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I think putting one of these kits together should be a required engineering intro class called “how to read the freakin manual 101”
(heck it even challenges me!!)

That Sand Viper is a great choice and I think there are a lot of exciting options out there on the budget side of the hobby.

It has been fun working on a Legendary Kyosho, power-building 2 Dirtmaster kits and then jumping into this Cougar 2 over a span of days and seeing the differences in manuals and how they attack the build.

I suspect the dirt master manuals were pieced together off the old rb5 as I have built many of the Kyosho Legendary series and the dirt master (as well as the dirt cross) manual is terrible in comparison. Not the worst, but not totally clear on some steps.

The Shumacher method of one bag, one step is awesome. Really takes the guesswork out. I've recently built a cougar classic and the works classic, and in the past the top cat, Masami and the procat- and all went together very well.

Of course Tamiya used to be the gold standard of manuals, although I think some of the newer ones have fallen off just a tad. Still better than most! I haven't built one from that series.

Today for the first time in pretty much ever I haven't touched anything rc. Feels weird

GoMachV wrote: ↑Wed Dec 25, 2024 5:09 pm I suspect the dirt master manuals were pieced together off the old rb5 as I have built many of the Kyosho Legendary series and the dirt master (as well as the dirt cross) manual is terrible in comparison. Not the worst, but not totally clear on some steps.

The Shumacher method of one bag, one step is awesome. Really takes the guesswork out. I've recently built a cougar classic and the works classic, and in the past the top cat, Masami and the procat- and all went together very well.

Of course Tamiya used to be the gold standard of manuals, although I think some of the newer ones have fallen off just a tad. Still better than most! I haven't built one from that series.

Today for the first time in pretty much ever I haven't touched anything rc. Feels weird

But, you did post to an RC forum......

Bearinged, duburred, and installed diff ring lockers on my 6 gear runner. The diff actually works now, and isnt just a slipping mess. Transmission is silky smooth and id be lying if I said a wasn't pretending to be jay halsey the entire time.

“8) I think putting one of these kits together should be a
required engineering intro class called “how to read the freakin manual 101”
(heck it even challenges me!!)”

No doubt, I’ll add that in half of the instances said engineer played a role in creating that manual they’re supposed to read. As a mechanic in the airline industry (applies to any industry I’m sure) some of the most confusing conversations I’ve ever encountered were after I was told by a tech “we’re going to have to connect you with engineering for that!

I’ve done two of the Kyosho legendary series and agree they are tops, the only Tamiya’s I’ve done in recent years are a grasshopper and nova fox, both of which were based heavily on the og manuals. Aside from the price, I pointed her to the viper because I was betting on great instructions, so we will see how it goes soon.

My RC today was prepping Daniel for his first build!!

GoMachV…You hit the nail on the head about the Dirtmaster manuals. I had some re-do steps and not all of them were due to my own inattention. Then a few parts in bags where you don’t expect them to be adds a fun element to the project. Between the 2 kits, one had aluminum slipper discs and the other had steel discs with an added manual page about it. (Parts bin engineering)
But all ends well, nothing missing!


The C2W has an excellent manual and the bag per step method is solid. The exploded view color centerfold with part numbers and outlining the option parts is a nice touch, worthy of framing for display.

Mounted the wing and cut the fibreglass shock towers .

Dadio wrote: ↑Thu Dec 26, 2024 4:19 pm Mounted the wing and cut the fibreglass shock towers .IMG_2024-12-26-17-53-57-061~3.jpgIMG_2024-12-26-17-54-09-820~3.jpg

The colour is so off in the pictures !

Dadio wrote: ↑Thu Dec 26, 2024 4:19 pm The colour is so off in the pictures !

Yeah, don't know how you can stand all that bright colour......

Incredible_Serious wrote: ↑Thu Dec 26, 2024 4:43 pm

Dadio wrote: ↑Thu Dec 26, 2024 4:19 pm The colour is so off in the pictures !

Yeah, don't know how you can stand all that bright colour......

Think pink man

So he’s into the viper tonight. Doing well I’ll add too. As far as the instructions go, they are great, typical Tamiya quality, lots of good info for a beginner. The worse part of the build that I’m seeing is that the plastic parts are in non labeled bags. So not the best, but he’s doing fine with it.

And it’s a runner!

Painted a Tamiya VW Type 2 Kombi wheelie body, heaps of masks to cut out and apply

My first thought was, “thats a lot of window masking!” They look really good though.

The kid wrenching on his truck for the first time himself. Adding a variety of RPM parts, ball cups and turnbuckles. And swapping out the Hobbywing 1060 esc and 20T brushed motor for a 60A brushless esc and 3500KV motor setup.