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BuggyDad

My DT-03 for fun driving and tinkering

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And a new body shell with a different wing. Mount not done, so mocked up just for photo. It probably won't end up that steep but I'll be able to adjust its position by bending the wire mount (Schumacher Cat). Hopefully I can also get rid of most of the old wing mount. May even change the switch location for aesthetics. 

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I'm pleased with the idea, but annoyed with the execution. Some smudges to the paint simply through impatience. And despite getting a very easy to paint wing I've got a thin area on that. Grrr. 

For me, part of what's wrong with the look of the Neo Fighter is that the wing is in so close and low, so I wanted to try changing that. And for some reason I like the bolted on sides, just for the look as well as ease of painting.

I think it'll look good with black wheels. The driver's orange clothes don't go but I just like orange. 

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Nobbi is right the orange does look good, I think you’re right on the wheels as well.

A colour change from white would finish it off nicely. 

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The shell is Camel Yellow. I think it's nice against all the black bits. The driver wears proper orange despite the clash with the Camel Yellow. He's just that kinda guy. And his blue helmet goes with both anyway. 

Think I've got lots more painting in my future. I constantly make mistakes due to impatience. I maybe should've let the yellow cure overnight before backing it. I definitely should've let the backing cure overnight before reinforcing it with plasterboard tape and glue. I should've let the blue paint on the helmet dry for many hours before attempting clear coat. Maybe I shouldn't have wasted good decals on a badly painted shell. And I should've sorted the wing mount and drilled the holes before painting. And on it goes.... 

More rookie errors. Much practice required before I take on the XV-01 Lancia and its interior... 

Before I do another driver figure, though, I'll get something better than mole grips to hold him still, and a magnifier. I reached my (pretty mediocre) limits of steadiness of hand and fuzziness of eye. And maybe an even finer brush. I thought the one I have looked ridiculously tiny but the pupils of a tiny man are a small thing indeed. Recommendations for such items gratefully received! 

On the Camel Yellow, I used the whole can without feeling I'd overdone it. Previous paints I thought generally I'd overdone, and always still had some left. Curious. Extra overspray from 4 separate parts, maybe. 

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12 minutes ago, BuggyDad said:

On the Camel Yellow, I used the whole can without feeling I'd overdone it. Previous paints I thought generally I'd overdone, and always still had some left. Curious. Extra overspray from 4 separate parts, maybe. 

Its because the yellow paints now days are so utterly gutless they are practically transparent. I used an entire tin of ps yellow on the Promarkt mercedes touring car, backed it with white and it just went a dull greeny lemony yellow as there was no body to the yellow pigment.

 

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I'll chalk this one down to experience but am tempted to buy another shell to do exactly the same job again, taking my time and two cans of yellow. Use a can, leave it overnight and follow it with some additional coats where it's thin, or just everywhere. I backed with the end of a can of silver then black, and as well as the smudges you can see the black showing through even in some places where good coverage is easy. I really like the colour though - where it has got good coverage it's really nice. I think it can do a great job, you just need more of it. 

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4 hours ago, Superluminal said:

Its because the yellow paints now days are so utterly gutless they are practically transparent. I used an entire tin of ps yellow on the Promarkt mercedes touring car, backed it with white and it just went a dull greeny lemony yellow as there was no body to the yellow pigment.

 

Absolutely true. Yellow paint is the hardest color to put down in the static modelling world too. Even white is easier.

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On 11/30/2021 at 3:41 PM, BuggyDad said:

I'll chalk this one down to experience but am tempted to buy another shell to do exactly the same job again, taking my time and two cans of yellow. Use a can, leave it overnight and follow it with some additional coats where it's thin, or just everywhere. I backed with the end of a can of silver then black, and as well as the smudges you can see the black showing through even in some places where good coverage is easy. I really like the colour though - where it has got good coverage it's really nice. I think it can do a great job, you just need more of it. 

Single colour job like that wont need backing, honestly it looks fine in the pics, after a couple of crashes and a bit of dirt you'll forget all about the mistakes.

I used camel yellow quite a lot in the past, it was always quite opaque back then so perhaps the formula has changed. It's not meant to be a bright yellow (it's the colour of the 80s camel-lotus-honda F1 cars)

Save your budget for the next body!

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50 minutes ago, sosidge said:

Single colour job like that wont need backing, honestly it looks fine in the pics, after a couple of crashes and a bit of dirt you'll forget all about the mistakes.

I used camel yellow quite a lot in the past, it was always quite opaque back then so perhaps the formula has changed. It's not meant to be a bright yellow (it's the colour of the 80s camel-lotus-honda F1 cars)

Save your budget for the next body!

I angled the photos to avoid the bad bits but yeah, you're right I know. 

I do think it's a lovely colour. I backed it in silver then black. I suspect that has darkened it a bit, but not to its detriment. 

P.S. Budget? Surely no one here succeeds in keeping to a budget! 😂

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On 11/30/2021 at 11:15 AM, BuggyDad said:

The shell is Camel Yellow. I think it's nice against all the black bits. The driver wears proper orange despite the clash with the Camel Yellow. He's just that kinda guy. And his blue helmet goes with both anyway. 

Think I've got lots more painting in my future. I constantly make mistakes due to impatience. I maybe should've let the yellow cure overnight before backing it. I definitely should've let the backing cure overnight before reinforcing it with plasterboard tape and glue. I should've let the blue paint on the helmet dry for many hours before attempting clear coat. Maybe I shouldn't have wasted good decals on a badly painted shell. And I should've sorted the wing mount and drilled the holes before painting. And on it goes.... 

More rookie errors. Much practice required before I take on the XV-01 Lancia and its interior... 

Before I do another driver figure, though, I'll get something better than mole grips to hold him still, and a magnifier. I reached my (pretty mediocre) limits of steadiness of hand and fuzziness of eye. And maybe an even finer brush. I thought the one I have looked ridiculously tiny but the pupils of a tiny man are a small thing indeed. Recommendations for such items gratefully received! 

On the Camel Yellow, I used the whole can without feeling I'd overdone it. Previous paints I thought generally I'd overdone, and always still had some left. Curious. Extra overspray from 4 separate parts, maybe. 

Your doing great, most skills come with time and repetition 👍

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On 11/30/2021 at 11:15 AM, BuggyDad said:

the pupils of a tiny man are a small thing indeed.

:lol::lol::lol:

I haven’t attempted to paint a driver figure yet, but man that statement cracked me up. I shall look forward to wrestling with his tiny pupils!

I was thinking about selling the Neo Fighter new shell from my Amazon bargain purchase, as I’d prefer to pick up the Racing Fighter body. PM me and maybe we can work something out bud:)

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1 hour ago, Kol__ said:

:lol::lol::lol:

I haven’t attempted to paint a driver figure yet, but man that statement cracked me up. I shall look forward to wrestling with his tiny pupils!

I was thinking about selling the Neo Fighter new shell from my Amazon bargain purchase, as I’d prefer to pick up the Racing Fighter body. PM me and maybe we can work something out bud:)

Oh hey will do. 

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18 hours ago, Kol__ said:

I haven’t attempted to paint a driver figure yet, but man that statement cracked me up. I shall look forward to wrestling with his tiny pupils!

I used to have that problem to and ever since building Gundam, I found the easy solution (although some "hardcore" modellers will call it "cheating"). Markers, paint markers and fineliners. It makes even 1/24 easy to do.

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1 hour ago, alvinlwh said:

I used to have that problem to and ever since building Gundam, I found the easy solution (although some "hardcore" modellers will call it "cheating"). Markers, paint markers and fineliners. It makes even 1/24 easy to do.

I'm going to persist with the idea that this is cheating. Until I don't. Which could be imminent. 

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DT-03 turnbuckle kit, the last bits I need for steel drive shafts, stainless shafts - all arrived the last couple of days. Back orders from a few weeks ago. So I just await spacers to fit all that lot and engage in an endless cycle of suspension/geometry fettling. 

I'll probably wait and do it at the same time as converting to hex though, which awaits TRF201 C hubs. With which will arrive some other wildly unnecessary little hop ups because of the application of advanced man maths to rcjaz's combination of low prices and high postage costs.

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2 hours ago, BuggyDad said:

 application of advanced man maths to rcjaz's combination of low prices and high postage costs.

I just spent £150 at RCMart for my Black Friday M-06 (which only cost £112), of which about 1/3 is postage and tax. PJ is my preferred supplier as they don't collect tax on behalf of HMRC (still not sure how that works) and their postage is similar as from HK. Unfortunately, in this instance, they seem to be running low on Tamiya hop ups so I have to go for YR and 3R parts instead. 

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7 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

I just spent £150 at RCMart for my Black Friday M-06 (which only cost £112), of which about 1/3 is postage and tax. PJ is my preferred supplier as they don't collect tax on behalf of HMRC (still not sure how that works) and their postage is similar as from HK. Unfortunately, in this instance, they seem to be running low on Tamiya hop ups so I have to go for YR and 3R parts instead. 

RCMart is a new one to me and they have in stock the handful of other XV-01 bits I was after so in goes another little order. Thanks! What's PJ? 

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1 hour ago, BuggyDad said:

Thanks! What's PJ? 

Some commonly used abbreviation of Japanese online stores. 

PJ - PlazaJapan

1999 - Hobby Search Japan

HL/HLJ - HobbyLink Japan

I used to use 1999 a lot but they now no longer have Tamiya (stopped suddenly). 

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A new problem...

We have grit entering motor vent holes. From its location I think it may be coming off the diff cup. It's gradual but consistent on both cars, and one is now giving a sensor error. So I'm not very hopeful for its future. That motor was 2nd hand. I assume the sensor problem to be linked to stuff getting in there, although it may not be of course, but regardless I think I need to solve the dirt problem. Realistically, we're always going to be getting our cars dirty, and sometimes we'll take them to the beach (although neither of these motors had been so far). 

I'll strip and clean that motor and if I get on OK do the other one too, but long term I guess this is going to keep happening. So I'm mulling over longer term options/factors as follows:

1. I could move to a waterproof sensorless system. I'd reuse one existing motor on my next build, softening the cost blow to just ESC, but the second one is to buy both, so a chunk of cash.  

Or there are one or two cheaper sensored motors that claim to be waterproof and would at least resist dust well. Might try one. 

2. I've seen filters, kind of like bags encasing the whole motor, or DIY foam tubes doing similar. Uneasy about either for heat reasons but I might be able to position a smaller bit of foam. I do quite like the idea of a DIY ring of foam though, being cheap and practical. 

3. I've a cheap aluminium heat sink coming. I'll see if I can position that, or modify it, to cover the offending holes, but I don't think it'll get in front and beneath the motor well. 

4. I'm about to change the cups for much smaller steel ones, maybe they'll throw off less cr4p. Doubt it's really about them though, TBH. 

5. I could try to make up a little "mudguard" to shield the motor in front/beneath without affecting it getting its heat away. 

6. I could tape up the 2 worst affected holes, hoping if I do just a couple heat will not get out of hand. 

 

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And linked to the above, any tips on cleaning gratefully received? I have just given them a scrub avoiding electronics as best I can, but splashes have been inevitable. Only done it a couple of times. It would be a pain to have to remove a motor for a clean. 

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There are cheap sensorless setups that are Ok. A little coggy at very low speed but great for bashing. 
 

I think they get nick named blue bottles on here. 
 

My 17.5t on my sons DT-03 tended to eat grass so we went back to a brushed system.

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6 hours ago, BuggyDad said:

And linked to the above, any tips on cleaning gratefully received? I have just given them a scrub avoiding electronics as best I can, but splashes have been inevitable. Only done it a couple of times. It would be a pain to have to remove a motor for a clean. 

Sensored motors aren't waterproof and I'd avoid any attempts at "cleaning" them that just involve squirting something through the holes, you probably aren't going to solve any problems by doing that.

Best way to clean is to take the motor apart and flush out with motor cleaner. Just make sure you remember the order of the various shims and spacers on the rotor. The sensor board will come out as well. Branded motor cleaner is hard to come by now (it's just a type of contact cleaner), Wurth brand brake cleaner +cotton buds is safe on plastics and a good alternative.

Blu-tak works well to seal up the sensor port from the outside. I can't recommend a way of sealing up the other holes, It's not something I've ever felt the need to do, although when racing with sensored motors I'm generally running in better conditions.

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14 minutes ago, sosidge said:

Sensored motors aren't waterproof and I'd avoid any attempts at "cleaning" them that just involve squirting something through the holes, you probably aren't going to solve any problems by doing that.

Best way to clean is to take the motor apart and flush out with motor cleaner. Just make sure you remember the order of the various shims and spacers on the rotor. The sensor board will come out as well. Branded motor cleaner is hard to come by now (it's just a type of contact cleaner), Wurth brand brake cleaner +cotton buds is safe on plastics and a good alternative.

Blu-tak works well to seal up the sensor port from the outside. I can't recommend a way of sealing up the other holes, It's not something I've ever felt the need to do, although when racing with sensored motors I'm generally running in better conditions.

Although I meant a simpler question (worded badly - was just looking for tips for easy and safe cleaning of a dirty rc car there) I'm intending to follow your good advice on the motor. My plan was to disassemble as you say and then blow it out and maybe brush with some isopropyl alcohol where needed, which most brake cleaners are also a version of. 

On further research, I think I will also try to use a spray pcb sealer on the sensor board ("conformal coating"). Would be interested to hear anyone's experiences there. Got that from a handful of YouTube vids.

RCMart also suggest Sugru around cable plugs. I've got some of that in the shed. Whether I'll do this with it I'm not sure but it surely has some good rc applications. Amazing stuff. 

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Cleaned the motor, just air, no fluid cleaners, and reassembled as was. Surprisingly (to me) it's so far running OK again. Not certain it's up to full power but it's somewhere near and functionally right otherwise. And it might just be my expectations are out. There was perhaps some grit or something interrupting a sensor signal. I did remove a fair amount. Yesterday it gave the error with 2 ESCs, now both run it OK. I think I'll still experiment with sealing circuit boards, just for learning reasons. And to see if we can get more resilience to beach running and the like, that kind of thing is a lot of fun for us. 

 

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