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richhrly

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richhrly last won the day on October 2 2012

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About richhrly

  • Birthday 29/09/1988

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    Rugby, photography, home-brew, vinyl
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  1. Dunno if build threads are still a thing, but after a while out of RC I decided to take some snaps as I put the kit together. The pics aren't the best, but are more for me to remember stuff, and document the process. Hopefully this is useful to anyone looking at getting this kit. Thanks to @fnknan and @m4inbrain for the guidance to buy this kit. So here are the photos, and a few things I've learned along the way. First up, the box! No expense really spent here, but that's fine. It's pretty nicely packaged, and everything is in individual bags so you'll end up fishing out loads of different bags to complete some pretty simple assemblies. Still, it's nice that you can then quickly check them off against the instructions to check that all the parts are in each bag - as I found out when I discovered two screws were missing from the Ackerman plate - Wheelspin sorted this out pretty quickly, so I just built the rest of the car and left the steering assembly until later. Both diffs come fully assembled, so that's nice. They just need the shock towers adding, along with all the usual attachment points. The rear diff has the motor mount attached to it, which at first I thought was nice, but it's actually a bit of a nightmare later on. The kit came with bushings for the wheel hubs (the diffs are already have ball bearings). I didn't bother with the bushings, and went straight to ball bearings throughout. Front and rear wishbones and shocks all put together. This was a piece of cake, but the order they tell you to do it is a bit backwards. Generally speaking, the instructions are in a weird order, with weird photos where sometimes a part is on the wrong side of a shock tower or something, and the printed quality is awful. I ended up with the manual from the Absima website on my phone, and even then sometimes you need to skip to a photo of the assembled car to figure out how they want you to build something. It probably isn't a challenge for people with their heads in the game, but it threw me a couple of times. Back end build up. Sadly this all has to come back out in a bit... Big, black rear wing which isn't what is shown on the website, manual or other marketing photos. I'm a big fan, and have it in the laid-back position because I think it looks better (even though it's stupid). Front end going together. Why C clips are still a thing used on anything is really beyond me, but there we go! The screws through the front wishbone assembly pass into the diff, so you need to balance the diff on the assembly, while screwing up through the chassis. The instructions also tell you to do all of this, then install the centre shaft. Don't do this, as you won't get it in, as I figured out. There is a serious amount of play in the shaft, too. Plan shot of everything screwed together. The photos on the left-hand page are a great example of screws shown going into the wrong side of a shock tower. Servo in, and there's a nice gap for you to get a screwdriver in to tighten the servo horn. The bad news is there's no way of getting to the bottom mounting screws on the servo posts, as the instructions have already had you install them. I've just got the servo held in with two screws at the mo, but will have to take those out, add the extra screws, then screw the posts back down. The servo is a Ripmax Quartz QZ502 which seems to do a very good job so far. An on-the-wonk shallow focus shot because why not? Quick electronics install. Installing the motor was one of the worst bits - I don't own any Allen keys, instead I have a ratchet screwdriver with a load of hex bits. Getting to the lower motor mount resulted in me taking the entire rear right hand side apart (including the wishbone) so that I could get anything into the gap to add the screw. I had a few dramas soldering my battery to XT60 connectors as it has some serious gauge wire (along with me being a moron and shorting it... twice). I moved up to XT90 and they just about sat in the cups on those, so much happier. Yes, I'm very bad at soldering 😅. I didn't want to cut down the motor wires to start with as they were nicely tinned, so that's why they go on a bit of a weird route. The motor is a Trackstar Brushless 13.5T, with a matching ESC. This is ROAR approved so I can take the electronics out later if I find a club and I wanna put it in a different class. I went with a Spektrum DX2E kit because along, long term I might want to put this in something a bit fancier. At this point I regret not having bought any foam tape. And here it is pretty much done. There's a balljoint sticking out of one of the battery holder post as a M3 nut shook itself off while I was spinning around on my patio and I lost it, so I don't rate the nylon holding ability of the included ones very much! After £1 on Amazon, and 20 more, I'm back up and running. Added spacers onto the shock bodies to stiffen up the back end as it has a lot of droop. I might screw the grub screws on the wishbones to make it sit a bit lower too. I've not run it in anger yet, so I'll get some shots when I do that. A few things I want to do to make it a bit of a better job; Install the servo properly. Velcro around the sides of the body/chassis once the tape arrives. Cut down the motor wires, and solder them vertically into the cups on the ESC, and the "right" way around onto the motor. I soldered the positive battery wire vertically to clearance it against the motor, but the others sit pretty nicely for now. Cut down the servo wires, crimp on new connectors to keep the cabling tidy. Add new female servo plugs onto the cut offs, so I can use the servo/ESC in other chassises which may need longer wires. I think it sits a bit high, so probably drop from 85mm shocks down to 70/75mm. Maybe some with a bit more visual appeal, even if they won't be as practical. New centre shaft from some other model, or see if I can figure out another approach. I've used fuel tube in the past on front dogbones, so I may do that just to stop the rattle. Aluminium wishbones, maybe shock towers, add a bash-plate to the front. New shell, new wheels, aiming for a bit of a weird look I have planned in my head. Bigger fan on the ESC for giggles Hope this proves useful or interesting to someone considering one of these kits. Really enjoyed putting it together even with it's little tricks, and I think it represents pretty great value for money. Just need things to dry out a bit before I send it.
  2. Well, because on my first attempt I was unhappy with seeing a tiny bit of wire at the back of the housing, I desoldered, snipped, and soldered them again. I’d seen a tip to solder those connectors with the other piece of the XT60 connected, to help the heat drain. I hadn’t soldered the other end, and I ended up with that end against my helping hand, so that’s where the short was. Should’ve disconnected it before moving it, quite frustrated as I’d been so “by the book” until that point.
  3. Cheers all, that has calmed me down a bit. I’ve got it in a waterproof box in the saucepan now, but leaving it outside just to be safe. Will check for swelling in the morning, then give soldering it another go if it looks OK, then will check it with a multi-meter.
  4. With my Mrs working nights, and the weather being grim, I thought I'd take the chance to solder a new connector onto my Lipo battery as a first step into getting back into RC. While I was soldering my new connector, I managed to short the battery briefly while trying to get the hard plastic XT60 connector to snap together (the bit which is at the back instead of heat-shrink). I've not had lipos before, and have heard a few horror stories, so it's now in a metal saucepan I use for home-brew, with a lid on (and cling film around that to keep the rain out!) on my patio. It's not been charged, just as it was shipped to me. It's a hardcase battery - https://www.modelsport.co.uk/gens-ace-lipo-2s-pack-7-4v-4000-50c-deans-plug/rc-car-products/444355 - so I guess puffing will be hard to see. Is it a goner? Are there any steps to see if the battery is damaged forever? Am I being too paranoid with it sat outside in a pot? 😀 Cheers guys!
  5. A super rubbish phone photo, but it’s all here! Will get building next week and do a thread.
  6. Got myself a set of these with the sleeves, look neat! Planning on building some of this kit next week. Are build threads still a thing? 😅
  7. steady on! gotta check I still enjoy 1/10th first . Cheers for all the advice chaps, will sort out some batteries/chargers tomorrow.
  8. Excellent. And I’m guessing the balance plug is a universal fit? So a decent mAh battery like https://www.modelsport.co.uk/gens-ace-lipo-2s-pack-7-4v-4000-50c-deans-plug/rc-car-products/444355 has the right fit? I know battery connectors are a whole other thing . Sorry for all the questions, just wanna get it right first time before I start hacking things up down the line!
  9. Yup, it’s rated for 2S. I went for the TrackStar 13.5T Combo because cheap and cheerful. Part of me was toying with a fancier Hobbywing setup but maybe later! This charger seems small (good) and cheap (even better!): https://www.modelsport.co.uk/overlander-vsrmini-10a-100w-ac-balance-charger/rc-car-products/437389 - but am I missing something obvious?
  10. Right, ordered the Abisma 3.4! Also ordered a new TX/RX set, servo, Motor and ESC, as well as some bearings to replace the wheel bushings. Forgot about the battery 😅. Worth bothering with Lipo? Or wait until I get more into it before having to deal with all the charging / charging bag etc hassle?
  11. Cheers buddy! Not taking pics professionally any more, but still dabble when I get the chance
  12. Cheers, got some good info from the thread! MS don’t have any in stock right now, hopefully some more arrive soon. Time to start learning about batteries and all that - LiPo and Brushless was only just starting to be a thing when I last had a buggy.
  13. Just checked it out and looks ideal - thanks! Buying a cheaper chassis and dropping more on the electric bits makes sense so I can get another car if I fall back into the hobby. What are the upgrades you think are essential? Ball race / shocks would be my first thought but those boxes seem to be ticked.
  14. Cheers, it's kept pretty short. I had an RC10B4 buggy about 13 years ago, and used to bash that about on my parents lawn OK, so that's put the buggy idea in my head. I don't mind spending a bit on the drivetrain etc, but yeah - race-spec isn't ideal for the garden. It's a shame most nitro stuff seems RTR, back when I was 13 everything was a kit 😅
  15. Hi all, long term since I last posted / had a RC car, and very out the loop! Looking to get back into the hobby, as my partner is on nights for a month and I could do with something to fill the time a bit. I'm after a bit of advice about getting a kit - I want to build something from scratch, rather than getting anything RTR or secondhand, as building something is what I'm actually the most keen to do. Ideally it can be a bit of an on-going project - initial build, then hopping up later when I get time on my hands. I'm quite open to either electric or nitro models as I've owned both in the past, it'll be run in my garden which is grass, so something buggy-ish would be ideal. I'm probably looking to spend £100-£200 on a chassis, which is a bit limiting, but my eye could be turned by the ideal model. I like buggy/truggy style, so the TT-02B looks decent, with a lot of scope for "doing up" down the line, but part of me is tempted by fun of nitro. I was wondering what kits you would all advise? Any help would be super appreciated!
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