Something of a return...

[ReggieC]

Oh what I'd have done to have access to a 3d printer and decent tools 10-12 years ago!

 

 

 

CAD'd up a battery holder and had it printed by one of my colleagues to hold the battery. I also designed some thumb-turn posts that didn't work as well as I hoped so a bit of time in the shed I came up with another solution.

 

 

A couple of PCB standoffs, the thumbscrews from the x-ray posts and a piece of aluminium from the brace that kept my very broken arm in position for 14 weeks became a battery strap. A little bit of foam on stuck to the aluminium and I'm very happy with how well it turned up. Hopefully a shell and the esc turning up tomorrow!

[Stormbringer]

very ingenious mate 

[ReggieC]

Got to race today. A bit of early rain meant the track was very muddy.

 

This after a 5 min run!

 

Slash was slow, the soft ground is getting bumpier every time and when I'm in a class with 1/8 truggies, it's never gonna work out well! Still fun though. Had a few casualties though.

 

Shell is just about too bad to use now. Had to add some cable ties to hold on the rear quarter and also a make shift repair with a plastic pastry container because the area around the body posts have blown apart. Not sure if I'll go for another traxxas replica shell or paint my own next.

 

Also lost a hinge pin on the last corner of the last race.

 

XB2 ran well, apart from some interference issues that I've had pop up before. I'm using an Absima CR3P set up and whenever I run at the same time as someone using the actual flysky equivalent, I get a few drop outs where the car just doesn't catch up with the controller for a split second. Usually just resulting in a missed apex, but had a couple of trips into the barriers because of it. Luckily I qualified in a different final so it was fine for that. Very odd and only happens when the other person is in the same heat as me.

 

Luckily it didn't effect me too much, I finished 4th in the A-final. 3rd may have been on the cards without a couple of silly errors. My esc has also seemed to have lost reverse, which is allowed at the club so I'm getting stuck requiring a marshall when others wouldn't.

 

Lots of cleaning to do now. Stuff for the T1 is also here, the shell is trimmed and mounted, just waiting for a bit of a warmer day to paint it.

[Stormbringer]

looks like you had fun tho 

maybe your needing to look into better radio if your getting interference  ?

does any one else get interference from that flysky?

if you have a spare receiver you could swap it out and see if its better ?

[ReggieC]

46 minutes ago, Stormbringer said:

looks like you had fun tho 

maybe your needing to look into better radio if your getting interference  ?

does any one else get interference from that flysky?

if you have a spare receiver you could swap it out and see if its better ?

 

A few other people have had interference problems last few times out but now it's wet I think people are struggling with that too. I tried swapping the receiver's between the Slash and XB2 and thought that sorted it but it happened again. Strangely, it seemed to happen less when I was the last person to switch everything on before a race.

 

I am thinking about a new radio set, was hoping to stick to one for everything, but I suppose having a set up for racing and another for everything else works too. Plus means if my girlfriend wants to come play again, we can both go out with a car. I had a Spektrum DX3.0 before which was really nice but to get the same functionality as the CR3P from Spektrum is a big jump in cost. Might have to do a bit of research

[Stormbringer]

When other folks get interference is that guys flysky on ?

maybe his is faulty and is causing the interferance ?

Spektrums work by grabbing 2 unused frequencies in the band to help signal fidelity 

Spektrums are good but pricey . There are other makes out there with multi model memory tho

My car tx is the DX5 Rugged and for air and scale ships i use either my DX8 original or my NX8 so i guess im a Spekky guy lol 

Spektrum is on a par price wise with Sanwa and Futaba kit

[ReggieC]

8 hours ago, Stormbringer said:

When other folks get interference is that guys flysky on ?

maybe his is faulty and is causing the interferance ?

Spektrums work by grabbing 2 unused frequencies in the band to help signal fidelity 

Spektrums are good but pricey . There are other makes out there with multi model memory tho

My car tx is the DX5 Rugged and for air and scale ships i use either my DX8 original or my NX8 so i guess im a Spekky guy lol 

Spektrum is on a par price wise with Sanwa and Futaba kit

 

Not sure if it's affecting others, it's happened in other heats but don't know if he's got his radio on in the pits!

 

Would definitely like something with a bit of a heavier wheel, the CR3P does feels cheap. I'll see what's about for the £200 mark and maybe treat it as a Christmas present to myself!

[Stormbringer]

you can get the dx5 rugged for about that budget mate 

[ReggieC]

1 hour ago, Stormbringer said:

you can get the dx5 rugged for about that budget mate 

 

What are receiver's like for them?

[Stormbringer]

a 2ch is 26 ish quid but a 5 ch is 50ish

they do 2,3 or 5ch receivers

[ReggieC]

3 hours ago, Stormbringer said:

a 2ch is 26 ish quid but a 5 ch is 50ish

they do 2,3 or 5ch receivers

That's better than I thought! Might be the option then. Would it be bad to go that way purely because I've already got some Spektrum stickers kicking about?! 😂

[Stormbringer]

check the prices on model sport,wheels spin and kings lynn models as 1 of them maybe a bit cheaper 

[ReggieC]

11 hours ago, Stormbringer said:

check the prices on model sport,wheels spin and kings lynn models as 1 of them maybe a bit cheaper 

 

Gonna have to put it off a little bit I think, have got insurance, cambelt, MOT and Christmas all in one month 😩😩

[ReggieC]

A bit of time in the shed tonight.

 

10bl120 soldered into the T1.  Fitted one of the china special servos I got a while back and a 17.5t Core RC motor. I've not got a spare receiver for it at the moment and waiting to see what I do with my interference situation before getting another.

 

XB2 has also been stripped, cleaned and I've changed over to a second set of shocks with 250cst oil in. I don't know what's in the main ones so thought I'd keep them there just incase.

 

 

I've also started painting shells for the T1 and Slash over the weekend but had a bit of a nightmare. Tried liquid mask for the first time and followed the instructions on the back of the box, which turned out to be different from the ones on their website. Mainly regarding if you can heat it to speed up drying. The box says yes, the website says no. This has left the liquid mask basically set solid on the shells in a few places and has left residue in the places I could scrape it off.

 

I've been on to Modelsport who have said they're talking to the suppliers to hopefully find a fix. I'm otherwise down 2 shells and the 3 paints I'd used up to that point.

 

 

I was hoping to get out with the Gmade at one point this weekend but the drama with the shells basically took over most of it!

[BigGinge]

That’s not looking good with the mask. What sort was it you tried to use?

 

 

[ReggieC]

17 hours ago, BigGinge said:

That’s not looking good with the mask. What sort was it you tried to use?

 

 

Was the Klinik RC stuff listed on MS. Was looking forward to giving it a go

 

[ReggieC]

Following on from the shell situation. I tried so 99.9% rubbing alcohol but it improved it but didn't completely clear it.

 

Rather amazingly though, after conversations with Shawn at Modelsport, I've had 2 replacement shells and some more paint sent through to replace the 2 I had, which turned up on monday. Apparently there was a bad batch of the liquid mask and the suppliers were happy to help out. Modelsport have always been one of the best shopping experiences I've had in any part of retail, but they've gone above and beyond here!

 

Unfortunately that left me without a shell for the Slash for racing on the Sunday before, so I made the decision to just throw some paint at the messed up shell, knowing there was another on the way. Plan was to have a pretty similar paint scheme to what I have on the XB2. I changed this slightly as I had no idea how well it would actually holdup.

 

Ended up with this.

 

It looks okay, not what I was hoping for but useable. Lots of blob's of liquid mask still on there and some hazy parts. Definitely looks better with a layer of mud over it. I'm not sure how well it will hold up.

 

Racing wise, another good weekend with the XB2, another slow weekend with the Slash. The Xerun v1.2 in the XB2 I think has finally given up the ghost. It lost reverse a couple of meetings ago and I clocked that I'd lost brakes recently too. So luckily I had my spare Xtreme stock esc ready to swap in. I loaded it with pretty similar settings and it's significantly quicker than the Xerun. Not sure why, but the added pace worked nicely and got me in A final with the quick guys!

 

I had a 9 lapper in quali, but final pressure got to me a little bit. I was regularly catching P3 but would make a mistake that dropped me back each time I was close to making a pass.

 

Slash was last finisher in every single heat and the final in the truck/truggy class again. I really enjoy racing it round, but is a bit of a shame I get stuck in with the 1/8 truggies which are the quickest on our track, rather than the 1/8 buggies that achieve much more similar lap times to me. Maybe more people will bring Short course trucks at some point.

 

I've discovered there's an on-road club that race on a Tuesday night not too far away which I'm thinking about taking the T1 to. I might be able to get there next week if I can get it all sorted. I need to decide if I stick some paint on the other bad shell just to make it useable, it's significantly worse than the Slash one but I think it'll get beat up quicker. Will come up with a plan over the weekend!

 

[Stormbringer]

cool on getting the replacement shells and paint 

[ReggieC]

33 minutes ago, Stormbringer said:

cool on getting the replacement shells and paint 

 

Yeah I was really surprised! Was nice to know it wasn't just me messing up that did it! It think I'll wait for a bit of a milder day before going anywhere near painting these ones though 😂

[ReggieC]

Popped to my LHS today to try pick up a few bits. Was my first time visiting there and to be honest, I won't be rushing back too soon. Not a lot of car related stuff beyond RTR cars, a few random tyre sets and minimal spares. Really strange that they only had massive or really tiny body clips, nothing you'd use on anything 1/16-1/8 scale. I did pick up a couple of aerial tubes and mounts for the XB2 and the T1 which I did need.

 

So the T1 is now ready to roll. Tried to keep the cables near where possible, but don't think it'll be too great unless I shorten the esc and servo leads.

 

Got to squeeze a transponder in there too at some point so that'll be fun.

 

Decided to chuck some paint at the other shell so I can use it on Tuesday. So set out into the shed at -1°c with a hairdryer. My thoughts were that the shell is already a dud, so if the paint flakes off because it was too cold then it is what it is.

 

Doesn't look too dreadful, certainly useable. Any colour outside of the blue on the bonnet and yellow on the roof is leftover liquid mask with overspray on it. Looks much worse on the other side.

 

 

All the stuff up the A-pillars and around the arches could come off really easily. But we'll see what happens.

 

Have been speaking to the bloke that runs the club on Tuesday and sounds like a nice relaxed club so I'm all booked in for this Tuesday. Hopefully the T1 gets round in 1 piece. I'll probably give it a full rebuild with new bearings et al over Christmas if it behaves itself.

[Stormbringer]

the shell will look even worse after a few races and good luck with the racing 

[ReggieC]

28 minutes ago, Stormbringer said:

the shell will look even worse after a few races and good luck with the racing 

 

Yeah, I can't see it lasting too well! Hopefully it'll go out it a blaze of glory 

[ReggieC]

Went racing last night!

 

 

RC club with access to a bar, got to be the best way to spend an evening?!

 

I added a cooling fan before hand as I read that running 17.5t stock at high gearing can get a bit warm. Just double sided taped it to the chassis, held up all night fine. It either worked really well or my fixed timing motor wasn't pushed as hard as others because it was barely warm after a run.

 

The track was pretty small and technical, so not having loads of power from the fixed timing motor wasn't too much of an issue.

 

 

Managed to qualify P4 in the A final (8 people running the same class) which I was chuffed with using a 21 year old car and the first time out on-road in about 10 years for me. Finished in P4 as the top 3 cars were much faster. But I think with a bit of set up work and some better tyres and I won't be too far off.

 

Really enjoyable night all in.

[ReggieC]

Oh, and the dodgy paint shell survived. Funnily enough, the only paint that cracked off was on the blue which went on first and it thought would be okay. I'm guessing I left some finger prints or something on when I peeled that initial bit off 

 

[Stormbringer]

well done mate