eek!

Hamnet, you have mail.

Hi everyone. It's been awhile since I last posted and as some may have noticed I no longer have a showroom. I haven't paid my dues and probably will not return. My ocular health is rapidly degenerating and there are many things I no longer actively participate in, including Tamiya. It's not entertaining to build models when you have difficulty viewing them. The prized Hilux's, Rough Riders etc. are no longer of much use if I can't enjoy the masterpieces Shunsaku Tamiya and his company put so much heart into. Consequently, I'm doing something I never thought, I'm selling my prized possessions. The rest are going to my friend. Please see the Sales, Trades and Wanted post. I've had fun and learned much at TC. I've never regretted joining and only wish I'd joined sooner. Best, Kee

My Hilux01 (white) for $500 (USD). This is a package deal. It will come with a 4000mah (original) battery (in box), slow charger (aftermarket) and vintage Futaba T4L. All working. The truck is missing the mirror, if important as a shelf-queen, I'd suggest an aluminum mirror from Mike as he has both driver and passenger ones. CONDITION 8.0 My Rough Rider02 (Twinset chassis with aluminum rims) with RR01 body (original red/white) for $300 (USD), comes with original hump-pack battery. The chassis and rims are not OEM Tamiya but look fantastic. The tires very good condition. The important parts are all there, all three radio box parts and body/roof in excellent condition and crack free at last inspection. Battery status is unknown. CONDITION 7.5 ***CONDITION is based on scale of 1-10 where 10=NIB, 9=new built, 8=outstanding, 7=excellent etc.*** I'm currently looking to do a face-to-face transaction and have not decided to auction them. If someone is in the Pensacola or Fort Walton areas of Florida, I will drive and bring them to you for inspection. These are serious "toys" and I feel the buyer should have a chance to examine them before spending their hard earned money. My Ebay id is "serioushobby", member for 6 years. My email is "keetoub@yahoo.com". I do not get on the internet much anymore but will check tomorrow Wed. 5/09/07. The same for my email. Thanks guys, Kee Update: 05/09/07 Rough Rider comes with two (not one) vintage hump-packs and a quick charger. As said, condition of these batteries is unknown (Hilux 4000mah takes charge). Price unchanged. For those accustomed to me in San Diego, CA, I've relocated to Florida thus the mention above. Best,

Joel, At least you won't have a hang-over like so many of my friends to start off the new year (I won't be having a hang-over either).[] best,

He..he..he... Very well said Theo.[] Hard to believe (and admit) I don't know if my choice would be the Hi-lux 4X4 now because it depends on the era for me. Tamiya is definitely one of the scale leaders, but their models (regarding cars) have gone more the way of others, performance over scale. So for the early era my vote is the SRB and maybe Hi-Lux. Today however is a toughee. I ask myself: What distinguishes Tamiya from others? My wild, shot-in-the-dark answer (guess): The WWII. More scaleness than most, re-uses a previous chassis (which Tamiya loves to do) and has middle of the road performance. It's appeal falls somewhere in between scale, fun, RTR and vintage seekers. It seems designed to appeal to all parties, rather than focus on one. Sorta-looks real and very easy to build/run, has a touch of nostalgia. Is this Tamiya now? (Regarding cars. Tanks/semis aside) [:^)] best,

Good point Fastboy. I did notice some increased ductility after brazing the 6061 aluminum. The parts I plan to braze are more than strong enough fortunately. Some annealing does appear to be inevitable. One could re-heat the part through precipitation hardening I suppose, to reclaim lost strength. I've found after using up my first rod (approx. 15+ joints) that it is difficult to get BOTH a strong and clean joint. I end up getting one or the other. Good for general household (e.g. plumbing) brazes. These rods definitely have uses but I'm finding the scale appearance I need for this project might be asking too much from it. I found out this afternoon one of my neighbors is a tig/mig welder. Super! I may go this route as he states clean (and strong) joints are possible. He wants me to make a speaker cabinet out of MDF for his car, maybe we can work something out? best,

Geeez. Glad I don't fly much. I'm not very surprised by this unfortunately. I not uncommonly hear in our news that lost luggage statistics have gone up 90-100% at our airports from a year ago. I suppose the good side though as stated is only the dvd is missing. Definitely much easier to replace. best,

I agree. The videos for this type of stuff looked very impressive...which made me wary. Recently I said "what the heck" and bought the sample kit. This may be one of the few products that live up to their info-mercial. Hey Mike, great idea. My brain isn't functioning up to normal lately, your right this would be great in Hints/Tips. ***MODS move as needed*** best,

Your roof and doors look great Dee! I'm happy the painting turned out so well. Looking superb! best,

Brute strength 1/8" aluminum to 1/8" aluminum. An attempt with Channel Lock pliers to tear the pieces apart. This was my second attempt. The above, my third, was to show how clean a joint can be. This joint is not very clean but the strength is self-evident. Minimal pre-cleaning was involved (some steel wool). The entire bar is twisted, the small piece literally crushed between my Channel Lock pliers. I almost chewed away the small piece. This product or Muggy Weld's Super Alloy 5 will be used to join my Hi-Lux snow plow parts. Is this "low-strength" rod strong enough? It would appear strong enough for me...

It worked! Parts cleaned. The flux literally washes off with just cold water. This is my third attempt and I didn't quite get a full join. I'm not unhappy, or disappointed. It takes time to get good at anything.

Just brazed The flux is still cooling. 1/8" aluminum joined to 1/8" aluminum. No preparation done what-so-ever. Not even wiping the oil and dust off the metal. This joint failed the strength test unlike the one below. I'm uncertain if it was due to my lack of pre-cleaning or the lack of a complete join (the ends of the joint are not filled in). Doesn't really concern me as I will pre-clean the metal in the future anyway.

A DIY way to join aluminum for the average-Joe...(or eek!) I believe this is a question that deserves consideration by those that modify or fabricate entirely new accessories from aluminum. I've seen ads for seemingly magical brazing-rods that can join alu to itself and even dissimilar metals including steel. As a man of science, needless to say I had a great deal of healthy skepticism. I believe I was wrong. To start, I am not affiliated with any metal brazing/welding company and no connection to them whatsoever. I originally decided upon HTS 2000 but after searching their site and Muggy Weld's, I realized the latter company has been around for 20+ years. If I have questions, I know they are not going anywhere. My choice of product was Muggy Weld's Super Alloy 1, actually labled as a "solder" by the company due to the lower strength. The Super Alloy 5, rated at 30,000 psi is labled as a brazing-rod. Confused? Yeah, me too. That's fine, I'm purchasing it too at a later date. Home Page: http://www.muggyweld.com/ This rod has the lowest strength (20,000 psi) but is stated to join multiple dissimilar metals to aluminum, including pot-metal. For those unfamiliar to my showroom, I have multiple early-era vehicles with many pot-metal parts (Hi-Lux 4X4, SRB's etc.) and being able to braze these metals is something of interest to me. Below are pictures of my first day using these brazing-rods. I made five attempts using one 18" rod. I took my time (approx. 1.5 hours for cleaning, joining, cooling...eating lunch etc.) A good 12" of the first rod still remains. Supplies: ---Bernz-O-Matic propane torch ---Metal vise ---Steel C-clamp ---Super alloy 1 ---Flux (included in kit) ---Patience...

Holy cow...it works! No significant updates this week but I've been testing my new brazing rods. From Muggyweld.com, this is their Super Alloy 1 rod. Worked better than I thought possible. For strength tests see my post "Aluminum: Braze or weld?". Link: http://tamiyaclub.com/CS/forums/thread/197409.aspx best,

Thanx Dee, I consider that a very nice compliment considering your many skills. I wonder what we could create if I made an aluminum chassis and you created a body? We'd just need someone to make the wheels and rubber. I suppose I can dream...[] best,