Beastbike

Progress has been slow my end, flat out in work, and to be honest any free time I have had been playing with crawlers, bought another crawler ready for a crawling day in September, and waiting on parts for the jr. could really use another lockdown to get it all done!!! so what is your new target speed wolfdog? also, I don’t know how much RC you own, but me personally, I have 8 models now so invested in an Absima cr4t, I half assume you have a decent TX. Anyway, just updated the firmware in mine and “SVC” became an option, or smart vehicle control. Basically gyro. I don’t have a gyro rx yet, but have been impressed by videos I have seen. At first I was like “that’s rubbish for people who can’t drive” however I have changed my mind for speed runs. I reckon it will transform my 3s brushless 1/10 thunder dragon off road. Could give you the edge???

Hey wolfdog as for the steering, long story short, I started with a cheapo velocis or something similar, just type in 1/32 rc into eBay and they all pop up, extreme racer etc, all the same rubbish. Anyway, initially I was just going to re-shell it, someone on YouTube has done a bigwig, but I just didn’t like it. The model performs ok, but non proportional steering and it feels like a 2 stage throttle. so I cut it to bits!!!! basically using the front axle off the velocis, and a tiny linear servo for wings or tail rudders or something on planes. Obviously will be 2wd now, hacked up the front of chassis where the original axle went, and it fits spot on. The only way you would tell by looking at it is the front wheels are now the same width as the rear, whereas out of the box the front track is a little narrower. electronics.........I have an a simp CR4T which I love, found a micro Rx from China with allegedly the same afhds 2a algorithm, took a chance and it works! 4 channels and only a tad bigger than my fingernail. Next up a dasmikro esc, 5A, again slightly smaller than a fingernail. Some 1S lipos from a micro drone, and a hot motor “plasma dash” I believe, which apparently would be illegal in an official mini 4wd race. all eBay specials, even the motor, not the actual Tamiya one, £5 to the door, which I believe is the same as Tamiya but without the sticker for a fraction of the price. i am actually on my second, bench tested it at 7.2v On a nimh as I wanted to run 2s. Don’t do this!!!!! You get an impressive 5 second burst before it explodes!!! I will do a video when I am done, still waiting for parts. Was all cheap enough other than the axle which effectively cost £13, but at least my mate salvaged the remainder of the car/electronics for a stand-alone 1/10 2ch body for his lights and stuff.

Wasn’t me! Not posted in a while, back in work and it’s crazy. Good job I am though, I am scared to add up what I have spent on RC the last few months, it’s a hideous amount I know that! 5 new cars I think, maybe 6!!! Anyway the 3 tier Thunder Dragon is coming along nicely. Nearly got all the parts, just tyres left now I think but they are easy to get. Lately been playing with my new toy, a Kanyon. Think I had 3 runs before the mods started! Although to be fair it’s awesome fun standard, not actually done any performance mods yet, just a little strengthening. My mate has cut the crap out of his! anyway, sorry I went off topic, however lads, the FTX Kanyon is the most fun you will ever have for £160 (Unless you walk into a brothel), I had no interest in crawling at all, but I love it to bits. update of progress....... the mini is also going RC, and the 1/10 is 3s brushless which is awesome when it doesn’t break

A re re for me, gives me the opportunity to abuse a model I really don’t want to abuse if this makes any sense? i could bore you all with a long nostalgic story, but I am going to bullet point my 30 year rc journey, with age to start. 8 got a Thunder Dragon Qd for Christmas, Bought hopups with Christmas money 9 lusted after an older neighbours 1/10 something Tamiya buggy 10 Thunder dragon very rarely came out, hidden in the back of a cupboard forever 21 got back into it with nitro, bought a traxxas rustler on eBay as I always fancied a nitro 21 bought a brand new T Maxx 2.5, followed by 2-3 years of heavy modification 22 bought an FG Marder, modified it, had great fun but decided it was probably a bit dangerous after hitting a dog (the dog was fine by the way) and then hitting my best mates shins at lowish speed, time to sell big gap while growing up and racing 1:1 motorcycles and cars 38 (now) during lockdown, mum had a clear out asked me to pick up my stuff (moved out like 18-19 years ago mind, my old bedroom still the same but now full of parents crap too) out came the old Thunder Dragon Qd looking a little worse for wear, yet still working perfectly this sparked my interest, and I ended up spending silly money restoring it (probably spent 3 times what it cost in the 80s) stuck a brushless in it. Now found new love for it. went on to spending a ridiculous amount on RC over lockdown, 5 more models, one of which being a really nice 80s thundershot with 3s brushless. as we all know, same buggy, different shell. Always wanted the 1/10. Anyway, bought a replica shell and genuine decals for shelf queen status. on a 3s battery it’s insanely fast, broke it 3 times on 1 charge. I did then however manage a really fun half an hour straight. I love it despite it’s awful handling in comparison to modern stuff etc. All repaired with proper 80s NOS parts. my next purchase will be the 2020 terra scorcher, close enough to my 80s Thunder Dragon (turned the shot into a dragon via a replica shell as the dragon is kind of special to me), probably a bit better handling with 4 shocks on it, and I WONT mind breaking it. I haven’t seen a re re yet, so I have no clue if all the parts are stamped “1987” or “2020” either way, it will be brushless, it will be over powered and all the negatives that go with it, but when I do break it (which I will) genuine/modified/spurious or hack jobs to get it running again are fine, knowing I am not destroying the value/originality of my 80s one is worth the price of the 2020 kit the other reason, I may even buy 2, currently trying for a baby, so the second 2020 will be coming home, tyres treated with silicon spray or some rubber preservative, then getting cling filmed to within an inch of its life, black bagged then going in the loft until unconceived child is maybe 8- 10??? Who knows what the RC world will be like in 10 years time? I see neighbour children playing with the crappiest RCs ever, so I would like my kid to experience the build with Daddy, followed by the first run, the first crash, the first repair, the exciting trip to LHS, call me weird but that’s what I am gonna do! my future kid will probably end up being a girl and having zero interest having said all that! In which case check eBay in about 20 years for a vintage 2020 new in box terra scorcher lmao

The weight on the back had come off there, I loaded it so the rear springs were about 1/4” down, then the front was too light so added some on the front. I am aware off the flaws, but as said earlier, built for different reasons. the flaws are deffo exaggerated in the garage with screed floor, I did silicon spray the slicks to make them supple again, but not touched the paddle spikes as I expected to wreck them in a short space of time. i do have some more wheels on the way, so we will see. But I am happy enough with how it turned out. Have a bigger plan in store overall with the 1/10 and a 1/32, watch this space !!!

My configuration makes 2600mah. Batts from ecolux which I will show on video later

My uncontrollable situation is partly due to 30 year old paddle block tyres, and still not really sorting out my steering properly that’s all. I will do a video shortly to explain and show what I did. Don’t get me wrong I have had great fun with mine, but for speed runs I have to be super gentle accelerating otherwise it goes sideways. And that’s not really why I built it, it’s a semi restoration as well.

That was on a normal Qd, worked great, however on my brushless I can only run 2s so 14500s were the way to go. Bought some cheapies and thought it was good until I bought decent ones! Wow what a difference. I tried 3x18650s (a 3s) on my brushless nitro starter (bigger motor 2838 with 35A esc) and it craps out very quickly. It might cope with 30A??? am now going to run the 14500 cheapos in the Qd (stock) but splitting the connectors for 2 lots of 4, but using 2 dummies to get the correct voltage. However if you did this configuration as 3s you would be limited to 14A (more than enough for a stock Qd but not brushless) the brushless has been connected as 4 lots of 2s. The decent 14500s I bought have 7A output. Multiplied by 4 I have 28A on tap on a 25A esc. It works fantastic and lasts ages. so to sum up, 18650s were a good idea in theory, but despite the claimed current output they can’t light a candle to a proper lipo. if you want to run 2s in the standard box I have a very simple solution. not posted in a while, been flat out in work. I think my TD is due to retire all refurbished, and slightly modernised. It was fun but I can’t get it to handle well enough for the power, and have other models I don’t mind smashing up at ridiculous speeds. also just bought a 1/10 to complete my collection, it’s brushless and is silly fast. Broke it 3 times already on one charge!! Also destined to be put back stock and shelf queened. so back to nitros for me and maybe build a fast tarmac brushless that actually handles!

Love it!!! So I bought proper 14500 batts for mine now with 7A output, (Buy cheap buy twice) not done a speed run yet but the motor now screams compared to the ying tong bing bongs I bought. Also added a fair amount of lead on it to make it grip/handle. It may well be detrimental to performance but right now it goes well. On other models I bought an Absima cr4t with telemetry, debating another Rx and speed sensor, although it’s not a perfect reading really, if it lights up a wheel it would give false speed. Do t get me wrong, not gonna be close to 50mph but weirdly I still want to know! will post pics over the weekend, I added enough lead over the rear axle to make the shocks sag about 1/4”, then added a similar amount to the front to level it out a little.

8C29418D-AD3F-4FA3-8B26-F2DB331F3260.MOV

Video update on its way if you haven’t gone to bed

It’s not so much having the car, as you know I have owned it for 30 years! It was the spending on it I blame you for!!! with your 3S seriously have a look down the 18650 route. I am halfway through modding the true QD I have as I am sick of putting AAs in, and it’s rubbish on nicds, I can make more room easily, but at the mo the chassis is completely unmolested, if I am selling I want it to be 100% original. this little bad boy cost just over £2 with the Qd battery door off, and the sides cut off with a Stanley, it fits in the hole. I will upload installation pics later. dont get me wrong it’s handy I am a vaper, but even if you don’t vape, £2 on a box and wire a deans connector to it, borrow some batts off a mate to test the theory. Even cheap batts are good for 30A and 3000mah

Just had a brainwave. A 12x5x4mm bearing, pop that into a regular 12mm hex with another on the outside as a spacer. May have to glue an m8 washer to the rim beforehand so the inner race does not contact the wheel (or just drill wheel to maybe 7mm ish) job done. Won’t look amazing but opens up a whole new world of wheels.