naturbo2000

A Hornet. But I can reply with a little more colour than that. My actual first kit was a glider. 2 channel, glow engine etc. Probably for my 10-12th birthday, Something like that. I built it with a bunch of assistance from my Dad - he and I both used to build scale model aircraft. He'd built balsa band-powered planes many years before. Several weeks/months of build, and covering film application etc. Some gentle tests to get a handle on appropriate trim etc. Then all ready for the first flight. Wrestle with the glow engine to get it started, then the biggest "chuck" my Dad had ever given a plane. Trim was way off. Up it went - very aggressively. A massive stall later and it came back down quicker than it went up. We probably could have repaired it - though there was a whole bunch of damage. Thankfully all of the RC gear was intact so I had a Hornet kit that Christmas. I built that myself, crashed and repaired it a lot and eventually sold it to buy a Madcap. We can skip over the Optima run as a BMW M3 touring car and my significant time away from the hobby. When I came back, my first kit was a rebuild of that very same Madcap.

Just saw the Edd China's rehash of the official UK DVLA "Is it the original car?" question for 1:1 vehicles Apparently there is a points system: Chassis/monocoque body shell or frame - 5 Suspension (front & back) original - 2 Axles (both) original - 2 Transmission original - 2 Steering assembly original - 2 Engine original - 1 To be the original car, you need to hit 8 of those 14, including the 5 for body shell or frame. I can hit a totally dubious 7 (body and suspension), an iffy 2 (suspension), or a correct 0. Looks like any way I cut it, I'll have to apply for a 'Q' plate.

I like it. I won't buy it at the current price, but will probably pick it up once discounts kick in. I'm also interested to see where the chassis gets used next. Something in the space of a scale "real" stadium truck looks like it could be even better. As someone else said, a bug is surely a given.

Agreed. I was keen to have a kit over a RTR. From what I've seen, they're pretty competitive for the price bracket and available in the UK (a vouchers thing meant getting it from Amazon was a requirement). Running a Surpass Hobby 5-slot 16T 550 and ESC and a generic 20Kg servo. This has the 2-speed gearbox which I've hooked up to an old Futaba servo for now.

I finished building my Gmade GS02F Buffalo. Really enjoyable build, other than using every possible combination of screw size and head type. Everything went together really easily. I had just enough paint, to the extent it's a rare shell backed in smoke . I'll take some outdoor pics to put up on the gallery thread.

I totally agree and wouldn't mention it other than the Top Cat managed it (though was apparently a pig to set up as a result). I have a soft spot for how Tenth Technology got the shocks out of the way, not that I even saw one beyond photos. The CAT 2000EC/SE/98 also has extreme laydown shocks. I'd best forget all the above, as I'm sensing I'll be talking myself into a project . In-board pushrod shocks on a mid-engined Dyna Storm? I definitely won't be investigating it.

I really like what you're doing with your mid, but it's not something I'd personally want to own. I like some of the TD2 things. I assume the arms are stronger, and they're definitely more cheaply available. But I absolutely despise the new Astute and Super Avante body. Revive RC had done amazing work with his vision of an Avante, but the chassis itself is limiting due to it's significant depth. Make a lithe TD2 (with yummy carbon?) and I'm very interested. If you can keep the lay-down shocks _and_ a low body, you can take my money now. I suspect that's an impossible ask though.

I was in the same boat. The car I always wanted was an OG Avante, and I've only paid enough attention to the hobby over the last 30 years to notice when any given re-re was 6 months out of stock. For me, the hop-ups in the Black Special made it a no-brainer (even then, I seem unable to build anything stock), but I definitely prefer the looks of the OG over the Black Special. Cue my home-brew "Avante Black Edition": MCI decals, VQS Hi Caps and some Kyosho wheels I had back in the day. Since bought some Pargu wheels in silver, but the Kyosho ones are for running with. Body is pearlescent black by laying down a couple of coats of PS58 followed by PS5. I guess it will be complete when I switch those springs to chrome .

About time I offered a response on this thread. Proudest Achievement: Getting back into the hobby after 30 years away and making my Madcap into the car younger me would have loved it to be. @Kol__ was a great encouragement (bad influence). It makes no sense to have a Madcap with a build cost like mine must have reached, but I've loved every minute of it. Honourable Mention: It was the re-(re-?)-release of the Avante Black that drew me back in; I vaguely followed Avante releases, knowing I'd always wanted one. I loved building mine and adding my own stamp, but it's not actually my honourable mention. Because I knew the Avante release was such that I might not actually land one, I bought and built a Top Force Evo as a "just-in-case" car. It was the build I made before I decided I wanted to recover and rebuild my Madcap. And to top that, it's a really nice car to drive, Initially nowhere near the fun of the Madcap - down on power on grass and for whatever reason actually pretty bad agility out of the box (or how I built it) - but now well sorted. I love driving it because it doesn't matter if I crash it. Turn the EPA down and the kids can drive it. They are not allowed to drive the Madcap. Oh - and all of the forum encouragement stuff that Kol__ said.... 2023 Goals This year I'm going to get out and meet people. I'll be at the RC Kicks meet, though I know that'll be a weird one and any normal person will just go to a regular race meet. I also fancy running a crawler. No I have no experience. I'm also going to drag the kids into the hobby. Late last year I picked up a couple of ebay bargains: a pre-crashed Rising Fighter the older child currently wants to use (they'll figure that out in short order) ; a fire hazard Thunder Tiger Phoenix STII that I've swapped all the electrics out of and slammed a buggy body on for the younger child. They're fixed up now and ready to run (against the TFE ) at the local mini bmx track. Then I can teach them about repairs

For my Madcap, I think I'm down to the lower suspension arms, front uprights/knuckles, bumpers and body being original (and I probably did break at least one of those arms back in the day....). Every opportunity has been taken to take it to and beyond Super Astute spec. Yeah - it's still my Madcap

The pickup looks better, but this came in at a good price. Will probably go gunmetal, possibly with a straight black "removable top". Obviously it's not removable here.

I'm feeling guilty that I ought to do something to save my Madcap shell before it gets that far (it's still one piece, but I don't know how long for). Reinforcing tape of some form would seem to be the solution. I'm guessing Tamiya's isn't cheap, but it's not like I've taken any other short cuts .

Off topic for the Madcap, but I tried building my TFE so it didn't move "freely", whatever that means. I allowed it to still turn by hand. That was nowhere near tight enough and it definitely slipped on the first or second run. Then I tightened it just enough so I couldn't turn it by hand and now is great. If it helps, I'm thoroughly disappointed by the performance of the stock motor inthe TFE. Much happier having gone 13.5T brushless. Back to talk about the Madcap - box stock and nicely tightened up is the answer, per Kol's suggestion. But then I never ran anything stronger than a 27T motor in it and still melted the diff...

I decided I didn't need any more vehicles, but then I accidentally had this turn up: