ASK Cub Reporter- 07.07.2011- Your Questions, My Drivel

Dear Cub Reporter
Why do I never see any Tamiya product on Bigsquid? Like your site but would like to see more Tamiya on it.
Shaun H.
Asheville, North Carolina

Cubby– Hey what’s up Shaun?

So… why don’t we have more Tamiya on our site? Easy- they have zero working relationship with us. We rarely get press releases from them, nor do they send us anything to test, therefore Tamiya has virtually no presence on our site. Arguably, Tamiyas product is targeted right at our core readers, making it all the more baffling to me why they chose not to have some sort of relationship with us.

Worldwide Tamiya is still a tour de force, and in certain regions of America they are still huge. Currently their product line focuses more on the past than the present or future, which is fine as it’s quite obvious Tamiya is still a huge company, but it makes me wonder how much money they are leaving on the table by not putting out more new product. I also wonder how much market share they are losing by not being more of a presence on internet sites like BSRC.

So when might you see more Tamiya on BSRC? We’ve tried our best to work with them to no avail. Looks like it’s in our readers hands now, if you want to see more Tamiya here, shoot’em an email and let them know what’s up.

And here’s one stolen from Brian’s email box… (and why does everyone spell Brian’s name “Brain” not “Brian”? Does everyone think he is that smart? Admittedly he’s no dummy, but still. LOL)

hoping you could offer some assistance….:)

Good afternoon Brain,

I really enjoyed reading your review about the “Caster Fusion EX 1” might be an older review as they have updated the kit since then. But I’ve happened to come across the 1st version and I ran into the same problems as stated in your review.

I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place which is why I’m writing, hoping you could shed a little light. I too am having trouble mounting a decent motor. I purchased a Mamba Monster/ESC combo and the motor can was too long as it hit the steering assembly as stated in your article, but in your review, you were able to make one fit …… am I missing something? Is there another mamba monster motor that is shorter? I returned the mamba combo for a store credit but now finding a good motor/esc combo is something of a mission? Is there another Shorter Motor that will fit that you could recommend with an ESC? One which has enough power to handle this buggy?

2nd I installed the Futuba S3305 High end servo and now noticed I have to set my Futaba 3PM (3) channel Trans to reverse to make work properly? If I flip it, the turnbuckle will not fit as there is not enough room to move freely or make smaller to work properly.

Was this a problem with this buggy when it first came out? I haven’t got that far yet but does my 3PM (3) channel have separate normal and reverse settings for steering & throttle??? This way I can have the steering set to reverse and throttle to normal? I’m trying my best to work the problems out but could use some advise. It seems to be a solid kit but why these challenges?

Thank You for taking the time to read my thoughts, anything you could offer would really be appreciated
Kind Regards
Gary C.
Boston MA

Cubby– Hello there Gary, thanks for taking the time to write in.

About motor size in the Caster Fusion– the first Castle system you bought must have included the 1515 1Y 2200 kv motor which is an extremely tight fit. The system you want is the Castle Monster system that comes with the 1512 1Y 2650 kv motor. The motor included in the 2650 system is significantly shorter, still has crazy power, and is an excellent fit. I’m trying to remember off the top of my head, but I think we ran either a 13 or 15 tooth pinion on the 2650 in our Fusion (while using a pair of 2S Lithium batteries wired in series), go with the smallest one you can get to mesh up.

About your Futaba 3PM transmitter- yes, it has the ability to have the steering reversed and the throttle normal, or vice versa (as does every transmitter). Transmitters must have this capability to accommodate the vast differences of servo’s, speedo’s, motors, and the directions they are mounted. It is not unusual to have to reverse the steering and/or throttle settings on the transmitter to make your car work properly.

Why all these challenges? Haha, that’s part of the fun of it, part of learning about your new hobby. Nothing in our hobby is nearly the rocket science some of the forums might make you believe. If you don’t know how to fix something on your car, read the manual and give it your best shot. If that doesn’t work, give it your second best shot. If you mess something up, parts are cheap, but the lessons you learn are very valuable.

A quick note about our test Caster Fusion- we are still driving it at bashes and demo’s. I attempted to come up with words that would adequately describe the beatings our Fusion has been through, and after considerable pondering, no words would suffice, the fact that it still lives is amazing. You can look forward to lots of good times with yours.

That’s it for this week, send us your questions, answers, recollections, fantasy’s, and total nonsense to Cubby at BigSquidRC dot com!

YOUR Cub Reporter