The Official Tamiyaclub.com 2012 Event - 4 DAYS TO GO!

[volksrod68]

Yearly would be perfect!

[Singleseven]

If TC made a regular yearly event i would be there for sure, work just got in the way this time, but enjoying reading about it and watching the movies.

+1

[30YrsL8r]

Oh, the regret! I intended to do a lot of things before attending the event:

Finish building my runner, so that I could actually take part: failed

Finish the restoration of my Sand Scorcher so that I would have something to show off: failed

Finish my Scorcher interior project and run off a few copies so that I would have something to sell: failed

Go through my parts and make a list of all the bits I still needed for my cars: failed

Organise a camp site so that I could stay over and attend both days: failed

Convince my son to practice his driving so that he would feel he could hold his own against other runners: failed

About the only thing I did right was buy a ticket and get us there (a bit late) on the day, but I'm glad I did; we had a great time. Although we brought my lad's car, he had no intention of running it because he didn't think we would be good enough. After watching a few "races" he changed his mind, but now he wasn't having a go because he felt his car was too good We borrowed the Band 90 peg a couple of times and ran it in the car park instead....

There was a great selection of stuff to buy, and I got a pair of SRB gearbox covers from netsmithUK (could have spent a lot more on the stuff in your boxes, but I knew what my wife would say) and drivers head/spotlight set from another seller (sorry, didn't ask for ID) for my runner. We also bought a couple of RX/TX pairs, a 27Mhz one for my son (who now prefers the wheel to the stick) and a 2.4Ghz for me to play with (no joy getting it working yet, mr nice, but at £3 it was worth a try).

After our first car park run, my son's TB-02 lost a drive shaft, but I picked up a spare chassis from [sorry - no name again] for £3 with plenty of spares on and we got back out for another run later on (during which, believe it or not, I found the missing dog-bone). The running repair needed a Tamiya tool, so I took netsmithUK up on his "one for 50p or ten for free" offer. I now have a dozen of the things - I hope they don't multiply.

Whilst we weren't big spenders on the day, we easily could have been - it was very tempting. Unfortunately, until I get my projects moved forward, I'm not allowed any more. Had I known earlier in the day that netsmithUK had a £20 ready-to-go mini, and what fun the mini race would be, I'd have had to buy it, however.

The racing was excellent. I didn't know what to expect, but the formality of the races had been played down on the forum in the run up to the weekend, so I knew it wouldn't be too full on. It was carnage! It looked a great deal of fun for the drivers, even if many of the cars suffered. The marshalls were running around like hardworking headless chickens and a good deal of audience participation was required to a) dodge incoming vehicles and put them back on the track. Some of the smashes, crashes and dodgy landings made me wince.

Each of the races had its own character. I particularly liked the mini race. Whilst a few of the cars took to the ramps, it was mostly confined to the tarmac. They seemed quite evenly matched and required some skill to overtake. By this point the track was made a bit more permanent (with the addition of the 1:1 car wheels on the corners, plus the minis couldn't drive over the fire hose), so there was less cheating

The drift race was interesting, with the scoobies doing an excellent job of balancing drift with racing. There was one car that looked like it was driving on ice, though - it must have been almost uncontrollable! My son would like a set of drift tyres to give that a go.

The police car caught my eye early in the day, as it sat under the table with its lights flashing. There was a toddler at the event that was very taken with it too Seeing it drive round the circuit with the other scale cars, almost all of which were being driven quite gingerly, made a change from the mayhem of the other races and gave me a chance to appreciate the detail on these scalers.

The big rig was excellent, with its great sound effects and lights. I was amazed when a young boy sat on the rearmost trailer and the truck happily drove off with him on the back!

My son was very taken with "Erica", which turned out to be a Tam Tech-Gear Desert Gator. Some research has shown that they're not that easy to come by, but we'll see. He's convinced he wants a buggy, though, and would prefer something on the scale of the GB-01. He's run so many packs through his TB-02 since we got back on Saturday evening that I'm starting to think he's getting serious about RC. He even asked where our local club is (though I imagine he thinks it's run like the TC meet was).

The Lunch Box race was awesome!

The glitch with the hot food didn't spoil anything for us - we had things to do and watch while we waited. When it did arrive, it really hit the spot. Everyone involved had clearly put a lot of effort into the event, so well done to them. I was expecting a slightly less Heath Robinson circuit, but it got better over the course of the day and, I suspect, was better on the Sunday. Of course, I wasn't running anything so I'm only speaking as a spectator, not a driver.

If I have a suggestion for the next event (which I'll attend, if at all possible), it would be to have sticky labels with our TC/real names on. There are contributors to the forums that I've exchanged ideas/advice with and it's a shame that they could have been at the event, but I didn't know it. I relaise that people will know each other from their local clubs or from previous events, but I haven't been to either and putting faces to names would be good.

Oh, and I didn't get a car sticker, either!

In summary: great event, looking forward to next year.

[mikeekim]

I'd be there if it was yearly too, I had a great time

[ducatikid]

Would definitely be up for a yearly meet, and 30YrsL8r suggestion of name labels would be a great idea.

Lee

[simondo]

I would just like to say thanks to Chris for organizing such a great event :-)

I came down on the Sunday and really enjoyed it.

Managed to break a couple of my cars (Frog, Terra Scorcher), but my Blitzer Falcon survived the distance :-)

My only regret was not getting much chance to chat with people and putting a few faces to user names.

I would definetly be up for a yearly bash, and would hopefully be in a position to give a bit of help.

Thanks again to everyone for a great Sunday.

[netsmithUK]

Thanks to all those that have filled in the questionnaire so far. Its only gone out to those that bought tickets in advance at the moment so I understand there is a bias towards those that are 'mad keen' to go to these events. I'll open it up to others shortly. If you havn't filled it in yet, it would be great if you could, already its really helping. (It goes without saying I won't share your personal answers specifically with anyone) Once we have a few more I'll post some aggregated answers.

Just to give some of the thought process behind this, based on a few of the points raised so far:

"Location should move around the country to be fair to all"

I'd love to but one of the biggest hurdles with setting up these events is finding a venue. It takes ages, checking places out, talking money with them, discussing facilities, insurance etc. etc. If people want to do some of that preliminary work for me and suggest places that they've already checked out we could maybe look at it. That said, once you find somewhere and you know how they operate, what the facilities are etc it is much much easier to go back there again rather than move the whole show somewhere else. For me organising it Chilwell had a lots of pluses, I had to visit the location about 5 times before hand, it meant I could provide food, get friends and family to help and also 'build' a track. I don't think any of those things would have been possible anywhere else not in the east midlands (which just happens to be really central) That said I did get a few leads that Kidderminster may have become an option again which I'll follow up.

"The indoor/Outdoor thing"

I know those attending are quite a resilient lot, but running outdoor is a massive risk to the event. Any number of weekends this year would have meant it was a complete washout, not just damp but torrential. Thats a massive concern for me when lots of people are paying good money and travelling a long way to go to these things. Imagine what it would be like, driving 3 hrs to arrive and no-one was racing and no-one was trading. The ideal for me would be a proper indoor offroad track. We actually had loads of outdoor space at the event this weekend which I thought we could use but the problem was once everyone was set up indoors, no one wants to a)move all their or b)leave all their stuff on their tables while they go outside. If when we first got there at 5am on Saturday morning it had been guaranteed great weather for the whole weekend I would have set up outside completely. As it was it was raining when we arrived.

BTW not saying I got all of this right, just running you through some of the thought processes.

Cheers

Chris

[netsmithUK]

BTW if you did go to the event but didn't buy your tickets in advance DM me and I'll send you the questionnaire link.

[igbandy]

Chris I dont seem to of had the questionaire.

[netsmithUK]

PM'd you the link

[netsmithUK]

On another note, the blue tubing and filled firemans hose is now ours, kindly donated by the West Bridgford Modelling Club (who I can't thank enough) They are also going to let me have even more of the blue stuff. Even though it was a bit unruly at times the blue tubing is fantastic for marking out courses on grass where it can be pinned down through the irrigation holes in it. Unfortunately you can't do that on concrete.

What think my first experience of track building for a TC meet has taught me is - based on the 'quality' of driving on display - the route has to be fixed down and secure as it takes a real bashing. The idea of putting down anything loose to mark a course and for people to avoid hitting it, is not going to work.

[wolfdogstinkus]

What think my first experience of track building for a TC meet has taught me is - based on the 'quality' of driving on display - the route has to be fixed down and secure as it takes a real bashing. The idea of putting down anything loose to mark a course and for people to avoid hitting it, is not going to work.

That's true, I was thinking about setting up a temporary track, I have a few cones that came with a mini football but they would be expensive in large quantities, then I found these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200655576821?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 which like you say be fine on grass but on concrete they would serve as a ramp and the cars would be flying all over the place or they would just get pushed around.

The blue tubing was great, it helped me around the corner quite alot, and it doesn't damage your car when you hit it, same with the hose, but it would be good to have surplus available to the club so that people could set up another track while everyone else is busy.

The weather was good on Saturday and I would have been happy to set up another track outside, there was loads of space and the cars I had didn't fit in to the races that were arranged, I only really used the open track and at times that was chaotic.

I still had a great time anyway, but it was a shame to have all that space outside and not use it.

[netsmithUK]

I think using the extra space comes down to just not having enough people 'officially' helping and no easy way to announce to everyone what the plans and options were. Next time where ever the venue is I will try and establish a team of members to help in plenty of time (featuring some locals to whatever area it is) Those involved though will need to understand that it does require a lot of time which will severely eat into your 'having fun' time at the event.

Just transporting the 'track' we had was a full freelander and estates worth. (and thats not taking anything else in the car like people or models to actually run) If the track we bigger we would need even more. Thats the biggest reason I see for the next venue being one with a dedicated track. It makes life much easier. Likewise having a burger van on site is another good thing. There was supposed to be one there this weekend but at the last minute they pulled out, so the tuck shop was thrown together at the last minute - thats another thing I'd sooner not have to think about next time.

Chris

[wolfdogstinkus]

Fair enough, thats what got me thinking about the track, something that could be easily laid out and transported.

Anyway I was happy with what was there, I am not complaining at all, just trying to think of ways to improve what was allready an enjoyable day.

[netsmithUK]

no worries - never took it that way. All feedback is welcome as its easy to tell everyone wants to make it better.

[tamiya monkey]

I have loads of flexible conduit myself, get it from work. so for next years event i would be more than happy to bring it all down to help build indoor/outdoor tracks. gutted i missed this one.

[Mad Ax]

Sorry it's taken me a while to post any feedback but it's been a mad couple of weeks with work and family problems, I'm only glad I managed to persuade both my family and myself to allow me to escape from the madness for a day and have some fun. And what fun it was!!

Huge thanks to Netsmith and the family for putting on this awesome event and all the food too.

Personally I'm glad we stayed indoors - the sun was very strong and I haven't had the opportunity to see much of it this year, I think I'd have suffered if I was trading outdoors all day. A venue like that which allows us to set up our pit and trading tables indoors would really suit me well and means we can run any time of year, regardless of the weather.

The track surface was a big uneven in places for touring cars and drifters - I got some small cracks on my Primera shell from the concrete lips (I'm not at all upset, my rule is not to run anything I can't bear to break) - but everything else ran just great. Some people were saying the track was a bit small but IMO it was perfect for most of the things people were running. I had tremendous fun in all the races and wandering around chatting to all the people I met, sorry I didn't get everyone's names or introduce myself fully.

Trade-wise it was a massive success for me - I didn't sell everything but I sold enough to lighten the journey home, took enough money to buy a few things I wanted and still went home with more cash than I arrived with (not including fuel, tickets, t-shirts, food etc... - but don't tell the missus!!) Got myself a near-complete SRB chassis with front and rear axles and gearbox - pretty much exactly what I've been after for an age for a new project - plus some NIB aftermarket wheels and tyres, all for a bargain price from Chris, and an awesome Kyosho Mantis with a neat Chevy shell for peanuts from Belly. Not quite sure what I'm going to do with the Mantis yet - I cleaned up the shell and put it on the shelf on Sunday evening but fitting the wheels I had planned is going to involve quite a lot of custom fabrication, and I'm not sure I really want to start chopping up something if it's not easy to get spares for. Will have to research a bit. But I digress!

Was a 350 mile round trip for me, as I had to go from Bristol via Swindon to pick up Bag of Badgers, and **** near 7 hours on the road in one day. That was all on 4 hours sleep, as I didn't finish loading the car and charging LiPos until midnight. Next year I'll definitely consider staying over and making it a two-dayer, mostly so I don't have so much driving to do in one day, and also so I don't pressure myself to leave so early in the morning. I'm not good at 5am starts any more.

One final apology - when I arrived I temporarily loaded stuff onto the empty table next to mine while I got my trade area sorted out. When nobody else claimed the table after the morning got going I sort of accidentally on purpose spread out onto it and ended up with one sale table and one pit table. I'm not sure if that was in the spirit of things but between two of us we brought far too much stuff and couldn't keep it all under control! If we do the same venue next year I'll try to bring some additional collapsible tables so we can increase our trade area without having to compromise our pit area.

[netsmithUK]

Glad it wasn't only me that thought I was selling bargains. If I'd have sold that much stuff for markets rates 8 years ago I would have been flying home in my private helicopter. Was scary at first parting with some of it but at the end of the day I just figured it would only go back in my loft and what would be the point of that - better to pass it on. BTW if anyone feels they missed out I still have a surprising amount of stuff left for next time.

I must admit too I didn't think the track was too small for what we were running. I can see how anyone coming in from being used to running on a proper track with very big or fast cars could see it that way though - so point taken will try something bigger next time.

This was the first event I didn't take any pictures at all, thats a sign of how busy i was. That said I got a few moments of video I'll upload later on.

Cheers

Chris

[wolfdogstinkus]

I thought the track was fine for silver can cars, but a bit small for me with my 9t brushless sand rover and also my bad driving. It was still great fun and good practise rather than my usual car park straight line bashing. But then my only other experience was at Snetterton so my standards were set high.

I bought a bargain kamtec scorcher shell from you Netsmith, the Mrs didn't give me a lot of money so I was on the hunt for bargains. Been after one of them for ages.

[mikeekim]

Here's some highlights of the wild willy race my bro caught on film

[netsmithUK]

To help with the search for a venue for the next event, I've started a new thread

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=67766

I encourage anyone that knows of any great tracks to post to the thread - I've started the ball rolling with one I found jus tthis morning

[bids32]

Just like to say i had great time at the TC event last weekend. It was my first time at a track and im hooked now. Its a shame that alot of clubs dont cater for Tamiya cars as im not really interested in 1/8 rally cross or touring cars. I spoke to a few members at the event (sorry i didnt get any names) and everyone was really friendly. I never heard a single complaint over the weekend. Big thanks to Chris and his team of helpers for a fantastic weekend. The wife said it was worth the 150 mile trip for the coffee cakes. Anyway, there was a guy on one of the stalls selling a couple of Hotshots. I was going to buy one on sunday afternoon but by the time i had decided to get one the guy had gone. If anyone knows who he is and he still has them could you let him know i still want one. Cheers.

[mikeekim]

Just uploaded a couple of videos to YouTube, both the same one which has a soundtrack and will play on some machines,

And this one will play on mobile devices etc,

Let me know what you think

Cheers

Mike

[JWeston]

Just like to say i had great time at the TC event last weekend. It was my first time at a track and im hooked now. Its a shame that alot of clubs dont cater for Tamiya cars as im not really interested in 1/8 rally cross or touring cars. I spoke to a few members at the event (sorry i didnt get any names) and everyone was really friendly. I never heard a single complaint over the weekend. Big thanks to Chris and his team of helpers for a fantastic weekend. The wife said it was worth the 150 mile trip for the coffee cakes. Anyway, there was a guy on one of the stalls selling a couple of Hotshots. I was going to buy one on sunday afternoon but by the time i had decided to get one the guy had gone. If anyone knows who he is and he still has them could you let him know i still want one. Cheers.

It was buggymuncher and I think he still had them when packing up. J

[wolfdogstinkus]

I would like to say thanks to Fusion hobbies for the generous donation of a kit for this event, I didn't actually buy any tickets so had no chance of winning but what a great thing for a small company to do.