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GooneyBird

Cut the fat from the fleet - now aching for a new build (Loooong introspective)

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So I sold a few cars. Notably, the Street Scorcher is getting re-homed at my dad's house. He loves the thing, and has plans for it to actually be a runner. (As far as I gathered at least. Not too sure what's happening with it.) I wasn't using it at all, so it getting some usage and a good home is nice. I also sold the TA03F David Jun to a Belgian who built a gorgeous shelf queen out of it, which is probably a better existence than it too sitting on my shelf with a body half-on, half-off of it. I also sold a Mini Z to a man who had always wanted one since childhood and was over the moon with it, and Froggy got re-homed to another person who runs DT03s in a local cup. 

That leaves me with:
- The Clod
- The TRF
- The TT01DRE-thing
- Basher
- The Pajero
- and of course my M02 Alpine A110. 

And here's a video I took this spring of them all together. At this point the Mini-Z, Froggy, and the TA03F were already re-homed.

Anyway, this means I now have some extra electronics, namely three receivers, two steering servos and an assortment of motors and ESCs. And it'd be a shame to let them go to waste, right...?

The issue is that my local track has closed, and has been for a while now. There's an outdoor track somewhat nearby (where I did the endurance race last year), but I just.... I dunno.... I don't like the track much, and I can't seem to gel with the people there. Is that my fault? Possibly. I am mentally not exactly in a great place right now, with the whole COVID-19 running around, my work is still ever uncertain. My wife's job has basically ceased to be per 1st of August, and we're both suffering from cabin fever. 
I can go to the outdoor track. It's recently re-opened, and there's a couple of races. The issue is, however, that every time I go there it either rains, or it's too hot, or I'm the only guy there running laps by myself. Which is fine for a bit, but I crave the social thing too. 
I've been looking at other tracks (there's one about an hour away in Utrecht), but they don't do open track days due to Covid, and the races are member-only. 

So I've been thinking. I have a bit of money in my fun-bin. (that envelop of cash that you hoard when you sell stuff) I miss building stuff, and I'd like to find something that's fun to build, fairly realistic, and mostly; is fun to run by itself. I have a couple of nicely paved parking lots and basketball courts nearby, aswel as a in-land beach. The forest is rather closeby too, where I regularly take the Pajero out for 2+ hour walks.

I've been looking at:
- A WPL B36KM. They're inexpensive, look like fun builds, and can be detailed and scratch-built to amazing levels. Plus, they ooze cold-war cool. 
- A Traxxas TRX4. I know, wrong T-word, but it's everything I like about the Pajero, but in a more capable package. The downside is that they come with fairly meh body shells, and while the aftermarket for them is HUGE there's nothing that really strikes my fancy. Plus, the kits aren't great builds from what I've heard.
- A Tamiya Cascadia or King Hauler. Yes, the good ol' Tamiya semi-truck rabbit hole. You start out with just a basic runner, and three months later you're €1000+ euro down the hole and you still need a trailer. And possbly another truck. Which needs its own trailer, obviously. They seem like REALLY good builds, can be made to look amazing, but are limited in terms of where you can run them. And are they fun to run solo? Hmmm... They do seem like they could take weeks of building, which is something my brain needs right now.
- A Tamiya Tank. Any one will do. I'm not much into the whole military thing, but the tanks seem like good builds, and unlike the semi trucks I can take those into the local forest and do some... scouting there. But are they really decent outdoor runners? And they feel like they're the same kind of money pit that the semi trucks are. 
I've looked into the infra-red battle system, but that would require a second tank (and someone to drive that tank...*sob*)

What would you guys do? Brave the other track, try to get along with the people there and pick up racing outdoors instead of on carpet? Become a scale trucker (*honk honk*)? Get a TRX4 and finally do make it over that one difficult trail where the Pajero keeps getting stuck? Take the TRF apart, clean everything even though it literally hasn't moved since the last time I cleaned it, and put it back together?
 

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When considering a new build, I try to think of what I enjoy about cars in my existing fleet, and what I think might be missing or could be improved. I then consider which sort of vehicle might keep the good and improve the bad as it were.

So, what is it about the Clod, TRF, TT-01DRE, Basher, Pajero and Alpine that allowed them to survive the cull? What are their good points? And what do you feel is missing?

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A couple of thoughts spring to mind...

Tanks - I've always liked the look of these and they certainly do look a rewarding and engaging build. I suspect you are correct in that they could turn into massive money pits once you get all the bells and whistles on there. I've watched a few you tube videos and they seemed competent enough at getting around however, for me, I think I would find them a bit ponderous and slow once the novelty of clambering over stuff had worn off.

What about buying a basket case from ebay and doing a resto/upgrade job? Cheaper than buying new but still the satisfaction of some good spanner time, plus shaping it to your satisfaction. You have the electronics to hand so that box is already ticked.

A bit left field but what about a different area of rc? Last year I bought a couple of decent sized rc planes from dynam (about 1.2 metre wingspan - a hurricane and a trainer). Still getting the hang of but it also helped me appreciate different aspects of the hobby and learn new skills. Price wise you would be looking at roughly the same for a mid level tamiya kit. Or how about an rc boat?

Re club racing. I've done that myself. Some aspects of it I miss - lots of like minded people chatting rc all being really into it, as well as the friendly rivalry and banter, but other bits not so much. It did feel like it was becoming something of an arms race towards the end and frankly I just couldn't be bothered. It might perhaps be worth giving the new place a try, just to see. Nothing ventured and all that.

Anyway, good luck 👍

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Have you thought about a scratch build?  JennyMo makes those amazing creations from a pair of axles (it seems to me).  I made that yacht and it took a year and I learnt heaps of new stuff, and it cost about 1/5th of what a truck will end up costing.

I would also try out the other track, I prefer outdoor racing to indoor.  I get where you're coming from about the club and not gelling though, thats exactly what one of the onroad clubs near me was like.  I am planning to go back soon, just need to find a time that I can make it.  The committee has changed since I last went and the angry organiser guy isn't there anymore.

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Hi Gooney! I have a few unfinished projects I would be prepared to donate to you, or sell very cheaply. Stuff that I'm likely never going to get around to doing. If any are of interest, let me know.

- The FAV that I got cheaply from Michel after his son had a bash at it. A couple of the parts have been lightly butchered and would need repair or replacement for a standard build. It would come with about 75% of the Knight Customs parts

from Shapeways to turn it into a desert patrol vehicle as per this thread -

 

- Tamiya Sherman full option tank. Works perfectly, but could do with a strip and repaint, and replacement decals (included). You could restore it, or create some kind of tracked snow vehicle, or maybe a fictional sci-fi vehicle out of it.

-Tamiya King Tiger full option kit. Might be a bit slow for you for taking on walks and trails because of the gearbox reduction mods. I broke a track adjuster when we had it out in the snow, so that would need repair or replacement. Also suitable for restoration

to box-art if you can find the missing bazooka sheilds. I have the original decals and driver figure NIP somewhere.

 

- Billings Nordkap North sea fishing trawler. A big all-wooden RC boat kit with a plank on frame hull. Could be built super scale with weathering nav lights etc. About 1 metre long.

 

-A Sirmar semi kit of HMS Bristol D23, a type 82 destroyer. Includes a fibreglass hull, the running gear and all the fittings and a huge plan. Would need deck and superstucture to be scratch built from marine ply and plasticard. About 2 metres long.

http://www.psships.com/page73.html

 

Let me know if any of these interest you and I'll dig them out and take pics.

 

Hope you are well. Cheers! J

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On 7/14/2020 at 8:31 PM, TurnipJF said:

So, what is it about the Clod, TRF, TT-01DRE, Basher, Pajero and Alpine that allowed them to survive the cull? What are their good points? And what do you feel is missing?

Good question, and one that can probably only be answered in long form. 

The Alpine is around because it's my very first RC car, ever. The one that started it all. I raced that thing, bashed it on parking lots, burned through the original tires so badly they were basically no longer there, and still it held together. It's up in a display cabinet, and when I run it (which is not very frequently), it gets run very gently. 
The TT01 is such a versatile platform that I'm sure I can find some use for it somewhere. Be it as a parking lot basher, or a serious racing car in its own class. There's another endurance race (which is maybe cancelled, maybe not, depending on Corona) later this year where I plan to deploy it, assuming I can get enough people together to form a team. 
Basher is around...well... for a track that might not be around this winter. There's a track in Utrecht that's built and torn down in a gym hall once every month in the winter, and the little dude just owns there. If that track does not reopen (or rather, gets rebuilt), of which there is talk unfortunately, it makes no sense to sell it on. It was a very cheap car to buy, and there's little demand for it now that all the indoor tracks are gone. So I'm looking at maybe €25 if I'm lucky, and for that price I'd rather have it around on a shelf should something pop up again.
The Clod...well.... it's a Clod. I've always wanted one as a kid, and now I have one. Also, it's great fun on the beach, and an amazing object to look at. The Pajero is my walking buddy. I take it out on trails nearby, and while it's not very capable (Hence the mind wanders to a TRX4) and a bit outclassed by some of the ruts I do appreciate its scale looks (which is why I'm not going to turn it into yet-another crawler that looks nothing like its 1:1 counterpart). Plus, I have a tow hitch for it and the weird idea to build a car trailer for it. Which might actually make a great project if I can get that mentally un-stalled.  
The TRF is a similar story to Basher's. It's not worth a lot of money right now as demand is low. It's a 419 so it's a tad too old to be ultra-bleeding-edge competitive (IE: it's not a 420XR with all the hopups), but it's not so old that it's a cool rare classic. (IE: It's not a TRF414M, or even a 417 MR).
Plus, that thing absolutely shreds carpet like it's nobody's business. It makes me look like a way better driver than I actually am. Ask @Fuijo, he's seen it go-go-go at our old track. 

@Silver-Can, the more I look into tanks the more I start to dislike them. Which is weird, because it's usually the other way around. I think that running a tank could be a lot of fun if you have a couple going at the same time, but in confinement they seem a bit...I dunno... 1-sided? Also, I'm not much into tanks and/or military stuff. I dig some cold-war relics (ergo the WPL truck I mentioned earlier), but I don't like the shooty-shooty stuff. 

I've thought about going back into RC helis, before I was reminded why I got out. With RC helis it's either a good flight, or an expensive flight. There's no in-between. I had a couple of fixed-pitch birds I liked flying around indoors, and flew my dad's Trex600 on numerous occasions (he's an RC flight instructor at his club. This is a real thing. Baffled me too), but eventually got out because most of my flights were of the expensive kind. (Or rather, ended expensively).

RC Boats: I have a LOT of water around me, so in that regard a boat would work for me. I'd have to find something I'd like to own as a model, too, which is a bit difficult as I know exactly jack-squat about boats. xD Plus, if I could find something remotely 1:10th scale-sized it'd give me another reason to finish that trailer for the Pajero. Hmm... maybe a small speedboat with an outboard motor? 

@Fuijo: Thanks for the offer! I know both your tanks are hilariously good fun to play with as a pair, and I know you and therefor know they are built well. But like I said above, I'm not sure I'd want to have a tank as an object, as a model. As a play-thing (especially with you around running the other one) sure, but as a thing to look at? Hmm... And the same could be said about the boats. Tempting, but then I'd rather find something 1:10th scale to add play to the cars. Or rather, the Pajero. 

I am overthinking this, aren't I? I'll have a sit-down at my desk at some point, lay out the half-finished trailer, give that thing some attention.

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I'm not sure how open you are to other brands, but I've really enjoyed my Kyosho Outlaw Rampage. I bought the RTR because the kit was out of stock and then added the cage before I ran it. It's been one of the most fun RCs I've had the chance to drive.

For me I also wanted something that looked realistic, but the big bonus here is that it drives realistically as well. I have a fair amount of cars/trucks/buggies and this one takes the cake for how scale it is in all aspects. It's also nice because it's not easy to drive. I'm pretty much a pro at hitting trees and curbs, but with this one I can also hit shrubs, flowers, and the garage door all in one run :lol:. It's nice to have a new challenge though. 

I also thought about getting a crawler or the Monster Beetle Trail, but just didn't feel it at the time. 

Anyway, just my 2¢. 

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On 7/19/2020 at 5:39 PM, GooneyBird said:

but I don't like the shooty-shooty stuff

Nor me tbh. I'm getting more uncomfortable with it as I get older (and more senile). Why do you think I was offering to offload them? He he!

I have a whole bunch of model boat magazines, most of which came with a free plan that could be scaled up or down to whatever size you wanted in order to fit on your trailer.

The only other suggestion I can come up with is an RC hovercraft. I think I have the plans for one somewhere. They have some similarities with helicopters, but with less far to fall with loss of power. Of course if you're on water at the time.....

Anyway, from what I remember it looked straightforward enough, but some sewing skills required for the skirt.

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TRX4 is one of the best kits I've ever built.  Completely enjoyable build.  They pre-threadlock the screws that go into metal with blue loctite so you don't have to fumble with your own threadlock! 

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