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ALEXKYRIAK

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Everything posted by ALEXKYRIAK

  1. My son went running after the car like usain bolt. He loved it ... it certainly exercised him!
  2. Thanks all! Need to (somehow) get a spray painting mask before going to paint the bodies (need to be cautious as I had some nasty effects from my recent madcap body painting calamity) I will also need to order some specific colours for the body painting - I see that the PC paint range that the Brat manual lists are very hard to find these days. The workaround solution apparently is to spray paint PS paints into a container, and brush paint from there. Never tried this technique before! Got them from eBay, search for Ford F-150 aluminium / Brat / Pajero and the seller should pop up. (Does TC rules permit mention of a specific seller?) However, he/she is away until May apparently.
  3. Hi all, is anyone out running cars and bashing? I thought I might take advantage of the relatively quiet public spaces but apart from one RC running a few weeks ago, somehow I feel it’s not appropriate, especially if the police turn up. (honestly it’s ‘excercise’, Officer....) Is anyone out there running? I live in a city but I assume if you live in the countryside/out of town it’s a bit easier? sigh.... Post pics if you made it out! Hope everyone is well!
  4. Hi all, a Brat build thread to follow... so this is another build that I have on the way. Not my usual style, but I currently have about four builds on concurrently. I had been admiring Brats for some time, and decided I’d go and build my own. This build is based on a Brat Blue Edition, primarily because I wanted to use the dark grey chassis and plastic components... I know, aesthetic tart that I am! This build also incorporates a few other ‘special’ mods..... I have used the same Hornet rear shock mod to the front shocks, including aluminium shock towers, as used on my Lancia Rally build (just waiting to get a spray painting mask to complete that build! Only body left to do.) I have also used some aluminium components I had originally bought ages ago for a Monster Beetle build, but didn’t end up using. And additionally this build uses some awesome aluminium wheels. They’re beautiful in my opinion. Firstly a comparison of the dark grey chassis colour as compared to a stock brat/frog mid grey chassis colour, here using my wip Lancia build as a useful comparison. I have basically been building these two projects back to back. I think the dark chassis is gorgeous. So a little bit about the aluminium components: A long while back I obtained an aluminium components kit for a Monster Beetle. This included a beautiful aluminium gearbox cover, as pictured above and below. Looks amazing in my opinion and is really complimentary with the Brat/Frog aluminium gear case plates. I have gone for the aluminium front damper mounts, and also the Ampro centre servo mount mod, and I built custom steering rods to accommodate this, again all just like the Lancia build except these rods needed to be shorter due to the bigger front tyre diameters. I will have to take off the mounts and stick them in oven cleaner to remove the bronze colour. Here you can see the front suspensions arms for upper and lower. I really love the combination of metallic components and the dark grey chassis pieces. (And yes, @Frog Jumper I will reverse the mounts !) These pieces are beautiful and solid feeling and pivot really smoothly As compared to standard plastic pieces: I needed to use some aluminium collars to allow the screws and arms to fit snugly but with a smooth pivot rotation. also needed some 10mm spacers at the base of the shock to allow the Hornet rear shock to fit as front shocks for this build: I shortened the length of the front shocks to control the ride height of the front of the car, however you need to use tamiya aluminium spacers for this as normal o rings are too wide for the Hornet rear shock. This: Not this: The o-ring shock length mod is a commonly used technique to control shock length but doesn’t work with this use of Hornet rear shocks. But the aluminium spacers do fit nicely. Went for about a 4-5mm drop to keep the nose down, this being required by the use of hornet shocks and the aluminium damper mounts Pieces required in the mod, namely the Hornet rear shock parts: Ignore the o-rings in the above photo... The aluminium wheels are beautifully made, nice and solid and really suit that RC-ness feel: Fitted: I got stung here, as I didn’t realise that the rear wheels needed a special C11 part, so I had to drop some more cash and order these in from Canada. Expensively ouch. It put a 2-3 week delay right into the exciting part of the build..! You can see the interlock shape on the inside of the wheel: However, the small fortune spent on the wheels and plates was worth it in my opinion. They’re simply gorgeous So the build is in a fairly decent shape. Will need to do both bodies (hard and polycarbonate) soon , but can’t paint until I can source a painting / gas mask (in short supply right now for obvious reasons) Next up is a few miscellaneous pieces to fit, the electronics and the two bodies.
  5. Zoom is good for this. https://zoom.us/signup
  6. Absolutely beautiful. Nice work. Love the fade and the photography - share your tips and techniques!
  7. It was awesome. The whole street out clapping , cheering and banging. Emotional and proud.
  8. Well as the world goes to pot, my apocalypse is a bit of a weird one. Both me and the missus seem to be spending more time working remotely that if we were working in the office physically. However pay cuts are on the cards for my entire company, and the missus’s. For us, whilst on the face of it there is theoretically more time to indulge in hobbies, practically it’s working out like there is less time, but critically , the usual steady stream of postal deliveries containing yummy RC parts and hop ups and bits and pieces is going to have to stop completely. The postal deliveries have gone from shiny aluminium bits and tasty components to vitamin tablets, nappies for my son, breathing masks and rubber gloves. Supermarkets are empty so trying to obtain things online is crucial Sobering what is happening. Makes me at once split between appreciating the hobby so much more, and concurrently feeling guilty about such a relatively indulgent hobby when so much in the world is going so wrong and so many people are suffering either directly or indirectly. Anyway, I love the hobby and it keeps my mind off the world for a little bit each time I get to tinker.
  9. So next update on this little build. As mentioned in the last episode, I was a little bit unsure about the ball diff from the original madcap, it just felt like it wasn’t working well, a bit rough. Built the whole thing then realised I needed a different gearbox enclosure.. or at least I think I did. So anyway, ordered a super astute gearbox enclosure and the metal motor plate to boot Quite liking this kit, love the metal motor plate and together with the Interesting diff, this is a nice overall gearbox. I love the clear polycarbonate gear cover - is it supposed to be painted though? So I fitted this with a 13.5 Speedpassion brushless replacing the tamiya sport tuned brushed I had fitted up until now. In completing the front end I realised I was a bit of an idiot and had to put the steering link rod to the underside of the steering pivot arms as it was clashing with the Madcap front G3 part. So here’s the repositioned link: I also managed to find some time to finally paint the body so here’s the first fitting of it: I didn’t manage to paint the rear wing but actually it looks quite interesting clear. Now need to carefully consider the decals. Won’t go stock but not sure what to do at this juncture. Just need to fit electronics and it’s all good to go
  10. Finally got the chance to run this build. Whilst all of the doom and gloom and Planet Lockdown is very much present in our minds, one minor silver lining is that there is a totally empty, smooth and level car park 5mins walk from my house. Unbelievable! An actually empty car park..... Never seen one before with my own eyes, outside of those mythical empty car parks you see in the US on YouTube videos. Wow. Anyway I can report it ran really well. Super precise, the stiffened suspension worked really well. I was concerned about the low ride height but there is very little chassis contact with the road at all - there are some scratches but I think this is from when it ran over a small rain grating depression in the asphalt. The 10.5 motor really flies, the grip off the line is very immediate. I suspect it understeers on power at full speed, at mid speeds it’s pretty arrow sharp, quite pointy feeling. I am itching to spend more time with it to learn its characteristics. Feels like I’d like the rear to slide slightly to counteract the front understeer at higher speeds The Proline tyres held up very well, whilst the asphalt is pretty level and smooth topographically, the aggregate is slightly course. I was worried the wheels would slip inside the tyre but these held firm. I had to play a bit with the steering trim just to set it up on the day. It was tracking a little to one side. I didn’t get any decent photo or video (these pics are all I could get), but the good/bad news is that the car park is probably going to empty for the next few months. So whilst the world goes to pot at least I might be able to dial out the understeer. Will take my football training cones out next trip and do a Tamiya Manual special ‘examples of circuit’ layout! Always absolutely loved this page as a kid! hope you guys are all well and safe edit: @Munkeyfeet yes I think it was orange then silver with a black backer. The orange was a metallic Orange from the standard tamiya PS paint range. Not sure how you might replicate the look in pink although there probably is a metallic pink somewhere for polycarbonate.
  11. Thanks for the replies all, much appreciated. So the Tamiya paint cans produce aerosols (and other "gases"?), and these are classed as an 'Inorgnaic Vapour'? Sorry if I'm, misunderstanding. It's quite hard to follow all this terminology! I understand this mask will be suitable: Full Face Gas Mask for 3M 6800 - but I need to confirm what the correct filter type is?
  12. Hi all, I think I hurt my lungs last time I spray painted PS paints a week ago. I now want to buy a a decent spray painting mask, can anyone provide a good suggestion for a good quality mask, but also explain why it’s a good suggestion? (I’d also like to understand the science/medical side of this a bit better, if anyone is informed to speak on this) Thanks guys much appreciated.
  13. Simply awesome. Love the oldschool-ness and amazing paint job. Inspiring stuff sir.
  14. I think it needs to be a bit bigger. That asphalt area and the small building behind will have to go.... Great work!
  15. That is spectacular! Great work. Lovely detail and colour scheme. Nice touch on the wheels, presume that’s a bespoke colour? (Did I miss a Build thread?). I really like the location photography also. (What’s on the rest of the list?!)
  16. Well first of all, thank you to all providing assistance and suggestions. I have now solved the issue, it took a while (with some classic mistakes along the way) but have now managed to achieve enough height to the front mounting hole to secure the front pin. So I pulled the front end apart, took out the black front mount plastic piece, installed a 5mm longer screw, and then refitted the aluminium mounting piece with an additional spacer. The effect of this is to increase the differential height between the mount pinhole and the top of the shock screws. This brings the body, once fitted, away from the shock top screws. @Frog Jumper just for you mate, I also took the opportunity to reverse the damper mounts! I also have a set of CRP replicas from shapeways but these are in fact longer than these mounts. Additionally I had been planning to add an internal spacer to the shocks to reduce the height, to also bring the nose of the car down to take a little length out of the Hornet shock ( @ThunderDragonCy you’re very astute in spotting this ). I installed 5mm of aluminium spacers into the hornet damper cylinder... I used these as I couldn’t get the standard tamiya o-rings to fit inside the hornet damper cylinder, the cylinder is too narrow a diameter. Anyway, all fitted, could still do with a little further adjustment potentially but it’s ok so far Thanks all for the input More to follow. - - - - - - - - - - - - BUILD THREAD: THE OUT-TAKES: So whilst rushing through the front end I managed to do this... epic fail: ‘nuff said. I have nothing else to say on the matter 🙄 ! I hope I’ll be allowed back onto the Tamiya Club forums soon....
  17. With these shock mounts and the standoff spacers I have used, this is limiting the body from dropping a bit further. view on the inside: I can use a slightly shorter shock standoff / spacer to gain back a few mm to drop the nose of the body down a little. Externally it’s clear it just needs a slightly longer screw to gain another 5mm or so: Just for comparison, on the left is the body post and pin connector as found in the re-re Brat kit: The side mounts work perfectly with a small spacer: The OCD in me plans to de-anodise these blue parts and strip them back to the bare aluminium...!
  18. Yes I did...! It’s too tall hence the bespoke route. However the original manual gives me something to aim at in terms of dimensions. Approx 23mm. Shouldn’t be a problem to sort this out other than the faff of rebuilding the front end wish I’d thought this far ahead at the start of the project...! 🙄
  19. Love all these photos mate. V jealous. Not just of the cars, but also the perfect track conditions for that ‘Tamiya action photo’ look ....!
  20. Thanks @a.w.k. You, Sir, are a Scholar and a Gentleman. Much appreciated that post. Well, body is now on.....! (Sort of) So after much scratching of head and measuring and trying to find the edges of almost invisible markings on the inside of the shell, I finally plucked up the courage to drill out - or ream out, to be more specific - the two side holes and the bonnet holes. Side: ...and the bonnet hole located centrally between the two existing holes either side (these will need filling somehow): For the body mounting posts, I searched the net for something that looked about the right size and chanced my arm on it, and obtained some of these F104 mounting posts: These were my stand in for the part a3 of the original Lancia Rally, as picture here from the original manual. These were a sort of screw - body mount combo piece: So here is my current problem, which only those who have built with this chassis might understand. The front body post needs to be extended as it’s too short: Here it is shown with two spacers, however it still needs more height.... which means replacing the screw that fits through the black plastic mount piece. But.... to get this screw out I think I need to take out the whole of the front of the car, including the damper mounts, the front aluminium brackets, and pull the chassis halves apart to make access for the screw that fit through the black plastic mount piece... jeepers. I’ll attempt this tomorrow, am out of time this evening, so in the meantime a few pics: It looks fairly accurate to the reference photos I’m using. The wheel size bugs me quite a bit, actually, I can tell they’re just a tiny bit too small. Will try a better job of fitting the body tomorrow hopefully, and will pull apart the front to fit a longer screw for the front mount post. More soon
  21. This: .. and the rest of the album is also awesome. Great stuff to get me pumped up and my head into the right space before work, sports, a big event, etc.
  22. so.... a short interlude. The diff I rebuilt felt a bit unsure, and it was bugging me. So I succumbed to the most heinous of RC crimes and spent more money than sense in obtaining Super Astute parts to rebuild the diff and some of the motor/gearbox. The Super Astute manual pictured above. This spread essentially covers the build amendment I’d be making to this car. I got hold of the diff parts and gears, and a metal motor plate. The pic above is the restored madcap car with plastic parts. Essentially I’d be replacing the cover, motor mount plate, and the diff. What could possibly go wrong... Here with the cover removed: ... and I started pulling off the pinion, motor, gears, etc . These are the new gears and parts from a Super Astute kit: Plastic Madcap gearboxplate compared to SA aluminium gearbox plate : These SA gears are just lurrrvely! Beautiful precision cut pieces. Pictured here are the SA diff parts: I quite enjoyed how this diff is designed, using a configuration I’ve not see before. See the manual pics and this photo, but essentially the four gears interlock vertically. Then the assembled diff was mounted in the chassis motor housing : Then this is when I had a total faceplam moment.... I realised the motor / gearbox housing part A4 is not the same between Madcap and Super Astute and I can’t fit the metal plate to this plastic motor/gearbox chassis. (What a total dumbo I am....More thorough research is topic of the day) So, one begrudging trip to eBay later and now am awaiting for the A4 part to arrive.... so can’t do anything more on this car until parts arrive and complete the gearbox / motor rebuild....! This old part will have to go...! Once the part arrives I’ll complete the rear box and do the finishing touches for radio, electronics, and complete installation of minor bits of the chassis such as battery guard, bumper, etc Lesson Learned today.... when going off the RC piste, do thorough research on the parts you’ll need to compete the mod!!’
  23. Thanks @a.w.k. I can see the half circle externally, and I can just see a circle on the inside of the shell, traced here in pencil. This appears to line up with the part circle apparent on the outside of the shell. Just to be absolutely sure, I assume this is what you’re referring to? Just want to be sure before I start drilling!!! And thanks @ThunderDragonCy, that was my other plan B...!
  24. From memory it’s 2mm, I think. Can check tonight from home. I had looked (very quickly) around for ball studs at this size but couldn’t find anything as of yet.
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