012 - First outside photo

First pic outside today, only a shot near home and not a trail test. There is a lot to do to gain the truck I want, the first things I tought watching is: "tires too tall" and "too much rim and too less tire".

011 - Graande King, almost finished

This is my CC-01 based project. Born as a simple body swap project it is going to be a scaler. At the time, in addition to the Nissan body, I have installed some GPM upgrades for the steering linkages and for the rear suspensions, I removed the front "brick" and some others little adjustements.
For the future I'm going to buy four new RC4WD wheels for a better scale looking, I will build new bumpers and rock sliders and nothing more. It will be only a stock looking project, nothing extreme or excessive.

010 - New old project - Graaande King

This project is dedicated to the 4x4 truck that I consider an icon, it's started when I've bought My Tamiya CC-01. I immediately started to look for a Nissan body to substitute the original one (Mitsubishi) and I found it on E-Bay, it's a TBG Nissan King Cab lexan body.
Unfortunately  I was working on another project and Tamiya decide to release a lot of interesting models and this project has waited for a long time on the shelf.
Now I start to work on it and first I modify the body bracket with some pvc hand made spacers.
The next step will be about the suspensions and, of course, about the body.
Stay tuned, I'm working daily on this truck.

Off topic: I noticed the date and the hour are wrong on my pics, it's due to the fact that I bought my camera in Kyoto a year ago and I haven't never change the time zone.

009 - Stadium Blitzer underbody, first attempt

After months without posting anything on my blog I'm back with a little project started in august, after my holidays.
For the holidays I had planned to bring with me my FF03 because near the holiday home there's a rc track. Unfortunately some days before the depart during the shakedown of some new upgrades I broke a suspension and I had no spares. so I decided to bring on holiday my Stadium Blitzer to get some fun on the lawn.
After some runs on the grass I noticed two issues:
the Sport Tuned motor has not the power needed to have too much fun on the grass;
the second problem is show in the picture below:

For the first problem the solution in easy: replace the Sport Tuned with a more powerful motor and soon i will do it.

For the second problem I tought of a solution inspired to short course truck underbody and I built a mould with wood and filler and this evening I tryed to mould a 2 liters pepsi bottle with a heatgun... results are not exciting but I think that this is the right way, I only have to buy two or three pepsi bottle!

Here some other pics and the first results:

The Blitzer, the mould and the bottle

The bottle wrapped on the mould

After the heat gun

First attempt

Second attempt

 

008 - Mission accomplished

Installing a full set of stainless steel screws is a simple work of re-building. I did it for my FF03 following the Tamiya manual and having a lot of fun, it was almost the same of building a new kit.
The only "problem" is that the two long screws that are screwed in the motor plate passing trough the motor stay and the gearbox are too much longer. It depends from the carbon motor stay that I'm using that it is tiny respect the stock one.
I solved this little inconvenient using two trimmed CVA shocks spacers.
I used a old mouse pad to get a new foam bumper... nice!

007 - Stainlees Steel

Finally it's arrived! I ordered this stainless steel screws set for my FF03 the 27th of april from RcScrewz.com and they shipped it to me the 29th, indicating a delivery time of 6-10 business day and i think it is a reasonable time to wait considering that I live in Italy and they are from US.

But , at that time, I didn't know anything about the postal disaster that it was hitting the italian postal service... And today I've received it. The strange thing is that yesterday I sended an e-mail to the italian post to know something about my srew set, coincidence?

Finally this evening I can swap all the original Tamiya screws for the stainless steel set forgiving, for a evening, the buzzing gremlin that lives in to my servos.

006 - Servo gremlin

Since I've bought my new Ex-5 a month ago I've a problem with my low budget Futaba servos (Fp-s148 and S3003). After the switching on it is all right but after the first servo movement, when it returns on neutral position,  I start to hear a "grr" and servo overheats.I tried to solve this problem with the several set up possibilities of my new radio but the gremlin remains and I really don't know what to do.

005 - With many thanks to the local post office...

Finally yesterday I received two of the four or five packets that I'm waiting from weeks and weeks. Theese delays aren't depended by the shops where I bought but by the local post office and by the local postmen that are doing in a sort of boycott. The local news papers talk about over 50 big boxes of letters, small packets and more locked in the post office from weeks... and the place where I live got only 12.000 inhabitants! Definitely I would prefer a honest strike!

First I opened the packet that I was waiting for from the 12th of april: 20 couples of Simply Rc Deans connectors that I bought from Modelsport UK a month ago... thanks Poste Italiane! So I did some soldering practice and I have upgraded from Tamiya plugs to the Deans ones some batteries, an Esc and something else. This is my Stadium Blitzer 2010's Esc... and, yes! I need to do some more practice with the soldering iron.

After my soldering experiments I decided to discharge a battery and to test a new set-up for my Stadium Blitzer: full preload for the front shocks, zero preload for the rear ones and 15T pinion instead of the stock one (13T). Mission acomplished! With only a Sport Tuned motor this truck runs fast and get an amazing handling: I like it!

It will need another 2 or 3 upgrades but the way is correct to have a fast basher.

My second packet is arrived from Modellbau Seidel in Germany with some new parts for my FF03: the uni joints,the carbon motor stay and the aluminium spur gear mount.

004 - Finally I have it!

In the early 90s I was a teenager and from the first time that i saw the KoPropo Ex5 in a model shop I fell in love. Unfortunately at that time I had no money.
Now I'm an adult (really?), I have a job, some money and a new era is started: the 2,4ghz era.
So finally I decided to enter in this new era and to realize a dream: I bought an Ex5 with 2 Kr407s receivers from Fioroni here in Italy (they work very well, the prices are fine and their delivery service is quick).

two euros and one of the two Kr407s receivers... awesome!

003 - First upgrades for my FF03

My FF03, the Spec-R upgrade and some extra bits

I bought this Tamiya Castrol Honda CIVIC VTi with the new FF03 chassis this summer and it has become immediately my favourite Tamiya car of ever.

I enjoyed very much the build of this car and its driving is a pure pleasure.

Unfortunately I haven't a RC track near home and normally I drive it only in a car park (it's a real shame) and I can use it on the track only when I'm on holiday.

From its built it is full ballraced and I've used the stock silver can only for the shakedown. Now it runs a Sport Tuned motor but now, after some months, I decided to upgrade it until it will be ready for a 10.5 brushless system. the first step is the swapping of the stock balls diff for a Spec-R gears diff.

I bought it in Germany from RC-Modellbau D. Sakaguchi last week and after a few of working days I received it today.

I built it this afternoon and I filled it with #800 silicon oil.

The built of this differential is quick and problem free and the housing fits directly in to the FF03 chassis the only caution is about the urethane bushings:it is necessary to place one more of them in the right outdrive.

After the built I've done a short shake down to understand if was all ok and i noticed an increased understeer... I don't like it and I must to understand if it depends on the silicon oil and if I must to change it.

New differential, silicon oil and some items for future maintenance

The stock transmission compared with the new housing and the new gears diff

Differential completed and oil filled

Balls and gears diff compared

the upgraded transmission compared with the stock housing

002 - Arrived and built!

After several months without posting I take inspiration from my last built to write something new.

I feel a little guilty because my two project (one based on the Brat re-re and the other based on the Pajero re-re) are sleeping from months and months on the shelf, my Grasshopper needs care and my FF03, that is a racehorse, doesn't like to stay at the box but this situation doesn't depend only by me: Tamiya decided to re-release a truck that I always wanted: the Stadium Blitzer! So I decided to buy it and to build it!

Last friday I ordered a Stadium Blitzer, a Carson complete ball bearings set, a Sport Tuned Motor and the colors cans from one of my favourite model shop (Modellbau Seidel in Germany – very good prices, always quick and accurate service) and today for lunch I received it.

Due to a bad cold today I couldn't go to work and with so much time to spend and with a new Tamiya to built the afternoon is passed quickly.

The truck is almost finished and I will post more pics and impressions when I will finish it.