TT-01E BMW Z4 Miku Hatsune Studie Glad

[GregM]

After driving my brother's 1/10 Porsche (on some Carson 4WD touring car chassis) last summer, I got the idea of getting my own on-road R/C.
But I didn't want it to have a regular body, it had to be something special. At first, I was looking for a Toyota AE86 body (HPI) or an Audi Quattro (Carson). However, I wasn't even sure what chassis to use, since I don't have intentions to take the car to races.

Eventually, I bought the TT-01E BMW Z4 in Miku Hatsune livery. This is the first time I got a factory assembled (XB/RTR) car instead of a kit. But on the one hand, that body would have been a nightmare to finish (take a close look at all these decals), and on the other hand the price was just right, as my hobby shop made a special offer for the RTR that was just slightly more expensive than the kit version.

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What should I say, I don't regret anything! The quality of the assembly is awesome. No excess left on plastic parts, grease is properly applied and all screws are mounted properly (some screws on metal parts have been even treated with mild threadlock, as the motor mount screws and the pinion grub screw). As I saw the finished body (that features a light unit and lights), I just thought "WOW!". It looks just that realistic, and all decals have been just done right.

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For hop-ups, I replaced all the plastic bushings with ball bearings (including steering linkage) and installed CVA oil dampers with ball heads. Especially the ball heads did reduce the slop in the suspension arms to a minimum. The slick tires do a good job on the tarmac using the silver can motor. And with a body like that, you don't want to use more power at first. Still, the top speed is enough for me and makes the car behave pretty realistic.


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The transmitter supplied in the RTR box ist the Tamiya 2-channel Finespec FM. Nothing special to talk about - it has trim, channel reverse and some sort of optional "beginner mode" with reduced top speed, but no end point adjustment for the steering servo. Servo, electronic speed controller and radio gear come preadjusted. As I am used to 2.4G radio gear, I had to learn the disadvantages of FM radio gear - NEVER turn the transmitter off BEFORE you have turned off your car. Or it is likely to go insane.

If I ever want to put a hotter motor into that car (or get into competition with my brother's Porsche), I will get a different bodyset for bashing... hm, how about a Lamborghini Countach? I think, I should then also upgrade the central driveshaft from plastic to aluminium.

I hope you all enjoy the pictures I made today!

[speedy_w_beans]

Nice car! The bearings and CVAs are great upgrades from nylon bushings and fake dampers. An aluminum prop shaft, a steel pinion, and maybe a metal motor mount would make sense when you upgrade to a faster motor.

-Paul

[GregM]

Thanks for the advice. I forgot to mention that I've also replaced the aluminium pinion for a 19T mod.0.6 steel pinion right from the start.

The pictures have been taken at the "Tempelhofer Freiheit" park, the former Berlin-Tempelhof airport where the allies from the UK, the US and France provided West-Berlin with food and other supplies during the early years of the cold war in 1948/1949. Click here for a map of that place: http://maps.google.de/maps?q=Tempelhofer+F...mp;t=h&z=15

[Tamiya Era]

Amazing purchase and amazing body with this sexy manga

[speedy_w_beans]

Thanks for the advice. I forgot to mention that I've also replaced the aluminium pinion for a 19T mod.0.6 steel pinion right from the start.

The pictures have been taken at the "Tempelhofer Freiheit" park, the former Berlin-Tempelhof airport where the allies from the UK, the US and France provided West-Berlin with food and other supplies during the early years of the cold war in 1948/1949. Click here for a map of that place: http://maps.google.de/maps?q=Tempelhofer+F...mp;t=h&z=15

That air strip looks like a great place for speed runs (in an isolated section) or for general driving. How flat and consistent is the pavement? Are those people rollerblading in the background? Do you have any areas for running buggies or other off-road vehicles?

I'm really fortunate to have a park dedicated to hobbies close to my house; it's here: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Hobby+Park,+...mp;t=h&z=18.

The local RC airplane club maintains the scale airstrip and control line plane strips. There's a soap box derby car hill to the far left. The map doesn't show it currently, but where the dirt is all exposed in the bottom right there is now a public track for buggies, short course trucks, etc. The only thing missing is a dedicated area for on-road cars, but parking lots and other locations are fine for that. The field itself has some sections good for monster trucks like a HPI Savage.

-Paul

[GregM]

On both starting lanes, the pavement is fairly even, but it's not as even as racetracks for sure. The photos speak for themself. So I'm happy that the body and car I use has a good ground clearance and won't touch the ground in any situation.

The narrower lanes on the outer sides however are not that even and there are many small pebbles, so they're more ideal for rally cars, I think.

The rest of the airport is mostly grass field. There are two small sand hills in southeast standing together, which is nice for some offroad fun, but that's about it.

On sunny days, especially at weekends in the afternoon, there are a lot of people coming by, but there are enough places where you could even drive nitros without getting pedestriants annoyed.

I still wish to have a proper offroad track nearby.

[Kevin_Mc]

I really like the look of that, looks like you got a good deal

You'd never be able to get decals like that, I know I wouldn't.

[GregM]

Thank you very much!

For those who don't know about Miku Hatsune: Her origins are from a singing synthesizer program called Vocaloid made by Yamaha. In the recent years, Miku has become something like a virtual idol and is not only popular in Japan, but also amongst fans of manga and Japanese culture worldwide.

The original Hatsune Miku Studie Glad BMW Z4 E86 took part in the Japanese Super GT racing series in 2008.

[speedy_w_beans]

There was a post about the Vocaloid keyboard on Engadget just a few days ago. The video demonstrates how it works: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/21/yamaha-vocaloid-keyboard/

-Paul

[GregM]

I've got the TT01 Type E alum. propeller - shaft & joint set. The shaft can move lengthwise between the cups. I wonder if It is advisable to use o-rings or small springs in the cups to stop the shaft from having to much longitudinal movement?

[speedy_w_beans]

I wouldn't worry about it. The TT01R Type E manual doesn't show any O-rings in the joints.

[GregM]

Thanks! I'm just about to finish decaling the runner body (white BMW Z4 Werksteam, see Tamiya's product picture above). Oh boy, some decals are so hard to get right, sometimes I wish I would just have bought a factory-finish Werksteam bodyshell instead (which isn't available anyway). At least this process is good for developing skills in masking and decorating.

[dyahipfakta]

I have been looking for a z4 Cabrio before was going to paint it up to look like my real one but not had any luck both those shells look real smart though

[Psylence]

I find myself compelled to purchase this kit. The stickers are mesmerizing, although I'll surely be reduced to fits of twitching and rage when it comes time to apply them all.

[GregM]

I surely almost had the rage with some of the Z4 Werksteam decals. The front bonnet stripes seem to be designed far too short to get in line with the side mirror stripes. Talking about side mirrors: If somebody wants them to look perfect, one would better brush paint them instead of using decals. Other Tamiyas I built at least had overlapping stripes (Hornet, Holiday Buggy), which are more friendly to apply.

Today was the first run with the new Werksteam bodyshell. This time I was more corageous to use full throttle, and I think I might have overestimated the power of the silvercan motor in my memories. The acceleration is fine, but the top speed is lacking on long straights. However, before changing the motor, I would like to do a head-to-head race with an equally powered car. Time to get brother's Porsche out of maintenance.

The TT-01E likes to suck small stones up like a vaccuum cleaner. They get trapped in the chassis tub, but they won't do much damage thanks to the sealed gears. That shiny alloy central shaft however won't be so pristine for long. This may be fine for a car park racer, but rallying on dirt? No way.

Slight drifting with the stock tires on slippy (very smooth) surfaces was fun. I think a set of dedicated drift wheels would be a worthy investment. I'm used to 2WD buggys with brushless motors, so it was refreshing to see how tame and controllable the TT-01E steers on grippy tarmac even on full speed, without the fear of rollovers.

This time I'm using proper 2.4 GHz radio gear. Even if the antenna doesn't peek out of the bodyshell, I get a quite decent radio range. The original FM radio gear has been donated to the son of a friend, which helps him getting started into Tamiya R/C inexpensively. With a 4500 NiMH racing pack, the runtime is more than 40 minutes - I ended the run before the battery was completely discharged. If the weather stays dry till the sun sets, I will take the car out another time to get some shots of the Eagle Racing Drift light kit.

[GregM]

New pics, this time with light kit and some action in the setting sun.

The Eagle Racing Drift Light kit works similar as the 3Racing Light Kit, apart from some functions swapped to different sockets and one unique light function. I've set up the light unit to have the main beam light (outer and inner front lights combined at full luminance) on only if the car is moving forward. In standstill, only the dim light (outer front lights) is glowing at half luminance. There are also rear lights, brake lights, reverse lights and indicators. I'm really amazed all these lights work correct once you've managed to set them up, which isn't that easy as the Eagle Racing manual is available in moon language only (but there are at least some graphical hints hidden in function charts). The light unit connects to the servo/throttle channels of the receiver with Y-leads.

Some receiver/ESC combinations have been reported to have trouble with the Eagle Racing Drift light kit. I'm using a Carson Reflex Pro2 (BEC, 2.4GHz) receiver with a Tamiya TEU-104BK, and thankfully they cooperate excellent.