Japan without paying duty?

Got my Egress from an eBay seller when eBay were chucking around 20pc discount coupons.

@DethBeard unless you are really in to the retro stuff I’d look at something a bit more advanced than the Hornet. The modern(ish) stuff like DarkImpact look great in comparison if a bit, ok totally, characterless.

If I was going to go retro and unspendy I’d go lunchbox or monster beetle.

I follow some rc accounts on insta. Some dam fine grasshopper / hornet mods. Can't find dam pic.

My memories of the Hornet and Grasshopper were that they were hilariously fun with some hop-up mods, but the front end on the chassis and front suspension were way weak. The front bumper breaks the first time it is hit, suspension uprights snap off and are not replaceable, and a hard front end hit will break the chassis between the wishbones. These were Tamiya’s very early cars and the later ones were improved design.

I’d still have one though!

How does the stuff come in from HK/Japan without paying duty?

By tax evasion.

I had a Super Sabre of that era that snapped an upright tower off, it was repeatedly epoxied back onto the chassis.

I eventually found a replacement chassis about 2 years ago and rebuilt it, by which time I discovered tyres are impossible to get for it any more

Have you still got it? I could 3d print you some tyres....

Rubberized TPU isn't perfect but should be pretty good...

Modern buggy wheels and tyres not a straight swap?

And if you can't find tyres to fit, can you swap the wheels out to a modern gauge?

Loved the shape of Super Sabre.

Found the modded Hornet in my phones 64gb image folder. (full) 😎

Love this sans spoiler too...

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Dragged my 30 year old Sonic Fighter down from the loft. It still works!

Front tyres look close to disintegrating but I'm tempted to stick a GoPro on it and tear up Finsbury Park tomorrow.

by which time I discovered tyres are impossible to get for it any more

Shares the same wheels / tyres with the HotShot that was re re’d in 2008 - should be easy to find now, search eBay for Tamiya HotShot Tyres

It turned out the version I have is a slightly different scale the normal buggies.

I actually thought about remodelling they wheels and 3D printing them so I could put normal buggy tyres on it to future proof it

Quick Drive 1/14th?

Why do these look so good. 😎

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I have a quick drive version of it which my uncle brought me back from Japan in 1990, probably because I was 4 at the time. he lived there for 35 years and would bring me awesome presents when he came back at Christmas.

The QD version is 1/14 scale so nothing from normal buggies fits. I’d like to resto it purely for sentimental purposes at some point but I put it back in storage before we moved to NZ

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