Grastens

So I ran the Astute for the first time, today. And the very first launch in its new guise was caught on camera! Some observations, though: - I should have expected a very different drive than any car I had owned before. My Avante, a relative contemporary in design, is so clearly 4WD while my 2WD Buggy Champ is much heavier and handles differently due to its cambered rear tires. Thus, I anticipated not a lot of front-end grip and did not get much, but the steering system's incredible slop left the steering feeling very vague. - This car is very slow with a 17T pinion/77T spur setup and a stock silver can motor. Anybody with a semblance of RC car knowledge could have pointed that out, but I forgot my car was so equipped... The half-charged battery lasted over half an hour, though, and there was no risk of burning myself at all when touching the motor. It was therefore a good setup from an electronics standpoint, but a 70T spur gear is a necessity - or a TTC Gear Train System, which I conveniently have. Hmm... - No matter what speed this car is going, it is still such a looker! A bit like watching an attractive athlete for an entire game or match... I tried to work on my driving technique, keeping my eyes in front of the car to anticipate its course but could barely tear my gaze from the Astute! - I need to address front camber in terms of tire wear: I managed to change the rear setup by altering the damper position on the top mount, adding some preload to the springs. As I tend to set up my cars for oversteer, this may help me drive it as I drive my Avante - the increased tendency to dive on jumps will not be that serious until I race on something other than a flat field. - Certain screws need to be threadlocked, and I did not get all of them: Amazingly, I found the missing screw again on that gravel field but tempted fate and reattached it during the test session, whereupon I lost it again. I have a few spares, though, so I screwed the wing back on and used my red threadlock to keep it there! - The Astute is not very accessible when discussing the electronics (I find the Velcro arrangement is a bit fiddly, mostly when reaching the on-off switch), but the mechanical components (save the actual gears in the gearbox) are easily-reached; this is also my first car with a gearbox I am able to access without removing the bodyshell. Four screws, and I can change out the motor, pinion or spur gears. - Undertrays usually catch more dirt than they keep out! Cleaning was still a mess in spite of the gravel field I ran on. I will be looking for a faster motor or a 70T spur gear paired with a bigger pinion gear (I have a 23T unit I can drop in with the new spur type), and will probably drop the silver can into my Striker if the former is found. In the meantime, in its current setup it actually makes for a nice training car, with sweet, predictable handling and positive control at its low top speed with plenty of endurance!

Broke in my Astute: The weather was mild, I had no classes... Everything pointed to a test run, so I did just that.

The mild weather did let me get in a run with one of my smaller-tired buggies, but I took a look at a field just outside my building and pictured an ice track... Looking forward to winter as well, then!

Thanks! I am glad to hear you are happy with how it turned out as its former owner! We shall see what I do, though since the undercowl has already suffered a few scrapes from storage and a rough-edged chassis plate during installation, I would at least run the undercowl. I have been thinking about Hi-Caps, too, but I may also try to match my Avante and use the gold-bodied shocks from the Avante 2011... Or I could buy Hi-Caps and replace the shock bodies with the gold units... Or I could buy two sets and outfit my Avante with Hi-Caps too! ... Well, that escalated quickly! But for now I am moving onto my Striker project, and more importantly my studies... And I too agree that Tamiya Era should own an Astute - I believe he can build up a very special example

An Avante Ball Diff set (and bonus things) arrived from rcMart:

I immediately support your Factory Five build - I followed the company for a bit, and they make awesome kits! Quite an impressive room, too, with all those runners! As I am in a dorm this year, my hobby space is coincidentally my living space, so not much to post about: My models reside here along with my various ice hockey jerseys and pads. To the left we have a fridge with a gaming console and television (I need to take out the recycling...). This is where I usually work, though, moving my tools to this desk. Remnants of my Astute project and my Striker are present. The advantage is that within the dorm rules, I can make it as much of a man-cave as I want to!

I have mostly lost black c-clips on carpet, which is almost inevitable. However, I seem to be usually good at finding dropped pieces during a build; I lose the majority of parts when I drive!

Astute 'RS' = 'Red Special?' I got excited by that Lotus picture until I realized it was in fact the real car!

Finished documenting my most recent completed project: More details are in the Astute 'Restoration' Thread and the showroom!

Even still, I really like the idea and the execution! Certainly very original!

Thanks, Percymon! I think it turned out quite well too... But much to my surprise, I finished the rest of it rather quickly! The body was finally unmasked after spraying the remaining sections with PS-34 Bright Red. I thought it looked good for a 'blind' masking: Numbers went on next (I should have planned for number plates like on the rear wing): A little detail inspired by the aforementioned build: Then I plastered it in decals. I admit this is not one of the finest schemes as I did not account for the different decal colourings; I just stuck on whatever I had! The Kamtec ones were obligatory: More GT-One decals were thrown on the back of each sidepod, almost as an afterthought: And after reattaching some Velcro, she was complete! I think I did a good job with applying the decals, but this part was very tricky: No drive figure yet... I will wait to convert it to a standard Astute battery configuration to do that, where I can use the MSC mount to stick a driver bust onto the chassis (this one runs a Super Astute central battery holder): Right next to the original bodyshell for reference... The difference in condition is more apparent in person: And now here it is, right next to my Avante - the one that inspired the paint scheme: Plans? Having not been around a car in such a nice condition for a while, I have entertained thoughts of selling it (make me an offer if you want ), even though the new owner will probably ditch the bodywork in favour of another scheme. But for now it is sitting right beside the Avante on my table, as seen here. I will enjoy its pristine quality while it lasts... until I bash again! Thanks for reading! (and staying with that image-heavy post!) My showroom entry is also updated accordingly, as admittedly I dropped the ball on that one.

Finished the wing last night: Either the paint was too thick or the Lexan used for the rear wing is thicker, as the endplates were actually difficult to cut. As the car will be run, though, I am not too worried. Mounted on the chassis: The team is starting to assemble... I will probably keep the Astute clean for a bit after I finish it, though that may turn into an entire season if I do not complete it before the first heavy snowfall. I just need to spray the rest of the body in red and put on the decals.

After seeing the 2CV, I am prepared to be no less than stunned by the end result! And as mentioned by others, I too really like where this project is going already!

A fantastic build! I think it does the model justice, not to mention all those Baja-style racers that did rust like that.

After a long hiatus I got some painting done: I admit to poor documentation of this part, as there are no pictures of the shell masked as it was before painting or the rear wing. Here, I have already sprayed the shell in PS-22 Racing Green, altering the body masking and respraying it in PS-1 White. The remaining clear parts will be coloured with PS-34 Bright Red, which is a shade brighter than the PS-2 Red on the Avante I wanted it to match, but close. The rear wing has been painted with both PS-22 and PS-1, the white section painted as sections on the endplate to stick racing numbers (like the Hop-Up Rear Wing A set from Tamiya). I will go for number 37, seeing as I have a Hotshot decal sheet around. I will cut the endplates later tonight when the paint has cured a bit more, and hopefully by the end of the night I will have a rear wing!

Greetings: For sale I have some parts from my recent Striker acquisition: a complete MSC unit and a set of wheels and tires. The MSC is used and a bit dirty, but looks to be all there. The battery connector is slightly-damaged but can still be used. I have not checked to see if it works and the unit is not lubricated, though I could get around to testing it later this week. The asking price may seem a bit high but remember I can take offers! I am selling this unit as I intend to use an ESC and have no use for this setup. Non-smokers should be advised that I am the second owner of this unit and the first one was a smoker; it does have a cigarette odour. Link to MSC: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/321026046672?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1203 The four wheels and tires are also well-used. The rear tires are poor, with worn-down spikes and a tear in one of the tires, but the front tires and all four wheels are in good condition. The ball bearings currently in the front wheels are included. Again, I have a fixed price but am open to offers. Like the MSC, these have a cigarette odour. Link to wheels: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/321026048250?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1203 Thank you for stopping by!

I think the Hotshot tires were 2", but Tamiya's 2WD cars using 2" wheels usually had fronts that were narrower than the 4WD front wheels. Obviously Hotshot wheels will fit Hotshot tires, though personally I do not know of a Tamiya-made substitute of the wheel you are looking for. An Internet search also brought up this, which allows the use of 12 mm hex wheels up front on a 2WD chassis, but from what I can see the chances of this short-course truck setup fitting the Hornet are not that great: http://www.shortcour...hex-conversion/

Another scale opportunity, then? A set of rototiller blades mounted back there could replace a wheelie bar! The looks of the tractor are starting to grow on me...

I love the effort they put into the details, and the helicopter was a nice touch!

In addition to the gear-train durability, there is also the little problem of the near-zero airflow in the Hotshot chassis, but with the right steel pinion gear it should handle brushless power while keeping temperatures down. I would agree that 8.5T seems to be a little too much, however.

I got yet another project: By the end of the night, after a strip-down and a rebuild, I got this: Not much difference yet as I still wonder what to do with it, but it was some work.

A new project began when I took delivery of a Tamiya Striker... While I still wonder if I should bash it or keep freshening it, I also received these original Astute wheels:

I would not say this would replace the TT-01 as it seems to be too nice for an entry-level car. It would probably fit in between the TT-01 and maybe even the TA-06; it is a good chassis.

An International Rescue Elevator Car? While they were radio-controlled in the original show, admittedly it would take quite some effort to work the current chassis into a shape resembling this car...

I was actually about to comment on how scale-realistic the background looks... Did you have a hand in that too? It looks fabulous in the showroom as well!