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Hi, If you use rubber tires, I guess you don't have much choice. They are all about 64-65mm in diameter. If you use 200mm nitro touring foams, You might not be able to use equal diameter wheels all the time. Usually people use 1 to 2 mm smaller in front to decrease traction. Thx Joaquim.

Hi, The worst injuries I guess are from r/c helis. That spinning thing is just another rotor blade and cuts everything easily. Thx Joaquim

Hi, This is a special version for domestic only. It is a TA03R-S TRF version with a lightweight Porsche 911 GT1 body. Nothing special. Thx Joaquim

Hi, You should be able to contact Tamiya USA but you will never find a contact link in Tamiya Japan (Japanese and English sites). At least I couldn't, looks impossible. I guess only through phones, for local people only. Thx Joaquim

Hi, Interesting article, Thx! I have a friend who is into manufacturing r/c products, manufacturing is done in factory. The solution they use to take out anodizing is harmful to tolerances of the part. For example, the 3mm holes on an anodized part will become 3.2mm after the process. He told me that removing anodizing is impossible in manufacturing. If there is a mistake in anodizing process, you know, wrong color etc... he just has to throw away those products. I don't know if this oven cleaner is that "eatful", but still a very good idea for custom projects, where outlook takes over performance. Thx for step by step instructions and pics! Joaquim

Hi, Tamiya won't be making money from Ford for using the F-350 body as a model for sure. There are usually 2 ways (my guessing): 1. Tamiya paying Ford for a lisense. (e.g. Tamiya's Ferrari kits are more expensive because I guess Ferrari charges Tamiya a certain amount or according to whatever amount sold.) 2. Tamiya got a written permission from Ford and don't need to pay a cent. Since the lisense is there, the kit comes with a Jugg body is much much easier and cheaper in production. Hei, I like the Toyota FJ Cruiser body! Like a rounded up H2! Thx Joaquim

Hi, In Japan, these stuff are selling real sheap, they pay at least less in transportation or may be at a even lower price than worldwide distributors. In Hong Kong, there are real distributors and there are also stores/companies ordering from big Japanese/US/UK stores in large quantity and claim themselves distributors also. Their price is also competitive. See, R/C advisor is selling at a much lower price than what we get from the distributor. For how much lower, I can't tell to the public here, sorry. Thx Joaquim

Hi, Sure we got some great ideas here. Mostly about trucks, SUV's and Jeeps. Hope we can see sth new in a near future. The Jugg body is good but just getting too much. Thx for your replies, guys.[] Joaquim

My second vote is a Mercedes Unimog.

Hi guys, First of all, it has to be a hard shell. I would love to see a Toyota Pickup (Mounty or Hilux) again. Show some comments here! Joaquim

Hi, Besides BMW V12 & Audi Quattro, the Opel Vectra (yellow & white) TA03 is sold only in Germany. Thx Joaquim

Hi, In the body post plastic tree of TA02 kit (even TA01), you will find a slanted extensioner for rear body post. You must use them to mount any Tamiya TA01 and TA02 bodies. Almost all touring car bodies from Tamiya would fit TA01 and TA02 mounting holes. But not suitbale for some GT bodies such as NSX due to high front damper stay and width. Still fit but looks aweful. Thx Joaquim

Hi, I used side by side packs with my F103 long time ago, still using black sanyo 1700SCR. It was kind of tight already. Nowadays cells??? They might not fit without modifications. Thx Joaquim

Hi, Sure no point in building it as you have the latest TA05. TA04-SS is a short wheelbased TA04. It is hard to get bodies to fit. I have never driven it but could imagine, small turning radius and unstable at high speed. Price won't increase much as it is not a memorable kit. Just my thinking. Thx Joaquim

Theo, thx for pointing out. The best TA02 ever produced was the RS version. It came with rock hard front inserts, super slicks, option prop shaft, black gearbox cases, 66/69T, colored springs, One way, aluminum diff housing etc... Couldn't remember all for now. Still remember in the old days, I took this kit apart and sell individually. Joaquim

Hi, This kit will be available from HK distributor on 04/Sep. Thx Joaquim

Leaning it up, to both low and high needles, most of the time means a faster response handling and higher speed. Less fuel means more air in the mixture and more air causes stronger explosion. Less fuel also means less lubrication and could cause overheating. But when you lean them up and pass a certain point, the engine won't get enough fuel to rev up. It will sound like "rev cutting" under acceleration and cannot reach top speed. Too rich is like sloppy reaction and could cause engine dies easily whenever you accelerate. It sounds like BLEU BLEU BLEU during acceleration. You should see smoke but not too much. Reving up from idle should have more smoke and once the engine passes 40% speed range, smoke should get less and less and when it gets to top speed, it should be almost no smoke. No smoke for too long time will cause overheating. You always want to set a bit richer on the low end so that the engine gets more lubrication when you release the throttle or braking. On the high end, you want the engine to blow out any unburnt fuel inside the engine which build up from idle and low speed. Hope you can understand what I wrote. Take care. Joaquim.

I would recommend you to take the engine apart and check if all parts are in good condiiton first. At least no rust and with compression. If you don't know how to do this, HPI USA site has a good page for this. Regarding engine dies when you brake - if throttle linkages are set correctly, then you might want to check clutch shoes and springs. Check if they are touching the clutch bell even at idle speed. This could cause continuous clutch engage and chock the engine during braking. The golden rule, as THEO advised, keep it under 120 degrees celcius. Needles (low, high, idle) most of the time need to adjust at the same time in order to get correct mixture at different times. Try to play with it and get a feeling. Before you got that mixture point, try to adjust a higher idle setting. Engine dieing is always one good way to upset you. Adjust one thing at a time and get a feeling and remember to check temp frequently. I started like you from zero, no one could help by just a few words, this is true, to get nitro knowledge, you will need to start and try running it. Good luck! Thx Joaquim

Hi, Idling for 30 seconds is acceptable and considered to be okay. 2 stroke engines build up unburnt fuel at idle and low speed. Up to a certain degree, the engine gets too rich in mixture and chock. Before discussing needle setting, pls check you throttle linkage setting without starting the engine.. With servo at neutral position, carb should open up about 0.5mm to 0.75mm (idle setting) with throttle linkage spring pushing against the carb. Brakes not working. To adjust idle, check the idle screw on the side of carb. Turn CW means more and vise versa. When at full throttle, the carb should be 100% opened without any excess travel, I mean you do not want it to open 110% as fully opened means full throttle. You want to keep the throttle moves as to the Tx trigger in direct ratio. When taping brakes, the drive gear(s) should be locked and check if the carb returns to original idle position. Closing excessively could chock the engine instantly. If it happens, you can adjust the idle screw (on side of carb) to correct this. What engine are you using? Joaquim

Hi, I guess I made a mistake in previous reply, I thought you meant the PS type, sorry! Joaquim

Hi, The XC or CC-01 chassis has 2 different wheelbase. The long ones are Honda CR-V and VW Race Touareg, the short ones are Pajero, Isuzu MU, Isuzu MU Type X and Jeep Wrangler. Yes, the prop shaft of the Pajero MTW 58132 is a perfeict fit for CC-01 short wheelbase conversion. Thx Joaquim

Yeah, just call him Theo as everyone here would. As we all know, he is part of the Tamiya encyclopedia, nice and helpful. Right Theo? Joaquim

Hi, Here I did. Tamiya's clear orange is kind of dark and if you use white as BG, it will be solid orange. If you use silver, the effect is dull. If you use bright silver, it will look like gold fish. Thinner coat of clear orange gives better effect. If you want metallic orange, I would suggest you use clear silver with fluorescent orange. This is a real goldfish color. But be careful not to apply clear silver too thick. Joaquim

Hi, A pair of scissors is the best tool. Joaquim

Guys, not sure if you know this already. I learned this efficient cleaning from 1/8 nitro buggies and sharing with you at TC. Get these equipments ready: 1. A big paint brush w/hard hair, you usually have this in your pitbox. 2.SWIPE/water solution in spray bottle, ratio at 1:1 to 1:2, do not mix more water than that or metal parts will get rusted easily! 3.WD-40 or 3M-Super 5 Way or equivalent 4.Compressed gas gun and if you don't have that, use a hair dryer instead. Steps: 1.Take out engine, exhaust pipe, radio equipments, electric motors, belts and wheels away from the chassis. The chassis can be cleaned fully assembled without the above elements. Taking it apart could be more efficient. 2.Spray SWIPE solution directly to entire chassis, take dirt away with brush if necessary. 3.Spray SWIPE again to chassis to flush dirt. 4.Dry the chassis with compressed gas or your hair dryer. Not necessary to be completely dry but make sure no dripping water. 5.Apply heavy WD-40 to moving areas such as arm pins, ball bearings, upper arms, universals, ball ends etc... 6.Apply WD-40 on the same brush, then brush on all chassis parts. Apply more to brush if necessary until all parts are covered with WD-40. 7.Let your chassis air dry, should take about 1hr. 8.Once the WD-40 dries out, your chassis should look like new and a bit wet looking. NOTE: This method works great with nylon composite and metal parts. I am not sure if it works with polycarbonate and styrene/ABS composites. WD-40 could crack some cheesy plastic parts and for long term application, it could even soften rubber parts. Examine before you use. I use 3M-Super 5 Way which contains less kerosine smell and mild. This method is not only for off-roaders but all chassis types. Thx Joaquim