Plans and goals for 2020

[TurnipJF 9192]

With the Nuremberg releases announced, my car plans are looking a bit more certain. For a while now I have been contemplating getting my TL-01LA a body worthy of its status, and with the CLK GTR rerelease, I now know what body that will be.

The TA-03RS re-re reminded me how much I like the Porsche GT look, but I prefer shaft drive, so a TA-02SW Porsche GT2 will probably be added too at some point as a 4WD sibling to my FF-01, since my other FFs both have 4WD siblings in the fleet already. I have a JPS livery in mind for that.

And with the Karmann Ghia shell announced, I think I might know what to put on the M-04 I plan on restoring at some point too.

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

Probably going to try finishing some half-done projects I've been ignoring:

• HPI BMW 2002 turbo shell on a 3Racing M4 chassis
• Calsonic GTR R35 shell on a TB chassis
• Team Hahn MAN TGS shell on a TT01R chassis
• '72 Chevy C10 shell on a Turnigy SCT chassis
• Heavy Dump Truck body/hydraulics/lighting -- really lost my momentum on this one; my ambition outstrips my patience

I've got the itch to start some new ones:

• '99 Impreza
• Porsche 962
• TRF801X
• BRAT

That should last the year and then some... 

[Grastens 2795]

There are still a Bruiser, Ferrari 312T3, and a Lancia 037 that need some finishing. Those three should be giving me enough to do...

... and yet I also do want that Comical Avante the regular one can wait until 2021!

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

^^^ Back in the game, are you? 

[Grastens 2795]

9 hours ago, speedy_w_beans said:

^^^ Back in the game, are you? 

I am well past the time to finish what we started  unless you have already built yours up?

[lsear2905 1279]

On 12/20/2019 at 1:41 PM, lsear2905 said:

I'd like to give my original "proper" RC, my Traxxas Bandit, a proper restore/refresh for it's 8th birthday next year (yes, I'm a more recent entrant to this hobby). I have some parts put aside, but unfortunately our weak Australian dollar has put it on the back-burner for a while... there's no urgency as the car is currently running beautifully, and any refresh would be purely superficial.

I'm heading overseas a couple of times next year, so I plan on driving (and photographing) my HPI Q32 in at least one more country than I currently have (so far Australia, Singapore and Japan).

Otherwise I don't have any specific vehicles on my wish-list, at least not until Tamiya or Traxxas announce something new and exciting!

Let's check in 6 weeks later:

• A week after I posted this I bought a DT02 Kumamon Sand Rover. I had to have it - I collect Kumamon themed items.
• A few days after that I bought a Traxxas UDR. This is an RC I never really paid much attention to, but it really is an incredible truck.
• Then after a quiet couple of weeks I bought a brushed Traxxas Mini E-Revo (ostensibly for spare parts, it was insanely cheap), and
• The Bandit hasn't had anything done to it.

The Nuremberg toy fair has allayed my fears that I would "need" to buy Tamiya's latest and greatest, because the Volvo 6WD G601 is insanely expensive, and the new SW01 is hideous.

[TurnipJF 9192]

So, just over a month into the new year, and I have been quite busy on the hobby front.

So far I have built and hopped up my TT-02 Type S Christmas present and finished a Mercedes Benz AMG GT3 shell for it, fitted my DT-03T Aqroshot with a new 10.5t motor and 120A ESC, replaced the TEU-101BK ESC in my CC-01 Mitsubishi Pajero with a 1060, replaced the front shock tower on my TT-01 Mitsubishi Evo rally car, fitted my FF-03 Honda Civic and TB-03 Arta Garaiya track cars with loads of carbon reinforced goodies and nice new alloy threaded shocks, replaced the spur and pinion in my TT-01 Mercedes Benz SLS GT3 track car, upgraded the motor in my F103 15th Anniversary Edition, fitted a new set of tyres to my regular track F103, helped my nephew build some CVAs to replace the friction shocks on his TL-01 track and rally cars, changed the stock battery and motor connectors on a TBLE-02 to Deans and bullets ready for installation in my blue DT-02 when it gets its brushless upgrade, and got a Tamiya-themed tattoo.

...But I have yet to make it to any track meets, which was my main aim for the new year. 😳

How are your 2020 plans progressing?

[Superluminal 3750]

My plans for 2020 - working through the existing pile;

Complete the DT02 Sand Rover that ive already started and spent a billionty pounds on incompatible parts on.

Build the Top Force re re with carbon chassis and hi-caps and other bits I bought over the last 18 months and left over from an old TA02 touring car.

Build the TA02 Porsche 934 Vaillant (Tamico anniversary kit) with the shortened chassis plates to correct the wheelbase issue that I bought off a German carbon dude on ebay.

Build the Nissan R91CP pan car - probably my all time favourite looking kit and hoping I make a nice job of it.

Paint a Ferrari 458 shell for my TT02.

Paint a Zakspeed Capri shell for my TT01.

Paint a HPI De Tomaso Pantera shell for what ever chassis I can find to fit it on.

Paint a box art Sand Scorcher - I attempted one last year and wasnt 100% happy with result so bought a new shell to have a go on.

New kits im potentially interested in buying this year;

The Porsche GT1 on the TA03 chassis even though its the 'street version'

Something m-chassis related - i quite fancy the Alfa Romeo or the NSU.

 

 

[Badcrumble 4204]

On 12/19/2019 at 9:20 PM, Badcrumble said:

I have two main goals -

1. Finish the the JK Jeep trail truck I am 80% through. As ever, the last 10% will be the hardest but as it is a finished body at least that won’t be paint!

2. Get two of the Dual Hunters rebuilt and prepped for beach running in the summer

I have quite a list of part-finished projects, unstarted projects, restoration projects as well as a few NIBs (like the 2CV I bought this month) but I’ll see where 2020 takes me.

So far I...

1.  Haven't finished the JK. My replacement servo horn is on backorder. I have the new pinion so ought to get on and fit it...

2.  No progress on the Dual Hunters - both in bits

3. New entry - waiting on parts in transit to start on the M05-RA chassis from the 2CV

4.  Been scratch building an IKEA unit for my wife's birthday -1:16 scale (main reason for not getting the pinion on the JK).

[speedy_w_beans 4272]

All my lexan bodies for the old projects are cut and sanded; just waiting on good temperatures to mask and paint them...

[Mad Ax 9325]

I started replying to this last week but I digressed too much and it got all out of hand and I lost it when I turned my laptop off.

Anyway, I digress...  A month into 2020 and already things are crazy on the RC front.

Get more motivated - working.  I've been getting up at 6am again so I can work on my novel before work.  That means I can spend a night in the workshop without worrying about my other hobbies slipping behind.

Do more events - yes.  Actually got into trouble a bit as I've filled the 2020 calendar.  Iconic Cup Mendip Round in April falls on my wife's birthday / our anniversary weekend.  It's never been an issue in the past but it was an issue this year because I didn't ask first.  Oops.  Due to other commitments we can't actually celebrate our anniversary for another month.  It's frustrating because all the other Cup rounds are at least 2 hrs drive away (and 3 figures in fuel) so to have to negotiate to get to the one local round smarts a bit.  But that's family life.  I also booked into the West London round in August because the calendar was clear.  Well, turns out the big caving festival that my wife is helping to organise takes place on that weekend, she just hadn't put it on the calendar, so I was in the doghouse again because of course I should have known, like my brain is a perfect font for a million dates that she throws at me last thing at night after I've turned the light off :p 

May is a bit crazy too - got my joint 40th birthday party with my old best mate, playing back-to-back live electronic music and DJ sets all night.  Except I always do the G6 Recon in May with another local mate, and also this year there's a new local track - Dirt3D - running a 2-day event.  Typically I only go to one event in total in a month, so May is going to require a lot of negotiation.  I don't want to miss the G6 because it's a fab event, and I don't want to let my mate down because it's become a new tradition, but I don't want to miss the Dirt3D event because I've been complaining about having no local tracks for a while and I really want to give it my full support where I can.  Although I'm taking the wife to Brighton to buy her some shoes for her birthday in May, so I guess that goes some way to paying it back.

Nothing on the calendar for March, although I might do another Tamiya Junkies meet if I can raise some fuel money, and nothing yet in June as we have a family holiday, but something will come up.  A few months ago I was invited to join a team to do the buggython in September, which I've always wanted to do, but will have to see if the team offer still stands as I'm not the worlds best driver and the other guys are pretty fast.

Tamiya Junkies in Feb - all planned, hotel booked.  Dragged all my runners down last week and gave them a check over, ordered a few parts to make them a bit more solid, like steel pinions (so much of my stuff is still running original alloy), and some good motor wire so I can tidy up all the electrical installations.  WT-01 is falling behind a bit, keep getting held up with annoying little delays.  The wife is away lots in Feb so she's agreed I can have pretty much every night to myself in the workshop so I can get ready.

More drifting - it's tricky because of the fuel cost.  And I don't have a single free Friday now until the end of Feb.  Might be better in the summer if I can ride down there on the motorcycle and save on fuel.  Have to find a way to secure my drift car to the back.

Rebuild my big rigs - given how busy I am with other events until September, it's unlikely they'll even come out of the boxes.  Maybe after the Revival I will have more workshop space to get them out and rebuild them, but I won't have much motivation until the trucking season resumes in Sept.  There's mountains to do on all of them and a few new ones to build.  Could be enough to keep me occupied all winter.

Other stuff - G6 Jeep still doesn't have its front bumper.  TBH I never really liked the G6 body anyway but I probably don't have time or funds to replace it before the G6 event in May.  I really must email my 3D file over to my mate to get that bracket printed.  I've been wanting another monster truck for a while and also wanting to retire the SCX10 in favour of something newer, but I doubt funds will allow before May.  We'll see.  If I get a new scaler then the SCX10 will be rebuild into a solid axle monster truck.  I'm really loving JConcepts wheel, tyre and body options right now.

At the very last minute, I decided to forsake M-chassis and touring classes for the Iconic Cup, and have entered FF instead.  I then remembered that my FF01 really struggled around the faster tracks because of its lack of gearing.  In stock (class-legal) trim the FF02 has taller gearing, so will beat an 01 around Mendip Raceway despite being inferior in every other way.  So I've pulled apart an old M03 and fitted it with TL parts to make an FF02.  I still want the 01 as a backup car, so before April I need to get both cars to runner status and get a new body for each.  Well, I don't need new bodies, I just want them.  I hate swapping bodies from car to car.  Fortunately L&L models have a good range of 90s FWD touring to choose from.

I've had so much fun rebuilding my Mod Clod and customising my WT-01 so far this year that I've decided to rebuild my TXT also.  It's in a sorry state right now and hasn't run in any form in probably 8 years.  Probably longer than that since it had TXT axles and transmission, because I ran it with Clod axles for a while.  There's a JConcepts body that I've got my eye on which will look great.  Unfortunately I need to keep my funds and bench time focused on Junkies, Cup, G6 and Revival for the immediate future.  Only once those cars are finished and ready to run will I pull something else down from the shelf and start work, or start placing orders for parts.

Only a month in but this really has turned into a non-stop year for RC projects.

Oh, it's my 40th this month - my wife is going to get me a new camera.  Correction, she's going to get herself a new camera, and give me her old one.  It's a special tough camera that she uses for caving - so I can keep it on the workbench and not worry about it.  I can pick it up with oily hands and snap pics as I'm working.  I'm notoriously bad at photographing my progress, partly because my phone ends up plugged into the amp playing music and the family Coolpix P530 is too tidy to keep on the bench or pick up with oily hands.  And my D70s haven't been touched in years and need reconditioning, and TBH are a bit too cumbersome for workshop snaps.  The tough camera is waterproof too, so I can take it to events and get videos where the Coolpix would remain firmly in its case.  It's a lot smaller than the Coolpix too, so it won't annoy me so much when it's hanging around my neck on the G6.  In fact I'll probably hook up some mounts to attach it to the top of my Tx for live filming.  I wonder if it's got a remote shutter release?  Would be cool to snap pics with a remote button or mouth switch while I'm on the trails.

 

Phew.  What a year!

[Saito2 6686]

On 12/20/2019 at 4:47 AM, Saito2 said:

I also hope to sell off some extra stuff. Of the 6 vehicles I have up for sale, I've sold 1 in six months, so I'm not particularly hopeful. Patience is the key. 

Surprisingly, I've done well in my attempt to sell off some things this time. My nearly new Kyosho Blizzard wouldn't sell at $200 but sold quick at $150. The Clodzilla 4 chassis went next for $110. The NIB re-re Sand Scorcher was a tough sell a $265. fortunately I bought it long ago, so I technically didn't lose much on it. Still, someone got a bargain at today's prices. My Emaxx just sold too. Of course I pre-ordered a Terra Scorcher and bought a Grasshopper 1 and 2 so...money come in...money go out, lol.

[Pablo68 1049]

Also, need to get through my pile of projects.

[Mad Ax 9325]

...also I still can't get over the idea of a Super Astute...  Only place I'd ever run it would be the Revival, but even so, new price doesn't look that bad and it would be the best-performing buggy in my fleet.  Entry for this year's even opens in just over a week and I need to decide what 2wd class to enter before then - Astute, Bear Hawk, Fox, SRB standard or SRB modified.  Bear Hawk is mostly ready to go but probably needs some tweaking.  As an entry-level buggy it won't be competitive against the other cars in its class but it's always fun to be the underdog.  I had a terrible time with it 2 years ago but mostly because I was on utterly the wrong tyres (downpours interrupted a 3-week heatwave and the pit shop didn't bring any wet weather tyres with them...).  The Fox was brilliant last year but I don't carry any Fox spares and it's a pain to work on if something breaks.  SRB standard is serious hard work, I ran a standard SRB re-re in a 2-hr endurance race a few years ago and promised myself never, ever again.  SRB modified means digging out my Lightweight project and finishing it properly.  Cheaper than a Super Astute but a lot of custom work and potentially will be hard work on track regardless because I don't really know much about buggy design.  But Super Astute means buying a whole new toy, which really means it's no more than a justification to scratch the buying itch, again...

[dannymulder 766]

I am still on track with my goals for the new year, promise myself not to buy new cars and focus on the cars that I have, and give the cars that I have more running time, I had 3 cars that I build ran it one time and then put it on the shelf, every time it is the same story buy a new car build it run it once put it on the shelf, and them wanted to build a new one, so that have to stop.

In december last year I spent way to much  money  900 euro in one month, for my it is a lot of money, so for now I try to spent no more money on rc stuff for the next months, I hope I can keep it up, I have a bad habbit of looking every day  on the web to find nice deals I can't help myself I am a junkie and it itches every time I see something nice, must resist

I even sold a car that I bought in december, the arrma typhon 3s blx 4x4, it was not that good and tough that I thought It wil be, there was a lot wrong with it and never broke a car so easy.

to be continued

[Jonathon Gillham 4606]

So I haven't made a single race day this year, missed an onroad and 8th scale meet so far.  I'm thinking I might sell the 8th scale as I can't really take my son so its a bit selfish, especially when I can take him to 4 other meets a month which is plenty.  I am also going to miss the next 10th outdoor and indoor meets which are both on the same weekend as my first 12 hour endurance race in a real car.  Also my first 1:1 scale race ever.

I do however have a Super Astute in my garage, and my Racing Sparrow is so close to finished now.  It will be a couple of weeks purely because things like fibreglass and paint take time to cure, but I could have it in the water in 30mins from here, just with duct tape sealing the hatches instead of hatches and no polished hull with the decals.

Strangely, getting the Super Astute and Top Force has scratched my itch for more cars.  I now have a complete fleet of racers, and I think I have covered off all the cars I wanted as a kid too in the Monster Beetle, Top Force and Super Astute.  I think the Top Force represents the DF01 line (at the time friends had Manta Rays, and I also remember Dirt Thrashers on the shelves later but the Top Force was made of unobtainium) and the Madcap and St Dragon were 2wd ones I wanted which are covered by the Super Astute.  The Top Force and Astute/Super Astute didn't come into it as they were so expensive I just accepted I would never get them.  Now I have both, I think thats it for me.  Any new kit will either be a racer or for the build.

[Ray_ve 1043]

Plenty of project cars for 2020.

The list includes:

- Strip/Clean/Rebuild the Marui Shogun.

- Paint and rebuild the Marui Samurai.

- Finish one Marui Big Bear as original, but modern electronics.

- Strip/clean/rebuild one Big Bear, modern electronics and Lunchbox tires modification.

- Finish the Mugen Seiki Prime 12 electrification.

 

Specials:

- Big bear long-bed version, 6 wheeler (konghead based).

- (Not so) Big Bear Pickup Truck (M-chassis based).

- Drivable Shogun and Ninja (DF-01 based).

So with the time available to me, I'm good until 2050. 

[Fabia130vRS 2098]

On 12/19/2019 at 7:49 PM, dannymulder said:

for me, no more buying rc cars in 2020, I spend in this month almost my budget that I have for 9 months, so I am going to build and upgrade what I have now, and drive the cars more instead of buying and selling cars.

I hope it works

I did that in 2018. Havent been buying anything in 2019.

-Finished my F103 speed run missle

-upgraded my FF03 to how I wanted it

-bought a M02 for my 1000TCR shelfer

-put a 10T brushless in my M05ver2

-installed a DIY rear stabilizer to my M03RA

-made my xray T1FK05 race ready

that was all planned on the end of 2018. And was finished during 2019.

 

for 2020

-buy Toyota Yaris or Mazda 3 body for my FF03 and gear diff

-buy a M08 for my nissan silvia m chassis body

-complete my M01 Mini Cooper body restoration

-test my 4.5T speed run F103

-buy a rear gear diff for the xray t1fk05

-complete my long started fpv drone build

 

hopefully this will be enough and all done till end of 2020.

 

Good luck to all to accomplish all goals

[jonboy1 2943]

Ooooh, my goals and plans for 2020....

• grow more hair
• reduce body fat
• reduce blood pressure
• reduce cholesterol
• get bicep fixed

In RC activities:  

• finish Astute
• finish CR-01
• finish M-03
• complete last little jobs on Uber Boomer and WW

Would like to do, but unlikely to:

• restore Rough Rider
• restore Bell 222 helibopper

plans for 2030:

• actually run one of my RC cars  

[MICHAELs TopForce17 586]

My 2020 plans are going very slowly with 3 rebuilds that I hoping to finish by the spring. 

[lsear2905 1279]

On 12/20/2019 at 1:41 PM, lsear2905 said:

I'd like to give my original "proper" RC, my Traxxas Bandit, a proper restore/refresh for it's 8th birthday next year (yes, I'm a more recent entrant to this hobby). I have some parts put aside, but unfortunately our weak Australian dollar has put it on the back-burner for a while... there's no urgency as the car is currently running beautifully, and any refresh would be purely superficial.

I'm heading overseas a couple of times next year, so I plan on driving (and photographing) my HPI Q32 in at least one more country than I currently have (so far Australia, Singapore and Japan).

Otherwise I don't have any specific vehicles on my wish-list, at least not until Tamiya or Traxxas announce something new and exciting!

Well this is interesting to look back on... I haven't updated my Bandit, I didn't go overseas so the Q32 hasn't gone very far at all, but I've bought a few cars... A Traxxas UDR, Kyosho Trail King, Kyosho Mini Z Toyota, Tamiya DT02 Kumamon Rover, and updated my Konghead and TT01 Volvo.

Let's face it: has anyone's year turned out as planned? 

[Wooders28 4723]

On 12/21/2019 at 10:18 AM, Wooders28 said:

Looking back at a similar thread from 2015, I've still 4 out of the 7 projects to finish.....😬

OB2, finish

Dark Impact - speed run road version with willys body (not df03ra)

Schumacher fusion freshen up plus ,TransAm body

Vac former.

Projects added to the list -

Lunchbox double wishbone and 4 bar mod

Bullhead , V8 engine with 3rd channel lights and sound (don't think the, rumbling will happen tbh)

Boomerang brushless 4s build and speed run.

Do more rounds of SORC - Scottish Off Road Championship , 

Have more fun😁

 

 

Yeah, the years not really gone as planned, but have any of us had a year that went completely to plan,  RC wise ? 🤷‍♂️

So far this year- 

OB2 build - sent the body to Kamtec for some, re- modelling, but world events kind of slowed progress for them.

Dark Impact - only had a chance to do 2 speed runs this year, bad weather issues and spares , new set up taking a bit to get a handle of (and a loose slipper causing excess heat, melting the spur, and no spares available..)  Not using the willys body, going to get another impact body, remove the body posts, and use Velcro around the chassis instead. Fitted more cooling fans, now runs 3, with one above the motor.

Schumacher Fusion - managed to get that fully freshened up, new diffs, belt and cleaned etc, Got the TA body painted, but can't find a new failsafe, so not run as such yet.

Vac former - moved the bits into one place.....

Other projects, 

Lunchbox, zero further forward

Bullhead - it's all there, in its own box now! 

Boomerang 4s brushless - bought a new castle motor, could do with another 4s+ esc, but holding out for another Mamba max pro, as they're 6s, and a handy size (but can just pull one out the dark impact) 

SORC - Well yeah, that didn't happen this year.

Bonus - With some of the Glasgow RC members having a bit more spare time, channelled it into contacting dozens and dozens of potential club venues, finding a perfect venue ,and now have somewhere to call their own!! 

So ,not as much running as I'd have liked, but plenty to look forward to next year.

 

[Badcrumble 4204]

On 2/5/2020 at 11:24 PM, Badcrumble said:

So far I...

1.  Haven't finished the JK. My replacement servo horn is on backorder. I have the new pinion so ought to get on and fit it...

2.  No progress on the Dual Hunters - both in bits

3. New entry - waiting on parts in transit to start on the M05-RA chassis from the 2CV

4.  Been scratch building an IKEA unit for my wife's birthday -1:16 scale (main reason for not getting the pinion on the JK).

1.  Haven't finished the JK. Waiting on a replacement damper body to sort out the front suspension. I have made a fair bit of progress through the year though.

2.  No progress on the Dual Hunters - both in bits. 

3. M05-RA complete and ran with el kid. 

4.  Finished the  IKEA unit.

 

[jonboy1 2943]

27 minutes ago, Badcrumble said:

 

 

Decaf Yorkshire tea? 

Decaf?

Tea?

[Wooders28 4723]

52 minutes ago, Badcrumble said:

 

 

A Teacake , AND decaf Tea !?!

You're going to upset some Yorkshire folk....