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Everything posted by Ferruz
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So, What Have You Done Today? (Vol 2 2025)
Ferruz replied to CoolHands's topic in General discussions
The TO Eldorado build keeps going, slowly but surely. Chassis is now all done, including after market side bars and wheels/tires. I even had a livingroom test run, and everything was fine (still impressed with how responsive that vintage servo is). I moved on to work on the body shell. Once filed and washed, he only tricky part to mask was the rear grille: I wanted the spaces in between to be black, for the sake of detail and to enhance the depth of the area. Also, I found just enough room to add my "signature" rear window. While tempted to paint the grille gold, I eventually opted for silver as I think it will look better once the car is all done. Hopefully a good decision, but we'll see. Here is it, the dreaded painting phase finally done (not that easy to sort out when it's -20° C outside, took some thinking ahead). The rear grille had some bleed here and there, but all easily sorted out with the aid of some polycarbonate cleaner. While at it, I started on the driver's body too. Since I decided to ditch the kit's carbon-like decals in favour of some shiny black, it made sense to do it at the same time as the shell. I didn't peel the top film yet, but the end result on the grille is looking goood â Can't wait to peel it and enjoy that new shell shine for a minute, before lint and fingerprints inevitably take over as a reminder that life always goes on ð At this pont, I picked up the helmet again. After sanding and priming, it was time to paint. I wanted it upside down during curing time, and my old almighty '80s Skeletor was happy to help achieving that. Next was some makeshift decoration, figured out pretty much in the moment. I made it gold and black as the overall theme, but with some red accents added here and there. That's as far as I've got. The plan for tomorrow is to peel the shell and get on with the decals, though work might take over as I have a deadline not too far away. The OCD part of me, albeit demanding, is still happy with the results so far -
The Audi 90 really got my attention. I usually don't even consider buying new releases as, for some reason, all the hype and anticipation about them ends up triggering some sort of reverse FOMO in me (though there has been an exeption, the Optima Mid). But this one, it's just a big WOW. It's a TT02 I know, but this probably means it will be very affordable, and I only have one TT02 so far, so I could easily justify the purchase. Maybe maybe
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Am I the only one loving that Audi 90 Quattro IMSA body? it comes with the correct wheels, too... that's a real nice one from Tamiya in my opinion, give me IMSA cars any day!
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RC gallery (absolutely No words-pics only)
Ferruz replied to Nicadraus's topic in General discussions
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RC gallery (absolutely No words-pics only)
Ferruz replied to Nicadraus's topic in General discussions
- 2785 replies
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So, What Have You Done Today? (Vol 2 2025)
Ferruz replied to CoolHands's topic in General discussions
I had a couple outings with the Terra Scorcher, which I haven't driven in a while. One in the nightime and one in the daylight, both with massive gusts of wind blowing snow everywhere. I quickly carved a random track in the snow. The fun was limited at night because of the low visibility. It was better in the daylight, so good drifting around a track again, made me miss the Racing by Post very much. Not much free running at all, as the snow was too soft wherever I didn't remove or compacted it. I will run the TS again soon. I really like how this buggy drives, and how the mercilessly fluorescent orange pops in the snow ð- 411 replies
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I second that all the way
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@toyolien congrats on the win mate, I am glad you won. I voted for you straight away, this was an easy choice since I love your scale garage and its details, and also the fact that you didn't use AI enhancement (correct me if I'm wrong). Enjoy ð
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RC gallery (absolutely No words-pics only)
Ferruz replied to Nicadraus's topic in General discussions
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So, What Have You Done Today? (Vol 2 2025)
Ferruz replied to CoolHands's topic in General discussions
On another note, we left the city this afternoon for the first time since early December. By the time we reached the destination it was pitch black, but I remember installing some decent outdoors lights last fall, and in fact I was still able to run a car for a little bit (too cold to stay outside for more than one battery pack). I chose the Manta Ray, as I wanted a test drive after carrying out some massive work on it, following the tumbling accident of last month. It drives and jumps very well, the handling feels good and I'm overall happy with it. Only thing, it sounds like there's a bunch of angry witches screeching inside the gearbox when hitting full throttle from a standstill. That 13.5 used-to-be-sensored bluebottle does take a toll on the DF-01 gearbox... and I guess those gears are quite worn out. I think I can live with that for the time being though, as it does run great nonetheless.- 411 replies
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So, What Have You Done Today? (Vol 2 2025)
Ferruz replied to CoolHands's topic in General discussions
I got a head start -pun intended, again- on the helmet for the TO driver. I love driver figures, love working on them and seeing them come to life. Nothing compares to the ever-vintage feeling of the Tamiya ones IMHO, but I'll try to give this Kyosho guy some character and soften his aggressive looking face a little. I assembled, filed and primed the head. First coat and wet sanded it. Also, I thought I'd make a visor this time. Despite it being my first try, I found it easy enough. I used and old decal sheet as a stencil to draw the shape on a water bottle, then cut and filed it. Drilled some tiny holes on the side, just big enough for glasses screws and... voila! Pretty stoked with the result, I think I'm gonna have to do this on all of my drivers at some point. Bonus feature, the visor is not fixed, it can move up and down like the real thing! I took everything off for the painting, but I can't wait to see it done now that I got a glimpse of it. Still figuring out the colors for both suit/gloves and helmet. I'm probably going to stick to the black and gold scheme, but will likely add some odd colors accents, as I don't want it to look too cookie cutter once on the buggy.- 411 replies
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So, What Have You Done Today? (Vol 2 2025)
Ferruz replied to CoolHands's topic in General discussions
The chassis of my Turbo Optima is done, including side bars and wheels. I don't have any photos yet, but will take some soon. For now I'm happy to say that the wheels, which I've obsessed about way too much for way too long, look SO good on it, way beyond my best expectations. Next thing, I started working on the body by cutting it out of the mold. I can't recall who started the trend a while ago (was that you, @BuggyDad? ), but fellas over here have been showing off their skills by cutting it off in one go. I was very impressed, as I usually just nibble at the mold until I get close enough to the body to feel comfortable cutting it out. This time, I thought I'd give it a try! While imperfect and still in need of filing, I seem to have managed... although I gotta admit, there is an ingress cut in the bottom right corner ð I think the real daredevils here don't even have that?? This was fun, the risk of ruining the whole thing by scoring it with the blade sure gave me a thrill! -
So, What Have You Done Today? (Vol 2 2025)
Ferruz replied to CoolHands's topic in General discussions
Finished mounting and detailing the wheels for the Turbo Optima, tire lettering included. The proverbial labour of love, it took a while this time but turned out alright I think- 411 replies
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+ 1 for pliers
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So, What Have You Done Today? (Vol 2 2025)
Ferruz replied to CoolHands's topic in General discussions
Sounds like it was a fun day out The indoor track looks very legit, loving the curbs. The only time I went to one myself it was also on sticky carpet, so I know what you mean, so much grip! That in the photo is now one of the best scale looking slick tires I have ever seen that texture on the surface is visually perfect, just like the real deal... that being said, I think a few runs on asphalt or any abrasive surface would likely get rid of it and restore the tires to normal conditions. -
So, What Have You Done Today? (Vol 2 2025)
Ferruz replied to CoolHands's topic in General discussions
After a week hiatus (back to work and other stuff) I got back to my TO build today, and progressed quite a bit. I was concerned that the shocks would put a damper -pun intended- to my so far great bulding experience, as they definitely did for the Mid two years ago. I remember how they drove me crazy, how I had to tear them apart and rebuild them so many times before finally getting them right (no leaks ever since, at least). Luckily, this time it was a breeze. Concentration and a generous amount of Green Slime did the job first try. Here's my makeshift damper stand... not as fancy as Tamiya, but Lindor is not so bad I let the assembled shocks stand for a few hours before mounting them on the car. No leaks, so it's a go. It was then time to get out the electronics. Since this car will not be driven too hard, and given the vintage vibe I am striving for, I decided to recycle this bad boy that was mounted on my Big Boss in my childhood. This 35ish year old Super Tigre servo never skipped a beat! I took a minute to open it up and lightly regrease the gears, by now bone dry, and it was as good as new. It is actually more responsive than some of my modern servos. As luck would have it, the colors are a perfect match for the car I kept going with the rest of the electronics: a pretty basic Surpass ESC, my FlySky receiver of choice, and a hot period correct Reedy Radon for some vintage horsepower The golden endbell also matches the car theme One final look at the gears and power on for a quick bench test... ...and then the gear cover goes in. This is the car so far. I hope you can see the pictures, as I didn't get around to switching to the new host yet. The OCD part of me, which I am wildly indulging in this build, is very happy so far ð- 411 replies
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Plus one for this baby... Plenty of gorgeous art on the boxes, but in my opinion this is the very best. That stance, they just nailed it. It reminds me of a Grizzly bear about to attack
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Reading the answers so far, it seems that I lucked out in the wife-to-RC department. My wife is actually encouraging the RC activity, and has been since the day I got back into it. Come to think of it, she is the one that insisted I'd get a Hornet and have fun with it back in 2018. Also, while being far from making big revenues, we currently have a lifestyle that is slightly lower than what we could afford, which makes RC expenses a breeze. As we know, there's plenty of things that easily get more costly than our hobby. As for the RC budget itself, I find that planning ahead along with making few savvy investments can go a long way in terms of saving. For instance, if you find a kit that you like for a lower price than usual, it might be a good idea to jump on it, even if you are not planning on a build at the moment. It will be right there for you in the future when the good moment comes, and finances will have likely replenished by then making it feel even better. But I know most people already do exactly this. It works, as long as one keeps it under control, that is
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So, What Have You Done Today? (Vol 2 2025)
Ferruz replied to CoolHands's topic in General discussions
My RC Sunday started off with some progress on my current build, but soon after the Turbo Optima had to make room on the table for the Manta Ray to be assessed, after yesterday's crash. Upon closer inspection I found no further damage so, since it's one of my main runners, I decided to go the ghetto way once again, and fix up what was broken rather than a starting a lenghty stripdown and rebuild. While at it, the buggy got at least a brand new front shock tower from part tree A. While a new genuine part should last a while, I wish that the aluminum upgrades from 3rd parties were still available. They seem to be rare as hen's teeth these days. The lower eyelets on the front shocks were also smashed away in the impact, and I didn't really have any spares. Fortunately, an old leftover Hornet parts sprue came to the rescue, with some oddball unused parts that could be repurposed as such. I put heat to the upper side of my new "eyelets" so that the lower cup could make a bit of an indent to sit on when thrusted on it. While at it, I also added yet two more screws to the infamous rear gear cover. Since the left part was secured, the right side was giving signs of trying to lift up from time to time, so why not trying this. Seems to have worked, the area now feels stiffer, but only a test drive will tell. I don't know whether this fixes will last two minutes, two weeks or two years, but this is likely the last time I put so much work into parts that are now reasonably past their expected duration. Next time a major accident happens, Slipper Sam and his Manta Ray will get their well deserved restoration (I feel like I said that before) ð In any case, I find the DF-01 to be an outstanding chassis to work on. Every part is easy to reach, allowing you to work on whatever needs attention without having to dismantle half the car. Functional, whilst easy on the eye.- 411 replies
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So, What Have You Done Today? (Vol 2 2025)
Ferruz replied to CoolHands's topic in General discussions
Today I mounted new inner sponges on the Manta Ray wheels, using my home brewed method (plenty of leftover packaging pads around the house). I made them a bit puffier for snow driving this time around, double layer, and it felt promising once done I took the car to the park for a test drive, at a quite brisky -13 °C with actual feel being -20 °C with the wind chill. The first 5 minutes were great! Big grin on my face. That went away fast though, when the car hit an invisible bump and tumbled away for what felt like an eternity. This is the result ðĻ And I mean, no complaints, that's what happens when you crash into an obstacle at full speed at -20 ð plus, the shattered front tower had already been fixed twice on both sides, so this is the least I could expect. Fortunately, I've got enough spares. At this point I have to decide whether to finally pull the trigger on the full strip down+restoration that I had in mind for the Manta for the past two years, or to just patch it up one more time, in order to squeeze whatever life is left out of the components that will be replaced once I go the other route. Best moment of the outing was, while I was crouched by the car inspecting the damage, a tiny kid walked up and kindly brought me a piece of the wing that flew so far away I hadn't even seen it. By his compassionate expression, I thought he was going to pat me on the back ðĪĢ thanks so much little buddy â- 411 replies
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So, What Have You Done Today? (Vol 2 2025)
Ferruz replied to CoolHands's topic in General discussions
During the last few days I kept going with the Turbo Optima build, taking my time to enjoy every part of the process. This kit really is pure bliss. In the meantime, I have asked the main admin Chris for access to TC Photos, as I plan on switching to it for uploading pictures on the forum. While I wait, why not giving another chance to my old photo host: here's a few of the build as it stands now, please if you have a moment let me know if you can see them this time ð- 411 replies
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Completely new service replacing TCPhotos.com
Ferruz replied to netsmithUK's topic in About tcPhotos.com
Hey Chris, can you please set me up on TCPhtos? I would like to start using it, now that my go to photo host is having issues. Thank you. -
I had plenty of close calls, but never really hit one so far. While I try to check on the environment before running the car, I definitely take my chances in the end, so I've also been lucky. Plenty of PC people around here who think it's perfectly fine to greenbag their dog poo and then just leave it right there, waiting for the squeezed toothpaste tube effect to happen. There's also plenty that just leave it bagless as is, but that's ok as it's their dog and they are good at heart, so they are allowed that. While I can't stand those people and their behaviour, I do love dogs and their interactions with my rc cars, so I found a good compromise: running them not in but around dog parks grants me the four legged company, while at the same time dramatically decreasing chances of a close encounter with a steaming pile, since technically it's within their own area that they relieve themselves. Worked fine so far.
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Sorry @mtbkym01 and everyone else for the photos not showing, and thank you for letting me know about the issue. It looks like the time has come for me to change photo host, as I got quite a few reports like these lately. Too bad, as until now that site has been reliable and user friendly and for quite a few years. I guess I'll give the TC one a try, I just renewed my subscription to the main site yesterday but never used the photo host feature so far. Come to think of it, I don't even know where to find it on the site, I just read somewhere that such thing exists!
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During the last few days of staycation, I spent most of my time in qualitybuild land. Many here before me have had the pleasure of building a Turbo Optima, so no point in making a build thread, and nothing much to declare so far besides happiness all around. I feel privileged, being able to build a kit of such specs! The gold parts are ridiculously gorgeous Below is the first step, the diffs. You can tell by the photo that I put too much silicone fluid in the front diff, in fact I had to re-open it to bleed it out a bit. Fortunately I was able not to damage the gasket in the process, so there was no need to reach out for a spare one. Oh, and I found this very useful hex screwdriver kit under the Christmas three. Makes for a much more enjoyable build, no doubt. And the fact that it matches the car's color scheme, while being a mere coincidence, is just icing on the cake. While opening the bags, a couple of bearings came out like this which made me wonder all of a sudden: would a bearing-inside-bearing setup enhance performance in any way? Or just enhance side/thrust fragility without any improvement? Is there such thing as overbearing bearings? ðĪð§ just some odd thoughts while in the happy place ðĪŠ Couple more photos of the build so far I couldn't bring myself to just screw the serrated washers into the gold anodizing, so I took some extra time to "pad" them out with something thin, in order to soften their bite a little. That was achieved by sticking them on some leftover transparent decal sheet, and then carefully trimming it all around, hole included. The washer in the photo is treated as such, even though it's not very noticeable Here is the build as it stands now. I feel as Kyosho really outdid themselves with this kit.