Kamikuza

The pins in my batteries with Tamiya (Molex) connectors aren't "tight" and need a little jiggling to line up and connect. Can't believe anybody ever used Molex for anything, and I hate them in PC boxes too I'm going to get around to replacing them with the XT60 plugs ... my Proper Charger (SkyRC S60 -- happy with it so far ) only came with an XT60 lead, so there's that too. I did get adapters, but...meh. Don't like T-plugs because they require too much force I'm prone to breaking and over-tightening things...to destruction. Hmm, would a classic Clod with MSC run on LiPO?

Well that didn't work. No melting, no sticking, which is probably a good thing as I dropped the brush on the carpet...and nothing happened The chrome peeled off a bit was all... Back to epoxy. Which is fine, because I'm going through a phase where I like the "distressed" look and it's not a functional part...and I'm missing a few chips from it Ooh ooh I discovered a model shop "near" my house that I didn't know existed, and it looks like they have a good selection of parts, but they have a drift track outdoors so I'm not hopefully they have any decent kits...yes I'm irrationally disdainful of RC drift cars

I stumbled on the NASA approved method of joining two wires when I was googling to make sure I wasn't talking crap due to memory failure Wow, the specs on the wire stripping is tough...! Got the six-arm stand set up -- looks like something out of The Matrix

First several pictures had me wondering if it was a model or not

It's not the first time. Stores nearby only have CRC believe it or not, and I was looking for actual WD-40 recently ... and then some silicon-based grease caught my eye. Click. Then the "people who bought this also bought..." caught my eye. Dunno how much of a family forum this is, but you remember that Norm MacDonald scene in Deuce Bigilow? In the bar, when Deuce can't pay for the cranberry juice and Norm threatens him with a swizzle stick? Yeah apparently that's actually a popular hobby here

Out today with the 5200mah 2s LiPO for the first time. Maybe 20% faster -- it'll wheelie from a stand still if it can find the traction -- but the run time is GREATLY improved! Easily over a half hour of what circuits and sliding on grass. So, pretty happy with it -- good bang for bucks. Wouldn't want too much more power for hardback (can get into uncontrolled donuts :D) and probably fast enough for the small areas we have here, so good enough for my beginner-ness to get some skills before I spend more money.

Yeah I thought of that but thought I'd be able to find parts ... got a 400-piece box of 2 to 6 pin connectors for $10

So-ooo ... now you got me looking on Amazon for a new soldering iron I'm amazed at the prices now -- can get a whole bunch of kit (including a multimeter!) and a tool box for $30 But now I'm asking myself ... do I need a multimeter with an oscilloscope built in? Oh and according to Amazon, a lot of people like to pair their soldering iron kit with a nice purple ... vibrator.

Ok, got the charger. Looks good, and using it is more intuitive than the manual program diagram suggests No on/off switch bugs me ... what, I just pull the power cord out? And the balance plug is 5-pin, but all the extension or board things I find on Amazon are 7-pin going to have to make my own. The balance lead on the battery is literally an inch long Oh and to replace my multimeter with the same model is now $4 LOL

When I worked in the factory, IIRC the only time flux got used was either massive components or for the flow-solder machine. I don't remember it being necessary for the reason you said. The base is ok, but there's a hole in it to bolt it down if you need, I guess. Or deploy the arms you aren't using to assist the tension in the arm joints is quite strong, so I imagine that'd work. Shouldn't be that much heat going into the clips I don't imagine it'll be a problem. Price was literally a couple of bucks either way. I think I paid a few pennies under Y3,000 (US$26?). I could have got almost the same thing for like $5 less, but I wanted the one with a circular depression in the base for the roll of solder. The metal ones inevitably came with the magnifying glass or lights, so the price was comparable. The same thing (three metal clips etc) in a DIY store was $45 I have a desk-mounted glass with light, but find it gets in the way, so I splurged $10 on a pair of 1.8x glasses, and a 5-lens "visor" thing. The advantage of the visor is I can change the lens magnification (and thus the focal length) if my nose gets too close to the iron My issue is I can't focus on things close to my face...and the effect distance I can is too far for small text or fine work That tub of tip tinner... So now I'm going to be rude and question your technique I'm assuming you use a damp sponge to clean your tip between soldering joints? Or any time it looks gunky or dull...? I use the tip tinner when it won't come up shiny again after wiping, maybe after every second or third soldering. Clean tip that's nicely tinned (even add a little solder before you work on the wire) spreads heat better and melts the solder quickly, allowing a better transfer into your wire. Less heat to go into the work... Yeah that motor almost looks like it wants a bolt and eye terminal mounted on it. The Reedy one looks better but I guess you paid extra for it...? Soldering is better, less resistance or something -- the magic black smoke flows through the circuit faster

Don't be Since we came, all but one of the hobby shops has closed down. Kids aren't interested in RC, even if they had the time. It's either sports clubs 24/7 or Nintendo etc. Nobody has backyards, even if they live in an actual house, and the old ******** who caretake parks are a miserable bunch who chase everyone having fun away. For the first time in maybe 12 years I popped in there and they had very little in the way of RC kits: maybe 2 dozen, half of them were drift RC cars, a few that looked like originals and a couple that I had a passing interest in but didn't actually want. 2/3 of the shop was plastic models and the rest was BB guns. Which is pretty hilarious to me as I doubt anyone here has actually seen a real gun, let alone used one... I also checked out a couple of "department" stores that have a hobby land area, but even slimmer pickings -- literally a couple of RC kits and shelves plastic models or very, very toy-quality RC junk. Amazon Japan is pretty good, but only for Japanese stuff -- Traxxas etc is a premium price, if available at all. And shipping from the US tends to kill the good deals... Stuff from China usually takes too long to arrive too: the bigger the box, the further past estimated delivery date it'll be I've heard from my buddies back home that it's much the same thing for them -- Aliexpress or you're stuck. The wait must suck

Amazon Japan but that's where I live 3/4 of the year, so no surprise. Spend my holidays back in Christchurch. Surely there's online shops or a TradeMe store...? No first-hand experience but kia ora anyway!

Good write up, good pics. I got one of the following third hands in anticipation of the XT90 plugs I'm adding to things. Also got some magnifying glasses cos my eyes can't focus on the small stuff up close any more If I may be so bold ... I think you've used too much solder, on the plugs for sure. Should be shiny and you should be able to see the strands on the tinned wire ends, even when they're soldered to the plug. The solder looks dull, which I think means too much heat ... but it's been 20 years since I've been professionally judged on the quality of my soldering so don't trust my memory on that point Not sure on the motor -- I've not done those before, and they look like they need a bit of meat to protect them from the wires being moved. Looks a silly way to design a motor and leads IMUO. Probably doesn't matter and I don't mean to be a know it all -- honest!

Hello-ooo zombie thread! That's what I want for my Clod -- especially the charger body poking through the hood, and side pipes... General Lee especially. Options? Oh HPI I notice now I'm editing the post... Will that include the engine detail?

Hole and mount? No fooling about?

I like those alternate bodies on the Clod -- Parma is the brand? I'd like to try a classic muscle car body on there, like a Challenger or 'Cuda

After a modicum of research, I went for some PVC pipe cement, containing methyl ethyl ketone and acetone. Supposed to be the same as Plastiweld...We'll see.

Good for Apple MacBook Pro, that's handy. https://www.amazon.co.jp/Plastruct樹木・ジオラマ材料-植物柑橘類抽出溶剤-接着剤（５９ml入り）WELD-2/dp/B07BKQNFJS/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1545874001&sr=8-19&keywords=plastruct+glue

Silly me -- should have been searching amazon for "strawberry toothpaste" https://www.amazon.co.jp/PACK-Kingfisher-Strawberry-Toothpaste-KINGFISHER/dp/B0006O09M4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1545874001&sr=8-3&keywords=plastruct+glue

Hmm, getting a lot of "PVC pipe" adhesive when I search google for "plastiweld". Is it the same stuff? Cos I can get that easy at the hardware store...

Yes it's just the same black plastic everything else is made out of. "If you cannot get it in Japan" Possibly, and probably it won't be called anything useful like "plastiweld" Oh except there is -- for $230 Searching amazon for "styrene glue" I get these: https://www.amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_ja_JP=カタカナ&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=styrene+glue&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Astyrene+glue Top row, third from the left -- is that the kind of thing I should be looking for?

I need wheelie bars on the front What kind of glue to use to put this back together? Epoxy ok cos I got a bunch of other things I need to epoxy too...

About as much faster than the Clod than it is smaller ok maybe 25% faster. Crashed into our two-year-old twice today, and he sat on top of it. Nothing broken, that I can tell. Pretty happy with it! Now I want to pull it to bits and rebuild it with fancy bits must ... resist ...

Fellow kiwi! Kia ora bro They're doing good enough for me ... used them 3 or 4 times, but only 2400mah. Last long enough, even in Power mode on the Clod, that I feel guilty hogging the truck for so long from the kids Thinking about replacing all the NiXX batteries with the LiPo....and XT60 plugs.

Good enough Just discovered my multimeter has a broken pretty good for $10, bought 15 years ago