lukej

Just been announced today that Atsushi Hara will be running an RC Maker SP-1 at TITC. For those of you like me that remember the mid-2000s glory of Hara vs Rheinard and all the special edition HPI & Hot Bodies chassis that came with it, maybe we can hope for a special purple SP-1. Luke

Afternoon! I took a week off from RC racing & associated tasks to focus on life admin etc, and the itch to get rebuilding/refining is real. The job list sits at: - Rebuild the front end of Chassis #2 to replace the snapped upright. - Sort out toe settings and make sure the car is aligned properly. - Pull some ballast off the servos & ESCs to get down to the weight limit (1350g, currently 1384g). - Thread lock the battery posts so that I can swap batteries more easily. - Thread lock or super glue the front body posts as they loosen every race from barrier impacts. - Corner weight the cars & ballast areas to balance the chassis if necessary. - Finish the Mondeo bodies. I all but finished one of my Mondeo bodies before the last round as it happens, and it's all stickered it up so here that is. Before I sort out body post holes, wheel arches etc I need to get an answer from SRCC/West Kent on horizontal rear posts as they may offer some protection from body tuck. The body is far from perfectly painted, but I learned a lot about how I want to improve as a painter so it's a win either way. Luke

More wheels, tyres and inserts added. Luke

List updated.

Bittydesign Hyper-HR Lightweight Shells

Evening TC! I planned to write this yesterday, but little sleep was achieved and the coffee was less plentiful than my energy levels required so it’s had to wait until I found both the energy and the time. It is finally race report time again though. Round 10, the final round of the SRCC winter championship was last night, and having spent more time painting body shells than prepping my car for it, I had all of 2 hours to get that sorted. As is the way with these things, I did what was necessary, and the “nice to do” jobs fell by the wayside. Anyway, with compromised prep (this is becoming a theme), Dan and I were loaded up by 4pm and on our way from East Kent to somewhere that’s best described as “London adjacent” to anyone in our neck of the woods. Unfortunately, our other pit buddy Rob arrived later than us and with a bumper grid, he was boxed out by the many tables, and didn’t get to sit with us. There are no photos of the pit setup today, few of anything from race night in fact as I didn’t any other than of my results sheets, which since the last meeting I’m informed are not to be taken home or kept by us… 😬 9 of 16 laps, best lap of 21.63s. Fair to say that Heat 1 was interesting, I forget if it was this or a later heat when I sent Dan over the barriers, but he took it remarkably well. Anyway, I didn’t even complete 10 laps with my rushedly built and slightly wonky steering. As discussed Friday, Liam Tyrrell gave me a few pointers, and I tried to iron the steering issues out over the next races, but I built the turnbuckles up in about 5 minutes on arrival, so the car didn’t even come close to being properly aligned. 11 of 16 laps, best lap of 18.65. It’s fair to say Heat 2 went a little better. Dan threw some comm drops on for me, I balanced the front steering more by eye, and tried increased the dual rate to try and find a nice balance (another tip from Liam). A positive trajectory. 12 of 16 laps, best lap of 18.13. Another race where I progressed as a driver, times came down and speed went up. I actually felt I was able to build a rhythm here, until a collision with the wall on my third last lap broke the front upright and I limped home on a twisty circuit with less steering than usual. [Insert Picture Here Tomorrow] And so to the final. I have already said what my frustrations are with that race, but there were positives and negatives for other reasons also. In the warm-up, I spotted one of my competitors struggling with handling, his fast but wayward car stopping early in a heat gave me pause, so I chose to just wait for the 2 minute warning before heading onto the track to avoid a potential collision. This, it turned out was wise, as his car speared left exiting turn 4 and ripped the front bumper out of its mounts. To the race, although embellished with ome useful detail: Everyone else runs a TT-01E with slightly longer gearing. My shorter gearing means I sould have an acceleration advantage. The run to T1 is short. I am competitive even though I am bad. Armed with the above knowledge, I took my time to line up on the grid, made sure to point my car at the apex of T1, and then took a breath to settle some nerves. The start start buzzer sounded, and I quickly took over second place through Turns 1 & 2, before attacking the driver in first through the complex of Turns 3-5 and taking the lead. This was very exciting, I was leading the race on Lap 1, me. From the back of the grid. This would be short lived. By Lap 2, as is now established, I had been helped onto my roof by the driver I’d only just overtaken, and the lead was gone. This is how the race would continue, with a series of trips to the kingdom of upside down cars, where dreams of B main glory die. In the end I lost 2 laps to less than sporting driving, never built a rhythm and felt a bit *******ed off on the way home. 12 of 16 laps, best lap of 17.88s. The final was, despite the mishaps, an improvement on the races before. The circuit was more technical than at round 9, and I feel that I have progressed as a driver. This is all good. Reflecting on my two race weeks so far then, I’ve a lot to learn, one of these things is going to be to have smoother steering and more discipline with the transmitter, the other? That measuring my improvements by laps per minute is pointless when the track changes. With that in mind then, here’s how the two weeks compare: *Round 9* PB (Race 1) 19.82s, 164.48% PB (Final) 15.96s, 132.45% FL (B Final) 12.05s, 100% My improvement across the night was 32.03%. *Round 10* PB (Race 1) 21.63s, 139.55% PB (Final) 17.88s, 115.35% FL (B Final) 14.60s, 100.00% My improvement across the night was 24.20%, and I ended the event 17.10% closer to the fastest driver than I did at Round 9. The best driver in my heats at Round 9 was Dan, who made it to the A Main at Round 10. If we adjust my differentials for his best race time we see the following: PB (Race 1) 21.63s, 148.15% PB (Final) 17.88s, 122.47% FL (B Final) 15.50s, 100.00% The percentages above represent my time against the fastest lap of the final overall. This is a more motorsport way of judging driver performance. By any metric, around 10 was better for me. Once again, I’d like to thank Dan, Rob and the drivers I spent time with. This is all still new to me, but for the most part it’s something I want to stick at. The next meeting is 4 weeks out, the non-championship test event before the summer series. This time I’ll make sure to actually adjust the car and improve my process. Luke

Thanks Kevin. I will take some time to set the car properly and corner weight it now also. Running 38g overweight and with a right side bias is not helpful I’m sure! Luke

Tonight had all of the potential and none of the reward. Finished 9th of 9, which gives me 92 additional points and 17th in the Championship with only 2 rounds entered but it should have been more. Heat 1 was all over the show, steering still snappy but some advice from Schumacher team driver Liam Tyrell calmed it down, Heats 2 and 3 it pulled left, and in the latter I broke a front upright. The final, well, what could have been! I’ll start with some acknowledgements about my own driving: - I spent too much time on my roof in all races. - My steering inputs are themselves in need of improvement. - My tyre prep process needs refinement. I started the final with too much sauce on them so the tyres came in late. - I probably need to open the rear differential slightly. The action is too stiff compared to the front so the balance is off. With all of the above being said, I feel a little hard done by, having gone from 4th to 1st on lap 1 only to be put on my roof by the second placed driver come turn 3 of lap 2. A position the same driver helped me visit again a few laps later. Leading the B Main was an experience, and the nerves were felt but I was coping. Unfortunately, in the one race where I hadn’t overturned myself, robust driving from others cost me 2 laps with the wheels facing the sky so yeah, not a wonderful night’s racing. Ending my disappointment short of a rant, I’ve always been told RC is a sport where honour matters, that you apologise for your errors when they affect others and you wait for the person you’ve slowed to catch you up. I made sure I upheld that from my side, but it was not forthcoming from the others. That’s rookie Tamiya racing I guess! Anyway, short of 3 additional points for a win, which would only have advanced me to 16th in the championship, I set out to get 91 minimum this round and I achieved that. More experience gained, more laps under the belt, and the knowledge that the best way to not get rolled by wayward drivers is to not be one myself and make the A Main. I’ll focus my energies on that then! Full report to come. Luke

More lines and discounts added! Luke

Thanks Rob! Don’t know if Dan will be there but I’ve got the snacks ready to go so I’ll be back this week, hope to see you there! As it goes, I have done almost no work ohe car since the last round but I’m aiming for 90 points or greater which will give me 17th or 18th in the championship. Come the summer series, I’ve worked out that 93 points per round is good enough for the top 5 overall. It only requires 8th overall each week, but it feels like an achievable goal. The Mondeo bodies have progressed, looking forward to playing with wings etc when my ability allows. Luke

Not a lot of movement on the Western East Kent front this week. It’s been full on with trying to sell off my company assets & those TRFs etc (somebody buy something, please!). Anyway, in an attempt to get ahead, I’ve started prepping bodies for when I get fast enough to be in the A Main, so 2x L&L Models HPI Mondeo shells are getting painted, with 2 more to follow in full race paint when I know what that looks like. Bathroom spray booth is go. Though Mrs lukej is unconvinced that the extractor fan is doing a good enough job, and she *may* be right, but am I going to concede on that? Of course not… Anyway, the first picture was the bodies curing overnight, the above with window masks pulled ready for me to paint the window frames. I’m not following the usual process of black paint first because I’ve had issues with Tamiya tape allowing bleed which is much easier to clean off bare lexan than off of painted. As soon as I’ve sold the company assets the spare room becomes a hobby room so I’ll use spray mask and an airbrush for a better workflow. And masked with my own new window masks. In hindsight I’d have trimmed the existing ones down and not had to layer tape. You live and you learn! My decals came from RDT/RichPaint this week so fantasy sponsors shall abound in the not too distant future. I did get a little help from 1up racing already, so they kind of sponsored but everything else is pure fiction. Until later! Luke

It’s been a long week with little modelling, but I’ve managed to make a sizeable dent in the prep of two race bodies for the Tamiya stock class racers. My bathroom is a spray booth! I’ve got more to be painted in my own livery when I decide what that is, but like the pros, a single colour shell will do for now. Fantasy sponsors to be added tomorrow courtesy of RDT decal sheets. Luke

Put more of my TRF and general on-road collection up for sale. Lost my job in August last year so needs must 😢

All Super Stock motors Bittydesign CA-45 FWD shell Tamiya Subaru Legacy B4 2.0 shells Monech 308 2.0 TCR shell Protoform Mazda 6 shells Protoform Mazdaspeed6 shell

Been out with work/hobby today because there’s an intersection between the two, but I managed to get some work in on the cars beforehand. First priority was to sort out the BRZ body I’m running because the scale looks are great but they cause issues in racing. One body shell minus the splitters which were snapped anyway. Some trimmed body posts with a rogue cat. Removing her fur from the cars is a constant battle. Race tyres bagged and laps/runs logged to preserve and life them for future knowledge. I only had one part come off on Friday, which was the heat sink in a roll over. To avoid this happening again I’ve changed its orientation so that the bulk of the surrounding is further along the motor. Luke

Having checked the footage from Fridays race, I’m fairly certain that the 11.25 lap is anomalous, and that RC Timing has seen 3 triggers of the timing loop in what they’ve presented as laps 3 & 4 of the B Main. My thinking on the above is that as I move aside for the race leader (was hit on Lap 1) I triggered the timing loop which had extended ever so slightly beyond the barrier and into a later part of the circuit meaning that I could trigger it if wide enough through that section. All of this is to say that the average time of laps 3 & 4 combined is 16.985s and that seems much more likely. I didn’t hit anyone or any thing on lap 4 either which supports my thinking. The paper printouts of the races are more detailed, and I recall led an erroneous 6s lap early in the race so let’s assume it was a calculation error in RCT due to timing loop triggers. We don’t get those to keep the printouts but I did take a picture of it, thank you past Luke for your presence of mind! Luke

Morning TC! With some sleep and a coffee at the ready, it’s race report time. Here goes. Having never raced before, it’s fair to say I was somewhat nervous about getting my start at the tail end of the SRCC Championship, everyone is up to speed and I’m completely green so yeah, not full of confidence. Anyway, with compromised prep (I was still building the car when it should have been loaded up ready to leave), Dan who I pit with came round and gave me a talking to before gathering everything up and heading off to race anyway. Sometimes doing is better than planning. Upon arrival at Sidcup, our usual pit space was unavailable, but the expanded slot provided for Dan, myself and Rob Staerk to sit together across 2 tables which was a welcome win. Rob is one of two drivers competing for the title, and is on the club committee so he’s a useful man to have befriended! My pit setup. I might be slow and inconsistent but good process and a clean workspace are key. I missed Heat 1 for my group because I’d yet to glue or prep my tyres (part of the incomplete task list before departure), but with a quick install run and the benefit of 20 or so extra minutes I got out for Heat 2. One slow white TT-02 in its first ever race. The results of this race do not make for pretty reading, but I’d chosen to take it steady and just circulate whilst I learned what I was doing, the honest truth though is that I was largely bouncing off walls and struggling with steering response. Dan very kindly pointed to the transmitter as an explanation for the “staccato” nature of my inputs, and suggested some changes to the settings which should settle the car down. 12 of 18 laps, best lap of 17.7s. With that first foray into racing out the way, and having held P2 for a lot of the heat, I finished P3 after clipping the inside wall on the penultimate lap and rolling, my upturned car sitting on its roof for what felt like an eternity. Also Dan’s car broke, which is a surprisingly common occurrence but also the only way I can beat him right now. A win for build quality! Between Heats 1 & 2, I had a remarkable level of downtime, because it turns out if you prep absolutely everything in advance then you don’t have to be stressed. Dan commented on this as looking like I was stressed, but in fact I was just thinking on what had happened and how to improve. Dead time is something I’ve always built into my professional life, it means you have the capacity to react to things going wrong when they do and it served me well here. I shall continue to take this approach moving forwards. Race 2 was a little more fraught for me, mostly on account of finding my roof 2 times with help from Dan. Not his fault, just one of those things. Unfortunately on the first occasion I had a big body tuck and when the marshal put me back on my wheels he did so without untucking the body, and when I drove it to the podium to fix myself, he came chasing after it whilst running on the track. I couldn’t comment on the thought process but it led to a near 37 second lap. 12 of 17 laps, best lap of 15.88s. By almost every metric, race 2 was an improvement, and all I care about is trending in the right direction. Were it not for the two roll overs and the long laps that resulted from them I suspect I may have managed 14 laps here. Average lap time was the only number that was down on my first effort so it’s fine. During a brief hiatus for track repairs between the final heat for another class and the start of the finals, it had been suggested the club would combine the Tamiya A & B Main which added some new stress, mostly because I really didn’t want to mess it up for Rob with his championship battle, thankfully however they kept the groups separate so I could roll around and do my thing. The race underway, I think I’d let the idea of getting in people’s way seep into my head too much and so I spent a lot of the final moving aside and slowing to allow people their race without the risk of colliding with me. That being said, improvements galore including an 11.25s lap (allegedly), which if confirmed by the race footage when released this week, makes me the fastest TT-01/2 over a single lap this week. I suspect it’s an anomaly because there’s no way I’m suddenly lapping that fast, albeit once only. 17 of 22 laps, best lap of either 11.25s or 15.96s. Even without that 11 second lap, my consistency improved, and I made minor adjustments with the transmitter & tyre prep between each race that resulted in a 3 lap per minute average turning into a 3.4 lap per minute average after 3 attempts. This is comforting for me because as before, trending in the right direction is all I care about. I’d like to thank Dan, Rob and the other drivers I shared the track with last night for being patient and kind with me. I tried to help others regardless of their class with parts, oils and tools where necessary as well. RC feels like airsoft where good manners, friendliness and being helpful pay you back in spades eventually. Next meeting is 2 weeks out, before then I’ll adjust the car and improve my process. Luke

Raced in my first ever RC event with my stock class TT-02. Finished 4th (last) in the B final, but proud of myself! Luke

Here are the chassis all wired and set up. Tidy ish but I plan to make it look better in time. Et voila! Next up came bodyshell painting, much to my OH’s annoyance the bathroom is my spray booth of choice. What I can say is that the Super GT Subaru BRZ shell is a P.I.T.A to paint, especially the wing elements! 2 coats in. And then I had to prep some turnbuckles for the TT-02S steering kit I’d fitted. I followed @qatmix advice here and used 42mm because that’s what I could lay my hands on. These will likely be swapped to 38mm items before the next round because I want to go from toe in to toe out at the front. Here end the pictures for my prep ahead of tonight’s meeting at Sidcup. I really wasn’t ready to race still, and with a shortened week I was stressing myself out getting the car ready. Anyway, with some gentle persuasion from my racing buddy Dan, I packed my kit and attended anyway. Race report to follow tomorrow. Luke

Bit of an overdue update but with things happening in dribs and drabs it’s just not felt worthwhile to put daily bits up. Some Tamiya Hobbywing ESCs arrived last week. Why did I buy these? Simply because black heat sinks go better with all the blue crack than red ones do, and they were cheap. These were promptly readied for soldering direct to motors and for new battery terminals to be added. 1up Racing providing the goods and having taught myself to solder in about 2 hours I’m very happy with the outcome. Luke

Compared to Hypoxic, I’ve been much less skilled, I mounted some lipo weights to my race packs…

A delivery and a tidy(ish) workspace later… Luke

Decided to have a tidy up of the workspace this morning. My OH has taken the day off so she’s relaxing whilst I potter and clear the email inbox. First order of the day was to rob the KoC/former Eastbourne car of its motor mount and prep another spare motor. With that mount added, and a fresh batch of 0.6mod pinions from RW Racing installed, I’ve set about building my two motor assemblies up and setting the gear mesh so a swap is two screws and away we go. As an explainer, I plan to source a Muchmore or Tamiya motor tester as advertised in the WTB area, me and a fellow racer want to use this to get an understanding of which Torque Tuned motors we have that are good and which are bad so we can move on from them. For the more detail focussed/those newer to racing something with fixed gearing, one motor might have more bottom end, another more top and a third somewhere in between. This is a common approach in karting, where the drivability of a motor makes a huge difference, and I’d extend that logic to RC where we also have fixed gears. Luke

Will have a dig around, got hundreds of the things so maybe I can help. Luke