Jump to content

Effigy3

Members
  • Content Count

    1776
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Effigy3

  1. Hey ThunderDragon, I have a couple of new in box Atomic 550 sensored motors. I picked them up directly from Atomic one Black Friday but I haven't had a need for them since. I'd be happy to let you have one for $30 +S&H if you'd like. PM me if you're interested and I'll take some pics for you.
  2. The teams are 1 kid and 1 parent. So yeah, we have a number of mature folks in the group! The battery is just an Onyx NiMh with a Castle Creations connector. I really like those connectors. They're easy to solder up and are much easier to connect/disconnect than standard Deans T-type plug.
  3. I picked up an M-05 RA off eBay for $100. It's built to A.R.R. status with HiTech servo, the body trimmed but not painted, and color me surprised: it has a full set of ball bearings too! It also came with a spare set of on-road wheels/tires and a new can of PS-6 yellow. I'm going to use this as a "loaner" car for the M-class racing club I've started at the elementary schools where I teach. This way, financial status won't keep some kids from participating. I used up some XXX Main inner decals I've had for ages and gave a pearl white paint job a go. Obviously, I'm not setting it up for rally duty. I set it up to run with the other M-05 stock cars the rest of the kids are running. I'm pretty pleased with it.
  4. Yesterday was the first meeting of the RC club I started at the elementary school. We had 9 people sign up (not counting my son). As a group, we built the M05 kits through to Bag B. That took about 3 hours. Everyone is building vanilla stock kits with either the MX5, MX2 or NSU TT bodies. I'm building a vII R kit at home and I got a Honda S800 body for it off eBay. What happened to all the Mini bodies? :O Mini bodies are what I think of when I think M class cars. Anyway, this is how far I've gotten with my chassis. I'm using a GT tuned motor and Savox SC-1252 MG servo. Edit: Darn, wrong thread. Derp! Sorry admins...
  5. No question that the TRF 201 is a Tamiya clone of the B4 but the AE version doesn't have the build quality of big T.
  6. Coach, It's only an out-dated chassis if you're going to race it on a black groove clay track or a carpet track. That rear motor design it still tops on the dirt. For a basher, the TRF201 might be the best 2WD buggy you could own. The tires you have listed are designed for clay track racing. They might do ok in the dirt for a basher but I think you'd be better served running: If you run mainly in the dirt or on grass get - Rear: Pro-Line Blockade 2.2 If you run a mix of dirt and asphalt - Rear: Pro-Line Dirt Hawg 2.2 All-around use front - Front: Pro-Line Rib 2.2 Pro-Line also makes treaded tires (Hoosier) that look similar to what you'd get on a Fast Attack Vehicle as well as near slicks (Prime) if you're going run on mostly asphalt. Since retiring my TRF201 from racing I put Ribs on the front and Blockades on the rear. They are an outstanding combination for general all-purpose bashing. That servo is a top-notch choice! I think you're really going to like it. If you've never run with a servo that fast, you're in for a real treat. I second Speedy's suggestion about the suspension weight block #54440. Since you aren't going to race on black groove or carpet, you'll probably want the 5* variant here. That'll maximize your front tire bite and reduce the tendency to push in the corners. Take your time and savor the build. It's quite literally my favorite Tamiya chassis!
  7. The trickiest part for a newish builder is likely going to be the ball diff. Take you time with it and be on the look-out for the "flip it over" arrow in the manual. I missed it my first go at building it up.
  8. It was important to me that I learn to race 2WD stock buggy on a rear motor setup. Even at that time no one was racing rear motor unless they brought out their beater or old race buggy from "back in the day". All the regular racers were mid-motor setup. IMHO racers get caught up in the newer is better and faster trap. I personally don't think so. A good racer with a solid setup can perform well regardless of the design of the buggy. That's not to say on a high bite black-groove clay track or on a carpet track the mid-motor is without it's advantages. I'm saying that those advantages aren't the thing keep most people out of the A main event.
  9. Thanks, fellas. I did transition to the TRF 211 in an attempt to keep up with all the mid-motor Losi, Associated and X-Ray buggies. Honestly, I'm not strong enough of a driver to notice that much of a difference between the two. Last place driving a 201 or last place driving a 211 is still last place. The 211 didn't push as much and had much better front tire wear but, if I'm being honest, I prefer to drive the 201. Coach_Rico Given the prices that we can pick up a 201 for here in the States, It might be the best money spent for a basher buggy! Please send me a link to your build thread and I'll be sure to read it!
  10. I have an Exotek slipper eliminator on myTRF 201 and TRF 211. I have other bits and bobs from them as well, like the aluminum nuts for the battery holder
  11. Hey Lee76, As ThunderDragon said, they're smaller sized touring cars. We'll be racing M05 exclusively at the club for the elementary school. Mostly for cost concerns but also the smaller size vs something like a TT-01 or TT-02 is attractive given we'll be driving them inside with limited support. Here is my first video on the build. I'm going to build the Ver.II R for myself (I'm not racing in the club) and the NSU TT is for my son to race.
  12. Help needed with planning an M-class track. I'm thinking the track layout below might be a nice, easy one to start kids out on. I need to buy some carpet to tape out a track for an M-class track. What overall dimensions should I be looking at for the carpet square/rectangle? We're going to roll it out in the gymnasium when needed. How wide should the lanes be?
  13. Here you go. This should be the link to the entire playlist.
  14. Yes. I upgraded the chassis and bits to the blue tub and spues back when I build it maybe a year or so ago... I have the entire build on YouTube with part numbers if you'd like to see.
  15. I changed out the Dean's plug for the Castle Connector. I really like their design but I don't like that the 4mm sized connectors are too small to work with 12 gauge wire.
  16. Oh my goodness. I can't get Captain Feathersword out of my head now! Thanks for that.
  17. I've never trusted cheap servos. In the long run a few more dollars spent on a good one saves money and frustration.
  18. I've really not been very keen on Dean's plugs but they're the most common type. I can't use the Tamiya favorite Molex plug because they're prone to melting/burning up under the amps of modern battery systems. I use bullet connectors on my race rigs but not my bashers, although it may come to that. I decided to give the Castle connectors a try. I really like how they're designed. So far the only drawback is the 4mm sized plug works with wire gauge up to 13 (it's an oddity but that's a Castle gauge so I suppose it makes sense.) All my Duratrax LiPo stick packs have 12 gauge wire, and the plug will not fit. Soooo close. Plan B is to use 4mm bullet - Castle connector extension until all my Dean's connector batteries need to be replaced then I guess I'll convert over to 4mm bullet on racers and bashers. I suppose I could try the 6mm Castle connectors but that seems like overkill to me.
  19. Oh, I hadn't thought of that... And now your message (which I read first) makes more sense!
  20. This was actually the first kit I considered for all the reasons you (and others) stated. The thing is I am trying to keep this as close to $200 "all in" as possible. Even the lowest cost TT-02 simply breaks the bank. With the M-05 I was able to cobble together a combo at Tower Hobbies for $220 "all in" cost. By "all in" I mean: Car kit Radio and receiver Servo Battery and fast charger 1 can of paint
  21. Since I haven't built my M-05 yet I didn't realize it was a more complex build than a TT-02. Nothing has been ordered yet so it's certainly easy enough to change chassis. I really like the idea of bone stock except for bearings as an option. Thanks fellas. If anyone else has thoughts please chime in. I'll keep this thread updated as things progress toward the weekend build mid-Dec.
  22. Thanks Axe! Since this is going to be an official school club, we should be covered by the school's insurance. But I do appreciate the heads up. I'll double check with the principals to make sure I'm right on this one. I've been off-road racing for a few years now but never ran them. I chose M-class because I thought it would be the easiest to get into with the least amount of completions. I started thinking along the lines of TT-02 TC but I was afraid the 4WD chassis would be more complex than the 2WD M05 chassis. While getting an RTR something or other maybe ultimately cheaper, I *really* wanted to bring in the build aspect of the hobby. Ownership of a thing is so much greater when you've built that thing. Also, with a kit we get the parent/child bonding thing that I think is so valuable. I plan to run them essentially full box stock spec. The only mod I think I am going to allow are ball bearing kits. Again, this is to keep things as simple as possible.
  23. Yeah, I'm pretty stoked that the school district is giving me so much support for this club. My wife and I both grew up and lived most of our lives in Vermont, so Maine isn't really that much different. Texas was a bit of a stretch for us! It feels good to be "back home" or at least home adjacent. I have to admit that do miss HEB!
  24. Hey gang, I've been away for a bit because we moved from Texas to Maine! I'm going to try and start up an M-class fun racing club at the two elementary schools where I teach computers. I'm currently folding 430 tri-fold fliers to send home with the students. It's going to be organized into parent/child teams. We'll do a build day in December and start races (no timing loop) over the winter holiday break. We'll continue to hold monthly races, one at each school. I hope to get some remanent industrial type carpeting donated by a local carpet store so we can layout a track surface in the gyms. I plan to tape out the track on the carpet. The parents will do double duty as turn marshals and lap counters based on the honor system. The most laps counted over 2 or 3 races (time allowing) will take home 1st, 2nd, 3rd places. This method will likely result in multiple children earning places but I'm thinking that will keep it more fun and less competitive. I have a few months to put this together so if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears!
×
×
  • Create New...