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Haven't posted in a while, but have to warn everyone: i just fell for a scam, beware. I've ordered an expensive dress for my wife, but was gobsmacked to discover this after unpacking. I'd never thought i'd fall for a scam like this, i don't even know how they got me. Can't send it back either, i've already opened the box and accidentally painted a few parts. Let that be a lesson to all of you, learn from my mistake.

Got out yesterday for a few minutes when it was dry.

Reunited with this after letting it go back in 2021

Birthday time again and i think my dear wife is the greatest!!! My birthday present from the wife and kids, Awesome!! Shame the weather is terrible for outdoors running….

Also today. Courtesy of @SWF An Astute 2022 with plenty of hop ups! Now did I want an Astute 2022? No, do I know what one is? Also no. But this seemed a great deal and no offencr to @SWF its usually me who spends hundreds on an RC and sells it with little or no use at a massive loss. So why not. Ive also sold a fair few Traxxas recently.... A Plethora of Hop Ups. Slipper Clutch, Alloy Shocks, CVDs etc already installed. BZ Motor/1060 and spare wheels/tyres. Credit to the seller. Its beautifully finished. Its when I buy other peoples builds I realise how bad my painting skills are 😅 Tamiya's are taking over. This was all Traxxas terroritory at the start of the year!

Tonka has a perfectly balanced diet of brass. Lad parked it like this, it's not rolling over. No idea how...

OK, I've realised that I seem to go through a LOT of GT12 bodyshells! So, rather that starting a new topic each time, I'll put photos in here. Makes more sense! Anyway, here's the story... I started racing in early 2022, for the first time in 17 years. GT12 class. It has been a big learning curve. I've never raced with brushless power, lipos, 2WD, non-independent suspension, 1/12 scale, tyre additive, motor timing adjustment, nor 2.4 GHz radio systems. Loving it, though! Bodyshells used: Kamtec Porsche 911 GT3 R in Castrol livery (based on the 1990s Castrol Tom's Supra). Painted by Sharkfat RC Customs. This is my favourite shell, so far. It's just a shame that the "proper racing" bodyshells make such a difference in GT12. I'm at the point now that I'm scrapping for hundredths of a second. I think I'll still use it on non-championship, fun nights. Christmas and that sort of thing. Front sticker got changed to "Trinity Power", when I upgraded to the fantastic Trinity Revtech motor. After that, I tried a Bittdesign Agata. It's a Lamborghini. Lamborghinis are my dream car brand. Unfortunately, it didn't last too long, as I didn't understand tyre prep and the car was all over the place. It got damaged, quite quickly! After that, I ran a Phat Bodies GTM (it's a McLaren). One of the staples of GT12 racing. I've ran this shell for longer than any other. Up to my last time of racing, in-fact! This photo was taken at the end of last year and almost 12 months later, I've still been using it! You can imagine how beat-up it looks, now!! Tried another Bittydesign Agata "Lamborghini", because I really wanted to run one. This one was painted by Sharkfat RC Customs. I've decided that white, gunmetal grey, yellow and orange are my colours. Ran it a good while, but it's a little beat-up, by this point. Biggest issue was the sheer size! It's soooo much longer and wider than every other shell I've used! That did cause a few issues. After I'd stopped using this, I went back to the Phat Bodies GTM (above). After that (and very recently) I had Totally Average Paintjobs do me a Mika Häkkinen tribute paint job, as the Bittydesign Seven20 is clearly meant to be another McLaren. This looked fantastic, but it very much blended-in with the colour of the track! I should have thought of that. It lasted a mere 2 weeks... then got stood on, by a Marshal. Game over for this one. And just finished today... again, painted by Totally Average Paintjobs, a Montech MLGT3. In "my" colours. Again, a McLaren. Very similar to the Phat Bodies GTM. I'm not a fan of the way McLaren road cars look, by the way. They're just the current shells to have. This one should stand out and shouldn't get stood on!! It looks fast standing still!

Had a visit to the bodyshop....

Few small bits to tidy but essentially done. Managed to just use things I already had kicking about and printed the two side screens. I'm happy with it. VID_20231126_180026918.mp4

It's been a good van so far, owned for 5 years now. 2008 model and has now only got 76,000 miles on it. I didn't do a full conversion on the interior because we wanted to keep the second row of seats, so it's more of a day van than a camper. Can sleep two in the rear though if needed, LWB so more than 6ft of space behind the rear seats. We use an awning anyway when we go camping.

My mcd xr5 max pro turned up this morning, massive thanks to Mike Taylor at Taylor rc for the deal, the quality of these things really shows compared the Losi, Hpi, Fid and king motor offerings Iv owned in the past.

Half a point at best 😆 I'll put you all out of your misery. It's a Hyper 7 wrapped in a Hyper 8.5 shell. I've gone to the dark side, it's a nitro 🤯

After several late nights work slowly sorting the decals we are more or less finished… Was pretty time consuming and fiddly, but end result seems to justify it 😎 Just got a decal of Greek flag minus blue background and what is possibly an exhaust outlet left - the CEN model has an extra rear diffuser that mounts to the chassis with a moulded in exhaust outlet but photos on web don’t show a decal on it. Got one of these but no ideas yet as for how to mount it to the WR8 chassis Almost too pretty to use in anger

Took the Landy out today for a bit of fun, was out for a few hours and only used 1 battery, i love how a battery on 1 of these lasts so long!

As Ive said time and time again. Its important for me to have the RC I want regardless of condition. As long as I get it, I can always upgrade it later on..... In my mission to complete Gran Turismo 3 with Tamiyas, next on the list was a Calsonic R34. Theres been a NIB one on eBay for what seems forever on a TA04 Chassis for £349. Ive come close to buying it. But never have. This one then turned up on eBay, used, and on a TT01. I thought it was an old shell on a TT01, but turns out this was probably #58314. I missed this existed when doing my list. Im not fussed about the chassis as I have a NIB TA04 Zexel so. The pictures werent great, I submitted an offer and used some Nectar points and I won it for less than a Third of the cost of the NIB (albeit a different much less desirable chassis). It arrived today and you know what its not that bad! No cracks, just could do with some new decals which I can get should I need too. Im really pleased with this one. Which leaves my R34 Collection looking like this. One day Ill find the Pennzoil one for sale and make a Gran Turismo Video haha

A few 1060s for my remaining M03s and one for the M07

The Saturniidae Moth Caterpillar

Finished off the UDR interior. Had an idea so figured might as well try it. Two of the screens were made with a printer and some clear plastic (from a cake box 🤨). VID_20231126_180026918.mp4 Camera doesn't show too well because of the glare but there are red, green and orange LEDs. I had to paint over each one in coloured paint to cut down the brightness. Also added green and orange domed things for the effect of buttons. All powered from the small 2s lipo which also powers the cooling fans. It's called 'messing about when bored'...

Produced under authorization from Daimler-Benz AG by FMS, the 1/24 Unimog 421 model car showcases the FCX24 high-performance climbing chassis and a two-speed transmission design. This ensures a high standard of both appearance simulation and performance. Completely pre-assembled and ready-to-run (RTR) Two-speed transmission Sturdy ABS hard plastic body Remote lighting system for added realism High clearance portal axles Four-link suspension for enhanced performance Metal gear steering servo for durability Functional hood for an authentic touch Restored interior panels for realistic detailing Available in three distinct colors Numerous hop-ups already accessible Source: https://www.fmshobby.com/products/fms-1-24-fcx24-mercedes-benz-unimog-421-rtr View full news article

On eBay, but sure we can make a deal outside of eBay if anyone is interested. E Revo 2.0 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335103747444?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=t4BQ8_QoRBC&sssrc=0&ssuid=t4BQ8_QoRBC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY Summit https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335103713773?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=t4BQ8_QoRBC&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=t4BQ8_QoRBC&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Made a start on the M05 V2 R. I returned the M07 as I already had a load of M03-M06 parts so made sense to use what I already had, as this will only be used for tamiya stock class racing every now and again it should be fine. Like usual I'm piecing it together rather than buying a kit (plus the v2 R was discontinued years ago), most of the parts ordered from PJ.

some decals for the next money pit project

It’s my birthday and my darling wife and kids got me this, Another to start modding lmao, dont get me wrong, i am still very much a Land Rover fan but my goodness, this is beautiful!!!

This is my Element build. Not quite finished, but nearly. Rock Pirates Chassis rails Artful Dodgers SOA conversion JConcepts Power Wagon body (Soon to change to Proline Cab only Power Wagon Brushed Hobbywing 1080 Holmes Hobby 550 12t Crawlermaster Sport AliExpress Steelies with AliEx Rubber Yeah Racing diff guards Hard Plastic bits

Took my wife to Tong garden centre today.....so wished i had a very small crawler to play on the xmas scene

Today's delivery!

Finally a break in the constant rain of late so took out the TRX4 for a woodland trip

Thank you. I'm certainly staying on the same path I've always been on..... even though I do sometimes take a little detour... I do always get back 🙂

Installed.

Now the good stuff. Here she is. Gorgeous box interior: Certificate, Decals, Manual and body plastics: The shell has been partially cut out unfortunately because erm..... But here she is. Electrics will be removed and sold (may keep the servo for my Avante Black). I may put the stock shocks on. Im going to get MST wheels as they just look better, and then tackle the wheelbase......

Today it arrived. Let me preface this. The seller was brilliant. He was a credit to the hobby. Theres issues, he quickly sorted things. Not one of us is perfect, thing sometimes go wrong, and issues arise. How we deal with those issues is what matters and he has rectified this to the best of his ability. Im happy with the resolution (partial refund) and we go again. On the off chance youre reading this, thank you for youre co operation and the below is not a reflection on you. These things happen, have happened to me when Ive been the seller, and Id like to think I rectified my issues then. Basically, it arrived damaged. It could have been packaged better, there was just parcel paper around the box, no bubble wrap, which was taped to the box (which pulled off part of the box despite me being ultra careful. So the box is a bit bashed, only an issue because the box itself is beatifil being an anniversary.... Nothing major but unfortunatley the bodyshell has also being bashed about, and is quite scuffed inside as a result Very hard to photograph but Now obviously it could have been packaged better, and Royal Mail couldve took more car, but its sorted. Water under the bridge. A new shell is avaliable, which the seller kindly found for me, and this just means I HAVE to own a mint 30th Anniversary now.......

So lets start with the postives. The postie brought me this... However there is a downside, but Ill start a thread about that.....

So it turns out to be months for an update, not a real surprise. So i got the sides replaced and left the wood high incase i decided on a peaked roof. Then i decided i could cram more in if I put in a mezzanine level, so took a bit of play and prototyped it and it was too small. So I made a bigger one. And loaded stuff onto it. Kinda needs shelves or racks. So onto the MacBook and racking was designed and printed, pulled pork was had for eating and the boxes were reused. And racking was built and filled I also broke out the styrene and started a cabinet or shelf, depending on how lazy i am when i finish it. Printed a pillar drill and welding table and an army of bottles and drums. I decided a ladder to the mezzanine would use least space so started prototype that from kebab skewers. And made a guard rail last night when I'd finished most of the racking. Rearranged the bench and toolbox with more tiny screws and bit and bobs. The Chevrolet badge fell off the TF2 so that went one there too. I must do a pegboard on the bench at somepoint. And here's where the whole thing stands as of now Definitely need to show some attention to the other side now as it's a bit sad. Must get a door decided on, look at windows and framing out the roof for proper kinda lights. And decide on walls as it's seriously overdue!! Photopaper for boxes and printable decal paper are other things that are on my radar to look into.

To join the other M chassis cars I've built an M05 V2 R for a bit of club racing. I'm just waiting on the rear camber links to finish it off. Other than the chassis and shock towers it's very similar to the M03 in terms of parts so thankfully I already had a lot of bits either BNIB or in my parts box. I've been pretty reserved with the spec as upgrades are almost impossible to find for these which is odd as Tamiya are still releasing parts for this kit. Upgrades are - Bearings V2 chassis V2 reinforced wish bones Carbon gear shafts Reinforced gears CVDS Servo saver Metal steering assembly CVA shocks Adjustable links + blue ball studs Carbon fibre shock towers Low friction king pins Carbon body support Blue servo link The battery straps are upside down as I'll be running a shorty and have a 3D printed bracket. Now that I've got three M-chassis cars I think it would be rude not too have them all as original minis. I've already got the red one already painted up and the M03 is destined to be dark blue so this is gonna be British racing green!

Thats a thing of beauty under the shell 😎

As far as I'm aware Sharkfat does still do it, but he's under such demand that he isn't taking any new orders just now and the queue is months long. Totally Average Paintjobs has done my last two shells. Same sort of price as Sharkfat, but less of a delay. Worth sending him a message on pussbook and see if he's available.

Coooool that should keep up with my Smart Car

The Hyper 7 arrived with a dodgy servo, so I temporarily fitted a cheapo one from my old Maverick Strada for steering duties. Took it out for it's first run today. It still feels slow compared to my old 4s bashers, but considering I've never really been into nitro, I'm quite happy with how I've got it running 🙂

The first delivery of M05 v2 parts arrived yesterday, I decided as I've already got half of the bits to build a pretty high spec M05 I'll be returning the M07 and racing in the stock class with an M05, if I enjoy onroad racing I might upgrade to an M07.

Today its a shiny new Akaso V50X action camera to replace the one i kinda sort of destroyed, so at last i can film my rc video`s again, these are still the best budget alternative to a gopro hypersmooth

M03 update- The chassis is now finished, there isn't really anymore upgrades I can add to this build. Motor wise I'm still not sure if I even plan to run this car however I'm temporarily fitted a 1060 ESC that I had kicking around. In line with the original box art this car will be dark blue, I've got the paint however I'm still debating which body to go for (if only tamiya would re release the original mini one). That's looking like a Christmas job.

You can't use the stock strap. I've 3d printed a little plate that uses the current mounting point and uses velcro to hold my batteries in place.

Short update - fitted Bullet axles and 9mm spacers to add a bit of width to the track in line with info on the CEN model. Need some lower profile nuts really so the nylocs engage bit more. Started the fun part with graphics now, just on ancillary parts so far and for some generic ebay wheels with rally tyres as the wheels in earlier photos have tarmac tyres on them Can see the graphics being a long fiddly job 😕

Missed a day at the office and came in to find a TT02s chassis kit, new servo, new battery, some rally tyres and a few other bits and bobs. Looks my rally build is on.

Italian sculptor 'Raffaelle Monti', was somehow able to make marble look like a transparent veil. - The Veiled Maiden, 1860

steam deck is a beast, valve sell them at a loss i think, its a magicical device that kicks ass at emulation and plays new pc games. i am super impressed 😄 https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck/

Cross RC is all about taking scale realism to the next level and to help prove this they are now teasing their upcoming 1/8 EMO X3 Tow Truck Kit. This tow truck is loaded with scale metal parts and even comes with a working winch. Coming in at 8th scale, and with a tough 4wd system, the EMO X3 is more than ready for heavy duty towing service! More information to follow! View full news article

Construction complete, just have to configure motors in the control app. Think it'll end up being a static display piece 😊