[Thinking of getting into TC road course racing]

4 hours ago, Fabia130vRS said:

What about the TA06, is it anywhere between the TA05 or TA07?

Numerically yes  i kid i kid, it's a good question

10 hours ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

The stiffeners that you don't need with the Exotek conversion are parts 54788, 54789 and 54755. The Exotek conversion comes with top and bottom decks, and these parts are essentially the top deck of the TA07.

54720 are the damper stays. Some people say that these are necessary due to the flex in the kit ones but I don'tfind the kit ones bad.

The R comes with 54070, 54072, 54172 and 54173 which are the suspension blocks, they would be a good place to start. I just replaced the kit ones with alloy but can't remember the part numbers, or even which ones they are. Rcracer has a good write-up on the suspension blocks.

I use 1M oil in the front diff but others swear by a spool. I've heard if you run a spool then you need double cardan joints too which are pricey. I think the 1M or 2M oil approximates a spool anyway and is heaps cheaper.

The alloy counter pulley 54706 is worthwhile, its really cheap, as would 54725 which are alloy mounts for the motor plate.

The Tamiya servo mount is 54724 which by all accounts is excellent. I actually have the Active Hobby carbon/alloy onebut would have bought the Tamiya one but got this NIP but secondhand.

I also have a spring set as a tuning aid, and bought an extra gear diff which I have used to try out the best oil in the rear. Ended up at 2,000 rear on asphalt. The extra diff isnt essential but allowed me to take 2 built to the track and test back to back without much time to change them. 

Check out the TA07 Pro, R and MS and work out what will be best for you. The R comes with the alloy suspension blocks and servo mount already which may make up the price difference for you. The Pro was the only one available when I bought it.

Thanks again Jonathon. I'll have a look at the R and MS and see where it all falls

[Thinking of getting into TC road course racing]

3 hours ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

I don't have a TB05 so can't really comment. It looks good to me with the multiple motor positions but I have heard it is very flexible too. Check out RCTech as that has a thread on both the TA07 and TB05 with a lot of user experience.

I don't know anything about the XV01 but doesn't it hve the motor hanging out the front? High end TC all seem to have a mid motor somewhere at the rear, so not sure if the XV01 would work.

One option worth considering is a TA07 with Exotek RS7 carbon chassis conversion. There are other conversions from RC Lab HK, PSM and bound to be more. That will probably work out about USD150 less than the TA07MS and be pretty competitive. 

The hop ups I've done to my TA07 pro are:

Swaybar from TRF418 and the stoppers

Carbon fibre stiffeners, including extra centre one (essential)

Carbon reinforced stiffener where carbon not avaiabke, K parts

Alloy servo mount

Alloy suspension blocks (essential)

 

It was all about removing flex. The carbon chassis kit costs about 10% to 50% more than the carbon stiffeners do hence the suggestion. I bought mine unused but secondhand so got them cheap and carbon chassis kits weren't available then. 

The alloy suspension blocks were added after a few race meets. I needed to shim the plastic ones and still had play, switched to alloy and no shims and no play.

Swaybars are obviouslt for tuning.

There is a little bit of flex in the plastic servo mount, not enough to be a massive problem, but I picked the mount cheap so why not. Also the TRF steering bridge could be worth looking at.

Effigy did a very detailed build thread on his TA07 if you want to have a good look at them

Awesome thank you for you input. I think i might go with the pro and a exotek upgrade the stiffeners are the front TAM54720 and rear TAM54789? Are they not needed if i use the exotek? Do you happen to have part numbers for the alloy blocks, servo mount ?

Thanks again!

[What cars do you all drive?]

39 minutes ago, Juggular said:

Fishing for nerds who'd look up Star Wars alphabet?  

Let me take a stab at it, "don't live the empire?"  hmm... my Aurebesh is rusty...

Did you buy the Jetta because of the name of the car?  

Close! Long Live the Empire

I actually bought the car because the front end drew me in and then i drove it...lol the name doesn't hurt 

I thought i had a shot of the rear of the car but i don't i do have this on my back window though

 

[So, What Have You Done Today?]

Picked up some more materials for the LB and Beetle builds. 

Tamiya clear red and orange, 18mm yellow tape, 12 mm curved and Tamiya paint retardant so it flows better. xacto file set, e6000. New dremel bit for the lights and a can of regular Tamiya Gold for well you will see

Also grabbed a organizer from Home Depot for my parts and such so I can have a cleaner work area

I realized the bottom pic the organizer is upside down...lol

[Thinking of getting into TC road course racing]

3 hours ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

That budget gets you a TA07 Pro or TB05 Pro. I found my TA07 needed a few upgrades to make it drivable so you're really looking at more than the kit price, probably an extra $100 I'd guess. The TA07R doesn't really solve the problem since it was chassis flex that needed fixing, so that means a TA07MS or TRF419XR, which are $500 kits.

The TT02 Type S may work, I don't have one but have heard good things.

I would look at the Express XQ1S clubracer. Its about USD120 and appears to have everything you need other than swaybars

I race 21.5T blinky and its plenty fast, but 17.5T should be manageable. Do any of your local clubs run VTA or USGT? I believe they are slower more fun classes which could be a good place to start?

Thanks for the info Jonathon. The TT02 S is avail on ebay for $202 You also mentioned the TB05 Pro which i can get right now for $188 +shp from rc mart but everywhere else its over 300...lol Any reason you didn't give more info on it? 

the clubracer looks like a nice kit for 100 bucks, i may go with that one. Like i said i don't mind spending a bit more if its a chassis i can use for more than a week before it's outdated. 

EDIT what are your thoughts on the XV-01TC its going for a steal right now, i know its a bit outdated however as i wanted a XV-01 rally so i had done some research

[Thinking of getting into TC road course racing]

Title says it all, did some reading here but it's a touch confusing. I don't want to jump into a 800+ dollar kit. 

Tamiya preferred but am willing to branch out (i own a Yokomo YZ2 CA buggy) 

Looking at about $200-$275 US budget for the kit , maybe a bit more if it really is a good reason. I will most likely run 17.5 or 21.5t depending on class. 

2 or 4 wheel drive, im flexible but need pros and cons of each on various surfaces.

Low maintenance cost 

Varied body style available (not sure if certain classes require certain bodies) 

Any other info you think might be important. 

Thanks in advance!

 

[TA02SW black porsche build]

On 1/18/2019 at 2:57 AM, Truck Norris said:

 

I scanned the sticker sheet and re-made all the window rubbers, the trim on the top of the front bumper and the side trims with matt black vinyl. This looks more realistic than the shiny black and as they are cut with a machine, they are perfect with no clear surrounds or risk of cutting into the black by mistake. A lot quicker than masking and painting too. If anyone wants one I can do a sheet of these for £10 plus postage:

These sheets are for a Peugeot 306, but you can see how they look. Just peel off and stick on, no cutting required. The 306 has a mixture of gloss and matt window trims so there's sheets for both shown here, and they are one piece not in sections like the 934, as the original 306 has tinted windows on the sticker sheet.

I work at a vinyl shop and this will be my preferred method for window trim on my kits. Just a much cleaner look and tons of options.

[Scipunk's builds, mods and upgrades]

On 1/23/2019 at 5:29 PM, graemevw said:

Looking good! My shell is all painted and decal'd, but still might give this ago when i have gotten over how much ive spent on rc this month!!!

I fancy doing another full on custom shell for the shelf.

Looking forward to seeing how they progress.

Thanks man, i 2 have 2 shells for this , a runner and a shelf, this is the shelf/show one for light running and i have a black one for other stuff, but that needs glass and chrome bits. 

So a little more progress I started the front blinkers in the grill, these are a bit tricky as the holes need to be oblong but i managed with minimal damage once its all painted up should be near invisible

 

 

[58001 black porsche lookalike wheels]

2 hours ago, VagabondStarJXF said:

@Scipunk 0 Offset is what's pictured in my last post. I'll finish it off with the last few bits and upload renders/pics again.

@graemevw Is this for the TA02SW? If it is then it looks like +4 Offset 26mm standard width on the fronts and +6 Offset 31mm wide width on the rears. Although I have a TA02 it is still to be built so I can't verify the offset. Does anyone have this model all built up and able to check/verify? If not, I'll measure up my 2-Piece wheels and try to put the offset according the measurements I get.

edit: nevermind. I've just seen your build thread and the pics of the wheels confirmed what I wanted to know. It'll take a bit of fiddling but I think I can get that depth of offset without it looking too weird.

Awesome thanks! I'll  just run 4 fronts...or 4 REARS! muahahahah OK i'm going crazy

[So, What Have You Done Today?]

2 minutes ago, speedy_w_beans said:

Over the past few days I printed the "Santa's Lunch Box" box art and attached it to a regular kit box.  Unfortunately the sticker paper/inkjet printer combination doesn't "pop" the colors very well, but the concept is there at least.  Also, maybe more importantly, I have a full extra set of customized parts now.  I just need to find a box and put a "bonus parts included" sticker on it.

It was fun taking Scollin's idea, tweaking it a little, and making a customized kit out of it.

Wow that looks awesome! Sorry i hadn't gotten back to you been a crazy week. The decals look good though! 

 

[So, What Have You Done Today?]

Started on my Lunchbox grill, really hate taking a drill to them but my van needs lights

 

 

[58001 black porsche lookalike wheels]

I would like a set of normal width all around with 0 offset (like stock tamiya TC wheels) just love this pattern

[58670 Citroen 2CV Rally (M-05RA) incoming! Reveal at Nuremberg?]

Looks nice, whats the thing sticking up above the roof?

 

[What other hobbies do you enjoy?]

8 hours ago, Fabia130vRS said:

When I was younger... 10-12 years ago... I got into moper tuning.

my best own setup was

Malossi MHR replica 70ccm

19mm Dellorto PHBG

Malossi HPC crankshaft

Variator and clutch also malossi

Leovince Touring exhaust

and more... no oil pump, only fiel mixture.

this setup was a low rev torque monster with a steady high speed of 90-100kmh.

using the alu cylinder with bigger carburator on a low reving exhaust gives much torque.

I had higher reving setups but this one dod over 30.000km without opening the machine!

in 10 years I had more then 10scooters and a Aprilia MX125 or Yamaha DT125R. Basically anything that is 2stroke got my attention.

this scooter here was bought new from the shop and has had even over warranty multiple setup changes.

I still own a Aprilia SR50R 2005 I would make into a racing scooter some day. I bought in from a friend at work, as his son managed to crash the scooter into the sea. Apart from it being in the sea, I paid only 160€ for it. I will do all the work alone. A full rebuild of engine for example is less then a 100€, I will have to  engines, one restricted for registration plates and so, and one for the reat of the year with 70ccm or more? I like the big bore setups.

I swaped this airfilter for a modifies original one later.

Always loved scooters/mopeds. I wanna get a classic Vespa and just cruise

 

6 hours ago, Nobbi1977 said:

I love to dive. I try to get two 10 dive packages a year but it is not alway possible 

 

I also have a few motorcycles to keep me busy. A modern for Europe travel (when we were allowed) a retro toy and a real classic.

I guess family is my final hobby :p

 

My brother was a certified dive instructor years ago (he has tried everything...lol) I could never get into it because of a irrational fear of things that don't belong underwater being underwater. Like i find shipwrecks fascinating but they also terrify me. Same goes for statues, underwater statues will send me out the room...lol 

Good on you for being able to do it, i envy that

[Lunchbox fx10 conversion]

34 minutes ago, graemevw said:

Its pretty straight forward. The arms need a little cutting off the back, put one next to a standard arm and you'll see.

Alright ill give it a go, do i absolutely need a different lower brace like the ampro one? Will the stock one work for now? (im talking about the one that holds the arms to the chassis)

[Lunchbox fx10 conversion]

I have the upgrade and am just confused as to how to install it...lol

 

[Painting the Clod for Richardrpm]

7 hours ago, jonboy1 said:

I'm a big fan of the Tamiya cans too, but I hand paint and airbrush too. That Transit was airbrushed as was the RC10 I did for Peter_B:

The RC10 needed airbrushing to get the fades and blends, you couldn't really do it with a can as the flow/pressure isn't controllable.

It depends what you want to achieve really and how much time you've got!   I've painted a bunch of Transformer figures in the past that would arguably have been a lot quicker to paint with an airbrush but I painted entirely by hand, mainly because I was learning new techniques as I went along and because I wasn't in any rush.

That came out amazing ... man i might just send you my beetle...lol I have never painted lexan before so i am scared I am gonna botch it. So much masking and it's all backwards.

[What other hobbies do you enjoy?]

3 hours ago, Hobgoblin said:

Lovely models guys, almost pushing me to have a go myself. I can see a very slippery slope there however! 

My old 'main' hobby till tamiya and other cars took over was robot wars. I built very small (75 grams) to large (110 kilo) my username is in reference to my old team

Most recent small one (150 gram)

Medium (6kg each) 

And the large:

Ok those are cool! Always love robotics, never got into it sadly.

51 minutes ago, Baddon said:

my other hobby is more a passion.

I always fancied a trike so when I was about 30 got this, cant find a photo of it as I got it but lets just say I spent more upgrading it than I did buying it. Had it nearing 7 years and did a lot of work to it, new uprated engine, uprated gearbox, uprated front end, light bar, added a 4 speaker waterproof stereo, added top box and loads more I cant even remember any more.

Example of some of the work is the front end. Both seen in photo below.

But it was not the trike I really wanted. That was  Rewaco RF1 but there were silly money.....

So I stopped spending money on the black trike above and put some away. Then scoured Europe and eventually found this a RF1 with a 1100 motor on the far side of Germany.....Man this thing handles.

 

Loved it, did 12K miles in 11 months. BUT it was sooo effortless to ride and such a capable chassis it just begged for more POWER. so back on the internet and less than a year later I am heading to Germany again to bring home this, my current trike. Had it for 6 years now.

I love it and have done some interesting gigs with it. 3 weddings now, loads of charity work and sorry to say a funeral as well.

The family know how much I am into my trikes and here was my 40th birthday cake

I have even got the good lady in on it now, here is her first trike. An auto based on Scooter drive train.

Problem was she like me liked it and wanted more power. Its not easy for her to ride my trike as we are such different heights. She cant reach peddles when they are set for me, and I cant change gear when set for her as my knees are round my dangly bits.

So less than a year after we added Baby Blue to the family it was that this arrived home. Photo below was taken on its homeward 1st journey from its previous owner, do they all look happy???

So the family fleet as it were are

In Blue a Rewaco RF1 ST3 1600 Ford Zetec mid engined 5 speed sports trike &

In Yellow a Boom Muscle Family 4i with loads of upgrades and a Ford 1600 Duratech.

This leaves us capable of taking all 3 kids with us, towing a trailer tent or anything up to 500kG each as both have towbars and generally enjoying the sun shine.

Wow those are some nice trikes! over here im not used to seeing ones so long. 

[What cars do you all drive?]

4 hours ago, topforcein said:

the stripes on the bonnet dont look level 

nice looking car though

They are the angle i took the pic at is weird...lol  thanks the front end sold me on it. 

4 hours ago, Fabia130vRS said:

what is GLI, never heard of such, is that only a US thing or something like a GTE or GTD and GTI?

GLI is Grand luxury Injection, really a odd name...lol It's basically a GTI with a trunk  In the states we have GIT/GLI and TDI if i remember correctly

The Jetta GLI, a sedan version of the Golf GTI based on the new Jetta, was revealed at the 2011 Chicago Auto Show with the 2.0 TSI 200 hp engine and a fully independent suspension, as well as the European Jetta's soft touch materials. A black honeycomb grill, aggressive lower intakes, side adorning foglights, smoked taillights, dual tailpipes, red painted calipers, and red stitching are all elements to separate it from its run-of-the-mill counterpart.^[127] The GLI, as well as the Jetta TDI, are the only two trims to receive Volkswagen's 6-speed manual transmission as well as the optional 6-speed DSG gearbox.^[128] GLI models feature a sport suspension that rides 0.6 inches lower than other Jetta models and the XDS® Cross Differential System.

[Painting the Clod for Richardrpm]

1 hour ago, jonboy1 said:

ha! No I'm sure yours are far better than you are saying! 

flatting may just be my little colloquialism, but it basically is wet sanding with 1800-2400 grit wet and dry so you end up with a flat, even, blemish free surface. The key is to keep the paint and paper very wet (I rinse or dunk the body in clean water frequently along with the paper and use a plant sprayer as I'm working.) Your paint will look very dull, but from there you can polish it using car polish and should end up with a glass-like finish.

just for the record - the principle applies to any scale - this is a 1:55 scale transit I restored for a friend. You can see the reflection of the rug in the paint  (activate smug mode) 

 

Ahh now i got ya, makes total sense...lol That resto looks amazing, do you always use cans or have you ventured into airbrush? Always wanted to but im a fan of hand painting certain things and Tamiya cans just go on so smooth

[What other hobbies do you enjoy?]

1 minute ago, Badcrumble said:

Love the miniatures! I have some GW stuff from the 90s hiding somewhere. 

Aside from Tamiya, I build Lego with my son (storing Speed Champions kits for when he is a bit older) and recently fell into collecting early 90s Marvel UK comics. I was a Furman / Senior fan so Deagon’s Claws has led to Death’s Head, Death’s Head II and then on to Warheads, Dark Angel....

Awesome, I have painted GW stuff, i just didn't post any pics...lol.  I love me some Lego! How different are the UK ones to the states?

Actually here's one i did, fully custom and out of the box this was painted probably 5 years ago?

 

[What other hobbies do you enjoy?]

16 minutes ago, MadInventor said:

I used to build 'airfix' kits of WWII aircraft, but the eyesight has got too bad to be able to see what I'm doing now. I'm still doing bits and bobs of machining work for RC but nothing major. I also like putting lego together with my son. Most of interesting stuff I used to do I just seem to lack the time or energy for now, and the RC stuff takes up too much space to make  a start on anything else.

PS, the miniatures look fantastic, do you paint them under a magnifying glass ?

 

 

I hear ya on the eyesight. thankfully i near sighted so it helps but it can a pain...lol Lego always fun no matter the age!

Thanks for the compliment, i actually don't magnifying lenses distort my vision so i just hold them close and use my nearsightedness to my advantage

[What cars do you all drive?]

2013 VW Jetta GLI 6 spd auto Star Wars themed... yes im a nerd

 

[58668 VW Type 2 Camper on M-06 chassis - should be on show at Nuremberg]

I wouldn't due to having to mask 20+ windows LOL

Super excited about a bus body though

[What other hobbies do you enjoy?]

Sorry if this has been posted before but as we are all a creative bunch, i wondered what other hobbies you all enjoy? 

For me i paint miniatures, work on restoring vintage Raleigh 3 speeds, building PC's and building military models from WW2

Some pics :

 

 

and finally my biggest pain in the rear project... my real car...lol: 2013 VW Vetta GLI 6 spd dual clutch auto 2.0 turbo

Post up yours with pics!

EDIT Thank you mods for moving to the correct place