390 - The Wild One Revampin Is Going On

Continuing with the works on my Wild One I've finished to disassembly the car and with the bare chassis in my hand I've deeply but gently washed it and I've replaced the 13 years old "Ko Propo" stikers with a pair of new "Oakley" ones according to the trend settled with my Kyosho Ultima SB Dirt Master and to my Tamiya BBX.

For the moment I will keep this original chassis it's that is intact spite it shows  many signs of its use... but I like it ✌!

To be ready when it will be the moment to install the electronics I've update the Robitronic Speedstar 2 (17 turns motor limit in this case) with 4mm bullet connectors and extending the motor cables that will reach easily the Dird Tuned placed on the back.

I've prepared also the set of new wheels placing the Schumacher tires from  JC Racing pink rims to a set of yellow ones.

389 - Bringing My Wild One Back To Life

It is the time to start to work on my Wild One. It is a car that I love as I never figured and for its build, at that time, I’ve spent a lot of time and payed a lot of attention. Just for information it was my first build with Tamiya Craft Tools RC Tool Set.

I’m ready to give to this car its 4th life: the first out of the box with black FAV’s parts and some black custom parts, the second with 2.2 pink rims and Super Stock motor, the third (never lived) with that horrible aluminum chassis and Dirt Tuned motor (to save the transimission) and the life it is going to live with a new body, new yellow rims and front suspensions reinforce.

So I’ve started to disassemble the car to give a deep cleaning of the old parts involved in this revamp. The KO receiver will be swapped with a new Futaba one and I’m planning to use the original chassis saving the new one in case of breakages.

Cabling will be better organized, I will keep the KO servo (old but good for this car), front shocks need to be rebuilted and a new livery will revitalize the car considering that the original always looks a bit faded.

Bearing on axles, pure old school 😎

388 - Chrome or Yellow?

Finally I’ve been able to wrap the set of BBX rims I’ve dechromed and paintend in yellow with a new set of tires.

I’m not full happy of the fresh painted rims but I shouldn’t make a full valuation without watching it with tires on and I have to admit that it isn’t so poor.

For a while I’ve considered to switch from the stock BBX wheels to a set of standard 2.2 buggy wheels because, running it on the grass, I should have prefer to gain some millimeters of air under the car.

Time ago, with my BBX and my Ultima side by side, I’ve noticed that Ultima’s wheels are not so taller than the BBX one so, with wheels in my hands, I’ve decided to make a direct camparison.

Well, it’s pretty clear BBX wheels are taller than 2.2s and I’m satisfied because the higher sidewall tires will keep the full spirit of this car.

387 - GForce Pit-Cube 300, A Compact Charger!

 

I’m going on with the idea to slim the equipment destinated to follow me on holidays saving weight and space and making it more practical to use.

The matchbox sized box and its contents 😎

 

From a while I’ve noticed that on the japanese market are available some compact chargers powered via USB-C and I've keept them in sight considering that for weight and dimensions they could help me.

In particular my attention was on the last released: the GForce Pit-Cube 300 saw on the IG of Masami Hirosaka, the legend, himself.

Weeks ago I’ve bought another USB-C powered device, a Miniware TS101 soldering iron that requires a powerful USB charger to properly works so, all was ready to try the jump.

I’ve found the Pit-Cube to buy in one of my fav online shop: Banzai Hobby in Japan so, without esitation, I’ve bought this charger even if it was in backorder and I received it in almost ten days.

Great service from Banzai, as usual.

The GForce Pit-Cube is surprisingly small, less than a cigarettes pack (I’m a former smoker), it carries toughness when in hand, it looks well builted.

Unlucky its default language is japanese and after some attempts to find on the manual the way to switch to english I was considering to bring it to Venice and ask to my wife to help me, until when…

… for pure chance I found the right menu and we started to understand each other. Great!

386 - The TT 60 ESC Sits In Its Place, Finally

The Tamiya BBX is a great model: I love how it looks and I like how it performs but arranging the Electronics isn't an easy task.

Recently I've decided to avoid the use of the cover for the ESC and to be safe I've decided to swap the freshly installed Robitronic Speedstar for he MTroniks TT60 ESC bought year ago and used only a pair of times.

I preferred the MTroniks for its solid construction and because it claims to be waterproof… a good feature for an exposed installation.

Unfortunately the TT's cables are stiffer than usual cables and placing it in the narrow spaces of my BBX have been quite difficult. I've decided to extend the motor cables with softer ones hiding the original blue and yellow under the ESC shelf in the attempt to make a clean and tidy work another cable extension for the battery was already in place.

I've been a bit in trouble to find a good place for the switch, it's bigger than usual also compared much older ESCs.

Found the place for every cable I've well secured them all to the BBX cage with some nylon bands; some other will be needed at a second glance and I will consider to do some more adjustement because I'm not full satisfied by the result.

385 - I Got A New (Smart) Soldering Iron

Two weeks ago my Dremel Versatip stopped to work before starting the soldering session to arrange my MTroniks TT ESC to fit my Tamiya BBX.

I was quite happy about that soldering iron mainly because of its portability that made it good when I pack my stuff for holidays.

As my usual I've started to surf the Web to look for a good alternative and I found out this Miniware TS101 usb powered smart soldering iron that with its marker-like size should be a good choice to my needs.

The TS101 stands on my laptop during its firmware update

It's not cheap a cheap tool and I hope that the money payed forces me to take good care of it to keep it properly working for a long time. 

My new soldering iron have been immediately put at work on my TT ESC to swap the old 3,5mm bullet connectors to 4mm ones, to extend the motor cables and to solder them to the motor tabs and all went good: it reaches the working temperature in a few of seconds, it is very handly and easy to clean. Finger crossed for next soldering works.

384 - BBX's New Livery Finished

All body works have been completed and here is shown how my BBX looks in its new livery. To me it looks great, hope you like it. 👍

It is a very simple paint scheme and as planned I've done my best to stay out of troubles limiting my ego in the search for unlikely pyrotechnic effects.

383 - BBX's Body Parts Finished

Roof and tails have been completed with some stickers and are ready to be installed, I hope that the car looks more bright than the previous livery.

I will be curious to try to alternate the new white tail ends with the old green ones, just to check how the car will looks.

382 - God Save The King

The alpine lawn where I drive my cars when in holidays is a wonderful place but wild grasses, even when well cut, tend to oppose a certain resistance and it raises ESC and motor temperatures so I've bought from RW Racing in the United Kingdom a pair of smaller steel pinions for my BBX.

This is why I love United Kingdom: you can spend only a few of pounds for a pair of pinions but the way you receive it spread a kind of timeless class that only Britain offers.