Starky_UK

We have Tamiya Big Wheels racing at the local track tomorrow. I had hoped to have finished my new ORV in time but instead have had to do more repairs to my OG Mud Blaster to keep it race worthy... a few body fixes and replace some more cracked and brittle parts. Also got around to sorting some of my ORV parts... might have enough parts to build another

The M08 was much better handling last night after the switch to the M07 parts at the front end. However, we were also allowed to run additive for the first time in this class as the new carpet at the track had been pulled up after a water leak. As a result we were running on old carpet that initially had no grip what so ever. As I can only get to the track after the practice and first rounds have already started, I literally only just got the car unpacked and out on track in time for my first heat. No time for any trackside prep, so no additive and had to adjust to the handling changes on the fly. It felt better but had a lot of inconsistent understeer initially. Finished the first round last on 17 laps, 4 laps adrift. For the second round I had the time do tyre prep and make a few small adjustments on the TX. Managed 21 laps and only one adrift from the pace setter. The third round felt even better but I didn't get to see results so was pleasantly surprised find out i had qualified 3rd. The race started well and I was hanging on to the leading pair and building a gap behind. Unfortunately after they had a slight tangle the leader was able to pull a gap and check out up front whilst we raced for second. I made a few small mistakes and that was all second place needed to pull a gap. The rest of the race I just settled for keeping a gap behind to 4th place which was going well until the final few laps. I got held up letting the leader pass who then made a mistake in front of me. This put 4th place right on my tail. On the final lap with only a few corners to go I made a small mistake and lost 3rd place. It was a vast improvement over the last outing, and finishing on the same lap as 2nd & 3rd place means I now mainly need to now work on my consistency and reduce those few little driver errors. Hopefully the improvements were not just down to the use of additives... if they are, I need to hope they continue to let us use it! A great nights racing, not just because of the continued improvements of the car, but also because of the close and fair racing with a great group of people. Also helps that I won the Truck race

Back out racing tonight after a few weeks off with a nasty sinus infection (had to pull out mid way through my last race because of it). Fitted M07 front suspension mount and c-hubs. Also have a few more sets of springs to play around with. My Stedi sanding sticks that I got for building Gundam kits worked brilliantly for fine tuning the fitment of the c-hubs. Way out of contention for the current championship now, so can just have some fun working on the set up and learning the best way to drive this car.

Race prep... Trucks and M-chassis tonight at my local track. Back to racing after a few weeks off.

For me it's kit specific and also influenced by nostalgia. For example, I would most likely paint a Bigwig or Sand Scorcher box art as that is what I liked about them as a kid and some of the race car liveries (JACCS Accord comes to mind) of real cars I liked. Generally I go for doing at least a colour change or tribute, but mainly do my own theme.

Without seeing the paint job you referred to, I'd probably try testing out using a fine acrylic paint marker to do the black 'crack' lines and then use the marble effect (see video) to get a fiery red effect. Best thing would be to get some cheap clear plastic sheets or cut up a drinks bottle and test some ideas out.

Found some time tonight to do some work on my new ORV that will replace my OG Mud Blaster that I usually race at my local track. The MB is great but getting a little brittle and busted up. Hopefully I can race this one a bit harder.

I hope so. Or, the TRF 201 and its derivatives, as I would like to build a TRF201XMW or TRF201 XR at some point.

Any day that a PlazaJapan delivery arrives is a special day, but when it's a stack of TRF201 parts, it's an extra special day!! When I signed up for the stock notifications for parts to keep my DN-01 / TRF 201 running, I didn't actually imagine they would become available. Now I can not only keep racing my DN-01 / TRF 201, but I can possibly build up a second buggy. Also just seen that there are people trying to sell these parts for silly money on ebay... £300 for 2 sets of suspension arms that you can get for £3 each on PJ!!!

How about a Bush Devil/Land Freeder body on just a standard TT01 or TT02 chassis? I assume it would be possible / has been done, seeing as it fits on the TT-02FT I don't know how easy it would be to get hold of a clear body through, as I've only seen them pre-painted in black. https://www.jk-rc.co.uk/rc-body/tamiya-1825721-11825721-p

XV-01 is an awesome car. I raced mine with a KillerBody Subaru Impreza WRC 2007 body at my local buggy club and at a few local rallycross meets. It's got to be one of my favourites to drive. I also like to run a modified TT01e with a Skoda Fabia R5 body. This one has a one-way diff in the front and ball diff in the back, and is great fun for hooning around on loose surfaces. See the second video below about some of the rally mods.

Still not got the set up working for me. It's been a balancing act between too much understeer and too little on power rear grip. Last nights track layout had a lot of tight hairpins in the first half of the lap and I seemed to be losing most time there and also braking for the first corner (a tight hairpin) where the backend was stepping out. Removing the front sway bar helped a little and adding 0.7mm of shims to increase the rear toe helped keep the backend in check for the first corner. Things that didn't work included trying medium tyres front and back. I actually ended up parking it mid way through that heat as it was just all over the place and knew I would not be improving my qualifying position. The race started OK and I held on for a lap or two and then the rest (all FWD) started to pull away once their front tyres had warmed up. After a few minutes of racing (and a few mistakes), things started to settle down and I found some balance in the car. I couldn't push too hard but was able to start closing in on the guy ahead of me and managed to pass him a few laps before the end. Finished 4th but there was only 5 running in the final. Still 2 laps adrift. Next up will be to test out using the M07 parts, some new tyres and different spring rates.

I started using one on my TT01 due to multiple instances of body tuck after being rear-ended by competitors in races.

Second race with my M08 coming up this week. New shocks built and a few setup changes made. Going with the same spring rates all round kicking off with medium (red). Also reduced the rear toe to 2.6°. I've left the front sway bar for now as that can be easily removed trackside once I've tested the above changes. Im also planning to leave using the M-07 front suspension mount and c-hubs until I have some track testing time in a few weeks.