markbt73

Not sure if you're aware of the Scale Builder's Guild forum, but I think you could find a lot of inspiration and ideas digging through the build threads on there. Lots of folks have made chassis to suit 1/8 scale Monogram model kits, or the big New Bright 1/6 scale RC stuff. Not sure if I've ever seen that one done, but plenty of other builds for inspiration.

Plastic bushings are useful! When we remodeled the kitchen of our old house, I used a bunch of them as spacers behind the electrical outlets and switches to make them even with the tile backsplash. Two1150 bushings stacked on each screw turned out to be the exact thickness needed.

You laugh, but I have a NIB Grasshopper re-re kit sitting on the shelf, and I plan to back-date it with an MSC and a 75 MHz Airtronics radio, just like my first Grasshopper. Has anybody seen a manual for the Hornet Evo yet? That's what I'm waiting for. I need another Grasshopper/Hornet like I need a hole in the head, but I still want one, especially for that price.

Had the morning to myself, so I made quite a bit of progress on this. I dug through my parts stash and found a Bolink Eliminator "wide" front axle plate, so I decided to just use that. I also found a longer rear axle, so I was able to use spacers to make the rear as wide as the front. And since delivery of my 3018 CNC machine is delayed due to weather (thanks, Francine), I decided to see what I could do with a scroll saw and a drill press. The chassis plate is just .060 FR4 sheet, so it's a bit flexible. I will brace it somehow, either by doubling it up or adding rods to brace it. It has a lot more front suspension travel than I thought it might; the plate pivots upward and has a spring on the center post, and there are still springs on the kingpins, and of course the plate flexes some. With the wheels and tires on, it has plenty of ground clearance, and i will get it its own Funco body, maybe the single-seater style for this one: Next step: make a steering linkage, throw some electronics in it, glue up the rear tires, and take it for a test drive...

Yes, direct drive, solid axle with a ball diff, just like an on-road car.

So, as shown in the "postman brought me" thread, I am now the steward of Saito2's BoLINK Digger 10 project. This is right up my alley, as I love BoLINK, I love pan cars, and I have recently started to completely shun any "modern" designs. Well, they don't get much less modern than this: Got that body in the mail today. It's an old Funco 2-seat buggy body, from the original BoLINK mold, sold by Sabula Tech. Fits like it was made for it, because, well, it was. No one makes a repop of the Lexan radio tray that's supposed to go on the chassis, but that's all right; it's not hard to figure out a substitute. Now, I'd love to run this just as it is, but the old original tires are so dry-rotted that they'd probably crumble at the first use. And I'll never find direct replacements. But I did find some new-old-stock rear wheels, and some RC10 Classic tires, which together do a pretty convincing job of emulating the rear wheels and tires. The fronts are tougher; I think 1.7" semi-truck tires will probably fit, but I'll need to find another set of wheels for the front as well. In the meantime, I have some old Pro-Line wheels and tires for the Grasshopper/Hornet/Frog that will work. But really, I don't want to run this one at all... yet. I want to copy it. But not quite a direct copy; eventually I'd like to create digital files of all the parts so I can 3D print and route out everything and have a cloned Digger 10. But for now, I have a better, easier idea: This is an old Hyperdrive H10SC pan car that I got in a parts lot probably ten years ago now. It has a really neat 3-shock pivot setup for the rear pod, that actually allows quite a bit of suspension movement, way more than the old BoLINK design. The front is just the old Associated RC10L setup from before the Dynamic Strut days. The wheelbase matches the Digger 10 perfectly, and the width is close; about 1/4" narrower in the rear and 1/2" narrower in the front. Looking at the two side-by-side, I think I can design a new chassis plate for the H10, to be able to use the rear pod as-is, and create a center-pivoting front plate similar to the BoLINK design, and hang the 10L suspension from the underside of it, to create the ground clearance. I'll also design it so the front is widened out a bit, to more closely match the Digger. I knew I should have ordered two of these bodies. Oh well, it's just a little more shipping, I guess. Don't consider this a "build thread," because I'm lousy at keeping those up, but watch this space. This could get weird.

Got a new project, courtesy of @Saito2. The plan is to copy the parts to build a runner, and let this be a nice shelf display.

Good choice! I had an early 1.6 liter NA Miata for many years, only sold it when I got my MGB GT. Seemed silly to have two small RWD sports cars, and I had already "done" the Miata. And of course, now, I don't drive the MG nearly as often as I drove the Miata. Oh well. They are delightful little cars, no matter what generation - though admittedly I have yet to drive an NC. Enjoy!

Nice! I'm working on a bitsa Hawk/Sledgehammer hybrid right now, with some custom-made parts.

Trademarks, not patents. Patents expire - as they should. And I don't know; would the world be better off without trademark lawyers, or without venture capitslists? Would you rather be attacked by a bear or by a lion? I'm not sure it matters much, if the end result is the same.

The way I see it: Traxxas = Apple. Started out as the underdog, but hit on a packaging/marketing formula to make its products stand out, and still tries to be a universe/ecosystem unto itself. Gets tetchy about "infringement" by other companies over things it didn't invent in the first place. Graphic design department is really annoying and has little taste. But its engineering is second to none, and the products really do work as intended - mostly. Horizon = Disney. Buys up everything it can get its hands on, but hasn't created much of anything itself in a long time. Most "original" products are just derivatives of someone else's work. Every time you turn around, it has bought up another "property" and added it to its roster. (Kinda like the Borg in Star Trek, actually, now that I think of it.) Tends to bring out something awesome, then gatekeep it by discontinuing it quickly and never offering it again. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of either business model. As to which is more or less damaging to the hobby? I don't think it matters. I think the cheap Chinese garbage flooding eBay and Amazon are probably worse than either one.

...but the good old 2WD Stampede is everything a fun RC truck should be. It's tough, cheap, easy to drive, and doesn't need a lot of extra parts or a huge motor to be a hoot. In fact, it's everything I always wished my Blackfoot would have been back in the day. I still won't give them any money for new stuff, but this old beast will always have a home among my regular runners.

Got in a good session yesterday with a couple of cars. First up, the Raider, which has acquired full bearings and gold shocks since it arrived. It did great, though it needs a set of "runner" tires. These are the originals, and they're rock-hard, and impossible to find, so I'll save them for the shelf. Sadly, it fell victim to the Raider's one Achilles heel - a broken dogbone. Found a pair of old Optima dogbones in my parts stash; problem solved. I wanted to try something else with big wheels, so out came the Monster Hornet. Basically a stock Hornet built from leftovers and powered by a Trinity Green Machine stock motor with a Lunchbox pinion. This car is mostly a way to beat the stuffing out of a set of 3D-printed wheels to see if they'll break; so far they have not. It's fun, but man is it hard work to keep this thing pointed in a straight line. It's looking like I will have "track" cars and "the rest of the yard" cars. This will be one of the latter.

Yesterday it happened again: a Molex connector failed on an old battery pack. Pulled right off the wires while I was unplugging it after a charge. Luckily the bare wire ends didn't touch; that could have been a serious disaster. I think I'm finally done with the old "Tamiya plugs." I've kept them around on some vintage cars for the look, but much like an old 1:1 car with drum brakes instead of retrofitted discs, it's a matter of practicality - do you want the thing to look original but be unsafe, or have one little anachronism and be able to enjoy it? I think it's finally time for the latter. The logical choice for a replacement might seem to be Deans Ultra Plugs; they're what I have on my lipo packs and most of my 1060 ESCs. But I have never had good luck soldering the stupid things. And they're really hard to unplug, even with the old O-ring over the male pins trick. Not to mention that genuine Deans plugs are expensive, and the knockoffs are wretched quality. This leads me to the other up-and-coming standard: XT60. Supposedly robust, easier to solder than Deans, and a far better connection than Molex. Larger form factor, but I don't think that will be a problem with most of my cars, and if it is, I'll figure something out. And you can get a lot of them for cheap, but not suspiciously cheap, if you know what I mean. But is there an "original" brand I should be shopping for? More importantly, are there knockoffs I should avoid? I have to buy quite a lot of them; I have 6 or 7 old NiCd/NiMH packs that are still in use, three 2S lipo packs, and around 50 cars to convert. Anyone have any insight on which ones to buy, or not buy?

As it so happens, I just had "one of those days." Or should I say, one of those hours, because I didn't even get through a full 3000MAH battery pack. First up was my recently-acquired MRC MT-10M. It was a bargain, and I had to have it just for the paint scheme. I had always heard that these had some gearbox issues, and now I understand. The slipper was set so loose that it sounded like a car with a bad clutch driving off. I tightened it up, and the diff started slipping. These have a plastic diff nut that is prone to failure, so I backed off the slipper and only drive a few careful laps. I'll need to figure out a solution for the diff, though, because the suspension on this thing is amazing. It just floats over stuff. All right, if I can't drive that one, how about the Raider that I just got? Nope, the LeMans Stock 05 motor that came with it is DOA, and changing the motor in a Raider is a half-hour affair. I'll just run something else. Hey, how about that FX-10 that I just put back together? Whoops, the motor is plugged in backwards. Let me just pull the bullet plugs and swap them around - oh look, that bullet pulled right off the wire. Guess I didn't crimp it tight enough. OK, restomodded Mud Blaster. Here we go. Ugh, there's something wrong with this motor too (an old Speedworks Monter Mash). It has no acceleration and is really sluggish. Runs fine if you pick the back end up, but has no torque with the wheels on the ground. So that's no good. How about the old Cox Bandido? It has never let me down. Yeah! There we go! Woohoo! Except I can't really take photos of it, because it uses an old Cadet two-stick radio, and I can't drive one-handed. OK, fine, I'll just drive it around a bit and - aw, nuts. The kid next door is outside, and I just don't feel like dealing with that. Guess I'm done for the day. At least I have stuff to keep me busy, right?