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ALEXKYRIAK

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Everything posted by ALEXKYRIAK

  1. Thanks a lot guys for the responses and info . @ThunderDragonCy awesome video (and car!), had to watch it a few times to get my head round how he did the priming, spraying, masking, priming, spraying sequence. Quite complex but the basic principle are there. @Juggular awesome post, mate, thank you so much. Very detailed and informative. Your diagrammatic explanations are very useful. I have read in various places that different colours and finishes have different levels of thinness or opacity. Will need to see if I can get the testor paint in the uk. With the above information I think I have enough to plan out the painting process and sequence for the shell and three colours I have in mind. Its also interesting seeing the different techniques people use, having now read a bunch of posts and videos. Some swear by wet dry sanding, then priming, then painting, then sanding, then clear coat. Other day they leave out the sanding or priming, or both. Temperature is cited as being important. Warm space and warm paint cans. I’d like to paint now (fairly cold in UK currently) so am thinking of getting a cheap electric fan heater for the shed - is that a sensible environment to paint in? Or should I leave it a month or so? I did the NeoFrog shell in a cold shed using my heat gun to keep the paint warm and to assist drying, and worked really well - paint can in one hand, heat gun in the other! (Although I did get an odd look from the missus...!)
  2. Sounds like an amazing project / rabbit hole.... Following!
  3. Hi all, I have a few hard bodies I need to paint. Other than a slightly awkward Mad Bull body I painted a while ago with not an optimal result, this is basically my first time. I have read the various painting and technique guides on the net, however there are two questions I can’t find the answer to: 1. I want to paint the hardbody in multiple colours. This therefore involves masking and multiple passes. Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this? masking technique, colour order, time between paints, etc. Is it the same rule for dark to light as on a PS painted lexan shell? Or is it a different consideration? Am nervous over trying masking for three colours using TS paints. Never tried three colours, never properly tried TS paints... 2. I have read many times that people use automotive paints. Some say ‘best thing ever’, others say ‘Tamiya TS paints are finer particulates and therefore better when applied to a fine detail body such as a Tamiya model shell’. I am erring to using Tamiya only, however I’d like to use a proper shiny lacquer paint as the final finish coat, but Tamiya don’t seem to make one, other than a semi gloss clear TS-79. Is this a proper gloss lacquer in appearance? (the actual question): Or do I need to go for a Halfords-alike automotive gloss lacquer? If so, will this work on a TS paint? Thanks all
  4. @Juls1 holy mother of a build thread....! Wow. Great job. Great idea, great concept, great car comparison. Great parts, hops ups, write up process and pics. Following with interest.
  5. ... of course, I knew that, brain fade. Thanks. Yes this is good advice, thanks. Will look at the Top Force manual to work out the pieces. I actually have an unbuilt TF kit in box, and I keep promising myself I’ll ensure it’s built stock and box art (apart from hi-caps set I got for it, and possibly carbon chassis) rather than going off piste with it like I sometimes do. Like making it into an Evo for example.... Bsck to my body paint job/finish conundrum... I think I have a unique angle to this one. Currently under development, but will mean it’ll be a few weeks until I can post some pics....!
  6. @Juls1 noooo....! Do not tempt me! Ok go on then, where did you see them? Just out of curiosity, naturally. I presume the combination of stock Terra Conqueror shell and a carbon chassis will leave a visible gap? The TC body doesn’t cover much of the side face of the chassis tub as it is and the carbon plate is obvious way thinner than the tub. @ThunderDragonCy - you’re so right....!!! Wish you’d have posted this two weeks ago. I trimmed the body as per the markers and instantly thought the same thing. I have a second uncut body which I’ll leave some extra on, mainly on the side skirts. The stock market lines make thee body look too flat; not solid enough flanks for such a car. What I did do, however, was to leave a bit more at the rear... the standard TC shell has sort of swept, curved cutaway that reveals a lot of the rear. I left more of this in place to give a bit more solidity to the rear of the body. Motto of the post: “Live and Learn” ....
  7. Thanks @Nicadraus ok here’s some body off shots and some details. Generally I was going for a black and silver look, to try to respect the colours and materials on the original Frog. Next up is a driver figure, and I’ll think I’ll break out the tyre marker again for some white lettering loveliness...!
  8. A few minor updates to the build. Firstly, electrics are in. I tried some cable shortening and heat shrinking to try to keep things neat and tidy: Managed to mount the esc and servo on the lower deck to maintain a lower centre of gravity (like it matters, but you know how it is.... ) Then I also installed new universals from GPM. These are black and go well with the overall colour scheme: Next up will be: - rear turnbuckle upper arms - paint the shell (have agonised over this for three weeks... still can’t decide how to do it. May just have to go super simple) - get the E Parts to obtain the rear body mount clip piece, and the battery holder.... at 10 pounds for these two tiny bits I am seriously considering making my own)
  9. Just now picking up on the df03 shocks discussion. As fitted on three build above, if I recall correctly I used the standard dimension which are 75mm front and 97mm rear, eye to eye. Various tricks I’ve used in the past to control the ride heights via amending the shocks are: 1. Mounting holes on the stock damper stay and the stock suspension arms are normally provided in 2-3 positions: move the shock base to the outer hole on the suspension arm will drop the car a little, move the shock top to an inner hole on the damper stay to drop some more. Do the reverse to gain height (or to make sure a short shock provides more clearance for a given chassis). ‘Pro’ racers will tell you that how vertical the shock is will affect handling and can be used as part of a car handling setup 2. As @TurnipJF says above, fit spacers on the shock piston. These can be plastic inserts (Tamiya provide these on some kits or shock kits) or you can use black rubber o-rings. I use the o-ring trick a lot to shorten a shock (Tamiya brand shock or other brand shock). Each ring provides about 2mm additional reduction in length. So broadly speaking, you can turn 75mm shocks to 71mm shocks by installing 2 rings This can also help balance a car’s stance when comparing front to rear ride height (ie fit rings on front only to drop nose slightly lower). 3. As @ThunderDragonCy mentions above, the cvs shock eyelet trick provides a quick and useful way to make a big length change without having to deconstruct the shock itself to fit spacers. A good shock pack comes with options, the df-03 aluminium shock hop up has this option. 4. Fitting damper stays with multiple hole positions (usually a carbon fibre option) to the car will provide more overall mounting position settings which work well in conjunction with the above points (particularly point 1). 5. Worth noting that some non-Tamiya shocks may require specific mounting methods that will require spacers to offset the eyelets from the arm or damper stay, or may require their own ball joint fittings, and sometimes a nut/bolt type fixing method. If going non Tamiya, it’s worth checking out all of the associated bits required - I have learned this the hard way!!
  10. @Man1c M0nk3y and @78Triumph, this one will probably get a light run out or two and mostly be shelf candy. My general problem is that I can find small snippets of time to do build work on cars and projects, but find it extremely difficult to do much running of the cars themselves. I can’t just nip to a nearby field on the way back from work or anything like that. I adore the build and creation process, I just wish I’m running more. Currently being a parent means zero me-time when my wonderful little son is awake. I can’t wait until he’s a bit older and we can then build kits and run cars together....! I admit there’s a bit of pristine OCD that means some cars not get run. I have succumbed to the issue many a TCer seems to have, which is project creep. I currently have a number of projects and kits to build, but what happens is that the more normal or stock kits get postponed whist I pursue something more niche/exotic/custom/experimental....
  11. A few pics now that I’ve finally added the headlamps. Driver next perhaps to round out the build in full retro fashion... Just need to make a few front shock adjustments to lower the front slightly, and then stick the electrics in.
  12. Thanks @Man1c M0nk3y . For the front shock tower, I first measured the dimensions between the holes on the FRP Top Force tower, so as to get a layout to design and draw the tower around. At first I wanted a CF version of the same shape as the TF FRP Mount. This then allowed be to add more shock holes. Then I started thinking ‘add cross brace’ element, then I though if I’m gonna do that I might as well get the Fiberlyte one, then I thought ‘but I must make my own’! (OCD at 110%)!!! Then I interrogated myself in no uncertain terms, then I sent the order through with my drawing anyway, to heck with it, then I had a lie down and a little bit of a cry.... In all seriousness, I made my own partly because of the OCD but mostly because I wanted to fit different length shocks but I wasn’t quite sure at that point what length I might be going for, so designed in some options, but quite liked the idea of doing my own design Measuring the holes, and cross checking and cross checking, somehow seems to take me ages. I’ve tried the scanning technique but I never find this to be accurate.
  13. Thanks @Superluminal they look great. But no lenses as you say! I wonder where else to get headlamps? I’ve tried various sites for crawlers, scale vehicles, other RC types, but nothing really showing up. Edit: this looks interesting from Carson: https://tamico.de/Carson-2x-Lights-Offroad-18mm On on the roll cage painting issue... I’ve seen lots of FAV examples with silver cages but most of these must be PS paint. Can’t seem to get a response from Matteo on the galvanic paints question. So if I’m feeling brave this weekend I could give it a go. I have red WO cage, and the black FAV cage. I think I’ll try the red cage so if I mess it up, I at least have a ‘clean’ black cage to use.
  14. Hi all, I don’t have much experience of TS paints on hard bodies. I have a few questions specifically around a couple of colours and finishes: 1- I want to do a sparkly / pearlescent white finish. Is Racing White the correct paint? 2- Ditto for Red. Is Mica Red the correct colour for pearlescent red? 3- is there any special advice for applying metallic TS paints? 4- I have white and grey primers to sit under the finish colours, depending on if it’s a light or dark colour. I understand a light sand to the hard plastic is beneficial to the overall finish 5- is a clear acrylic finish recommended as a post spray over the above mentioned colours? Will it protect the paint? Will it negatively effect the Metallic and Pearlescent finishes, or enhance it? Many thanks all
  15. Can anyone recommend where to find decent headlight / headlamp parts, either as working LED lights, or simply with transparent ‘glass ‘ inserts? I want to embellish the car with some headlights but would prefer a) actual lights or b) static lights with a glassy look to the front of the headlight; I don’t want to use the opaque Tamiya headlights if possible. Fixing method I guess will be important... Thanks!
  16. Hi all. Am considering restoring an old buggy or two to either runner or shelfer status - first car is about 25-30 years old, second is about 10-15 years old For a restoration newbie such as myself, what are the top tips for restoring an old car? I am happy to clean and replace parts, and to potentially do away with old electronics, double servos and 27mhz radio (unless it’s seen as sacrilegious!!! ) Just thinking about the first restoration project seems a bit daunting, however I’m confident I can do a decent job. What’s the best techniques and things to look out for / consider? What’s the best kit and materials to use? Cleaning, replacements, methods, etc? I was hoping this thread could possibly serve as a collection of top tips from the seasoned, grizzled, Tamiya gurus on here (or at least a collection of links to the best restoration threads on TC. ) Thanks
  17. Would a PS type paint work on the roll cage? It’s a paint that is deliberately tolerant of flexing being intended for Lexan. But how to protect it? I think it scratches quite easily. I have a molotow pen and ink now, and have been eying cheapish airbrush systems listed on the Rain Forest.... but I don’t think this will be the solution. In other news, all parts are now arrived. Build could potentially start soon depending on other projects. Just need to solve the roll cage painting solution. Or I could just keep it black, but this would be a shame... Also, I’ve seen photos on the net of the thin FAV front tyres with the words “sand blaster” imprinted into the rubber moulding, however my FAV fronts don’t have this detail. Is this a rare or discontinued tyre?
  18. This is a beautiful build, mate, thank you for sharing. Love it. Inspiring attention to detail, and parts detailing, and colour. Also love your photography. Awesome, sets the level! 👏
  19. Today was Tamiya Home Life Hack Day (tm). I finally mounted the baby gate at the top of the stairs, to stop my son falling down the stairs..... this installation made possible only by using those white plastic bearings (that come in Tamiya kits) as spacers to allow the frame to fit to a timber banister post. (I knew they’d be useful for something one day...!) Then I eradicated the ‘plastic on plastic’ creaking of the baby gate opening sound effects, by applying some Tamiya grease to the pivot joint.... now it’s super silent! Thanks Tamiya! Two fixes for one ‘build’! In light of this, it’d be rude not to fit a Tamiya logo sticker or two to the baby gate...
  20. Comedy genius, son, comedy genius.
  21. Hi @GTodd, yes no problem: Rear shocks are: TeamC 12mm Big Bore Shock Absorber- Rear (2pcs) Product code TS418 Front shocks are: TeamC 12mm Big Bore Shock Absorber- Front (2pcs) Product code TS416 Depending on your fitting type and method, and the car / chassis / suspension arm type that you're fitting to, you may need: TeamC 6mm Ball Stud Product code TU0423 (although, if I recall, some of these studs come with the above shocks - I think - but please check, as they're super pricey) I am seriously considering fitting a set of these to my WT-01 build, I think they would be awesome, but the cost of these are a bit eye-watering... I took advantage of a very, very good deal / sale on the ones I purchased for my DF-01. Haven't run these yet on the DF-01 car, hope to in a month or so if/when it's a bit less muddy outside, will let you all know then how they run on this chassis
  22. Ooooh that’s lovely...! Thanks @Re-Bugged...! So the Wild One has arrived. I love opening a new kit, a nice little ritual, the smell of the rubber tyres and all the bits. Now I feel guilty this is going to not be built as a Wild One... so now I want to order another Wild One..... rabbit holes, rabbit holes, etc. So am now doing a lot of research into Wild One and FAV Builds and upgrade recommendations, etc. Have also been reading a lot on the plastic chrome paints available, as I’m interested it doing the roll cage in a chrome or silver colour. Alclad II and Molotow chrome paint seem to be recommended, especially the Molotow. However there are concerns about the ability of the paint to survive a little wear and tear. Whilst the plastic of the roll cage is obviously going to be flexing in use, I can’t seem to find anyone whose used Molotow on a runner car. It seems to be mainly used for static models. I have seen a lot of videos on YouTube of people testing the paints, and things like collecting and customising Hot Wheels dinky cars and painting Manga model kits. Very interesting stuff, and clearly there are many other hobby rabbit holes out there....! $950 for a dinky car on flea bay....! Wowsers. Anyway, enough rambling. Has anyone got any good intel on chrome paints in respect of plastic parts? I have seen this thread on TC which is actually very recently active: The description in Matteo RC’s videos talks about specialised galvanising paints but I can’t find any solid information on painting plastic parts of an RC car with this process or what it means Thanks all
  23. Hilarious timing on this thread I was literally about to post the same question this morning... having a row with the missus last few days as I’m running out of spaces and excuses for where all these cars (and their boxes) have been coming from....! I feel like I could possibly let go the ‘modern’ Tamiya boxes (standard generic blue and black smallish box with a sticker applied) whereas the ‘classic’ boxes (white, big box with awesome artwork) I’d rather gnaw my own arm off than let go... i need to find space.... if only to hide the obsession / addiction.... ...but I don’t want to release a box or boxes.... Does TamiyaClub have a counsellor? I think it needs a counsellor....
  24. I think the TC shell is quite interesting. It’s a bit more traditional buggy look than the top force shape, which is a super distinctive design. IMHO the manta ray shell was designed by someone who was trying too hard! It’s a bit OTT for my tastes. As mentioned I will try a bespoke colour scheme on the TC shell. Obtained the replica shell from team blue groove and window mask stickers from MCI Racing.
  25. So fast forward half a year of procrastination, research, parts sourcing and stockpiling, and general no time for RC, I managed over Xmas break to start the project properly. This is where it’s at: Here are some of the steps implemented: - took apart front and rear lower arms and suspension, and rebuilt them with new aluminium hubs front and rear, and steering knuckles, all from GPM, and turnbuckle steering rods. - fitted additional low profile king pins to fit with the aluminium parts - Shimming where required to remove some slop, and adding pins with e-clips to replace the c-hub pivot - added a custom carbon fibre rear damper stay from a Top Force project at fiberlyte. - designed and cut a front carbon shock mount, again fabricated at fiberlyte - fitted TeamC big bore dampers (aluminium body with plastic caps) Fitted aluminium steering links with ball bearings, and a low profile servo It’s currently mounted on a set of Egress wheels and tyres. Still to do: - The body I’ve chosen in the end was from a Terra Conqueror, cut but not yet prepped or painted. - I still need to source a bunch of small parts, and to install the electrics. - I may also replace the universals, and the plastic rear upper arms for turnbuckles. Front shocks: Rear shocks: Aluminium spacers were required at rear shocks: Front: what I’ve loved about this process is that I’ve felt confident enough and knowledgable enough to basically just dive into a car without relying on the manual, being able to fit parts from the spares box where required, and generally know what I’m doing, which is a first for me. In many ways this process has been more fun than doing a ‘traditional’ kit build, so have really enjoyed this so far. Now I need to agonise on the paint scheme (I’m thinking black, white and red...or maybe blue, white and red... gggrrrrr, can never decide) Hope you’ve found it interesting!
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