Return Of The Sand Scorcher

[WillyChang 1814]

was it a big A4 sized mag or a smaller A5 sized B&W thing...

RCMC was the bigger one and "Radio Race Car" was the smaller one in its early days i think

i remember reading about the Hilux reviewed in the smaller rag

[Snakehands 124]

Willy, my memory is telling me it was A4, glossy and that the featured SS was box art. But the old memory is probably playing trick. There can't have been too many glossy RC mag back then, surely?

[dazaa 0]

WOW I love stories like this. Lukilly for me I havn't sold any of my cars(yet) because I know I will regret it afterwards. I used a dremel(genuine) with the polisher and some auto sol to clean up my super champ gear cases. They didnt come out to good because I couldnt get the polisher in to all the corners but Im sure with the rubber attachment and some of the polishing compound followed by fine wet and dry to remove any scratches they would come up lovely. Sorry can't help with any parts as I only have super champ bits. I cannot belive you didn't buy it first time though...even just for old time sakes. I really like that thundershot, any chance its for sale? I have been after a total wreck for ages but have never found one in such nice condition, by that I mean smashed up as I seem to collect wrecked cars

I say clean up the chasis, paint a new body in the same colours as your original and shelf it forever.....

Let me know about the thundershot.

dazaa

[Snakehands 124]

dazaa, thanks for the feedback on the Dremel. Definitely going to put this SS on a shelf, but not before its been videoed churning the sand on a beach somewhere.

Drop me a PM with an offer for the Thundershot. Not the prettiest buggy Tamiya ever produced it has to be said.

[Live Steam Mad 17]

27 years later you can buy a better quality basic radio for 30.

...with less range due to 100mW output instead of 500mW ... EU regulations

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[terry.sc 16]

...with less range due to 100mW output instead of 500mW ... EU regulations

Also meaning narrow band radios so we can reliably use all 12 27mhz and 30 40mhz frequencies reliably and with less interference problems

The old radios threw out all sorts of spurious signals so you got interference from anyone using the frequencies next to yours.

How much more range do you want, at Ainsdale we've driven buggies all the way to the sea while standing in the car park with modern radios.

[dazaa 0]

dazaa, thanks for the feedback on the Dremel. Definitely going to put this SS on a shelf, but not before its been videoed churning the sand on a beach somewhere.

Drop me a PM with an offer for the Thundershot. Not the prettiest buggy Tamiya ever produced it has to be said.

PM sent. I find that the old much nicer looking radio's perform much better than the new acoms stuff. Still need to try my mk111 made in japan, possibly the only one ever made? And it might be the one in a million that won't work

dazaa

[Snakehands 124]

Morning all

Here's a picture of the Txs I have:

The one on the left is the original one I bought for the SS. It is only a 6 cell, and I well remember how the red power light would dim very quickly as the batteries were annihilated.

On the right is the one that came with the ThunderShot.

[Live Steam Mad 17]

Morning all

Here's a picture of the Txs I have:

The one on the left is the original one I bought for the SS. It is only a 6 cell, and I well remember how the red power light would dim very quickly as the batteries were annihilated.

On the right is the one that came with the ThunderShot.

I have both of those and they last well over 3 hours with no sign of dimming on the LED on the one on the left, and without the battery meter going down for the one on the right, this being on Vapex 2700mAh cells. Those Zinc Carbon cells must have been really ****!

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Snakehands 124]

Just tested the MkIII with what is left of the ThunderShot and it works fine. Actually, the Thundershot worked fine, even with just three wheels!

[Snakehands 124]

Hi all

Just finished rebuilding the chassis today:

Still a long way to go.

[Snakehands 124]

BTW, are the Blitzer and Monster Beetles' sunroofs compatible with the Scorcher?

[Live Steam Mad 17]

BTW, are the Blitzer and Monster Beetles' sunroofs compatible with the Scorcher?

Yes. I used a Monster Beetle (MB) sunroof from a NIP MB parts tree to bond into my original white Styrene shelled Scorcher (my poorer one not my best SS LOL). Use Epoxy if you ever want to be able to get it off again (and you'll have a badword of a job getting it off LOL, so maybe use only a few drops of it if you ever want to be able to remove the sunroof again) or use the normal Styrene cement otherwise.

Blitzer sunroof has a hole in it which will need to be filled. Also, BB and MB roofs are soft Styrene compared to the very hard Styrene of the white SS shell.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[krate-mayhem 0]

Hi all wow Snakehands your Sand Scorcher looks great I need to work on one of my cars you have motavatied me thanks.

[loaded 4]

Nice to see this project going well,

Just so you know, I was skiing for a couple of weeks, but I am back now and posted the complete nose cone pack, as promised. Contains one set of wipers, one set of chrome light inserts and VW badge and the Blitzer Beetle mask (nose cone) which is probably not needed, but is in the pack anyway.

Keep us posted on the outcome, this is a nice story!

Keep well,

Paul.

[Snakehands 124]

Paul that's really awesome, mate, thanks!

Hope you had a good time skiing. I've been known to do a bit of that too.

[Snakehands 124]

A couple of pictures by way of an update:

The paint job is far from perfect, but it will do.

One question: whats the bast method of painting the door rubbers and seams?

[Dephcon5 2]

A couple of pictures by way of an update:

The paint job is far from perfect, but it will do.

One question: whats the bast method of painting the door rubbers and seams?

seams are sometimes done with a fine sharpie pen or just left alone.

Anything more than that and you will have to mask it again and spray with TS flat black (at least that's what I did)

[Snakehands 124]

Just a quick update. Added sunroof, windows and painted nose and said sunroof.

[bugjammer 2]

that is just perfect - and a lovely story behind it too

[Singapore_959 18]

Very cool & great story.

BTW, you have (unknowingly?) joined the infamous TC school of taking photos of cars on kitchen cookers!

It's a long running subculture!

[slither302 0]

great story and nice work in restoring a tresure from your past

[Snakehands 124]

Added repro decals and fake number plates.

One annoying thing though, the white lettering has faded. I used a paint pen, it took ages and now I'll have to do it all over again. Anyone else had this problem?

[Live Steam Mad 17]

Added repro decals and fake number plates.

One annoying thing though, the white lettering has faded. I used a paint pen, it took ages and now I'll have to do it all over again. Anyone else had this problem?

Did you use a white Sharpie brand Poster Paint pen ? As a friend told me they were the best for doing the tyre lettering with and I bought one based on this but haven't used it yet.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

[Wrecked 1]

Snake, I think you have done a great job restoring this old car, and Im still amazed by the story. Assuming you got hooked by this hobby, whats your next project?