Mad Wax

Unfortunately cheaper charges are pretty naff, and those wall socket chargers are not delta peak therefore it'll just continue charging and damage the packs and the Futaba one will not charge 6v packs. Also because it's a slow charger it'll take a good day to charge a high capacity pack. Also read my post on the brand new pack that only had 200mah of charge - the receiver failsafe saved a runaway (another plug for receiver failsafe!) but if you check the battery packs before using them this wouldn't happen. With a good charger you can check it, with a cheapo one you can't.

Please check the video forum for FG movies, not taking the micky but I laughed once I saw Monster FG's poor handling. I was considering getting a FG Monster as a second large scale but the videos put me off. Don't compare Nitro buggies to these large scale buggies (I owned 1:10 Kyosho Buggy 4WD and it was rubbish, no comparison with the FG Marder/Leopard)

btw Marder Race is E789
Monster Beetle Pro is E749

£27 difference between the two. The Monster Beetle Pro would require £200 worth of upgrades to go to Marder Race spec- the price really doesn't make any sense but I know which is the most logical option! Monster Beetle Pro has standard plastic diff, dogbone drive.

btw you said the Leopard is £150 more than stock Monster, but how much is a tuned pipe for the Monsters- in which case you're considering getting a pipe. £100-£150!

radio_controlled_mad

the weather is starting to get crap so not much time to use your model - better off getting a marder race or leopard and save up for decent radio gear,by the time you get to use it you will have everything you need - pointless cutting corners,buy crap = buy twice

you were going to get monster pro from kevs - my mates just getting marder race 2 days ago from him £550 delivered.

kengentry5000

My Feedback: (2)

Not trying to be a wank here, just trying to make sure you are doing a fair price comparison...

If the Leopard is 150 UKP more than the stock MB then consider you have budgeted 150 UKP for a pipe upgrade. The Leopard already has a pipe. Another design feature the Leopard has is a longer chasis that helps it handle better. You can't "add" that later to any other FG model short of swapping out the chasis plate and possibly other parts.

Ken

kengentry5000

My Feedback: (2)

I'll chime in on the charger issue too. The Firehammer came with a piece of garbage wall charger for the receiver pack. I bought the vehicle second-hand. The first owner said he could not operate the car for more than 20 minutes without a pack swap (1800 mAh NiCD and 3000 mAh NiMH packs). I thought that sounded odd. I just used my plain old delta-V charger I had for my electric car and the NiCD pack will run for several tanks now (the NiMH for even longer).

Bottom line here: cheap chargers make for poor charging and can ruin batteries.

Ken

tizdaz

But i wasnt gunna get the tuned pipe (well i was until Mad Wax came up with a brain wave for me!) ive dropped the tuned pipe from my list in favour of the sanwa radio, so getting the marder race would leave me with £150 for radio/servos etc.

This gives me best of both worlds, it will allow me to get a decent radio & when the time comes i feel i want a tuned pipe for the extra power/speed I will appreciate it & notice the difference from stock :-)

As for the handling.. Dunno if any of you have ever had or used a Schumacher 21XT before, but the handling on them is VERY poor, (probably the worse 1/10 nitro truck for handling) mainly because they are 2WD & 1/10 scale wit a 21. engine... but its a damn fun truck to drive & challenging at the same time :-)

If i was gunna be racing at comp level etc then yup id definately go for the best handler, but this is jus gunna be purely for fun so great handling aint top of my list & im sure it cant be worse then my 1/10 XT's

Mad Wax

Make sure you buy the right packs too- you want a 5 cell sub C pack (6v) with the correct terminations for the switch and you'll also want a second lead from the pack to plug your delta peak charger into (say a Tamiya white molex) Don't buy a "AA" 4.8v or 6v pack it won't provide enough run times.

If you really can't afford everything in on for just buy the best car you can (Marder Racer or Leopard) then leave it for a while. Drool over it :-) and paint the body. Then buy complete radio set- that costs alot by itself so if you can't afford everything in one go better than skimping with radio gear and cheap chargers (as others have said) Is it really worth using a £700 car with existing radio? If it loses control (as mine did) you will kick yourself you didn't buy a 40mhz HRS/PCM set, and you'll have damage to the car (most likely front end and damaged servos, A arms and possibly new chassis as well)

So to add prices up
FG car with pipe -around £650
Servos- at least £100
Transmitter/Reciever set -£100
Batteries -£30 for car, £15-£25 for transmitter
Switch- £5
LED battery monitor £10
Spraypaint £15
Charger £50-£75
PSU £30

btw I don't race either I just have fun in a field. Still handles better though

tizdaz

Aye a good charger is nice, but for time being im gunna have to do with a cheaper one which has done fine for my other nicads past couple of years, just takes a good 14 hours to fully charge them! (im spending just short of £1k as it is!) as time goes by i will get a good charger/tuned pipe/alloy parts etc...but for the start i just want to get my MB up & running, im not 1 for bashing em & doing 20ft jumps! (ok bashing em maybe!) This is what im upt atm:

FG MB Pro - (26cc Zenoah Engine)
Multiplex Rhino digi 4 (Steering)
Multiplex Power digi servo (throttle/brake)
Ni-Mh receiver battery pack 2300 mAh
Metal Spur Gear
Sanwa Gemini II radio/reciever/nicads etc.
Universal metal/alloy radio platte for FG
P&P

comes to about £820 which is my limit (just slightly over my limit!)

I know its not the best setup (far from it as far as strength is concerned) i will probably do what most of us do, replace plastic parts with metal/alloy when the plastic stock parts decide to break.

Next thing i will probably get is 8x shock socks to protect my supsension as i dont fancy shelling out £££ for new suspension because mud/stones etc has knackered em!

Mad Wax

What is your existing charger? If it's the stock Futaba RX/TX charger it won't charge the 6V packs- small scale cars use 4.8v RX packs. Also if you just want to top up batteries it won't cut off (you need delta peak) therefore damaged pack therefore possible runaway. Since they're slow charge take ages too. 70mah therefore it'll take around 32hours to charge that pack!! and I think they don't charge NIMH either.

Is a £100 charger/PSU setup worth skimping on whilst your £700 car is buzzing around? No.

Don't forget LED battery monitor and waterproof switch! Those cheapo Futaba switches are useless once they get grit & water (sometimes don't power on when you flick the switch!)

Cause (skimping on stuff) Effect (splat into brick wall)



Sorry to be ******* buy skrimping doesn't work, I know!

tizdaz

Just read your last pos Mad

Aye the batterys im getting are a 6v 2300 mah pack (5 cells flat pack)

The sanwa radio im getting comes with a nicad pack so im guessing this is better than the bog standard AA ni-cads which is what im using atm in my other 2 trasnmitters for my XT's?

Think with what money ive got to spare its a pretty solid setup (apart from charger!) servos should be fine & ive got the metal spur instead of the stock plastic one which lasts less than 5mins (to what ive read on here!) as for the rest, i will just upgrade as i go along with alloy/metal

The other thing i need to bare in mind that if i did go for the Marder i would need to buy a Beetle shell/monster wheels/tires & im guessing diff gears to cope with the larger wheels?

This is just my personal opinion btw I cant stand buggy bodies! dont get me wrong, ive seen some photos of peoples & they look damn nice but i much prefer the beetle/truck myself so that would set me back another £80+ as the bodies aint cheap like 1/10 scale

Also the fact that to get around my wife \o/ ive said i will do the body herbie style (shes a herby fan & so is my 5 kidz!) so she's looking forward to me doing a herby spray job on it which i couldnt do on a buggy style body!

I can imagine now what shed say if i said ive decided to not get a beetle style one!! ...i may as well start packing my bags!! j/k

tizdaz

My existing chrger is only for my nicad's (4.8v & transmitter) but the one im getting is for the 6v mah 2300 pack, im getting it from same place im getting battery's from, i didnt know what charger to get so the guy recommended this one which is only £12 ..i know its not gunna be great ..far from it...but it will hopefully do the job for now as long i keep an eye on them & time them when theyre being charged ,,,which is what i do now when charging my 4.8v packs & transmitters

Mad Wax

If you don't like buggies you could buy the FG off-road Beetle, basically Marder but with Beetle body. Since you want a Herbie model the Monster is inaccurate you want true to scale normal size tyres. So that'll keep the other half happy (naff films though)

It's not a "sand dune buggy" whcih you don't like but it's not a Monster either (poor handling)

http://www.detectivetalk.com/fg_beetle.jpg

Sorted!

tizdaz

aye ive already looked at that one, i dont like it, looks to skimpy!

The FG MB pro looks much chunkier/beefy (so to speak) & looks cool with the beetle body which will be done herby style!

edit!:

Wasnt a herby model i wanted, just mrs wanted a herby spray job when she noticed it was a beetle body

radio_controlled_mad

rather have decent handling over a model that is going to end up on its roof every 5mins - theres guys in this forum who have sold there mt/mb to fund leopards or marder race.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3364994/tm.htm

Mad Wax

They might look more beefy but the suspension arms break more easily (also rear A arms smack into pinion gear more) so overall the Buggies are tougher despite looking more skimpy!

The Buggies are faster too (so is acceleration)

tizdaz

As said though i will be upgrading to alloy as i go along so strength (eventually) wont be a prob..i know things will break etc...thats part of this hobby & the downside of it..but the upside is once youve upgraded it to ecatly how you want, you can stand back & drool over it & be proud

If i were to get the marder or Leopard..id have to get:

Beetle shell
Monster wheels
Monster Tyres
New Gear setup
Body posts

This along im guessing would cost a good part of £200 just to get it to *look* like a Monster Beetle whereas i can just buy the MB for £510

Mad Wax

Upgrading to alloy F & R suspension arms will cost about £450- if you want a alloy MB probably best to buy one all-alloy OOTB (much cheaper than upgrading stock to alloy car) and if you're considering alloy upgrades of that magnitute I can't understand why you're willing to skrimp on cheap charger that has no diagnostic features. How will you know the pack is charging and giving out the full 2000mah?

If you're saying that a decent charger setup is too much freqent replacement suspension arms will eventually cost more and at least the charger doesn't smash.

Your point that it costs £200 to convert MB to MR, however you're not taking into consideration the £200 of parts that are higher in spec to the Monsters! The stock plastic diff is rubbish (supplied with marder eco, MB, MT) all alloy one is far higher quality. Plus balldrive (again not supplied with MB/MT) the MR shocks are better too you don't need to mess around with plastic C clips on the shocks to adjust pre-load (just twiddle washer/nut)

Remember once the "coolness" of big tyres settles in you'll be using it driving around. Constant wheelies, tumbling, rollovers will start to annoy you and need to spend money on repairs (plus wheelie bar) Doing wheelies to accelerate is not efficient and you won't be able to turn during the wheelie also. Did you read that thread where MB/MT owners disappointed with handling compared to buggy/off road beetle and sick of cost of repair?

tizdaz

you miss my point

I said that for now the cheap charger will have to do so i can at least use my MB, a decent charger will be 1st on my list when i habe the funds then alloy parts will follow :-) & im guessing that its £200 to convert it to look like a MB..its proably more! £80 for the shell alone

If i were to get the Race spec leopard, that would leave me next to nothing for any radio gear, If i was to get the marder race, that would leave me next to nothing to get the Conversion for monster beetle

*if* i wanted a top end setup with the budget i have then i would have chosen the HPI LST which is what i was looking at to begin with & got all the hop ups there is for it, but instead i chose to go large scale & i knew i wouldnt have enough to start off with everything i need, but i have enough to get me on the road & have some fun, the hop-ups will come as/when i need them

Front end supsension alloy is about £150-200 from hobbythek for all of it (apart form the uprights which are about £60 seperatly) MB Pro is £620 with front end all alloy supplied ..if i had £100 more id go for that instead of the £510 version as it would save me £50 buying it later on.
http://www.rc-car-online.de/ht_monster_vorderachse.jpg

But chances are as i upgrade i will just buy bits at a time... will just replace broken stock with alloy..sure it will be more expensive in the long run, but then i wont miss £20 here & £30 there, but i will miss £200+ which is what it would cost me to get a buggy to look like a monster truck/beetle which is what i want

Upgrading to F/R to alloy will cost alot i know, but in bits i wont miss it & the leopard/marder race dont come with full alloy f/r only the shocks? so it would cost around the same to upgrade them to alloy to.

The Marder + conversion to Monster will in the end cost around £800 alone (even more for the leopard) ..for £800 i could probably get most of the alloy parts for the MB Pro which would make it just as strong as the Leopard/marder race!.. but i dont want to get it altogether as it would leave me with no funds for the radio gear at all or battery's etc

As said earlier, im just not one for buggy's, if i was then i would have chosen the marder or leopard.. we all have our own preferances when it comes to RC which is why theres so many choices of styles when it comes to RC, theres people who dont like buggy's & there people who dont like Monsters & then theres people who dont like both i guess!

My XT's do wheelies alot, its all down to control & the person behind the controls, now & then i would want to do wheelies, i enjoyed doing wheelies on demand with my XT's & im looking forward to doing them with my FB when i want to.

Theres a couple of ways to stop them doing wheelies if you wanted to ,put a weight on the front end (fishing weights do the trick!) or the easiest way, dont give too much throttle! ...im not saying im a great driver of my XT's but there one of the hardest trucks ive used (& ive used many in my time!) but i can control it no probs...took some getting used to due to the power off the 21. engine in a 1/10 chassis..afterall these things can go 70mph+ with the 3gears & 50mph+ for the none geared...but in the end i got used to it, & now i only do wheelies on demand which is how i like it :-)

hellya

You guys should pm eachother, if your just going to have a 3 way

tizdaz

that sounds... kinkeh!

j/k ..just having a nice discussion..tbh it started off with (trys to remember!) ..ermm

I think it was about the cost of my MB im getting tommoz, but thanks to Mad ive now decided to change my hitecs to MPX... but hes trying to get me to get a buggy instead of a Monster! ..help meh!!

radio_controlled_mad

only a fool would convert a marder race into a monster beetle

tizdaz

.......Which is why i dont want to :-)

btw this is NOT a topic about which is best/stronger/faster etc.. So please feel free to start a new topic if thats what anyone wishes to discuss & dont hi-jack my topic please :-)

This topic was just to see if what im asking for was a good price i was given & advice about servos for 1/6 scale

Thanks :-)

MrMikeG

I got a Bigfoot MT and my friend has a Marder, my truck goes through stuff his can't. So fast or handling really depends on terrain. I will concede his Marder turns faster but with a large track it doesn't matter.
I also use a Hangar9 charger, cheap and does both Nicd and NiMH, drops to trickle after full charge. I do like those little wall chargers too but just for maintance. Think like this, 3000mah sub C pack dead would take 60 hours to charge on a wall charger. I'm not pushing my charger as the "Best" but just trying to point out that a wall charger alone is not enough! If you do the math, over night on a wall charger (12 X 50 mah) is only about 600 mah charge, 2 big servo's and 1 small one will use that in 1 hour of hard running!

tizdaz

Thanks for info Mike, aye im definately gunna get a better charger asap, how much does the hangar9 charger you got retail at ?

Or i will try get a better deal from the place im getting my package from & see if i can get the whole lot a bit cheaper if i go for a better charger

Will give them a ring tommoz :-)

MrMikeG

This is the charger I use, as I mentioned though, I'm not pushing it just think it is a good alternative.
[link=http://www.greathobbies.com/scart/productinfo.php3?PartNumber=HAN9520]Hangar 9 charger[/link]
I paid $79 Australian though which is only about $50 US
The biggest advantage is being able to charge Tx and Rx at the same time.
750 Mah rate is quick enough for most batteries yet won't over cook. If you have smaller packs though I wouldn't recommend it.

Edit
Just found this one too, newer model.
[link=http://www.ehobbies.com/rc-han-114.html]Hangar 9 114[/link]

Some more good info and a diagram for building your own charger. Careful though as the page has an attachment that wants you to download some crap as well!
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/hayles/charge1.html

MrMikeG

More choices
http://www.hobby-lobby.com/chargers.htm
This guy is an Expert in batteries, the page was written in 2000 so it is a little dated but still relivent
http://members.aol.com/davthacker/nimhfaq.htm