078 - Christmas Presents

Some Christmas Present from my wife: the first is, of course, Tamiya related and the second will helps me to improve my poor english :-)

077 - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My wife and I have planned a trip in Japan for april/may so I need to save money as much as possible to increase my knowledge of the local cuisine (and, if possible, to make some RC shopping).

Whereas, during the next months, I'm not going to leave my little cars without cares I planned, however, some shopping in affordable tranches.
For first I will buy a pair of LiPo packs so, finally, I will enter the modern RC era and after this I will take a new body and a new chassis for my Stadium Blitzer.
At the end I'll choose if buy the whole range of parts needed to finish my Subaru Brat project (dampers, wheels, etc.) or the parts needed to switch back to the status of "runner" my CC01.

Merry Christmas and happy new year, of course!

076 - My First Time In A Tamiyaclub Comp!

I never attended a Tamiyaclub comp, fingers crossed until january :)

075 - Went Out For Nothing...

Today, for the umpteenth time, I went out with my camera and with my Wild One to make a video with a new mode I found in my camera menù. It's a "sport mode" that could be useful to take some nice action pics.
Unfortunately the two friends shown by the pic decided to divorce from the right uni without notice and remain in to the Ikea box I use to carry my cars around during my attempt to give gas.

074 - HobbyKing X-Car 45A ESC (part 2) Or A Wintry Run On Freshly Cutted Grass :-)

This afternoon I went out with my Wild One with its new Esc for a ride.
I've been lucky because the grass on the lawn near the place I choose for the ride had been freshly cut so I decided to have fun on the grass.
I moved a little when, switching on the car, the Hobbyking orchestra starts to play its music but  unfortunately the grass was too long (or my Sport Tuned to much underpowered) and driving wasn't a good Esc's test and not much fun.

So I decided to put the car on tarmac and to empty the battery having a real feel about the speed controller.
I realized that this cheap Esc is honest, virtually unlimited, a little rough when the brake is used but considering that it allows to use Lipos it's a great value for money expecially for budget cars and classic Tamiyas.

073 - HobbyKing X-Car 45A ESC (part 1)

Today I've received a pair of HobbyKing X-Car 45A Brushed Car ESC that 've ordered some weeks ago. After the first shy glances I decided to switch on the soldering iron and replace the stock connectors with the PolyMax 3.5mm Gold Connectors I'm used to use in my ESCs both for motor and battery.

The ESC fits comfortably in to my Wild One, switch and receiver cables are soft and easy to "shorten" but I had to solder a stupid adapter because of the battery's cables are  too short but it doesn't depends by the controller.
There is a unique "fault": the switch's fixing holes are much distant and it's impossible to use both screws to fit it in the stock mount.

In the next days I will print the the manual to do the set-up and run it for the first time.
Now I have no more excuses, my whole fleet is LiPO ready and it's time to get a pair of modern power packs.

Size comparison with Robitronic Speedstar 2.

Size comparison with Mtroniks Tio Storm
 

072 - A Bunch Of...

All my runners but always few :)

071 - High Tech Rice

I've got a pair of KO spare receivers awaiting to be used: the KR-407S came with my EX 5 and was saved for car without many space and the KR-201S was bought as spare.
The place were I live is particulary humid and I prefer to save unused electronics from potential risks. So, to prevent moisture damages, I decided to use a ermetic food container and a punch of rice... of course I prefer it as risotto or, if japanese, as onigiri or in a donburi :)

070 - Good Brothers Share All!

Sometimes taking a decision isn't easy but, this time, decide to swap my never-ending-Brat-project's unis with my beloved Green One's dog bones sounds like a columbus egg.
Tamiya unis aren't cheap and it's a shame keep them on my Brat that, awaiting for a definitive set up, does not have a run from years. I quickly decided to do the business and complete my WO's drivetrain.

Done!

069 - Pre-Birthday Present!

During some days of relax on the alps I've received from my wife the RC World october issue :-)

068 - Ouch! Poor Blitzer!

I'm continuing the deep cleaning of my RC fleet. Today has been the turn of my Stadium Blitzer and, considering that it was already cleaned two or three times during the summer, I only removed the dust and filled up with marine grease the differential (it seems very smooth and I'm really curious to feel how it drives).
In cleaning the car I discovered a pair of cracks and some deep scratches on the body and a little crack on the chassis that, for the moment,  I fixed it with a little of styrene glue.

In the next future I have to buy a new body and a new chassis to bring my Blitzer to its best conditions.

067 - Wabi-Sabi(?)

Today, after a summer of bashing without any maintenance (excepted for new diff gears), I deep cleaned my Wild One. Usually, before this type of operations, I order some new parts to bring the car closer to the original splendor but this time I decided to "simply" clean the car, to rebuild the dampers, remove dust and little stones and so on.

I'm fascinated by the Wabi-Sabi concept tipycal of the japanese culture and I figure that my WO with the signs of use but cleaned and in full efficiency could be a sample of this idea of beauty.

066 - Concerning Ansmann Dampers

 

In restoring my Madcap I've chosen to upgrade from the original dampers to four Ansmann aluminium dampers.

During the shakedown I noticed that they were a little lazy and in fact, in disassembling them, I realized that pistons are a little raw and that the oil smells like (and probably is) simple mineral oil and not silicone oil.
So I decided to use the new dampers with the set-up recomended by Tamiya in the original Madcap manual; therefore I've used Ansmann body and rods, Tamiya pistons and #600 Muchmore silicone oil. I will test it asap.
The only doubt remained is about the rear shocks lenght: I've chosen the 85mm ones and probably they're a little short.

Tamiya style exploded view tentative

Ansmann piston

Tamiya piston

065 - Madcap Refurbished!

The refurbishing is almost complete, my Madcap needs only some upgrades and all will be ok.