Stuff I wish I knew years ago.

[Juggular 4964]

Or maybe I should title it as "Stuff I learned after joining Tamiya Club."  

1) JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) screwdriver is compulsory #1 item.  Japanese screwdrivers just work best on Tamiya screws. 

#2 is most used. If you are investing $10, get a #2 first.  #1 is for tiny 2mm screws that are only used on Grasshopper wheels.  

2) Differential putty. 

If the diff is sealed type, diff clays can make it tougher than ball diffs (for buggies and trucks only. On-road cars should use AW grease).  

Once it goes in, it'll be difficult to undo. It is somewhat adjustable; you can scrape off some if you want to run it on-road more often.

3) Plumber's faucet grease for ball-diffs. 

This works better than ball diff grease.  It's slightly stickier and stronger.  It might be little too sticky for on-road ball diffs. (Even though I said "sticky," it wipes off very easily if you want to go back to Tamiya's watery stuff.) For off-road ball diffs, I never use the watery Tamiya ball diff grease. I use faucet grease only.  

You can apply it on seams to make the gearbox splash proof.  It's plastic safe since it's designed to stick to o-rings of the facets for years. Still, it's easy to wipe off, as mentioned.

4) Sometimes using less is more.  Like Teflon grease (aka PTFE). It just works smoother and faster. Just as quiet too. For the Grasshopper, Hornet, Lunch box, it doesn't matter. They have like 3 gears, the difference would be totally negligible. 

But if you are building Konghead or Dynahead with dozens of gears?  Teflon grease can make as much difference as going from rubber sealed bearings to ceramic bearings.  

If a $9 tube of teflon can make the silver can run as fast as sport tuned on Konghead? It's a good investment in my book. (This much Teflon is more than enough.)

5) Keeping tires in plastic bags (or entire RC car in a bag) for long time storage.  Or shower cap each tire. 

Tires exposed to air cracks... (This is not an RC car, but you get the point) 

6) Small dehumidifiers. 

My storage area gets damp. I found rust spots developing on the springs. These $35 dehumidifiers use only about 22w of energy (about 1/10th of a desktop computer).  I leave it on 24/7.  It can fill up in 1 day if we leave the windows open on a rainy day. Or in a month in the winter.  No more rust spots.  I have fancier $60 ones too, but their fans went bad sooner. 

I have 2 of these cheap $35 ones. The power adopter on one died, but I replaced it for $8.  It's been running non-stop for 4 years straight, night and day.  Never oiled the fans, they've been collecting water continuously.  

 

7) Rust remover.  

I get used RC cars. Rusted parts come with them.  This stuff reduces manual labor.  No fumes, no harsh chemicals either.  

8) Using hair drier for stickers.  They stick a lot better on corners and stuff. (below is a hand-me-down from my wife)   

 

9) Using Molotow on silver trims. (Allow to dry for 12-24 hours before you paint over)  I learned about Molotow from a TC member.  Since then I've been using it on body trims on the inside.  

\

Often, the first thing I use is the Molotow liquid chrome pen.  

It doesn't look all that great because what we see are less-shiny undersides. Silver trims are stickered over, so all this won't be seen. But if the car rolls over and the sticker is scraped off, the shell still has the silver on the inside. 

10) Liquid mask. 

If you want to leave lenses clear and if it's too hard to use the masking tape, this would work.  It's not precise, but on hard to reach places like VW beetle blinkers, this works best.  You can cut a line with a knife after paint dries and peel it off.  I tend to scratch a lot when peeling it off. But the brake lights will have stickers over them, so I don't mind scratches. I am careful on headlights. 

  

11) Backing the paint with pure white after the intended color.  Colors are so much more vibrant if you back it with white. (Obviously, the intended color must be painted at least 3 layers. Otherwise, white spots would show.)  

After a couple layers of white, you can paint it black if you think the interior too bright.  I prefer dark gray for interior. (I wish Tamiya sold "interior gray" spray.  I intend to mix and use exclusively for interior --after white, of course.  If I skip white, I wouldn't do black either. Black makes the color so dingy.  I am lazy. But the colors just don't look right without the white backing. (Below has orange, white second, and black 3rd.)

12) Using a marker outside. It helps with cutting.  (I haven't done it below, but if I used a marker, the window masks would be more precise too. The outside film will be peeled off, so it doesn't matter what you draw on the outside.)

13) Painting the body first.  

Painting the shell is a major chore for me.  If I get that over with first, the mechanical parts would be more fun.  Tamiya static kits often make you do the tedious parts first for the same reason.  

14) Spraying the can upside down to clear the nozzle when I'm done with one layer.  It wouldn't be clogged next time, even if the can is used a year later.    

15) Filing the body clips.  They have sharp tips that scratch the body. It gets nasty fast, especially on hard bodies. 

By the same token, these things under the Lexan shell protects the paint. (or even just a piece of tape)

16) Ordering bearings by size.  For those who build one RC car only, maybe a pre-packaged set would be convenient.  But if you build more than 1, using the size to order bearings is much cheaper ("5x11x4mm" bearings for 1150, "5x8x2.5" for 850 bearings. They are about 30-40 cents a piece).

17) 60w soldering iron. 

For about 10 years, I thought my soldering skill was terrible.  When I got a $13 iron, I became a skilled solderer instantly.  One is out of order already, but I soldered a dozen ESCs and batteries with it in about 2 years.  

18) Never trusting the instructions entirely.  Tamiya is THE BEST in the world for instructions. Even so, I double-check everything.  Sometimes they have gaps as much as 1.5mm.  I try to remove more than half the slop.  Kyosho 5x8mm shim set has been invaluable for me.  

(Bigwig below) 

If Blackfoot pistons are too stiff, file some corners and make them soft.  No need to follow instruction for everything.  You can decide what's too stiff and what's soft.  If you fail? Get another set and try again.  Failure can be a good teacher.  

 

19) Zip-tie for servo saver.  You could buy metal horns that does not protect the servo, in exchange for crisp steering. 

But you can use a zip tie. It can make the steering sharper. At the same time, it can protect the servo to some degree.  

20)  No pressure on myself.  

I have about a dozen unfinished projects.  If I were to include forgotten projects, probably more. (but I can't, because I forgot) 

This is just a hobby. It doesn't matter if it's done or not.  It shouldn't be on your 'to-do list' like some chore.  Do it when it's fun and relaxing for you.  I've listed all kinds of stuff.  But this is something I wish I knew from the middle of 1980s.  Ironically, though, if I knew everything from the get-go, it wouldn't have been fun.  Learning about these things was more than half the fun.  There is no deadline on these things.  Take what's useful to you and go at your own pace.  Remember, all this is for fun only.  Do what's fun for YOU. 

(Also, sharing the knowledge is a good thing we do everyday too)

 

[Jonathon Gillham 4606]

About electronics, specifically where quality matters and where you can go cheap, and what cheap stuff is good. You generally get what you pay for, but so much is far more than you need. Also, some seemingly expensive stuff works out great value for money as you have it so long.

Eg Futaba and Sanwa are my pick for rc gear and I'll stick with it for racing, Flysky is cheap and cheerful and works fine.

Servos - futaba and sanwa make the best if you win lotto, but there are cheap options which work fine like the SPT 4412

Same goes for all of it really

 

[DeadMeat666 1675]

4 hours ago, Juggular said:

20)  No pressure on myself.  

I have about a dozen unfinished projects.  If I were to include forgotten projects, probably more. (but I can't, because I forgot) 

This is just a hobby. It doesn't matter if it's done or not.  It shouldn't be on your 'to-do list' like some chore.  Do it when it's fun and relaxing for you.

This piece of advice is probably the most valuable one of all, and I wish I knew it sooner. Once I realized this (about 3 months ago), I pulled out of my recent RC burnout and started having fun again.

[djmcnz 754]

Mine...

1. Never, ever, build an RC car using bushings, always use bearings.
2. Learn about dry lubricants and use that to lube everything that requires lube and isn't sealed.
3. It's an addiction, learn to accept that and you'll feel less guilty!

👍

[isomer1 175]

Fantastic list.

FWIW Re: #2 Differential Putty - a bit of paint thinner and it comes completely clean. I spent a good hour trying to wipe it out with tools and towels to no avail. Paint thinner and it was gone in a minute or so.

[scoobybooster 248]

If only I had known back then that 40 years later, some weirdo will come along, willing to put xx$ on the table for the old junk Tamiya car that I just threw away in the trash can

[matisse 1581]

6 hours ago, djmcnz said:

Mine...

1. Never, ever, build an RC car using bushings, always use bearings.
2. Learn about dry lubricants and use that to lube everything that requires lube and isn't sealed.
3. It's an addiction, learn to accept that and you'll feel less guilty!

👍

Dry Lube FTW