Ferruz

Looks goegeous

Nice one. Crowded and varied podium indeed, if it were a physical one it would probably collapse under the weight of 3 people and 5 cars! congrats everybody, this was fun as always.

@chris.alex nice, I too find tire lettering meditative and very rewarding overall, at one condition: lighting has to be optimal! Possibly broad natural daylight. I tried once with poor lighting, never again! @Tamiyastef congratulations on your first cockpit, turned out just fine, very lively with these colors 🙂👍 This photo is just 👌 @Willy iine As for me, today I dug out the Manta Ray. She's been waiting for maintenance for a while now. Installed a Tamiya HT servo saver along with a new cheapo servo I had kicking around (not sure I'll keep this one installed, but it's worth a try). The car needs more love, for instance I have to intervene on that steering set whose performance is duller than its bling... sloppy! Especially after years of severe use but that was it for today, as I just wanted to power it up and go for a drive. Haven't seen this guy in a while I grabbed battery and remote and went down to a trusty spot around the corner, just to test the car and stretch its legs after months of zero activity. Within 5 minutes, a door opened and a security guy from a theater or whatever that is surfaced, asking me what I was up to, and that "he had been told to ask me to leave". Dude... I was indeed representing such a danger 🙄 so off I went, so much for that. But good news for him: I'll be happy to swing by whenever I'm in the area and feeling like running RC, that'll give him some good distraction and something to do in an otherwise likely boring day 😚

Way to go, Nikko! Interesting story @Andreas W , I think your Dictator well deserves the cleanup and new bearings.

Nice! I think those fronties have at least another full Round or two ahead of them until you can see the sidewall line coming through, you are good! Nice bringing in the Nikko Diktator @Andreas W! And @Re-Bugged, the idea of getting Lunch Boxes for the 80 people invited is awesome 🤣 ...maybe you can get a bulk buy deal with Tamiya? Speaking of Terra Scorcher, mine got to see more action since it didn't snow. I had a couple more stints both yesterday and the day before, matched the personal best almost every time but never beat it 😬 Also, there was a little accident: there is a significant bump on my playground right by marker 1, which makes for a dramatic view as the cars goes on two wheels during the turn. One time I hit it with too much of an angle, and the car ended upside down 😐 no marks on the roof fortunately, but the impact made the paint detach from the shell (it was pretty cold, so I'mnot surprised). It's still on and didn't chip yet, but I'll have to touch it up sooner than later along with the wing, also sporting a few chips and battle scars.

@ImALlama looking sharp 👍 I like the color. Today I participated in the Racing by Post again. Last time I did that was June, so I can say I was a bit... rusty this didn't spoil the fun at all, just the performance, lol. It felt good to do our very own race thing again, I missed it. I think that the Terra Scorcher is a very versatile car: I went from Postal Racing to free run bashing within the same battery pack 😅👍 can't really ask more from an old design Tamiya, right? So far, a nice relaxing RC Sunday afternoon. Just finished cleaning up the Scorchy. Now off for a little break, then I think I'll jump on the Manta Ray, which I left unattended for a while now. New servo and HT servo saver are ready to be installed. Battery on the TS lasted long, courtesy of the Mad Van which was glad to lend his newer power pack to increase her running time 🔋🔌⚡

Today I finally managed to participate! It was supposed to snow but it didn't (or let's say, not as much) and the temp was above zero, so I just had to do it... From now on it'll be snow and ice for months, so this was going to be my last possible attempt at a decent lap count. It's been so long, I reckon last time I raced was last June, and in fact I felt very rusty 😅 took me almost half a battery pack just to practice the track, before I could feel confident enough to give it a real try. My usual cracked tarmac patch was wet and covered in leaves/dirt/gravel, but an hour work with the trusty leaf blower turned the situation around. By the time the track was laid out, the tarmac was as clean as it could get and just, say, very moist, so not downright wet anymore. This made for acceptable racing conditions. My Terra Scorcher was the weapon of choice, as usual. The Manta has been on the bench since last June awaiting for some TLC, and the Mid is currently in offroad mode. If on one hand the Scorchy suffered a bit from the balding front tires (again!), on the other hand I enjoyed a nice sharp steering thanks to the newly mounted high torque servo saver (in place of the destroyed stock one), so I'm happy with how it drove. Not as happy with my own driving performance but it's ok, it's been a while so I'll cut myself some slack 😁 I did five attempts in total. Got them all in today, as it's supposed to snow heavily any minute now. The first one got me acquainted with the track, and set the lap count to beat. The second saw me finding a very good flow, but it was ruined by the battery dying on me towards the end of the stint. During the third and fourth attempt I concentrated on different takes on the track: what is more effective, fast and sweeping (hence drifting around and covering more surface) or slower and more precise, trying to stick to the markers (hence covering less distance)? Once again i seems that the second option is better in terms of results, as it's almost always the case unless it's offroad rallying... Less dramatic and maybe boring to behold, but it works best. The last attempt was the one that yielded the best lap count, though I feel it won't be very competitive. During the runs, the weather ranged from light snowfall to sunshine back to light snowfall, very windy all the time (my faced caked in tears while trying to keep my eyes peeled, lol) and cold enough to keep the car cool without being unbearable for my fingers. All in all, a good Postal Racing afternoon, I had a lot of fun as always and really enjoyed this track. Feels good to be back on the starting grid! 🏁

As @Willy iine said, a foldable table sounds like the way to go, at least for now. Functional, compact and likely inexpensive compared to other solutions.

I went ice spinning with the by now Loony Van Also, it had its first taste of snow ❄

Welcome to TC!

This afternoon, while tiding up around the house, I stumbled upon these bad boys... I totally forgot about them 😬😬 I swear they worked pretty well... and still, I was uncomfortable while running them 🤣 you never know when a screw shoots off..lol They make for quite the aggressive/Mad Max look though

Indeed. While I was typing this earlier on today, something must have started to itch... in fact, just a few hours later I went for a run with the Boss. Nothing fancy, just a visit to the local park to stretch its 30+ y old legs (or shall I say wheels). Even after experiencing the Mad Van, the Big Boss is still fun "work out those poles!" training areas for humans have the extra bonus of always being free from doggie dung... makes for a safe area to run the car. My own workout I get in different ways. a makeshift ramp was also made. that stance never gets old

Thank you! Yes, the Mad Van is 4WD and very much box standard for the moment. I only opened it to check around and properly grease up gears that were left dry (like pinion and spur).Cosmetically, I only added some details such as front Ford emblem and a few extra things. During a run, something got stuck in the motor opening and the whole inner motor fan blades were blown apart as a consequence. Because of that, I decided to add an extra heat sink+fan to the motor. Should be on its way now, but there's definitely no rush for that given the temperatures we'll have for the next few months 😅 I don't see the Hornet affected by the arrival of the Mad Van, but the Big Boss will definitely get the easier life it deserves from now on. I'm still going to run it, just not as often and not as intensely. Come to think of it, it's time I get it out for a proper run and photoshoot with its "offspring" Mad Van 😁 Thanks for in inquiring, and good luck with all that rust you are dealing with! Seems like by now you can finally see some light at the end of that tunnel?? As many have already pointed out, @Re-Bugged 's Subaru and @Willy iine's Beetles (both the red one and the light blue one) are just next level... great skills and fantastic results there 👌

Yes I keep the boxes. I love my RC boxes 🤓 to me they are part of the whole experience, and they double up nicely as storage for the respective cars' spares, tires and parts. Space is not an issue for the moment, as I only have a few. I also like to display them along with the cars

Busy weekend again, but yesterday I went and ran the Mad Van in between things to do. It's not like I can't wait for the white stuff to cover it all, on the contrary... but at least, when it happens, the fun with this purple puppy will be guaranteed Plans are to do the same thing today. No time for extensive running or tinkering, but some quick runs with the Van will at least scratch the itch (and make for a nice stroll in the woods)

Your Fake Falcon is sharp, love the idea and the executio, well done mate👌 it would look great besides an OG Falcon. Are you going to run it?

The tiny posters look lovely @Willy iine it is a great idea for those cute tiny caricature stickers I couldn't resist placing one on the wing of my Mid, but that's a far better use for them. As for me, I had to drive my wife to some sort of fitness center/mall that has an old tennis court behind it, so I though I'd take advantage of the moment for one last onroad run before the snow covers it all once again (any minute now...). It's cold today so the court was going to be empty for sure. I brought the Lancia Delta with me. Pefect chance to try out the new on road tires that I got -mostly for the scale looks- and to verify that the mud flaps I made could function properly when running the car. The old court was cool, I reckon it would make an optimal playground for any postal racing track. These the new tires, the lighting sucks today so upside down was the only way to show the thread. It does enhance the scale looks by a lot, but for light offroad I will stick to the OG rally block tires. The mud flaps do their job as they should and all the scratch built parts (antenna, exhaust, wipers...) were undisturbed by the run, pretty pleased with that. Despite being only on mighty silver can power, the car was very fulfilling to behold while on the move, because of those scale looks... I could have driven one more pack, bit my fingers were freezing. Team Lancia Martini sure was happy to get off the shelf and see some action, it had been a while Walked by some fancy dealerships on my way back to the car, got me thinking... ...Merceded Benz is AMG... but Lancia is just OMG 😆

Played some hide and seek with a squirrel at the local park 😂

Thank you @Willy iine but I'm afraid that in this matter I am only "professional" about my consistency in using and loving the Hornet like a child would In other words, there are no particular mods I did to its suspension system. Small stuff maybe, but certainly nothing like Ampro or that sort of things. The front shocks are as basic as it gets, and I personally didn't find any difference in changing settings from soft to hard. They are friction dampers, and I'm afraid it's mostly placebo effect... the only thing, I added an O ring on the top part in hope to make it more gentle on the plastic suspension tower. Things get rougher in the rears: after trying a few different things in time, I now run the original battered up shocks with no oil in them. This is paired with a zip-tie that runs around the gearbox axle holders keeping it tight, and hence limiting the infamous kick-up action to about 30% compared the original configuration. I don't know how, but like this the Hornet handles in a way that's quite acceptable, and way less nervous and hoppy than it was when out of the box. Although I suspect that a lot of this is just due to the extensive driving of the car in time, which allowed me to get to know its behaviour and at the same time allowed the buggy to smoothen out, or just literally wear off some of its kinks. Sorry I can't be more of help, but I never tried the aftermarket shocks for the Hornet, having always read only terrible reviews about them. If you have any specific question, I'll be happy to help.

@Willy iine thank you! She does look good I agree... kept her to 100 % original specs with the only exception of the rims, which I painted cream white (originals would be grey). Power was 21 HP at the wheel, believe it or not 🤣 -and yet she would drive up and over the Alps in the winter in third gear... just priceless. In fact, a daily relationship with one of such old cars is much closer to the dynamics one would have with a dog, or a horse, than any modern vehicle... that explains how hard it is to part with it, or maybe I'm just looking for justification 😅 Anyway, you know what, if I ever make it back to my home country, I will try to buy her back 😎😉

Thank you Willy iine for thinking of me 🙂 I am sure intrested, I was looking for one! Man, that serial number PN: 22023... I can't help but notice, it is eerily almost identical to the license plate of my old beloved Fiat 500 from 1971 !!! Despite me living in another continent and not having driven it for the past 10 years, I managed to somehow hold on to that car ... until last week, that is 😖😓😭. Car just had to go, because well... life. I was forced to sell it off quickly and I still haven't recovered from the blow -hence me not being able to even go through the recent "what car is in your garage" thread 😅- I guess it's a good sign I manage to mention it now... after all it's just a car, but man what a car!! How incredibly lucky I was, driving that beauty throughout my twenties ♥️🚗 Sorry about the rant, the message pretty much wrote itself, guess I needed to get it out as I know that people here will understand

After those beach-blast days with the Hornet in early September, I remember @mtbkym01 wondering -rightly so- whether the buggy was going to get some well deserved TLC. I can now confess I've been guilty of leaving it unattended, dirty and caked in sand for well over a month, while the new entry Mad Van was getting my undivided attention There's actually a reason for that: I was waiting for a new gearbox case, that's it. I would never forget about The Hornet The part tree came in the mail last week, and I started the stripdown and cleaning in the evening... ...to then keep going in the morning with better lighting. The old gearbox case provided outstanding service for a few years, but by now it was just shot! The bottom was ground down to less than half its original thickness 😅, maybe you can see a bit by the photo. Still not too bad, if I think of all the punishment it took In general, the car was in better shape than I expected. Even the gears + pinion were alright, just dry as bones and in much need of grease. Easily sorted! What was really unpresentable: the bearings. Caked in gunk and dirt almost to the point of no return. I thought I would end up replacing them, but a massive amount of WD40 did the job eventually. I soaked them overnight but changed the WD40 four or five times. This photo is of the third Jacuzzi bearing bath, and still, look at that color 😖 All done now, on to the next adventure it goes, and with a well deserved new gearbox case. To finalize the pampering, I did some quick tire lettering and slapped on the fæncy shell. Took a few pics for the occasion. I don't know if I'll fully revert it to shelf queen with all the other bits though... the infamous beater shell could be back on much sooner than expected 😜

While waiting for trick or treating time, the Mad Van has found just the right company: a giant shroom and a hillbilly banjo player 🎃🔮☠🍄