Beetlemankurt

That's really beautiful!. Nice job.

I love me some scale !!!. But I also love buggies even though most aren't based on a real world example. Even so, aestheics are still really important to me either way, it's gotta look good. The older I get, the more I'm drawn to the challenge of scale, hence the attraction to 1:14 tractor trucks also. I guess it all stems from my original fascination of RC's 'models in motion' tagline that I find fascinating. Oh, and I love my new Losi 22s Sprint Car, what a great model to bring out.. Cheers Kurt

Hey @JC614 welcome aboard! Great looking car youve got there. Nice job. I'm just over the ditch in NZ. You've joined an awesome forum mate and anything you need help with just sing out. Keep those cool pics coming too .... Kurt

Sorry about the need to download the photo...still having a few issues...but at least it works

Hi all, managed to finally get the grille chromed up using bare metal foil and also put the Bug deflector on. Headache rack almost done (made one from styrene in the end) and competed some more work on the fuel tanks....getting there! 20250127_164500.heic

Nice work @Carmine A, you are on a roll!

Still kinda on topic......just got back yesterday from the 3rd annual GKR Classic 2025 at GKR Raceway just North of Auckland in NZ. First time attending this event and what an absolute blast! Took my OG 89 Ultima Pro, JJ Ultima and Optima Mid. GKR is a purpose built old school dirt track specifically made for vintage buggies. 160 plus classic RC and all running silver can Kyosho G27 motors. NZs largest vintage RC event to date and looks like it's going to keep growing. Tamiya, Schumacher, Predator, Associated, Traxxas and Kyosho all there! Very very close racing and all my cars did me proud (as did my Son who was racing on dirt for the first time ever and only his fourth ever race meeting). He beat me and I couldn't be happier :). The 89 Pro only suffered a broken wing wire during the weekend after a tangle with another car and did a full days practice, then 3 qualifying rounds followed by three finals. Very cool and good speed throughout. Gotta love close vintage racing and seeing all these classic cars doing what they were designed to do! What an awesome and varied hobby we have. Cheers Kurt

Very cool!

Looking great! You are progressing really well mate.

Top job mate! Looking great!

@Marchie, if you are racing at an inclusive track, perhaps have a chat with them about potentially making that particular jump more 'vintage friendly' in terms of changing the profile in the middle of the two jumps so you can treat each side as individual jumps? Just a thought.... Cheers Kurt

@Wooders28 investing observations in terms of what brands were available/popular BITD in your neck of the woods. Not too dissimilar to NZ really. Always love hearing about others experience. You might be right with the batteries etc in the Schumachers helping to get an advantage. Funny how a racers proximity to the kit manufacturer potentially plays a part in what's more popular/faster in different countries due to savings on the initial kit price. Interestingly, i don't recall the Schumachers being much different in speed to the (later versions) of the Ultima on the track in NZ back then, if anything (and given Japan is way closer to NZ than the UK or the US) I'd say the later verisons of the Ultimas were more popular and successful down here, or at least where I raced they were. It's actually been pretty intesting seeing how my ol girl from 89 stacks up against the re re Cougar on the track since I started racing again this year. Great fun! What I've been ultra impressed with with Ultima Pro is the fact that aside from the usual 'wear and tear' parts like tyres, bodies and wings, the only parts I've gone through in all these years are a couple of plastic tie rod ends (and some wing buttons etc which i wisely stored somewhere that i would surely remember where they were when i needed them again in the future.....mmmm.......AKA i lost them...grrrr) Overall pretty good durability for a near 36 year old racer i reckon....(the car I mean, not me!). Love the photos BTW Wooders and the T-Shirts! Do you still have them? Awesome artwork on them. Cheers Kurt Here's my baby....

@Kol__ awesome idea. I'm in too.

Take care mate. Looks like you have been a human pincushion! All the best mate. Kurt

Great topic and huge Ultima fan here! In New Zealand the RC10 was not really present to any large degree in the golden era of RC. I remember seeing it in ads in magazines but I don't believe I ever even got to race against one on the track. The Ultimas were a real game changer in NZ and were immensely popular. I first remember seeing original ultimas on the track and being blown away by how smooth they sounded and drove. When the Turbo Ultima arrived, it was like something from another world and alongside the arrival of the Optima Mid, these two cars dominated for some time. The arrival of Schumachers mixed things up a bit as they were also very popular in NZ but the Ultimas did seem more robust to me (perhaps I'm biased). I got my Ultima Pro in 89 (we got the Japanese version here with the alloy bottom chassis) and it did amazingly, and as you may be aware I'm still racing this today (just started again this year). It's a strong car and all these years on is still holding up well on the track. The JRX2 was the first US buggy to really make an impact here as I recall and it's success was also phenomenal. I ended up buying a JRX Pro which Ii must get around to restoring at some point however shipping of parts to NZ from the US is ludicrously expensive....ah well....someday. Anyway, always had a soft spot for Ultimas and Kyoshos engineering and have now added a JJ to the table. Love em! Great topic and can't wait to hear others experience. Kurt