Percymon's 4th Anniversary thread

[Percymon]

Good golly, another year has flown by - so a summary thread of twelve months of my labours as my TamiyaClub 4th anniversary approaches..

Third anniversary thread is here if anyone wants to catch up lol! http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=71546&hl=year

So what about those outstanding projects ?

1. Super Champ restoration (from year 2 )

2. Kyosho Progress restoration (from year 2)

3. Kyosho Gallop Mk 1 restoration (from year 2)

4. NDF-01 project (this appeared in year 1 !)

Super Champ will definitely be my winter 14/15 resto - with the recent Super Fighter re-release I'm now not precious about this one - I have pargu alloy chassis plates as well as the originals - I just need to decide which way to go, but the original body will stay in its current non box-art finish. Should be an easy project in that case.

Kyosho Progress will be another winter 14/15 resto - I have the parts, it just needs a strip, clean, rebuild and a new body set from *****.

The Gallop Mk1 is pretty good as is actually, a ''back burner'' cleaning project really, nothing more than a bit of dust removal and regrease required

And the NDF-01 ? - I think the best thing to do with this is build it back up and sell it, I doubt I'll ever get round to a electric conversion !

Now, this part will be a good test of my memory ; so much for vowing to not buy many new items last anniversary

Firstly, the left overs from year 3..

> Kyosho Optima - the chassis is restored, the body cut but I've still to decide on a paint scheme - I'm hopeless at this aspect

> DF-01 - this was destined to be a Terra Conqueror but ended up as a sort of Blazing Star once decals were added, then sold on to biggamehunter

> Nichimo 1/12th pan car - I tried to fit some Tamtech wheels to the rebuilt chassis but failed, so it will retain the originals - the Kremer Porsche ***** body is still to be cut and painted. I was planning to do a multitone blue scheme, but I dropped an order for parts to Seidel a few months back, and managed to get the Tamtech Martini decals at the same time. Makes the paint job easy - plain white !

> The DT-02 chassis was built into a Sand Viper 'challenge' racer with input from those in the know here (super gripper / qatmix) - I never got to run it, and was recently sold to TC member Jedward who will give it regular exercise at the race track

And on to new items..

starting with new purchases, still sat NIB, in no particular order..

> Madbull

> Egress 2013

> Mountain Rider - Mountaineer rere

> Kyosho Scorpion

> M-05 Fiat Abarth 1000TCR

> DT-03 Neo Fighter

New kits bought and either built or in build progress..

> DT-03 Neo Fighter - 2nd kit, hopped up with all avaialble options including TRF shocks !..

TRF801XT - too good to miss at TamiyaUSA prices, and a big thanks to speedy_w_beans for acting as middle man to get it across the Atlantic to me. Chassis built, shell now painted, just the Tekin RX8 / 1900kV combo to drag off the shelf and into the chassis.

> CR-01 Toyota FJ40 - finished and running…

… really enjoyed the build - so much so that with the leftover parts (and another £100 worth of new ones) I've now built a second chassis ..

.. to which a Unimog bodyset awaits some paint.

> CPE Clod Buster - part of the reason for buying the 'Rainbow Warrior' was to get the tyres to enable a mod Clod build - it didn't quite work out that way, but this 'little project' has made progress (although it's currently stalled waiting for me to decide on who's steering linkages to buy). New chrome wheels and tyres are at the ready, again I need to decide on a body and paint

>Axial Wraith - spent too much time reading rccrawler forum again - end result was looking for a Wraith at a decent price. Ended up with a new kit version from German eBay for £240 delivered, then threw another £350+ at it in Vanquish / Hot Racing upgrades for a rather non crawler outcome..

Also ticking along slowly in the background over the last 6 months has been a TL-01 build - all new parts from Banzai, with the aim to build up another drifter. Chassis is complete, a S15 bodyshell was painted last week and light kit installed. Just need to decide whether to bother with an interior or just smoke the windows, mount the body and set it up.

Toyota Hilux High Lift - current project to be built up over the winter months. I've managed to get the body painted before the winter weather sets in, so I can while away the winter nights on the chassis build..

On to used items, rebuilt / restored..

> TRF501X - bought from ebay for £55

spent £60 on parts from BanzaiHobby and its now pretty respectable..

> DF-03 - another ebay buy, thankfully , given the state of the gearcase, it only cost £35...

It got the full strip down, deep clean, Banzai spares/hop-ups treatment , a repainted shell and I dyed the wheels a darker orange for more impact..

> Hotshot2 the only 'shot I'd not owned, and eBay came up trumps again - the original body was in great condition, but it needed a new chassis tub, cage, bumper and a set of Egress wheels/tyres to finish it off..

> Boomerang - yes, Sod's Law strikes again - I sold the last restoration in frustration to biggamehunter after waiting months for new decals to finish it off. A week after that the decals arrived, so I kept an eye out for another Boomer - eBay came up trumps pretty quickly but this one needed a fair few parts to make it good. I've just finished painting and decalling the body, and added a new bumper, so this one is 95% done.

> The Rainbow Warrior - I bought this predominantly for the tyres, but on arrival the shell was pretty sound and I had enough new spares to warrant turning it around. A thorough paint strip, degrease, and rebuild with Traxxas shocks, new Bullhead chassis tub, new chrome work plus new glass and some super clodBuster decals ensued.. it's now residing with SteveU30 who's giving it some exercise and quite a few more upgrades

> Twin Detonator - a local buy (within 5 miles), bought as a little project to just tidy up and sell on - it took a new set of gears, a full strip/clean/rebuild and a few little parts to smarten it up, but a nice little project overall and £20 profit to boot !

> TL-01 Drifter - this came with the Twin Detonator, it had almost every chassis part replaced, an upgraded motor, plus a set of +9mm offset wheels and drift tyres. the HPI 200mm body was cleaned and treated to some tinted windows and new decals..made £25 profit on this one ! (moral of the story... buy local , sell on ebay lol! )

> M-03 Mini Cooper - a used chassis bought on TC, a nice project replacing lots of the parts and making it a M-05 with quite a few hop-ups. I treated this one to a Colt Fiat Abarth shell (allowing me to keep the Tamiya 1000TCR Abarth kit NIB)..

> Midnight Pumpkin - an ebay buy, which has been split in two ..

the original chassis is an ongoing project waiting some styrene fabrication...

The body was stripped, repaired and repainted mica red, and dropped onto a new ''limited edition'' white chassis with shocks etc as a custom pumpkin with red plated wheels - recently sold via eBay..

> Axial EXO Terra buggy - bought from a TC member in a disassembled state but with limited mileage. The deal included brand new bodyset, Axial AE-3 ESC and Vanguard 2900kV motor so was a very good buy. I rebuilt it with some Boom Racing piggyback shocks, painted the body panels PS-16 metallic blue and white, and then it sold on before I had chance to exercise it..

> Terra Scorcher - another one bought from ebay; it came with a load of extra wheels, charger, radio gear , a couple of year books and a pair of hi-caps. Its taken quite a few new parts to get it to this stage, but I have original decals to go onto a ***** bodyset when I get round to it. Overall, after selling off the ancillaries, it will work out OK money wise,

> TA-02T PreRunner - another ebay buy, again with extras - the chassis was in excellent condition on arrival but the body was very poorly painted (3 times !) so it received a rebuild and a re-re Ford F-150 baja bodyset. Sold to another TC member..

> Avante to Magenta Black Special - a used chassis from ddaeden1..

.. a thorough clean and rebuild with new Black Special bodyset, wheels and hybrid spike tyres ended with this…

.. painted with magenta black airbrush paint - hence AMBS Avante Magenta Black Special. Recently sold to biggamehunter along with an Avante 2001 from year 2's activity.

> A second Blazing Star was bought on eBay, cleaned and rebuilt with new wheels and decals - sold to biggamehunter (Shaun's a good customer lol! )

> Marui Samurai - bought from eBay; it needed too much work, so resold it at a nice £20 profit

> Kyosho Pegasus ? - picked this chassis up locally for something silly like £8 - it now has a new bodyset waiting to be cut and painted - since the wheels are already painted gold I think I'll paint the shell black and add some JPSpecial gold decals

> Lunchbox - everybody loves a lunchbox, and a cursory glance at eBay one evening spotted one poorly listed. Won for £35 posted and after a few nervous weeks where the seller took their time sending it (I think they were gutted at the final sale price) it finally arrived in as described condition. The body is currently being stripped, and will be repainted Ford RS electric orange to contrast the black wheels. Some white CVA shocks have been dyed orange to match the body, and new glass and chrome await the repainted body. Shouldn't take too long.

Hmmm - I said I wasn't buying much this year, I think that’s 17 used projects and 11 new kits (12 if you include the second CR-01 build) - EEK!

As always you can't have loads coming in with nothing going out, it minimises the ear ache from the missus, and the sales help fund new projects and builds. So departures this year..

NIB Midnight Pumpkin - modelzone liquidation bargain, sold on eBay £45 profit

NIB DT-02 Violet Racer - modelzone liquidation bargain, sold on eBay £25 profit

Boomerang

DT-02 Challenge Sand Viper

Custom Midnight Pumpkin

TA-02T Ford Baja Truck (was PreRunner)

Avante 2001

Avante Magenta Black Special

TL-01 Mitsubishi drifter - £25 profit via eBay sale

Twin Detonator - £20 profit via eBay sale

ClodBuster (was Rainbow Warrior) - negative profit, but I know its in a good home and being enjoyed and further improved

Blazing Star x 2

Manta Ray (my original , first Tamiya rebuild back in Sept 2010)

Marui Samurai

15 sold - not too shabby then. If only I could stop buying more than I'm selling.

It seems after listing that lot that I still have a bit of painting to do before the cold weather (and the clock is well n truly ticking)....

Lunchbox repaint

***** Kremer 935 shell

Unimog shell

Optima shell if I can make up my mind on a colour !

Kyosho Pegasus shell

and a few bodies to buy ready for the spring..

something for the CPE Clod - probably a Proline Chevy long bed

Terra Scorcher

So I have enough to be going on with - no more buying

[Tamiya1/10]

You are the energizingbunny that keeps on buying and building, buying and building, buying and building....

[Sandster]

Great read Percymon, I am now going to read your previous anniversary threads.

[Klausen]

Great review of what seems to have been a busy year .

[ukfox]

After all those builds

I can see why the trf 801xt is still awaiting the power transplant

Seems to me you need more days in your year

[Percymon]

Seems to me you need more days in your year

That would be nice - perhaps Santa can help

[Quandry]

It's great to know that for every Tamiya that is being run in to the ground, Percymon is buying up another one to 'refurbish' and send back out in to the world for a whole new lifetime of fun

[Percymon]

It's great to know that for every Tamiya that is being run in to the ground, Percymon is buying up another one to 'refurbish' and send back out in to the world for a whole new lifetime of fun

Well I like to think that - I know some of my previous models are in good hands I suspect a few others aren't in great condition by now but if someone got enjoyment from using them thats all to the good of the hobby; even better if they went on to rebuild them or buy further Mr T products

[Wez-li]

Great thread, there are some stunners there mate.

[bromvw]

Well I like to think that - I know some of my previous models are in good hands I suspect a few others aren't in great condition by now but if someone got enjoyment from using them thats all to the good of the hobby; even better if they went on to rebuild them or buy further Mr T products

You forgot the Frog chassis you sold me Dave . Its in good hands as there is no way i'am going to trash the body i built for it .

Keep up the good work.. BTW your a real gent to deal with and a friend worth having . .

[Quandry]

You forgot the Frog chassis you sold me Dave . Its in good hands as there is no way i'am going to trash the body i built for it .

Keep up the good work.. BTW your a real gent to deal with and a friend worth having . .

It's also great reading your build threads Percymon, you've inspired me to totally terminate my Visa card this month... my wife hates you and the Auctions say thanks!

[Grastens]

Percymon is probably responsible for at least one fifth of all forum projects and transactions here, if not half! As such, congratulations on 4 years here, and here's hoping for many more

[Percymon]

You forgot the Frog chassis you sold me Dave . Its in good hands as there is no way i'am going to trash the body i built for it .

Keep up the good work.. BTW your a real gent to deal with and a friend worth having . .

Oops yeah I forgot that one !

It's hard to keep track of which models happened when, even when trying to keep my number below 60

I date say I missed another one somewhere too

And thanks for all the replies to the thread - it's as much a record for me as it is general interest, it's my equivalent of a 'racing diary' lol! Glad some find it worth reading.

I've been a little quieter of late, focus been on selling my other halfs 1:1 car and buying another but with the Mini adventure excitement starting to wain I hope to get a few projects done before Xmas, maybe even have them sold too

[RCcoachworks]

Amazing job on the Clod restoration. Those super clodbuster decals look great on a silver body!