Just want to let you know that I really enjoy your in-depth comparisons and waffling. I appreciate that it takes a lot of time and effort to not only acquire and build all of these models but also to capture all this great footage and edit it all together. I'm not a huge fan of the Beetle body lines, but that Blitzer looks like a blast.
For the types of buggies I run, and the places where I run them, the humble Mabuchi 540 is plenty quick enough! 😃 As it is, I'm having trouble keeping up with the buggies when I'm shooting a video! 😅 Not as light footed as I used to be!
This is an interesting video, thanks for sharing it👍. I'm a huge fan of the Tamiya beetles and have a blitzer, I wasn't aware of the differences in the bodies, I thought they were all the same. Thank you👍🦘🇦🇺
Glad you found the video useful. 👍I must admit, I didn't know that the Blitzer Beetle front is longer until I tried to use a Sand Scorcher front on a Blitzer Beetle body! There are a few other minor differences I didn't mention, but they're mostly due to the different mounting points of the three buggies.
@@KaiCityRC Very interesting👌 I almost purchased a sand scorcher body online not long ago to use for a custom paint scheme for my Blitzer, I could see clearly in your video the mounts are completely different along with all the other variations.
Thanks 👍 I'm glad you liked it. I figured most people would find me waffling on about the buggies for 15 minutes or so pretty boring, so the least I could do is give everyone some interesting visuals! 😁😅😊
I’m watching this twice because I absolutely love the (Monster Beetle) the (Blitzer Beetle) I really never saw the (Sand Scorcher) run but it’s beautiful and looks Amazing. It does look like a real beetle driving around. I enjoy the videos very calm and informative as well as awesome driving shots. Ok great video again 👍🏼.
Thank you for the kind words. 😊. I had a Monster Beetle as a child, so it has a lot of nostalgia value for me. But the Sand Scorcher has a level of realism to it. It looks so good on the move. 👍
The Monster Beetle was my first Tamiya, and I still have it! I love it to bits. I also have a Sand Scorcher its a shelfer. Also have a F150 and the Frog.
Ha ha, buddy, I made it the part you thought we all switched off, I really do like the talk videos, and you skills to add footage b-roll, that's just icing on the cake. I don't know any of the three, probably never will. But I recently got Beetle crazy after painting up a Kyosho Beetle, and now I'm planning a Tamiya CC-02 with a Kamtec body and a similar HBX Devastator 24th scale, also Kamtec, both painted as an apparently iconic Baja Buggy, the Desert Mouse, lovely blue, red, black and white colour scheme, so much looking forward to paint those. I normally only like buggies, painted as far from scale realism as I can, ha ha!
Thanks for the kind words! 👍 I'm currently working on the Kyosho Beetle and will hopefully have it done soon. The Desert Mouse Baja Bug is iconic and looks totally amazing. Good luck with the builds!
The Sand Scorcher running on the hump pack was a major disappointment for me as a 15-yesr-old back in the day (1980). You got about 5 minutes of runtime, and the last minutes or so would be at low voltage. I could only afford one pack and only had a trickle charger that took 18hrs. Of course, I tried to jump it and broke some parts. I think the Blitzer would have blown my mind had I got that in 1980.
"Kyosho Beetle has joined the chat" 😁 I will be revisiting this topic now that the Kyosho Beetle has been completed, so stay tuned for the "Fab Four Review" 👍
Some great info there, thanks 👍🏻 i did wonder why my spare sand scorcher body didnt fit right on my stadium blitzer chassis 😂 took a Dremel to it in the end just because its a basher body anyway... least i know why now lol
Hi there very good video. The blitzer beetle has only the falcon chassis tub, the front and rear sections are from the bearhawk buggy from 91 with slightly different gearing for the bigger wheels/tyres, oil filled shocks rather than friction dampers, longer front axles/uprights and different mounting posts for the body. Thanks!
Great video! I’ve yet to experience a blitzer beetle but your observations about the other 2 are spot on. I did manage to get a stick pack in the sub box.. the modern esc and receiver I used are very small so that helped. You might want to try to fit a stronger servo on the MonB. Made a huge difference on mine. Thanks for doing these in depth reviews. Good stuff! 👍😊
Thanks for the support. 😊 A while back I replaced the old servo that was in the MB with one from a nitro buggy of mine. It's slightly stronger and it helped. Still not great, but better. 👍
Great overview of all three they all look great and offer various levels of fun in different ways.. reminds to pick one up at some point still love the old SRBs and scale look
The Beetle has been out of stock for the last 18 months here. Kyosho recently did a production run of all the 2WD legendary Series buggies (except for the Ultima) and so they're currently back in stock. Interestingly, the latest batch of Beetles no longer have Goodyear tire markings...
Fun Fact: The re-re Sand Scorcher actually comes with the 540J Johnson motor which slightly edges out the 540SH Mabuchis. This combined with the gearing make the Scorcher pretty quick especially on Lipo power 👍🏻
I loved hearing you thoughts and opinions on them. I have two of the 3 now and think they are super cool, The Blitzer is a lot of fun to drive and I love the looks. The Monster Beetle is a lot of fun but the steering in that leaves a lot to be desired. It works but they tend to dart a little when hitting bumps and stuff. Overall I love them both and that is one of the cool things about the Tamiya kits, they all have their own personalities. Some have more quirks than other and some are just so quirky they are cool!! Thanks for putting the comparison all together and I am looking forward to seeing that Kyosho join the group!
Thanks! Totally agree regarding the Monster Beetle steering, sometimes it seems to have a mind of its own! 😁 The Kyosho Beetle chassis is pretty much done, but the body may take a while as I've got a busy few weeks ahead, so little opportunity to get out and paint.
Another great video comparison! You’ve opened my eyes to the blitzer beetle, I remember selling them at the model shop I worked at way back when, but never owned one. What are you thoughts on drivability between kyosho beetle and blitzer beetle?
That's a tough one. 🤔 The Kyosho is an older design, with a lot more metal. Its metal geared transmission has a slipper clutch and it will handle hotter motors with ease. The polycarbonate body, while not detailed like Tamiya's, is robust and stands up to regular abuse. Overall, the Kyosho is definitely the tougher of the two. The Tamiya in contrast is cheaper. It's mostly plastic and according to Tamiya should not be fitted with anything but the kit supplied motor! The larger tires mean it can run on just about anything (The Kyosho will struggle in longer grass) and it is the more "fun" of the two if you aren't bothered about scratching up the nice hard body you spent hours painting! 😅 Personally, I'm terrible when it comes to painting hard bodies and repairing them is a right pain! As a result, I tend to drive my Blitzer a little more cautiously. No so with the Kyosho!
@@KaiCityRC Thank you for your reply, I was unaware of the weakness in the blitzer beetle drive train. Although I can imagine that if I were to drive the two at the same place on the same day, I’d be more, let’s say ‘respectful’ of the kyosho. I am acquiring the legend models I want in my collection bit by bit, and I’m not sure the blitzer beetle fits that status with me yet. It was more about what drove the best out of the two as they seem to be of similar proportion/geometry to one another, although nothing else in common.
@@markpengelley The Blitzer is a lot of fun, but I personally prefer the handling of the Kyosho Beetle. 👍 I didn’t notice any obvious weakness of the Blitzer transmission. So it was a little surprising that Tamiya added the warning to the manual. 🤷♂️
Thanks! I had several issues with the paint on the Sand Scorcher (it was originally red!). If memory serves I used Tamiya PS-41 (bright silver). Yes, I'm aware it is a polycarbonate paint, but I had accidentally painted the Blitzer Beetle using PS paint prior. I liked the mat, almost "rubbery" finish using PS paints (rather than TS) produced. The paint seems to adhere pretty well and so far despite heavy use is not peeling or chipping.
Thanks for the video... can't wait to see what you think about the Kyosho Beetle... and would really love a comparison between that and a Turbo Scorpion... I can only collect SO MANY models.... and racing RCs with my kids takes a lot of the budget. I have an Ultima, with Turbo Scorpion wheels, so that has a somewhat similar look to it with the wheels, roll cage, etc... but I would still like ONE of the trailing arm style cars...and I have a line on possibly being able to buy a new in box Kyosho Beetle kit... Of the 3 models in this video, the one I am picking for my collection, is the Blitzer Beetle... I think I am opting out of getting the Kyosho Optima Mid, I'm going to put a Javelin wing mount and wing, amd original Optima body on my Turbo Optima gold kit, and run that(hopefully with an under pan to protect the gold chassis) Besides the Blitzer Beetle, I think I going to get a few other Tamiya kits as I'm able to... but the Kyosho ReRe kits seem to be such high quality compared to most Tamiya cars I see... maybe my thought on that will change after I build and run a few Tamiya cars... Cheers!!! Looking forward to more videos!
Yep, running alongside the car while shooting.😁 I'm not going full throttle, but fast enough to give a sense of speed. Being low to the ground helps. I have a video explaining how I shoot. 👍
The Sand Scorcher really is a radio controlled scale model and instantly became one of my all time favorite RC’s the moment I’d finished building it. It’s a little on the expensive side, doesn’t perform that great but nevertheless is worth every penny (or cent, or yen). A true RC icon 👍😎🤩
Thanks for the great video David! I want to get the Kyosho but it's out of stock so I think I'll get a Blitzer in the meantime :) Question: Did you paint your rims white? The current stock comes in orange as does the front fascia.
The white wheels are Tamiya's Aqroshot wheels. They're interchangeable with the Blitzer's, so I have the original Blitzer orange wheels with the on-road Aqroshot tires, and the white wheels with the Blitzer tires.
The original shocks from 1979 SRB models leaked. They were not a very good design, it had 1 seal and used brass for the seal retainer and would wear out pretty fast. I have not looked at the re-release shocks, but I do know they are larger and I am sure they use a much better design while retaining as much of the vintage look as possible.
I don't recall ever seeing anyone fit a Blitzer Beetle body, but I have seen a Sand Scorcher body fitted to a Kyosho Beetle. The bodies are very similar, so I don't think it would be an issue. For example, check here: th-cam.com/video/MjKSSs6MfbM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=hDn6jHXc-0lpP02l
I think it would depend on the number of turns and how much power you’re putting through them. The MB (ORV chassis) gearbox is known for issues when running high powered motors. The Blitzer could probably handle more power, but I have to wonder Tamiya clearly write in the manual: Do not use any motor other than that supplied in the kit! 🤔🤷♂️ I’m sure something with a bit more oomph would be fine and plenty of people seem to be running brushless without issues. The Sand Scorcher’s gearbox is simple, robust, and there’s no diff. So, the drivetrain would probably be ok. However, the chassis my struggle to handle the power. None of them have slipper clutches either. Regardless, if you're going for high powered motors you’re going to want to replace the kit pinions with something a little more hard wearing. Hope that helps! 🙂
Just want to let you know that I really enjoy your in-depth comparisons and waffling. I appreciate that it takes a lot of time and effort to not only acquire and build all of these models but also to capture all this great footage and edit it all together. I'm not a huge fan of the Beetle body lines, but that Blitzer looks like a blast.
Thanks for the kind words. 😊 The Blitzer never fails to put a smile on my face! 😁
The more I run the humble silver can, the more respect I have for it.
For the types of buggies I run, and the places where I run them, the humble Mabuchi 540 is plenty quick enough! 😃 As it is, I'm having trouble keeping up with the buggies when I'm shooting a video! 😅 Not as light footed as I used to be!
This is an interesting video, thanks for sharing it👍.
I'm a huge fan of the Tamiya beetles and have a blitzer, I wasn't aware of the differences in the bodies, I thought they were all the same.
Thank you👍🦘🇦🇺
Glad you found the video useful. 👍I must admit, I didn't know that the Blitzer Beetle front is longer until I tried to use a Sand Scorcher front on a Blitzer Beetle body!
There are a few other minor differences I didn't mention, but they're mostly due to the different mounting points of the three buggies.
@@KaiCityRC
Very interesting👌
I almost purchased a sand scorcher body online not long ago to use for a custom paint scheme for my Blitzer, I could see clearly in your video the mounts are completely different along with all the other variations.
Great to hear your views and experience of these buggies. The voice over on the footage works very well. Great end result 👏🏻
Thanks 👍 I'm glad you liked it. I figured most people would find me waffling on about the buggies for 15 minutes or so pretty boring, so the least I could do is give everyone some interesting visuals! 😁😅😊
@@KaiCityRC the format works well. 👍🏼
Very good video! Love the content, and helped me decide to pick the sand scorcher for a recent purchase!
Thanks! I'm glad it was useful. 😊
How beautiful is that and scorcher. I love it
I’m watching this twice because I absolutely love the (Monster Beetle) the (Blitzer Beetle) I really never saw the (Sand Scorcher) run but it’s beautiful and looks Amazing. It does look like a real beetle driving around. I enjoy the videos very calm and informative as well as awesome driving shots. Ok great video again 👍🏼.
Thank you for the kind words. 😊. I had a Monster Beetle as a child, so it has a lot of nostalgia value for me. But the Sand Scorcher has a level of realism to it. It looks so good on the move. 👍
Great video, and I appreciate the detail in your comparison of these. It has helped me make a decision. Thank you Sir!
Glad I could help! 👍
Good video I really like the bllitzer beetle .
Thanks 👍
The Monster Beetle was my first Tamiya, and I still have it! I love it to bits. I also have a Sand Scorcher its a shelfer. Also have a F150 and the Frog.
Likewise, the Monster Beetle was my first new kit that I built myself. Prior to that I was given a Frog. I wish I had held onto both of them.
Great video, really interesting 😊👍 thanks for another good video 👍👍
Glad you enjoyed it 👍
Ha ha, buddy, I made it the part you thought we all switched off, I really do like the talk videos, and you skills to add footage b-roll, that's just icing on the cake.
I don't know any of the three, probably never will. But I recently got Beetle crazy after painting up a Kyosho Beetle, and now I'm planning a Tamiya CC-02 with a Kamtec body and a similar HBX Devastator 24th scale, also Kamtec, both painted as an apparently iconic Baja Buggy, the Desert Mouse, lovely blue, red, black and white colour scheme, so much looking forward to paint those. I normally only like buggies, painted as far from scale realism as I can, ha ha!
Thanks for the kind words! 👍 I'm currently working on the Kyosho Beetle and will hopefully have it done soon. The Desert Mouse Baja Bug is iconic and looks totally amazing. Good luck with the builds!
cool video and awesome rc's new friend
Thanks 👍
The monster beetle does pretty well and snow too.
Haven't tried myself as we rarely get snow!
The Sand Scorcher running on the hump pack was a major disappointment for me as a 15-yesr-old back in the day (1980). You got about 5 minutes of runtime, and the last minutes or so would be at low voltage. I could only afford one pack and only had a trickle charger that took 18hrs. Of course, I tried to jump it and broke some parts. I think the Blitzer would have blown my mind had I got that in 1980.
I love your videos. Thank you for the content.
Thank you!
Lot of people don't realize the front end of the sand scorpions actual beetle front suspension system that they actually put on the actual car.
The front suspension that's actually from the actual car of those years is a trailing arm torsion bar.
More more more. Thank-you.
"Kyosho Beetle has joined the chat" 😁
I will be revisiting this topic now that the Kyosho Beetle has been completed, so stay tuned for the "Fab Four Review" 👍
Thanks mate.! 👍 👍
Some great info there, thanks 👍🏻 i did wonder why my spare sand scorcher body didnt fit right on my stadium blitzer chassis 😂 took a Dremel to it in the end just because its a basher body anyway... least i know why now lol
Glad it helped. Thanks!
Hi there very good video. The blitzer beetle has only the falcon chassis tub, the front and rear sections are from the bearhawk buggy from 91 with slightly different gearing for the bigger wheels/tyres, oil filled shocks rather than friction dampers, longer front axles/uprights and different mounting posts for the body. Thanks!
Thanks for the info! 👍 Much appreciated! ☺️
Great video! I’ve yet to experience a blitzer beetle but your observations about the other 2 are spot on. I did manage to get a stick pack in the sub box.. the modern esc and receiver I used are very small so that helped. You might want to try to fit a stronger servo on the MonB. Made a huge difference on mine. Thanks for doing these in depth reviews. Good stuff! 👍😊
Thanks for the support. 😊 A while back I replaced the old servo that was in the MB with one from a nitro buggy of mine. It's slightly stronger and it helped. Still not great, but better. 👍
Great overview of all three they all look great and offer various levels of fun in different ways.. reminds to pick one up at some point still love the old SRBs and scale look
Thanks! Glad you liked it. They may share the same body, but that's about it. They're all very different cars, each with its own charms. 😊
Is very well put
Thanks! 😊
good stuff! i saw that kyosho beetle too - but it is always out of stock here stateside. looking forward to it!
The Beetle has been out of stock for the last 18 months here. Kyosho recently did a production run of all the 2WD legendary Series buggies (except for the Ultima) and so they're currently back in stock. Interestingly, the latest batch of Beetles no longer have Goodyear tire markings...
Fun Fact: The re-re Sand Scorcher actually comes with the 540J Johnson motor which slightly edges out the 540SH Mabuchis. This combined with the gearing make the Scorcher pretty quick especially on Lipo power 👍🏻
I didn't know that. Thanks for the info, it helps explain why the Scorcher seemed so quick! 👍
I loved hearing you thoughts and opinions on them. I have two of the 3 now and think they are super cool, The Blitzer is a lot of fun to drive and I love the looks. The Monster Beetle is a lot of fun but the steering in that leaves a lot to be desired. It works but they tend to dart a little when hitting bumps and stuff. Overall I love them both and that is one of the cool things about the Tamiya kits, they all have their own personalities. Some have more quirks than other and some are just so quirky they are cool!! Thanks for putting the comparison all together and I am looking forward to seeing that Kyosho join the group!
Thanks! Totally agree regarding the Monster Beetle steering, sometimes it seems to have a mind of its own! 😁
The Kyosho Beetle chassis is pretty much done, but the body may take a while as I've got a busy few weeks ahead, so little opportunity to get out and paint.
My Blitzer beetle has a radon Trinity motor 15 turn with 15° of timing.
Another great video comparison! You’ve opened my eyes to the blitzer beetle, I remember selling them at the model shop I worked at way back when, but never owned one. What are you thoughts on drivability between kyosho beetle and blitzer beetle?
That's a tough one. 🤔 The Kyosho is an older design, with a lot more metal. Its metal geared transmission has a slipper clutch and it will handle hotter motors with ease. The polycarbonate body, while not detailed like Tamiya's, is robust and stands up to regular abuse. Overall, the Kyosho is definitely the tougher of the two.
The Tamiya in contrast is cheaper. It's mostly plastic and according to Tamiya should not be fitted with anything but the kit supplied motor! The larger tires mean it can run on just about anything (The Kyosho will struggle in longer grass) and it is the more "fun" of the two if you aren't bothered about scratching up the nice hard body you spent hours painting! 😅
Personally, I'm terrible when it comes to painting hard bodies and repairing them is a right pain! As a result, I tend to drive my Blitzer a little more cautiously. No so with the Kyosho!
@@KaiCityRC Thank you for your reply, I was unaware of the weakness in the blitzer beetle drive train. Although I can imagine that if I were to drive the two at the same place on the same day, I’d be more, let’s say ‘respectful’ of the kyosho. I am acquiring the legend models I want in my collection bit by bit, and I’m not sure the blitzer beetle fits that status with me yet. It was more about what drove the best out of the two as they seem to be of similar proportion/geometry to one another, although nothing else in common.
@@markpengelley The Blitzer is a lot of fun, but I personally prefer the handling of the Kyosho Beetle. 👍
I didn’t notice any obvious weakness of the Blitzer transmission. So it was a little surprising that Tamiya added the warning to the manual. 🤷♂️
I love the Scorcher in silver. What paint did you use?
Thanks! I had several issues with the paint on the Sand Scorcher (it was originally red!). If memory serves I used Tamiya PS-41 (bright silver). Yes, I'm aware it is a polycarbonate paint, but I had accidentally painted the Blitzer Beetle using PS paint prior. I liked the mat, almost "rubbery" finish using PS paints (rather than TS) produced. The paint seems to adhere pretty well and so far despite heavy use is not peeling or chipping.
Thanks for the video... can't wait to see what you think about the Kyosho Beetle... and would really love a comparison between that and a Turbo Scorpion...
I can only collect SO MANY models.... and racing RCs with my kids takes a lot of the budget. I have an Ultima, with Turbo Scorpion wheels, so that has a somewhat similar look to it with the wheels, roll cage, etc... but I would still like ONE of the trailing arm style cars...and I have a line on possibly being able to buy a new in box Kyosho Beetle kit...
Of the 3 models in this video, the one I am picking for my collection, is the Blitzer Beetle...
I think I am opting out of getting the Kyosho Optima Mid, I'm going to put a Javelin wing mount and wing, amd original Optima body on my Turbo Optima gold kit, and run that(hopefully with an under pan to protect the gold chassis)
Besides the Blitzer Beetle, I think I going to get a few other Tamiya kits as I'm able to... but the Kyosho ReRe kits seem to be such high quality compared to most Tamiya cars I see... maybe my thought on that will change after I build and run a few Tamiya cars...
Cheers!!! Looking forward to more videos!
Thanks! The Blitzer Beetle is so much fun and a blast to drive.😁 It always puts a smile on my face. 😃
i'm amazed by your follow shooting. how did you do that? you can't be just running together with the rc car, can you? they are fast!
Yep, running alongside the car while shooting.😁 I'm not going full throttle, but fast enough to give a sense of speed. Being low to the ground helps. I have a video explaining how I shoot. 👍
@@KaiCityRC 😅amazing.
Sand scorcher is legitimately a copy of the real baja bugs of the era. It’s also my dream Tamiya buggy
The Sand Scorcher really is a radio controlled scale model and instantly became one of my all time favorite RC’s the moment I’d finished building it. It’s a little on the expensive side, doesn’t perform that great but nevertheless is worth every penny (or cent, or yen).
A true RC icon 👍😎🤩
Just curious what park is this. We spend lots of time in Kansai and very few parks with good play structures for kids.
Sorry for asking such a totally unrelated question 😂
I can never remember the actual name of the park, but it is in Minami Alps City in Yamanashi. I think it's called "Kushigata ~ something or other!" 😅
Awesomeness
Thanks for the great video David! I want to get the Kyosho but it's out of stock so I think I'll get a Blitzer in the meantime :) Question: Did you paint your rims white? The current stock comes in orange as does the front fascia.
The white wheels are Tamiya's Aqroshot wheels. They're interchangeable with the Blitzer's, so I have the original Blitzer orange wheels with the on-road Aqroshot tires, and the white wheels with the Blitzer tires.
The original shocks from 1979 SRB models leaked. They were not a very good design, it had 1 seal and used brass for the seal retainer and would wear out pretty fast. I have not looked at the re-release shocks, but I do know they are larger and I am sure they use a much better design while retaining as much of the vintage look as possible.
The newer shocks have a slightly different design, but are still prone to leaking (though mine haven't...yet).
great video, mate!
Hi David, do you think the blitzer beetle body will fit on the kyosho beetle chassis?
I don't recall ever seeing anyone fit a Blitzer Beetle body, but I have seen a Sand Scorcher body fitted to a Kyosho Beetle. The bodies are very similar, so I don't think it would be an issue. For example, check here: th-cam.com/video/MjKSSs6MfbM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=hDn6jHXc-0lpP02l
@@KaiCityRC Thanks for the vid, looks like the body fits very well with the scale and wheel base of the chassis.
how do you think they would handle a brushless set up ?
I think it would depend on the number of turns and how much power you’re putting through them. The MB (ORV chassis) gearbox is known for issues when running high powered motors. The Blitzer could probably handle more power, but I have to wonder Tamiya clearly write in the manual: Do not use any motor other than that supplied in the kit! 🤔🤷♂️ I’m sure something with a bit more oomph would be fine and plenty of people seem to be running brushless without issues.
The Sand Scorcher’s gearbox is simple, robust, and there’s no diff. So, the drivetrain would probably be ok. However, the chassis my struggle to handle the power. None of them have slipper clutches either. Regardless, if you're going for high powered motors you’re going to want to replace the kit pinions with something a little more hard wearing. Hope that helps! 🙂
@@KaiCityRC thank you vey much for that , great help
Hi, can you give me code color of silver sand scorcher? Thanks!!
Are your electronics waterproof?
Hobbywing 1060, possibly. Everything else, unlikely!
hgahah great video!
You have a Beatles haircut