So, What Have You Done Today?

[dannymulder]

After drinking some beers, I tought lets have a look if there where any nice part to find for my ta-03 collection, then I saw that  they making brand new carbon fiber chassis and shock towers for it, and with al the parts to mount it , so I had to buy it , only have 3 boxes of ta-03 parts

[BuggyDad]

6 hours ago, Juhunio said:

It's nearly ready BD, should be up some point this evening...it's taken me most of the day to take the photos and trawl through the build thread so I could write an accurate description 

That looks so good. 

[Saito2]

Meanwhile, at the park...

 

.....a bitsa Big Brute redistributes the mulch.

[Grumpy pants]

23 hours ago, Grumpy pants said:

I’ve got my June RC plans set out in my mind now -

1) Finish the Blitzer and run it.

2) Buy the roof and driver sprue for a Buggy Champ, and repair the Rough Rider body shell. 

3) Sell the 3rd Lunchbox 

4) Dust down the SRB Ranger and carry out some small jobs on it.

5) Try to not buy any additional RC models.

1 - 4 is achievable 😂

Baby steps… the spare LB is now on the ‘bay 😂

[Grumpy pants]

Just a small order in with JK -RC.

Sand Scorcher front arms shafts & Buggy Champ driver/roof sprue 💥

[Grumpy pants]

1 hour ago, Grumpy pants said:

Baby steps… the spare LB is now on the ‘bay 😂

Spare LB now sold.

Step 3 completed 😂

[toyolien]

Finshed up the Mid today. Was going to go for Yellow but there seems a lots of those about. Opted for this instead. Just need to add the velco to the body and undertray once the paint has cured. Then the body with completely hide the clear undertray. 

 

[An_RC_Guy]

Decided to kick off my weekend with my TF Evo today. Even on NIMH with a TBLE-04S and stock silver-can this thing is loads of fun to rip around. I still want to kick it up just a notch, so I think I'll be ordering a HW1080 esc with a SS BZ motor and dropping the pinion down to a 18T. 

[toyolien]

A black BBX. Decals next. Been a while since I built the chassis. Time to get it ready to run.

 

[technics]

Mirrors went through their putty and primer rounds.  ( look so much better then the kit supplier ones! ) 

I layed down all layers of paint and colour now. Each colour has 3-4 coats plus 3 coats of backing. Some are backed twice ( white, then silver ) with a final backing of black for all. ( a decade or two ago I thought solid colour cars were exciting but now something about iconic cars with liveries does it for me ) 

I decided to leave the thin red strip down the bodyside as a vinyl sticker I will manually cut and add afterwards on the outside to make sure it is sharp and crisp. 

Overall I’m happy where it has gotten to, it’ll be cleanup from here on and digital logo work. Love the rear lamp depth already and the front grill!  More pics in the build thread!

 

[toyolien]

 

[Rinskie]

@toyolien Oh man that's gonna look sweet. I love the Hornet colors on other buggies. 

[BuggyDad]

1 hour ago, toyolien said:

 

 

44 minutes ago, Rinskie said:

@toyolien Oh man that's gonna look sweet. I love the Hornet colors on other buggies. 

Seconded! 

That's a great idea. 

[BuggyDad]

On 5/31/2024 at 3:25 PM, Juhunio said:

It's nearly ready BD, should be up some point this evening...it's taken me most of the day to take the photos and trawl through the build thread so I could write an accurate description 

Ah man. Found it up on the 'bay. It's a fabulous thing with a heap of extras and absolute certainty of quality where you can't see, but I think it's too good for me. I'm a scruffy driver who wouldn't do justice to a top notch shelf queen like that! I've hit the watchy likey button though and will cogitate. 

[Saito2]

This old Big Brute pieced together from spares represents a favorite pastime of mine within the hobby. I like taking old, unused "junk" and making it function again. This was mostly a pile of parts on fleabay that I bought mainly for the iconic front bumper that my Big Brute resto candidate sorely needed. It cost the same or less than a NIP oem bumper. Well, I can't let parts just sit around so with some Thorp dogbones, oil shocks, newer Big Boss knuckles, a spare MCI body and a well-patched up original chassis, it was up and running again. Its tough to find these old piles for acceptable prices nowadays with everyone demanding top-dollar for this "RARE!" and "VINTAGE!" stuff. Still, revitalizing some old "toy" from the 80's beats pulling the best new RTR out of the styrofoam and box any day of the week for me. 

 

Prepare for lift-off...

 

Up up and away goes the bouncing Big Brute...

 

Sitting on a rock, quietly contemplating the day's events...

[Ferruz]

I have splurged out.

I'll start from the beginning. It still feels a bit unreal, but apparently I have just pulled the trigger on a Kyosho Turbo Optima.

I've been attracted to this kit since the rere came out in all her Option House golden glory, but the price was always too steep for me to be comfortable buying, no matter where I looked. Overpaying for my Optima Mid two years ago certainly didn't help the cause and in fact, I wasn't expecting another Legendary Series buggy in my fleet anytime soon.
That was until yesterday when, almost by fluke, I took a gander on greedbay and found one for a very good price. Shipping was more than fair. I'll be turning 40 tomorrow, so a little treat to self is, I guess, justified... long story short,
after checking the feedbacks and history of the buyer, aand after getting the blessings from Mrs. Ferruz on the matter, I decided to go for it. Not really an impulse buy, though it feels like it to an extent.

Even with some obscure hidden tax added at checkout (a first in my experience) raising the final price by 50 $, the whole deal turned out to be well over 100 $ cheaper than any Turbo Optima + shipping deal I've ever found before, so I'm still happy I took this chance.

So far so good, but the "little treat to self" did not end there. Unlike other kits, which can keep me stalled on the aesthetics for a very long time (for instance, I'm still not set on the color scheme for the cherished Sand Scorcher I won at the TC comp two years ago), I know exactly where I want to go with this one, so I started hunting for some of the extra parts right away, in the heat of the moment.
I knew where to find the Pargu golden pepperpot wheels: click. Then the gold nerf bars to go with them: click. Then motor, esc, and a couple customized decal sheets from MCI to complete the splurge!

I'll make no mistery of what I have in mind, also because I am sure I'm far from being the first with this idea: a John Player Special themed Turbo Optima.

My ultimate goal is to have the gold of the livery working together with the gold of the metal parts, enhancing and complementing each other without crossing the line into becoming kitsch, overly eccentric and tacky (a risk I can easily foresee, with all that gold bling at hand). In order to achieve this, I expect a situation where less is more, but it's going to be hard to hold back with two full decal sheets to choose from.

RC wise, this has been one of my wildest dream projects for a good while, and I didn't expect to get a go at it so soon.
If this goes well, I see it it becoming some sort of ultimate shelf queen amongst my fleet, which also means that my other shelfer cars will get to see much more action.

I think I have indulged like never before, but what the heck! We only live once, and I'm sure it will be worth it.

And now, to wait for the deliveries...
 

[Pizza Frog]

After running the frog, the Firedragon now seems a bit slow in comparison.

I've just purchased a torque tuned motor for the Fire Dragon and will be putting a hobbywing esc in it to replace the Tamiya one.   I will also be looking for some new wheels and tires instead of the oversized hotshot ones

[BuggyDad]

6 hours ago, Ferruz said:

I have splurged out.

I'll start from the beginning. It still feels a bit unreal, but apparently I have just pulled the trigger on a Kyosho Turbo Optima.

I've been attracted to this kit since the rere came out in all her Option House golden glory, but the price was always too steep for me to be comfortable buying, no matter where I looked. Overpaying for my Optima Mid two years ago certainly didn't help the cause and in fact, I wasn't expecting another Legendary Series buggy in my fleet anytime soon.
That was until yesterday when, almost by fluke, I took a gander on greedbay and found one for a very good price. Shipping was more than fair. I'll be turning 40 tomorrow, so a little treat to self is, I guess, justified... long story short,
after checking the feedbacks and history of the buyer, aand after getting the blessings from Mrs. Ferruz on the matter, I decided to go for it. Not really an impulse buy, though it feels like it to an extent.

Even with some obscure hidden tax added at checkout (a first in my experience) raising the final price by 50 $, the whole deal turned out to be well over 100 $ cheaper than any Turbo Optima + shipping deal I've ever found before, so I'm still happy I took this chance.

So far so good, but the "little treat to self" did not end there. Unlike other kits, which can keep me stalled on the aesthetics for a very long time (for instance, I'm still not set on the color scheme for the cherished Sand Scorcher I won at the TC comp two years ago), I know exactly where I want to go with this one, so I started hunting for some of the extra parts right away, in the heat of the moment.
I knew where to find the Pargu golden pepperpot wheels: click. Then the gold nerf bars to go with them: click. Then motor, esc, and a couple customized decal sheets from MCI to complete the splurge!

I'll make no mistery of what I have in mind, also because I am sure I'm far from being the first with this idea: a John Player Special themed Turbo Optima.

My ultimate goal is to have the gold of the livery working together with the gold of the metal parts, enhancing and complementing each other without crossing the line into becoming kitsch, overly eccentric and tacky (a risk I can easily foresee, with all that gold bling at hand). In order to achieve this, I expect a situation where less is more, but it's going to be hard to hold back with two full decal sheets to choose from.

RC wise, this has been one of my wildest dream projects for a good while, and I didn't expect to get a go at it so soon.
If this goes well, I see it it becoming some sort of ultimate shelf queen amongst my fleet, which also means that my other shelfer cars will get to see much more action.

I think I have indulged like never before, but what the heck! We only live once, and I'm sure it will be worth it.

And now, to wait for the deliveries...
 

🥳🥳🎂

Happy birthday to you! 

 

[Andreas W]

@Ferruz. Congrats with the good deal. It's always nice to fulfill a longtime dream. Looking forward to read about the build later. 

 

I also almost pulled the trigger on a Turbo Optima last year.  An RC shop in Bergen sold them significantly cheaper than all other. But since I could not decide if I should go with the cheap Turbo Optima or splurge out on an Optima Mid they were all gone in the meantime and the prize was jacked up. What I really wanted was to build an Optima Pro on a Turbo Optima,  so it would have been quite costy for a rear motor Optima anyway. 

 

When I saw the prize for the 60th anniversary Mid was down on normal Optima Mid level there was no more time sitting on the fence any more. With this I get a nice hopped up Mid with the Pro body I wanted. The best of two worlds.

 

When I have the electronics and very few hopups I want for it there is no budget for anything else than consumables/tyres the next couple of years. 

 

And a happy birthday to you. 

[Andreas W]

3 hours ago, Pizza Frog said:

After running the frog, the Firedragon now seems a bit slow in comparison.

I've just purchased a torque tuned motor for the Fire Dragon and will be putting a hobbywing esc in it to replace the Tamiya one.   I will also be looking for some new wheels and tires instead of the oversized hotshot ones

Are you in NiHm or LiPo? If you still run NiHm get a 8,4V pack for it. It fits when you move the battery holders out. That will wake up the motor. 

 

Personally I like the Hotshot wheels and tyres a lot on this chassis. I think they fit good to the proportions of the car. They have good sideways grip,  so the car responds good to steering inputs while sliding. The kit tyres are only sliding in comparance. 

[Grumpy pants]

Just purchased some Sand Scorcher front wheels and tyres.

I’m going keep the RC spending modest this month and just purchase parts for cars I already have.  

[Badcrumble]

That sounds like a fine project @Ferruz.

You seem to be sticking to your plan @Grumpy pants.

I had a peruse of @Juhunio 's stunning work up for sale on eBay. Well, a boy can dream. I did see some nice MST rims though 

My big question at the moment is whether a Lancia 037 will fit on a 230mm chassis...

[Pizza Frog]

1 hour ago, Andreas W said:

Are you in NiHm or LiPo? If you still run NiHm get a 8,4V pack for it. It fits when you move the battery holders out. That will wake up the motor. 

 

Personally I like the Hotshot wheels and tyres a lot on this chassis. I think they fit good to the proportions of the car. They have good sideways grip,  so the car responds good to steering inputs while sliding. The kit tyres are only sliding in comparance. 

I'm still running NiHm, I will look into a 8,4v pack if the new motor doesn't help, I just need to make it slightly more lively.  

I crashed into a lot of plants too, I blame the tamiya esc for that,   


 

[Aerobert]

11 hours ago, Ferruz said:

I'll be turning 40 tomorrow

Happy Birthday! 🥳

[Mouc-RC]

Some would say I have a problem with RC tires. Might be, but otherwise I couldn't have done all these tire variations:

Dirt Rover?