the grasshopper

[kaiser]

i've had a grasshopper on my amazon list forever. just for giggles.

well last week my aunt bought it for my b-day. shipped from japan (odd when there are tons of us sellers)
arrival was estimated late july to early august, yet it arrived yesterday via EMS shipping.

there is something magical about cracking open an early tamiya kit. i'm not sure what it is but it makes me all giddy.

it's going to get built 100% stock except for bearings. i need to find a cheap 2.4ghz system that is small, this car will be my boy's first and he's turning 4 on july 4th.

[jwscab]

I picked up a tower 2.4Ghz radio, the receiver is very small, with no antenna for my old grasshopper(now my sons). the radio seems to also be fairly small so little hands can work it a little better.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXWPW0&P=ML

[kaiser]

i put a bid in on a tiny hpi tx/rx combo. we'll see where that goes.

[kaiser]

i think i'll rob the bearings from my frog for this. i really hate frogs, not sure why i got the re-release. it's a bag of arse.
IMHO grasshoppers and hornets are nicer cars then frogs, more fun anyway. it's easier to accept their poor handling because they are so much fun to drive.

i can't wait to give it to him, he's gonna flip out.

[Groomi]

i've had a grasshopper on my amazon list forever. just for giggles.

well last week my aunt bought it for my b-day. shipped from japan (odd when there are tons of us sellers)
arrival was estimated late july to early august, yet it arrived yesterday via EMS shipping.

there is something magical about cracking open an early tamiya kit. i'm not sure what it is but it makes me all giddy.

it's going to get built 100% stock except for bearings. i need to find a cheap 2.4ghz system that is small, this car will be my boy's first and he's turning 4 on july 4th.

Great stuff. My 4 year old uses my old Hornet - he loves his 'racing car'!

[civilguy]

Kaiser- I built my son a Monsterhopper for his 5th birthday.

Also put together one for my daughter:


We ran the stock 380 with the bigger Lunchbox tires and they ran forever (and went very well even in grass).
Let us know what your son thinks of his!

[kaiser]

i thought about that. did you need lb/mp front axels or do those meats fit the stock hopper/hornet axels?

i can't wait for his bday party, next sunday.

[civilguy]

i thought about that. did you need lb/mp front axels or do those meats fit the stock hopper/hornet axels?

i can't wait for his bday party, next sunday.

Yup, you need the front axles but they just swap out. I also used the LB bumper. Otherwise everything is stock Grasshopper.

When I did it the LB re-re had just been released, so tires & wheels were pretty cheap. I just looked online and the prices have gone up (maybe re-re stock is drying up?). Anyway, shooting you a PM.

[kaiser]

i built it friday night. there is something soothing about building these cars. it's medicinal. lol

i got a cheap hpi rtr radio set for it. gonna pull a tamiya esc from my legends car and stick a 3000mah nimh in there.

sunday is his bday party but i'm gonna hold off until his actual bday which is july 4th. if i give it to him at the party he'll be all about it and ignore everything else.

[Brandon G]

I know what you mean.... I bought and assembled a Grasshopper as a B day present for a friend of my son's. He has cerebral palsy and has physical limitations, but is able to drive it around just fine. He absolutely loves it!

Opening the kit and going through the build process took me back to when I was a kid and assembled my Hornet for the first time.

[kaiser]

the boy got his grasshopper on his bday the 4th. omg he's in love.
it runs for an hour atleast on a 2400 nimh. he's got it down pretty good too!
i'm impressed that a 4 year old has this kind of coordination.

he did loose a battery door at the track yesterday though. lost in a field. we looked but couldn't find it.
luckily i had a spare at home.

i just get a huge kick out of watching it run, it's so scale it looks awesome. i forgot how cool these looked while running.

i was on vacation last week. first thing in the morning after breakfast, "daddy can i run my buggy?".
1/2 hour later "daddy can i go in the pool?", 10 minutes after that "daddy can i run my buggy?" all day long.

that was pretty much how the week went after he got his grasshopper.

[Coelacanth]

I just wanted to chime in...turning those Grasshoppers into Grassmonsters is a great idea for a kid's first RC. Beauty!

[kaiser]

quick pic from the morning of the 4th.

yep, that's a boy. hippies.....

[knixdad]

Just looking at those MonsterHoppers makes me feel the need to build one. I think it would be more fun than just getting a Mad Bull.