markbt73

Well, it is Traxxas... they're kinda like Microsoft. Wait a version or two, and it will be all sorted out. Too bad they don't sell kits anymore. I have zero interest in this as a $200 RTR, but a $120-150 kit I'd be all over.

Haven't raced in about seven years now. I raced on a flat carpet oval in Duluth MN in the early 90s with an RC12L and later a 10LSO, and then dirt oval with a Traxxas Rustler in the mid 90s (surprisingly competitive truck for oval racing). In 2001, I tried to get into a M-chassis class at a track in Minneapolis (indoor carpet road course) but I didn't like the attitude of the track manager; he was too concerned with "serious" racing, so I quit after a few races. These days, I just bash. I'd be up for a "fun" race though; that Wild Willy race video looks like a hoot.

Pro-Line made a "waffle" tread tire for Tamiya 1.5" rims back in the day. I believe Duratrax made something similar, too. Or you could get a set of Brat rear wheels and tires. Or just run the paddles as slicks. The paddles wear down fast, but they last a long time once they're bald.

It is a bit frustrating when you see a photo of a stack of kits of a car you like, and you think, "can't I just have ONE? Surely you won't miss it..."

There's a definite limit to how much power a WW2 can actually use. With a 15 turn modified, reverse-to-forward makes it do a complete backflip. Yes. Insane amounts of fun. Both to drive and to tinker with. I miss mine, but now I'm on to other things.

I don't know if I'd use a Technigold with a mechanical speed controller. Might be a bit too much for it. The old Black motors were popular, if I recall... and my old Grasshopper-turned-Hornet back in the day sported a Kyosho LeMans 600E, if you'd consider something outside Tamiya. (and if you can FIND LeMans motors anymore!)

Here's a page with some simpler ones, for us "mere mortals." Lots of customization possible too: http://www.papercars.net/cars.html And some cool "cartoony" ones here: http://art66.hp.infoseek.co.jp/

I've had a re-re Hotshot for a few months now, and in all that time, I've run it maybe four times. Granted, I haven't had much time for driving anyway, but every time I take out the Shot, I find myself wishing I'd grabbed a different car. By contrast, every time I take out my Lunchbox, I find myself wishing I'd charged a second battery. This is telling me something. Also, right now my best option for driving is my apartment complex's parking lot, which is too rough for a true on-roader but too smooth to make use of the Shot's suspension. It might be perfect, however, for my never-run M04 Alfa GTA, which is in need of electronics. So I'm going to take the ESC and receiver out of the Hotshot and give the Alfa a try. There is no way I'm going to sell it; for one, it was a gift from my wife, and for another, I still love it. But it's better in theory than in practice, and the build process was more enjoyable than driving it. It will join one other car as a "shelfer-for-now," semi-retired display vehicle, the other being my beloved Associated RC10LSO Graphite pan car, veteran of many races and hours of fun runs. Both will see run time again someday, but for now, they'll just sit there and look cool.

My old LHS in Minnesota (Hub Hobby Center; I give them advertising whenever I can) used to match Tower's price including shipping on kits, then push the fact that you could walk out with it right now instead of having to wait for the UPS man. And they move a lot of kits. I haven't found a place here in Oregon that will do that yet, but next time I'm looking for a kit, I'm going to ask around. For little stuff, I always go to the hobby shop. And remember, it never hurts to ask about special-ordering what you need.

It sounds like by the point at which you wanted to interrupt, the damage was already done. If the dad had said "Ok, let us think about it a bit" and walked away from the counter, I think I would have approached them and tried to steer them back towards the kit. Then you're not some tosser interrupting the conversation; you're an expert with no financial interest in the transaction trying to help them make the best decision. Regardless of how it came out, my next step would have been a simple one. Wait for them to leave, with whichever purchase they decided on, and explain to the counter-jockey why you thought he was wrong, and how you feel he is damaging the hobby with his attitudes. Tell him that he could have gained a steady customer by selling a kit, instead of a one-time toy purchase with an RTR. Then tell him that he has also lost YOUR business, because you cannot support a shop that you feel is not in the best interests of the hobby you love. And walk out. Hobby shops are a niche market, and keeping the customers happy is everything. If you're not happy, even with how you saw someone else treated, then you need to stop giving them your business.

Current projects: Parma Hemi Coupe - chassis built, body painted and assembled, engine detailing started, needs running gear. Will use 540 and TEU101 from Alfa kit. M04 Alfa Romeo - Built, needs to have motor (P2k2) and ESC (Novak Rooster) installed, needs receiver to run, has plastic bushings on axles, stole bearings from it for Grasshopper. Box of bits that may become something - Kyosho GS11 engine with Associated clutch bell installed, Bolink pan-car rear pod hacked up to make room for the engine, Associated 12L front suspension, flat piece of .080" fiberglass, Parma solid rear axle. I was going to make this all into a nitro-powered "gasser," but it hasn't happened yet. And I still want to try the turning-brake idea on my Lunchbox, but that's on the back-burner until I get the Coupe done.

I know this one, but I'll wait to see if anyone else does.

I have to applaud Tamiya for keeping low-end kits on the shelves at all. They've practically got the market to themselves these days, with everyone else going to RTR or pre-assembled. And I think these vehicles are as well suited to a first-time RC experience today as they were 20 years ago, and here's why. A Hornet isn't underpowered. A 540 motor in a car that light is just about right for a first-timer. Fast enough to be a little tricky to control properly, but not fast enough to get in any real trouble. 15-20 mph and enough torque to cause wheel-hop is a great place to start. A 380 in a Grasshopper is a bit weak, but for an 8 year old kid, it might be just the ticket. A Traxxas Bandit with a brushless motor is overpowered, and unless Traxxas has drastically improved the quality of their tires recently, probably pretty much uncontrollable by a first-timer. I can see the likely fate of so many of these things, and it's sad: Pull it out of the box. Play with the suspension for half an hour or more waiting for the first battery to charge. Plop it down on the driveway, pull full trigger, marvel at the spectacular wheelie, not notice the parked car across the street, crash and break something (and scratch the neighbor's car) before you even realize what has happened. Take the car back to the store to have it fixed (since you have no idea how it goes together), pay the bill, get scared to try it again, and stick it in a box in the garage. When asked why you don't drive it anymore, get defensive and call it a "stupid" hobby rather than face the fact that you aimed too high too fast. The "poor" handling of a Hornet offers a unique opportunity: to actually learn how to drive. You can, with practice and patience, hone your skill on a slower car and apply what you've learned to a faster one. I know that patience and skill development are not traits highly prized by "kids today" (that phrase does sting a bit, doesn't it?), but they should be. In the instant-gratification consumer wasteland of the 21st century, it's nice that things like Legos and electronic construction kits and Tamiya Hornets still exist, for the kids who really do care about learning something (surely there must be a couple of them, right?). The idea of making improvements to what you have rather than tossing it aside and getting a "better" one is a lesson worth learning, and teaching, as well. So a Hornet kit, or any of the other re-res or newer Tamiya designs, in kit form, offer a far better introduction to the hobby and its possibilities than a Bandit VXL, with its hideous paint job and absurd powerplant. (Actually, to tell the truth, I don't even apply the label "hobby-grade" to the RTR vehicles out there, and this includes the Tamiya XBs. They are toys. A hobby is an activity in which you actually make something. Even the de-tuned race cars, Associated B4 RTR and such, nothing but toys. The garish paint jobs and "unbox and go" nature of them reduce them to toy status. Expensive toys, but toys nonetheless. If all you want is a toy, then that's fine; buy an RTR and drive it as-is. But hobbyists make things themselves, even if all the parts come in one box.)

How about "classic"? Has a nice ring to it...

Did a bit of work on the engine this evening. I got some 3/16" styrene tubing and started making headers. Bending that stuff is tricky, let me tell you. Note the pile of pipes that didn't make the grade, and my big long weird "practice piece." I did it by holding it over a candle flame for a few seconds, and then bending a tiny bit, then re-heating it and bending a bit more... slowly but surely I got a pile of pipes with 90 degree bends in them and started gluing them up in pairs with the correct spacing. Each of these pairs will be joined, and then the engine end will be cut to all the same length, so they can be attached to the heads. The bottom ends will all go inside larger tubes to make "4-into-1" pipes, and these will run along the rocker panels and bend outward just ahead of the rear wheels. (I know, side pipes like that are more associated with Corvettes or mid-70s custom vans, but I like them, and it's my hot rod, and I'll built it how I want.) I also have a decent dual-quad intake manifold made, but I can't get a good photo of it to save my soul. Next, I need to make carburetors, I still need to figure out what to do for a water pump and alternator, and I'm thinking of moving the distributor to the back, to make this an early "Fire Power" Hemi as opposed to the later 426.

Just a few seconds, basically until the water turns gray. But it's much safer to do this with a separate battery than a power supply. If something goes wrong you don't want it attached to house current. I always just taped two C or D cell flashlight batteries together and held the motor leads onto the ends of the battery with my fingers. Make sure to dry it thoroughly when you're done, and re-oil the bushings.

I can see the Craigslist ad now... "FOR SALE: 1971 Cuda, rebuilt 440 4bbl, 727 auto trans, Sure-Grip rear end, buckets, console, AC dont work, lots of work done, hate to sell but need money, baby on the way. Runs good but trans slips a little. Needs brakes and tags. $8000 obo, 555-867-5309, ask for Randy."

I loved Stompers! I had a green Toyota pickup and one of the little Subaru hatchbacks in tan. I also had a Stomper "Speedster" (2wd and geared much higher) Dodge Omni Charger. I do remember sand being not good for the drivetrains of them. Made a terrible noise after an afternoon in the sandbox. I really need to stop checking eBay prices on things I destroyed as a kid.

Was it Neil Gaiman who said that the average speed of travel through London hasn't changed in about three hundred years? I actually got a chance to drive on the left in Barbados last year... wasn't as hard or confusing as I thought. If you're on that side of the car, your brain just sort of compensates, and mirrors all the muscle-memory you already have. We had it kind of easy, though; our rental car was a tiny little Suzuki Jimny, and it was an automatic, so no shifting required (THAT could have gotten confusing!). The biggest problem I had was turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signals.

You know, really, I never thought of the 'Box as being all that unstable. It's certainly more sure-footed than my old Marui Big Bear was, and it's not designed to hoist the front wheels at the slightest provocation, like a Wild Willy (if it were, they would have left the battery in the old Pajero position). Granted, I mainly drive mine on loose surfaces, but it stays shiny-side up most of the time, even when I do something pretty drastic. So I'm not worried about it affecting the stability. But the on-power push is maddening, and that's mainly what I'm trying to cure. By slowing down the inside front wheel, it should stop that wheel from unloading and transfer power to the outside wheel, sort of forcing the differential to do what it does in a turn anyway, only more so. It's a proven idea in full-size dune buggies; the question is, will it scale down? I'll get the parts as soon as I can, and then we'll see...

Now you just need a driver figure with a mullet. \m/

Well... um... Here are this month's contest rules, translated from English to Japanese and then back to English: - A certain thing which you inserted before in the competition of all TC thinks and cannot insert image - only that one image you must be in each entry item, two which - or it is pleasant in the track/truck because of the straw raincoat of the park, when specially is at outside, is image and competes or many models this must be shown. If as for that shortage of the operator when it was performed it is the car which stands still, it is: ) - Your image can raise is harvested or montages/collages of shock or the part where color shock differs does not have to be designated as the feature. That only those which are must be included in the original photograph. - The photograph is not different, was taken or or it is because it has the permission which uses one that of your model. - It is necessary before April 27th to enter into the car in competition if you think that - exactly 2 the poll Thats your poll of May 11th work your without fail necessity is obtained weeks - we would like there to be with a chance of your yourself victory, you must vote.

OK, so I've thought this through a little more, and here's what I've come up with: There's just no room to add brake shoes to the inside of the wheels and use the rims as drums, like I originally thought. So I think I'm going to have the felt "shoes" rub against the inside edge of the tires themselves to slow the wheels. This means that all I need for a linkage is a simple bar with a shoe at each end that moves back and forth with the steering. And here's how I'm going to accomplish that: http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti00...LXCJG6&P=SM Why go through all the trouble of converting a rotary motion to a linear motion in the linkage, when you can do it right in the servo itself? This way, I can just attach the servo to the back of the transmission, attach the brake bar to the servo, make up a couple of guides for it, and I'm in business. And it's simple, which is always tougher and more reliable than something complicated. Sort of like this: Of course, it won't be quite that easy; nothing ever is. But based on a little measuring and setting a servo in place, I think the idea is sound. I'll order all the parts I need as soon as I can, and in the meantime, I have to remove a failed attempt at a "positraction" setup for the diff, and get it as free-turning as possible. More later, stay tuned...

Man, that car is going to look like half the cars in my high-school parking lot. How about a coat-hanger radio antenna (or better, CB antenna) and a little-boy-peeing-on-a-Ford-logo sticker? And of course, the trunk lock needs to be missing.

I love that idea for the rustbucket. I was going to do that to a Parma El Camino shell a couple years ago, but other projects intervened and I never got around to it. Looking forward to seeing the Beater-Cuda in all its, ahem, "glory."