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Racing by post - Round 44 track is up. We're going back to Vålerbanen!

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13 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

That’s the second GH I’ve seen in black, they certainly look a lot more menacing in black, liking it a lot. If it wasn’t for Tamiya announcing the Super Champ/ Fighting Buggy (also nice in black) coming out early next year I’d be looking at GH for a giggle 👍🏻

It's actually a very dark blue, the previous owner's handiwork. The underside of the body is a metallic copper/bronze that I think would be nice to return it to, but I haven't really gotten a full plan together for how I want to restore it yet. Plus the old decals with real brands like Weber carburetors are pretty cool to look at for now.

I do have a black Grasshopper body in lexan (Parma, maybe?) with Miller beer stickers on it, that looks pretty sinister with all-black Proline wheels. I've decided to keep the black base on that body, but I haven't decided how I want to resticker it (maybe Super Hornet graphics if I can find them?)

I've always thought the Super Champ was a beautiful car, but if I get a new kit next year, it'll either be a Hornet or a Grasshopper 2 chassis to go under the lexan GH body, or something totally modern like a DT02 or 03.

 

5 hours ago, Carmine A said:

GOOD thinking Mate!! If I had a 380 Powered ANYTHING, this would be a good Track for it. 

If I had a 380/390 Motor, I've still got the 380 Motor Plate for my TT-02... 

Funny you guys are all talking about 380s... as I was driving the Grasshopper around the track with the new NiMH yesterday, I was thinking "this could be too fast now, it feels almost out of control... maybe I should put the old 380 back in since these batteries are so good" B)

Now I just might!

 

3 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

If your tyres are stuffed, nothing to loose by trying?

Agreed, it doesn't hurt to try!! I ran the last round with some bald Traxxas "drift" tires on the back of the Blackfoot and still managed 27 laps. Wide lines, gentle steering and throttle inputs. Smooth is fast, and consistency is key. A donut here and there won't totally kill your score, I promise!

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6 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

Don’t know if it works with RC tyres (or Tires, depending where you live)

But as a kid when my Scalextric car tyres when shiny and slippery I would rough them up a bit with course sandpaper and it would seem to help them grip again to get around the track again at least.

If your tyres are stuffed, nothing to loose by trying?

I did this too!!! Used to hold the car lightly over a piece of sandpaper while it was on the track so I could spin up the tyres and get a lovely flat rough surface on the tyre. Worked a treat, massive grip compared to even new tyres. :)

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8 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

Don’t know if it works with RC tyres (or Tires, depending where you live)

But as a kid when my Scalextric car tyres when shiny and slippery I would rough them up a bit with course sandpaper and it would seem to help them grip again to get around the track again at least.

If your tyres are stuffed, nothing to loose by trying?

I did try that.... As soon as I got some grooves started - it went THROUGH!! 😖😞 

Oh well, they were stuffed anyway. Like you said, I lost nothing.

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5 hours ago, El Gecko said:

I've always thought the Super Champ was a beautiful car, but if I get a new kit next year, it'll either be a Hornet or a Grasshopper 2 chassis to go under the lexan GH body....

I saw the PRICES for the Super Champ.... I'll be ABLE to get one next year - but I'm just NOT paying that much! Same with the VQS... GOOD as it might be.

{Large Hint}.... Next year, I'm spending a Bluudy Fortune on a King Hauler, Globe Liner, Box Trailer, Flat Trailer, TWO MFC Units, Brushless motors, two 3:1 Gear Reduction Units, Paint and a very large Trailer Decal of a Conestoga Wagon and Horses!! 😁😉😊😊😊

Plus a M07 Pro, M08, FF-03, XV-01, Wild One, Clodbuster.......... And a Brat, Konghead and Grasshopper II - AND (because Tamiya) at least 100 Bearings!!! 😲  (MAYBE a TA-07R... Maybe) I may try the whole lot at once - see who can actually offer a deal. 

Also getting a new Mustang (1:1!!), and buying my Wife a new Car as well.  We've been through unspeakable, unbelievable HELLL the past 11 years, so poor that some months (lately also) we've had trouble EATING. 

I believe we've earned this. 

....... That GHII will be getting a good share of AmPro Engineering bits too. 😉 

So yeah, I've had NOTHING for so long, I'm worried about actually being AFRAID of spending money! 

I'll really need some help on some of the high end builds from you awesome Guys! Especially the 1/14th Semi stuff - ESPECIALLY wiring the MFC with a 2.4GHz Radio!! I have seen that I'm not stuck with 75MHz... But might be stuck with NiMH.

It's going to be a ton of fun getting my hands on those high end M Chassis Cars as well.

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The mighty Grasshopper had its turn today:

2020-11-16_01-51-39

The lack of speed and power didn't tax the rudimentary suspension unduly, and it was easy to keep a tight line around the markers despite the tarmac being damp in places. After a bit of practice, the car managed a lap total only one behind that posted by my wife yesterday with Gonzo, and two behind my 13.5t brushless M-05. Not bad for a 380-powered car from the '80s!

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6 hours ago, Carmine A said:

I saw the PRICES for the Super Champ.... I'll be ABLE to get one next year - but I'm just NOT paying that much! Same with the VQS... GOOD as it might be.

{Large Hint}.... Next year, I'm spending a Bluudy Fortune on a King Hauler, Globe Liner, Box Trailer, Flat Trailer, TWO MFC Units, Brushless motors, two 3:1 Gear Reduction Units, Paint and a very large Trailer Decal of a Conestoga Wagon and Horses!! 😁😉😊😊😊

Plus a M07 Pro, M08, FF-03, XV-01, Wild One, Clodbuster.......... And a Brat, Konghead and Grasshopper II - AND (because Tamiya) at least 100 Bearings!!! 😲  (MAYBE a TA-07R... Maybe) I may try the whole lot at once - see who can actually offer a deal. 

Also getting a new Mustang (1:1!!), and buying my Wife a new Car as well.  We've been through unspeakable, unbelievable HELLL the past 11 years, so poor that some months (lately also) we've had trouble EATING. 

I believe we've earned this. 

....... That GHII will be getting a good share of AmPro Engineering bits too. 😉 

So yeah, I've had NOTHING for so long, I'm worried about actually being AFRAID of spending money! 

I'll really need some help on some of the high end builds from you awesome Guys! Especially the 1/14th Semi stuff - ESPECIALLY wiring the MFC with a 2.4GHz Radio!! I have seen that I'm not stuck with 75MHz... But might be stuck with NiMH.

It's going to be a ton of fun getting my hands on those high end M Chassis Cars as well.

Yeah, there was definitely some sticker shock for me as well on the Super Champ because I'm sort of in the same boat... money has been really tight for my wife and I for a really long time too, and I'm just now finally able to buy a few parts here and there to make my old cars run again. I've never built or run a NIB kit, but hopefully I'll have that opportunity in the near future.

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For a bit of fun, I ran my CC01 Unimog around the course today.

I can honestly say that even on grass with locked diffs, I never once lifted the throttle and ran at flat chat for the full 5mins.

It won’t be troubling the records sheet though. :blink:

110F12BE-AE4A-481E-9493-3BDA6329F02B.jpeg

3AA0A492-FC74-433C-AC83-8C1196788E0D.jpeg

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1 hour ago, Ministrone said:

For a bit of fun, I ran my CC01 Unimog around the course today.

I can honestly say that even on grass with locked diffs, I never once lifted the throttle and ran at flat chat for the full 5mins.

It won’t be troubling the records sheet though. :blink:

Nice! I had got my CC01 low rider out ready for a concrete run at the weekend, but never made it. Sounds like I need to get the trail one out and give you some back garden competition. LWB though, could be a bit tricky in this short, tight course. There, got the excuse in :P

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This could be fun! Do that, and I'll get a run in with my trail CC-01 too.

Competition for that virtual wooden spoon is hotting up! 😁

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You will all no doubt be relieved to know that youngest Mudlet is stuck at home self isolating because one of her friends tested positive, so she is unable to do her races down at the rec ground on tarmac. She'll have to do her laps on the wet lawn instead so will likely get alot less laps.......especially as there will be just 0.5m gap between the hairpin cones and the fence.   

Famous last words of course - after all her thundershot is still using its off road monoshock setup and is running pin spikes. Ideal muddy, rutted, grass setup..... :rolleyes:

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Today dawned gloomy,super windy and with scattered rains but I was home from work, so an attempt at Round 5 was a must no matter what!

I didn't have my usual playground available, so I packed up some sort of survival postal racer backpack (duct-tape, fluo markers, measuring tape, barreries and remote) and set off to the first available patch of tarmac. I found one close to home, not ideal and with barely enough room to set up the track between parked cars and a concrete wall, but I though good enuff!

The wind was crazy but the rain held back for almost the entire time, leaving the tarmac moist but not soaking wet at least.

Managed to get a couple attempts in, not more because I forgot to trickle charge my NiMhs and so they were a bit shy of a full charge, which with the demanding 13.5 bluebottle makes a difference.

The track was fine at the end, just too bad about the parked cars and wall which made me drive like I was running on eggshells, makes for good exercise I guess!

Here's the track and the situation, you can tell the proximity of wall and cars. Avoiding them while trying to do an acceptable run was fun and challenging at the same time.

20201116-153345.jpg

Note 1: the better run was troubled by a track invasion! You can even see the culprit in the photo, behind my buggy just before the white 1:1 car to the left. It's weird that he got curious, usually squirrels tend to stay away from rc cars (unlike my beloved chipmunk friend Munchy, gone but not forgotten😢). This guy came right by, to be honest it didn't affect my run too much but it startled the heck out of me and made me laugh hard! :D

Note 2: a great improvement to the track setup was achieved by simply swapping the  featherlight cones for some duct-tape, firmly stuck to the spot and highlited with neon paint. Now if I touch a marker during a run nothing happens, while before I had to literally stop the car every time I slightly touched a cone, as it would get shot far away. This resulted in me driving way too wide around the cones in order to avoid such chances, and I'm sure in both cases it had an impact on the final result.

The duct-tape thing will only work well for short course tracks, though. Once the markers is further away I doubt I'll be able to see clearly enough to make sure the car goes where it should. I'll probably try to set up some pucks and flags à-la @Re-Bugged.

Note 3: realtively speaking, I think my driving improved a little bit just by changing my approach to the game: oddly enough, I've noticed that in the previous rounds I had an inner tendency to try and go for a fast lap instead of watching my consistency which, as @El Gecko previously said, is definitely the key. So I concentrated on trying to drive smoothly and gently rather than aggressively, and that alone felt like a leap forward.

Next thing would be the tires: for the postals I'm running on bald, used-to-be spiked tires which is far from great. A set of carpet ones would be beneficial for tarmac running, but we'll be covered in snow for good any day now so I'll wait for that one and prepare a new set of spikeys instead, as white dirt is all my car will know for the months to come.

Anyway, enough with the blabber: it was fun as always!! I will send in my humble, squirrel-affected results just in case I can't make it to the tarmac again, but I hope I'll be able to get another attemp in maybe one of next days after work.

Cheers and have fun everybody doing this

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2 hours ago, mud4fun said:

You will all no doubt be relieved to know that youngest Mudlet is stuck at home self isolating because one of her friends tested positive, so she is unable to do her races down at the rec ground on tarmac. She'll have to do her laps on the wet lawn instead so will likely get alot less laps.......especially as there will be just 0.5m gap between the hairpin cones and the fence.   

Famous last words of course - after all her thundershot is still using its off road monoshock setup and is running pin spikes. Ideal muddy, rutted, grass setup..... :rolleyes:

Poor youngest Mudlet. I'll see if my my wife, my nephew and I can get in some buggy laps on grass too, to give her some competition.

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35 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

Poor youngest Mudlet. I'll see if my my wife, my nephew and I can get in some buggy laps on grass too, to give her some competition.

Thank you :)

She may run my crawler again too but it may not be able to make the hairpins as I locked the diffs years ago for a mud bog competition and never got around to unlocking them LOL - turning circle similar to Queen Mary....

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6 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

Competition for that virtual wooden spoon is hotting up! 😁

Ive still got the splinters from the last one you can have those too 😉.

 

Sorry to hear about young Mudlet @mud4fun 😬. With all the focus on Covid, My Mother in Law who lives with us has just discovered she has Shingles 🙄.

 

Luvin’ the commitment @Ferruz 👍🏻
That Rubber door markers are still working a treat. They don’t budge in the wind or if you clip them with the wheels. I have however chopped the flags off a couple when I’ve gone over the top of them, but they still stay where they are and no damage to the car either which is a bonus. 

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12 hours ago, mud4fun said:

You will all no doubt be relieved to know that youngest Mudlet is stuck at home self isolating because one of her friends tested positive, so she is unable to do her races down at the rec ground on tarmac....

That's some assurance for most of the crowd - but I hope SHE is well. 

I unfortunately, am not. I've been in the Hospital for days, with temperatures in the 103-106 range... WAITING with anxious dread for the COVID test results. 

So even if by some miracle, $25.00 magically appeared for Tires, I'll be missing this Round. 😭  Of COURSE if the test is positive, I'll have much bigger problems at 56 yrs old.

Wouldn't that be the ultimate Irony? My SHIP is FINALLY coming in, and I end up UNDER the Dock!  There's a small chance it COULD be acute Tonsillitis, because of the FIRE in my throat. We'll have to wait and see....

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Oh dear! Hope you are feeling better soon @Carmine A!

Just come back in from doing a grass run with my silver can-powered TL-01B.

2020-11-17_10-21-35

The Fastrax Turf Ripper tyres did a great job, providing plenty of grip for the modest power available. The aging NiMH battery was running out of enthusiasm towards the end of the run, but I still managed to match my Grasshopper's tarmac lap count from yesterday. Drizzle has stopped play for now, but I may give it another go later with a fresh battery if the weather improves.

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@Carmine A hope you are out of hospital and on your feet very soon indeed.

I managed to get both the Lunchbox and the Terra Scorcher out for a run yesterday.

I had to start again a number of times as I missed a marker, or in the case of the Lunchie, ran completely over it and then into the tripod holding the GoPro. I need to film each attempt as I can never keep an accurate count of how many laps I've done.

It was wet on the driveway when I took the truck out for a little spin, just bashing about and sliding everywhere, but by the time I'd decided to give the round a go, then charged the batteries and got back out again it was mostly dry. Which means the Lunchbox can pick up enough speed, and has enough grip to tip over every time you give it some throttle then turn the front wheels hard over. It's actually a bit easier in the wet.

The Terra Scorcher on is Schumacher pin spikes and has a really odd response on the six month old tarmac of our drive. It definitely has a lot of grip,  but it can break traction quite unpredictably, oversteer in an instant and can be quite fidgety. I did a run with the pinspikes, then changed to the cheap Absima wheels and on-road tyres. I think the latter was faster, mainly because it was much more predictable in how the car would slide.

I race motorbikes, not very well and only at club level. I'm still a novice as I only get to do a handful of races a year, but I really enjoy it despite being slightly terrified as you line up on the grid and wait for the red light to go out... One thing I really need to work on though is concentration and relaxing, in the races I always end up gripping the handlebars far too hard and tiring myself out, or when we've been endurance racing things start creeping into my head that have nothing to do with the next corner or the bike in front of me after a while. Neither of these things are good!

I found both problems occurred again whilst doing this round. I kept on gripping the controller too hard which hurts where I snapped my left thumb in a bike race, and before too long I started wondering if maybe I hadn't set the timer and started trying to look down at my phone which I was using for a timer, instead of concentrating upon where the car was going!

Anyway, this was brilliant fun. If it ever stops raining I'll have another go with both cars. Thanks again Señor Turnip!

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@EvilSpike another great race report, loving these. Rings so true of things we've suffered too!

Had to giggle at the Lunchbox crashing into the gopro..... I tried running the king blackfoot this evening and omg, what a laugh, near zero directional control on wet grass and I ran the LapMonitor over.... ssshhhh don't tell the kids!!!! :D

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Well, either out of gross stupidity or some sort of perverse masochism I tuned the King Blackfoot up (refilled shocks with softer oil, adjusted for softer ride) and did some more runs in the dark with the LED lights on (draining all my power), swapped the race spec ESC for a HW1060 because even the most masochistic person can't possibly run an ESC with no reverse on a course that required a 3 point turn on the hairpins......

After three attempts and two whole battery charges later (and probably annoying my neighbours at 10:30pm) I gave up, didn't actually better my previous attempt but did manage to break the thing even more than before.... motor overheated....ESC overheated and cut out....battery got stinking hot......tie wraps failed and front end fell apart...(after hitting a plant pot) :D

Managed to get a half decent shot of the thing running at speed in the dark while holding the twin stick TX in one hand and the camera in the other....

My excuses for this round are:

  • The king blackfoot handles like a pig
  • The turning circle is worse than my crawler with locked diffs
  • The lights drain all my power
  • The whole front end was held together with tie wraps after its 25mph head on crash into concrete curb on round 2
  • The steering servo saver is also held together with a tie wrap after that sheered off too
  • I had to use 40Mhz old fashioned radio because all our 2,4Ghz stuff is in the modern buggies and I couldn't be bothered to swap it over
  • a 14T motor & 8.4v probably not the wisest choice for a dire handling truck running on wet grass (wheelies every time you hit the throttle......)

The only thing going for this is that the lights are awesome and light up half the lawn!!!

 

king_blackfoot_round5 (1).jpg

king_blackfoot_round5 (3).jpg

king_blackfoot_round5 (4).jpg

king_blackfoot_round5 (5).jpg

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Despite the local forecast of showers all day, the morning dawned dry and quite warm for this time of year, so I am recording some lap counts with my RWD M-chassis cars.

2020-09-04_10-24-31

The M-08 has just had a good run with what will hopefully turn out to be a respectable result just behind my TT-02 Type S. M-06 next!

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That was fun, and almost embarrassing for the M-08. The '06 ended up only one lap behind it! M-04 up next...

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Much as expected, the M-04 lived up to (or down to?) its reputation as a tricky car to handle, managing to do no better than my Grasshopper despite having more power, more advanced suspension and tyres better suited to tarmac. It tried to spin out at the slightest provocation and the only way I could get a clean 5-minute run was by slowing right down. Still, an interesting experience that has helped me appreciate my '06 and '08 all the more!

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