Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

J

jasonh

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
184
Back in the mid 80's when I was 12 or so, I got this as a Christmas present. It came in a kit and had to be built from scratch - shocks had to be filled with oil, differential put together, and electronics installed. It was fast, bullet-proof, and I learned a LOT building it and maintaining it.

Now all the high end RC cars seem to be "RTR" or Ready To Run. You open the box, turn it on, and go. When it breaks I suppose you take it back to the hobby shop to be fixed since the average person probably would not know how to repair it if they didn't build it in the 1st place.

Anyway, I noticed Tamiya has offered a re-release of the Hornet. I bought one last week for my 6 year old and we built it together. His only experience with RC cars were the Radio Shack variety that top out at 8-10 mph. He was utterly blown away when this new car dad bought zoomed down the street at 22-25 mph!!!

Anyone out there have these as a kid? Or built one for your kids back in the day?
 
tommays

tommays

Admiral
Joined
Jul 4, 2004
Messages
6,768
Re: Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

We have and HPI road car with the 2 speed tranny that runs about 50 MPH and a Kyosho Inferno 1/8 scale offoad buggy


The road car goes through a set tires in about 1 hour :rolleyes: and the offroad car eats up parts from the dust :eek:


So they sit in really nice boxs as it is cheeper to take my boat out :D
 
J

jsfinn

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Nov 26, 2003
Messages
1,093
Re: Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

Wow. Yeah, I had one when I was about 12 also. That thing was FUN!

I remember tearing through tires pretty quick probably because of all the skidding I liked to do.

It was also fun to get a new body kit and paint it in the back yard with spray paint and pin stripe it with colored tape.

Remember the "Anytime Baby!" decal for the wing? HA!

I wonder if I could still find that car in my parents basement??
 

Attachments

  • tamiya_hornet_front.jpg
    tamiya_hornet_front.jpg
    29.7 KB · Views: 0
B

BoatBuoy

Rear Admiral
Joined
May 29, 2004
Messages
4,856
Re: Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

My son built and raced a Bolink, graphite chassis. Occasionally I would help, but most he did on his own.
 
SuperNova

SuperNova

Lieutenant
Joined
Mar 16, 2007
Messages
1,455
Re: Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

AHHH, yes. I had a hornet and a Frog, and I seem to remember there was a Grasshopper also available. They were a lot of fun and I don't remeber having to buy tons of parts for them like you seem to for the newer cars....I also remember taping "D" rocket engines underneath them and racing them up the street...what a BLAST!!
 
C

Coors

Captain
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
3,367
Re: Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

gluing a rocket motor to anything was a blast.
 
B

bandit86

Banned
Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
531
Re: Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

I got a tamiya falcon for $60 from a garage sale when I was 12, omg Iloved that thing, traded it for a gas powered boat that never run right, didn't ever get to really drive it. but that car was so much fun. my biy is turning 9 this year, want to get him something nice
 
D

DJ

Guest
Re: Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

My son and I got into RC cars heavy, a few years back.

We went with AE (Associated) products.

The AE products (upgrades) were easier to find and less expensive.

A "ready to run" "box" car typically has:

1. Non ball bearing wheel bearings-a huge speed improver.

2. Non adjustable differential.

3. Six cell (battery) motor.

4. Basic radio control servos and controller.

We ran battery cars and built our own seven and eight cell powerpacks. We ugraded all the items above. It AIN'T cheap but FUN. I never thought I'd pay $18 for a wheel bearing I could put four of into a thimble.:eek:

There is no limit to what you can do to those things.

We had some really fast cars and a huge amount of fun, half of it was upgrading them.:)

As stated, we stayed electric because we ran a lot of indoor tracks. Gas cars are far faster but you need to run them outside. Gassers' are bit more finicky and dirty, not to mention the fuel handling issues.
 
J

jasonh

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
184
Re: Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

This re-release is WAY faster than I remember my old one ever being. I did upgrade to the stainless steel ball bearings (2 per wheel) and used them in the gearbox as well. It has an ESP (electronic speed control) that is more efficient than the old mechanical, 3 step controller with ceramic resistor. Plus it appears there have been much improvements in the battery world as well. I got a 1900mAh 7.2 volt NiCd than runs it for almost 30 minutes of hard use. I recall the old one lasting maybe 15 minutes.
 
Drowned Rat

Drowned Rat

Captain
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
Messages
3,070
Re: Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

SuperNova said:
....I also remember taping "D" rocket engines underneath them and racing them up the street...what a BLAST!!
Click to expand...

Too funny, we used to do that too as kids. I thought we were so smart for coming up with that idea! I guess they're lots of smart kids out there. :) It took many attemps to get it right so it would work. I remember the first car we tried it on, we put two D rockets on it and when they lit, this car went to spinning like it was a pinwheel with parts, sparks and fire flying in every direction. WHAT A BLAST! The next car we used C rockets :) and hooked the igniters up to servos on a separate remote so we could light them on the fly. What I wouldn't give to revisit those years.
 
SuperNova

SuperNova

Lieutenant
Joined
Mar 16, 2007
Messages
1,455
Re: Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

Drowned Rat said:
Too funny, we used to do that too as kids. I thought we were so smart for coming up with that idea! I guess they're lots of smart kids out there. :) It took many attemps to get it right so it would work. I remember the first car we tried it on, we put two D rockets on it and when they lit, this car went to spinning like it was a pinwheel with parts, sparks and fire flying in every direction. WHAT A BLAST! The next car we used C rockets :) and hooked the igniters up to servos on a separate remote so we could light them on the fly. What I wouldn't give to revisit those years.
Click to expand...
Too funny.....roflmAO!!!! I did the exact same stupid thing......I still laugh til tears come just remembering it!! Only I used one of those "G" composite engines...I normally used green waterproof fuse to light the regular rocket engines (up to "D")...and I remember I couldn't get the "G" to light off the fuse...so I dumped a capful of "FFF" gunpowder into it and then jammed the fuse in......it worked that time!! The engine had 25 lbs of thrust for 5 seconds.....that car hit the curbing at the driveway edge and launched into the air maybe seven feet high, spun around a few times and then shot up my neighbors driveway--still seven feet in the air! It landed up by their garage and then the smoke and ejection charge went off....did I mention that this was about 1 a.m.? We grabbed what was left of the car and ran into the house as the first of the neighbors was coming out to check on the racket.....so instead of hiding in the house...we dropped the car and came back out like we heard the noise and were wondering what the heck was going on, too. It had sounded like a drive-by with mortars!!! We had a neighborhood meeting for about an hour that night trying to figure out what had happened.....lol
 
waterinthefuel

waterinthefuel

Commander
Joined
Nov 15, 2003
Messages
2,728
Re: Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

Aww they're bringing back the Hornet? That was my first RC car! That thing was so tough! I busted the chassis in two pieces and epoxied them back together for another several years worth of road bashing!
 
J

jasonh

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
184
Re: Tamiya Hornet RC car, re-release

SuperNova said:
AHHH, yes. I had a hornet and a Frog, and I seem to remember there was a Grasshopper also available. They were a lot of fun and I don't remeber having to buy tons of parts for them like you seem to for the newer cars....I also remember taping "D" rocket engines underneath them and racing them up the street...what a BLAST!!
Click to expand...

I gave my pinewood derby car that I built in Cub Scouts a viking funeral of sorts via that exact method!! Another thing I remember was pulling an old weedeater out of the trash, removing the motor and flex cable inside, and using the curved tube w/ handle as a shoulder mounted RPG device to shoot D rocket motors from. They'd exit with a whump! and corkscrew like crazy until the parachute charge ignited. I guess it was a good thing they were relatively expensive for a 13 year old's budget.

Someone ought to start a "childhood hijinks" thread....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top