So, What Have You Done Today?

[Willy iine 18826]

Been swamped with work today for my money making gig.. at least it was WFH and tomorrow is Friday.

I did get a quick 15min or so to drive my Mini-Z 4x4 on my crawler terrain in the pretend pylon test course.  Had a good time.   

 

[Nick-W 1790]

Yesterday I visited the model shop in Stevenage and picked up a carry case which looks great.
The afternoon was dry enough for a quick run with the DT03. The suspension and geometry are spot on and the Sport Tune is more than enough power. The diff though is just not right. It feels loose and all over the place despite being tightened quite far. I’ve not messed up a diff build like this before but something must have gone wrong somewhere. 

[Ray_ve 1165]

Working on the Jugger's lights.

Front works, now on to the rear.

[Aerobert 2324]

As everyone who owns a TD4 or TD2 knows, the space for the motor is quit limited. The only good way to put in a brushless motor is to use an expensive Tamiya TBLM-motor or go on a difficult search for something similar with motor cables routed out of the end cap. I had a Robitronic Razor BL set which I wanted to use in my Super Avante. Unfortunately the motor has its cables routed out of the side of the can as most BL motors on the market. As I don't want to buy a new Tamiya BL motor and a new ESC I decided to modify the motor. The first step was to cut down the plastic cable router on the motor  which allowed me to lay the cable close to the can and squeeze it into the chassis. The downside of this was that the maximum pinion size was 19t as it was impossible to move the motor. Of course the car is too slow with 19t pinion, 2S lipo and a 3000 kV motor. A bigger pinion was the solution for me and therefor the motor needed another mod as cutting the chassis wasn't an option for me. This was the explanation why I did what I did and here starts what I have done today:

I designed and printed a cap for the original cable exit and drilled three holes into the end cap. The holes are small enough that the silicon cables have a tight fit and sealing the holes. It works perfect and the motor now fits like it should and all sizes of pinions are possible. 

I would have been easier to buy something suitable but where is the fun in that? 

[Willy iine 18826]

Received my new LED"s by Kyosho, so installed on my Mini-Z.   Looks great.     It even lights up brighter on the tails when brakes are applied.

 

[Willy iine 18826]

So, besides playing with my Mini-Z 4x4, I did some research on figuring out what I need to buy to get the TRX4 Defender to run with all the lights.  I am starting from zero knowledge.. I have no knowledge of these cars nor this brand.  I wish manufacturers would just do a fully loaded version for boneheads like me with all hop ups installed who are too lazy and uninterested to figure out via ala carte.  I honestly dont even care to install the lights by myself..  I wish it would be fully pre-installed.  

The car is already $500, my guess is that folks that buy these cars aren't really worried about paying a few extra hundred bucks to get what they want in RTR form..

Their site is pretty complex (and mangled) for an older guy like me and could not figure out initially what to get..  I chatted with a guy there who was very knowledgeable and it started making sense, but he was so smart and quick to answer and zipped offline, I could not grab the part numbers and links he mentioned due to me being too stupid and slow.    lol

So I watched RCDriver's YT vid where he explained step by step in detail and also explained there were 2 different versions (old and new) of their lighting system..that was the reason why I was so confused initially.  And I did not know the turn signals were integrated into the headlights so I thought I was supposed to get separate lights for the reverse lights and turn signals.. you all realize how dumb I am.

Anyway, I plan to get the car in addition to the 8095 light set + 6591 pro control module + 6511 transmitter module for BT + 6532 iphone holder.. not sure when.  Could be next week, could be next month.  

 

Unrelated, I also saw that Banggood was selling a new version trike.. I grabbed one since its like $35 shipped on sale.    lol  

Originally this was the Flamingo.. 

 

[morrisey0 354]

Finished up my hump pack for my Hilux.  Running 3000mah NIMH.

[Willy iine 18826]

I placed pre-order for my Ultima WC 60th Annivarsary.       I just ordered one unit as I only plan to do one in box art with no hopups.  Electronics will be the usual 1251 or 1252MG, SR215, and will see if I can find a nice Trinity motor in my old motor stock and run 1060.. if not, will order a new Trinity brushless motor and mate it to a XR10 Justock.  

[Ray_ve 1165]

Finally finished the custom stickers on the Jugger!

Bolted the body/chassis together to see the 'final' result, but it still needs a new battery/Esc tray and detailing so plenty of work left.

When the sun is out, I'll post some pictures. For the way it looks now, I love this thing.

[Willy iine 18826]

1 hour ago, Ray_ve said:

Finally finished the custom stickers on the Jugger!

Bolted the body/chassis together to see the 'final' result, but it still needs a new battery/Esc tray and detailing so plenty of work left.

When the sun is out, I'll post some pictures. For the way it looks now, I love this thing.

Nice!  looking forward to the pictures.  

 

@morrisey0 nice job converting the NiCd to NiMH!   Looks clean. 

 

For me, I noticed a few sellers in Asia offering the gold Fantom 60th anniversary edition (limited to 1500 units) for about $550-600.   I am undecided how I feel about that car as it is unique to have anodized gold parts, but the decks are still FRP..  it should come with full CF decks even if they had to bump up the price a bit more, no?   Just me..   I am having hard time understanding these half-butt flagship limited edition models.  I think to me the white/green Fantom holds more value in my collection if I were to display together.. well, unless I have all 3, I suppose..     While I love my Fantom EXT, I'm not that big on pan cars..

That said, I think I will start the F104 Pro2 chassis later today.  I was going to start with the body, but just no appetite right now to do any sort of polycarbonate painting.   I am hoping the chassis will build enough encouragement to start the body..

 

 

[Nick-W 1790]

Raining again today so I set to on the Egress. A couple of little upgrades have been picked up over the last few months but for the most part it’ll be stock. 
I’m at the end of bag B. Those rear trailing arm posts were an absolute pain. I should have a little more time tomorrow for at least bag C. 

[Willy iine 18826]

Nice @Nick-W!  Are you doing the blue tint or doing a driver inside?  

GL with the build!  

[Nicadraus 6440]

Went on a strolling, trailing & shooting today at a nearby trail today.

 

[Nick-W 1790]

5 minutes ago, Willy iine said:

Nice @Nick-W!  Are you doing the blue tint or doing a driver inside?  

Cheers @Willy iine! 
I’m not sure on the driver and windows yet but I picked up a can of PS-53 lamè flake to give the black a bit of a sparkle.

[Mark_McQ 453]

Mocked up an idea today for my next build. I was planning on doing this on a TT02 last year, even made a test wheel to see how it would look, but I never really did anything else with it. Been eyeing up a Lunchbox lately and seemed like it would be perfect for it, especially when you add R31house slick tyres into the mix.

 

[Kpowell911 2164]

Im predominantly a basher. I like to use my RCs so I have a considerable amount of Traxxas Bashers that are great fun. But the UK weather is really making it difficult to justify them as I never seem to be able to use them. Feel like selling up, buying an Avante Black, Egress Black, a 934 40th`Anniversary and a BBX and build them 

[Willy iine 18826]

For me, worked on the F104.    Dual deck CF, of course. 

Update.. finished the chassis and took it out for a quick test drive.  Drives well.  

Edited August 6, 2023 by Willy iine

[Sogogi 3359]

New alternative tires/wheels for the king cab. 

[yogi-bear 2424]

its been ages since I've posted anything as I don't really get the time the moment with my work. When I do get the time I don't have a proper space and won't have until my shed is setup properly. So this post isn't directly rc related, but will lead to rc related posts in the future! So I finally got the walls up in the shed. I've gone with 12 mm MDF (with insulation behind it) so I can screw into the walls for shelves etc, plus I managed to get some for free from a builder friend who was moving. So here is my shed its messy state, now waiting for the electrician to come back so I have power.

 

As this will also essentially be my man cave until I and dragged out as an old man and taken to the nursing home, I want to customise it a little. I have this crazy plan to wallpaper the back wall with a Star Wars theme, the idea to make it look like the shed opens to a hangar, here is a mockup (my current preferred version)

or maybe this one, I have a couple of other images I like, but finding images that will scale that large isn't easy.

 

[Ray_ve 1165]

Sun was out so got some pictures from the Jugger.

I made it a video game tribute car, for the ultimate alien a.. kicker of the 90s video games era. Just need to stop by the stores, as the driver seems to be out of gum.

Its in the pictures only thread, page 81.

[mtbkym01 4177]

@yogi-bear I can vouch for using MDF, I did the same and the convenience of being able to screw into it anywhere creates great versatility. Love the feature wall idea

[Falcon#5 594]

@mtbkym01 Happy birthday mate!

[GeeWings 2858]

On 8/5/2023 at 10:55 AM, Willy iine said:

Unrelated, I also saw that Banggood was selling a new version trike.. I grabbed one since its like $35 shipped on sale.    lol  

I saw that too but the ones I found were 1/16. If yours is 1/8 could you please post a link. Thanks!

[GeeWings 2858]

17 hours ago, Mark_McQ said:

 

 

Great idea, I love it! Let’s race…

 

[Willy iine 18826]

27 minutes ago, GeeWings said:

I saw that too but the ones I found were 1/16. If yours is 1/8 could you please post a link. Thanks!

The one I got is also 1/16.  I'm currently looking for small scale cars with variable steering/throttle (proportional) to zip around my pretend pylon test course.       

 

For me, a bit wet outside to take my 1:1 car out for a spin, so I think I am going to continue working on the F104 today..  mainly the wing/body and do some initial brush painting before spraying later in the week.