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horatio

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Everything posted by horatio

  1. So, when it comes to bling, it has to fulfill 1 or more of the following criteria. It has to be useful It has to be shiny shiny Or carbon fibre-y So, with that in mind, the item here from POS was 2 out of 3! Just the ticket - nice clean shocks, axles and camber links. I didn't use the shiny Cap head screws, but used hi-tensile black button heads, which are more in keeping with the rest of the car.
  2. Well today, I have concluded that all my years racing and tinkering with RC cars has brought me to the exact right spot.I haven't rushed into everything or bought loads of stuff that I didn't really like, but on the other hand, I haven't really been static either or limited myself to just one niche.Imagine my surprise when, after running my Kronos XTR for the first time, I realised that brushless is everything I liked about my 1/10th electric and 1/8th IC Buggys all rolled into a big, bad, insane Truggy. If the Xray XT8 was a scalpel, the Kronos XTR would be a chainsaw.It's literally awesome. I haven't had this much fun since I waited for the overnight charge of my Tamiya 7.2v hump pack to finish up so I could go blast my Sand Scorcher around the Alleys!In fairness, it sounds smooth and uneventful but it belies a machine that is bonkers in every way. 6S is OTT but fun. On 4S it would probably still be far from sensible, but less stressful!Amazingly, it's still all in one piece and hasn't been scuffed up yet. Wheelies occur just by looking at the throttle. I'd hate it to get road rash, but it's going to happen....
  3. So the AGF-RC A81BHMW was fitted with the anti-vibration grommets and installed into radio box.It seems there are a growing number of pros that dislike using grommets, stating that centering is negatively affected.Personally, I find if the grommets are well fitted and tightened down just right, there's no perceptible centering issues at all.You'll see people discuss this and many claim that modern servo's IC boards and electronics are much less prone to vibration issues - though nobody appears in a hurry to actually explain how.In my estimation, they still have boards with tiny components soldered on to them in exactly the same way as before.I also read plenty of online stuff where people complain about manufacturers NOT replacing servos that have failed. Go figure.Having bound my Futaba 3VCS to the FrSky 4ch FASST receiver, I was ready to set endpoints on the servo and calibrate the ESC. Note: binding the receiver seemed not to be working at first - but this was because my transmitter was on a new model setup with 'PCM' modulation as default. This was set to HRS and it was then ready to bind.According to the Corally ESC instructions, Futaba radios need to have their throttle channel set to 'Rev', so I that's what I did With the 6S Gens Ace 60C 4800 lipo hooked up, I set the throttle neutral, full and brake points.To my utter astonishment, it all works flawlessly first time and the servo is super smooth, accurate, fast and near silent. Very impressed!The red alloy horn supplied wasn't appearing to fit the splines on my servo very well, so I used the nice clamping horn supplied with the AGF-RC 81BMHW
  4. So, the AGF-RC A81BHMW has been on my bench for a couple of days and Christmas holidays approach......Neat packaging, rosey coloured displayNice alloy clamping horn providedMounting grommets and nylon hornsIt's looking like a very high value package with good specs. It's fine to run on 8.4v, so 45kg torque and 0.08/60° speed should be ample everything for a Truggy. Waterproof and also programmable (for those that feel the need to get geeky with their servos).Let's see how it does......
  5. Gubbins installed - just waiting on Servo now.
  6. Dual lock used for firm securing of ESC & Switch. I can literally pick the truck up by the ESC! So it's much better than velcro. The other nice thing is, you can pry them off without having to re-apply double sided tape all the time, which was one of things I hated with electric 1/10th.I've used this stuff on the Drones as well and it's awesome. I'll always keep this stuff in my pit box.I removed the battery holder and noticed the non-captive nut is also not a nyloc, which is a bit disappointing, so it's been replaced with one. The next very minor gripe is the lack of screw that holds the ESC mounting plate to the chassis. The counter sunk hole was there in the chassis, but the M3 screw had simply not been installed during the factory build.Yet another example of why it's better to build these kind of cars yourself. There's simply no way somebody on a line can afford the same kind of loving attention to detail as we can.Things are much more likely to stay put now. I'm convinced that a 6S battery flapping about isn't a good idea. 🤣
  7. Picked up one of these 6S 60C Gens Ace Hard Case Lipos at a good price. Might get a couple of 4S as well for more sensible running.
  8. Tech Elite So, onto the electronics which are being fitted today. I'm ordering a AGF-RC A81BHMW servo - I've seen no bad reports for these and whilst I've got a nice selection of Protek 170's in my other cars, I'm struggling to source them at a sensible price at this current time. I don't really feel like paying £170 or more.
  9. Looks nice in both flavours IMO, but it's nice to have 1 that's different to the rest.
  10. Body complete, with grill and lights behind the lexan.
  11. Well, cobbled this together this afternoon.MaskingMore maskingBright gun metalWork in progress...It seems I've produced a...... LST! 🤣0
  12. RC Guy Garage didn't have much luck with his.However, I encouraged him to persevere. Amazingly he responded with this! You Tube
  13. For now, I've ordered Torox/Kuros 185 electronics. This motor esc combination is very rapid on 6S and smooth/controllable on 4S, so seems a logical place to start.From what I gather, I can get a motor mount riser from Basherqueen if I want to experiment with 'big block' motors, negating any need to gouge or trim any of the side guard mounting screws.It's far quieter here in relation to the Kronos than I was expecting, but I suppose RCTech is not the usual forum for bashers.I'll keep updating this thread though. There are bound to be some other members that get one soon......
  14. So, today I had time to take the body off and have a detailed look at the chassis. All seems way better than you'd typically find on a pre-asembled RC Car.I was really impressed by the addition of an extra body - that's a really nice touch, along with a spare set of decals.Instructions seem clear enough, printed in mono onto paper. It's not something I worry too much about these days as instructions are significantly better than they used to be. If you're looking for glossy, brochure-like instructions - these ain't that. But everything you need to know is there.Size wise, wheelbase and arm length are quite similar to a race-oriented Truggy, only with significantly larger diameter wheels/tyres.Overall, the Kronos has at least an inch or so wider footprint than a typical truggy, with this extra width coming from the tyres rather than the actual track width.A 1/8th monster truck with 40 series is likely going to be wider however - as this Savage demonstrates.So, the Kronos sits in a really nice zone somewhere between racing truggy and big 1/8th monster truck.With the shell off, the quality of this rig starts to shine. It's not your typical Basher Truck.This is exactly why I chose it over an Kraton EXB. Don't get me wrong, if my trip down brushless lane goes well, I may be tempted to get one of those as well. But for now, I don't feel starting with this beast has been a bad idea at all.I have no idea what spline count is on the alloy horn, but it's nice that they include one!Motor mount looks really nice.All the screws have tidy, countersunk washers for the countersunk, hi-tensile, steel screws. Nice.The chassis is 3mm 7075. Now I suppose if you jump to the moon and lawn dart, it's going to fold in half. If you jump intelligently and set your shocks right - 3mm of 7075 should prove strong enough for most of us whilst remaining nice and light.However - this is a rig that will typically have 4+ HP motor powering it, compared to a Nitro truggy that likely never see more than 3 HP. Food for thought. Front and rear ends - anti-roll bar need slight adjustment to remove a little too much float, but really easily remedied.Lower arms front and rear have the option for WCF inserts. By the looks of things, on the front arms, these can be placed both sides of the lower arms. That's a fair number of inserts.Making the arms more rigid may help stop the arms bending past the point where they break, but on the other hand......lets just say that flexible arms are generally what you'd need if you're bashing and rigid, stiff arms are what you'd be shooting for if you're looking for consistent, precision handling - especially in hotter climates - where plastics can get a bit wibbley wobbly.Camber on the front right wheel is positive - so this obviously needs some adjustment. Steering alignment seems good, with a hint of toe out, which is what I would usually start out with on a 4WD.Pre-painted body has a graffiti vibe going on...The body has an over-spray film left on, so it's worth making a note of this before rushing to put the pre-cut decals on! I wonder how many people have put their decals straight on over it?The front grill and light decal is large and doesn't really line up with the lines on the body, so I actually cut the lights off, fitted the grill first centrally, then placed the lights.The smaller decals are easy for most people to apply, but the temptation with pre-cut ones is to just peel the larger decals off the backing sheet as well. Then optimistically attempting to line them up as you stick them, whilst day dreaming of blasting the rig around. Don't bother.Cut the larger decals out of the sheet, peel one end of the decal, then roll the backing off as you apply it to the body. If you don't do this, between the static and all the other alignment issues, you'll end up with annoying bubbles that need prodding with a pin to remove. Decals on - this truck looks anarchic!The dorsal fin is an acquired taste, it's certainly different - in fact it's quite reminiscent of the old F1 racing cars of the 50's. There's no way I'm going to say it's less attractive than Arrma offerings - it's just different. I suppose the dorsal provides yet another surface to mount decals for your faux sponsors! One minor criticism - my body was pre painted, but also pre-scratched! It's no biggie, but I'm out of fluorescent orange. This Corally is a far cry from the Team Corally I knew growing up, with their 1/12th Circuit World Championships etc.If anyone tries to tell you that this Truck is a direct rip of the Arrma, rest assured, it genuinely isn't.The stand out for me is how silky smooth the whole driveline is. The gears are precision cut. XTR's are noticeably quieter than Kratons.These trucks are great news - Arrma and Corally should form a 'special relationship' and stop certain other brands from monopolising the truck market.One last thing - Corally. Their name is pronounced 'Cor'-'Alley'. Not 'Coe' 'Rally'. And definitely not 'Coral'-'Eee'. Please.....
  15. My Kronos GTR story starts here...Having read all sorts of stuff about issues with pivot balls and carriers, I was keen to see if they are the revised, stronger version or the ones that fall off. It's quite difficult to tell and I was looking for reinforcement webbing - but they look the same.The body has clips and tethers pre-fitted. This surprised me as early reviewers complained that they had to fit them themselves.Suspension is silky smooth, no rubbing of springs on shock bodies and no air in the shock oil.Steering is super free and with zero slop.Nothing looks cheap or poorly put together.All that being said, I personally would still have preferred putting it together myself. I still need to choose my electronics etc, so it would not have bothered me spending a few hours building this car and getting to know it.Make no mistake, whilst I find it quite difficult these days to get ultra excited about an RC car, this is a remarkable rig - it really is.1/8th scale is a sweet spot size-wise for off road trucks and buggies. Large enough to run on un-prepared ground, but small enough to have low weight.The Kronos XTR is certainly in that zone but it's bigger and heavier than my Xray XT8 at around 4000g. Considering the bracing and over-engineered everything,, it's still impressively light.The chassis looks absolutely sub-zero cool. My first upgrades will be carbon parts for the A arms and steering plate.Receiver is on the way. I'm still open minded about what Motor and ESC to use, but I'm very tempted to try the Kuros 185 motor and Corally ESC. Obviously, if you guys here think that there are better combo's to be had, please feel free to point me in the right direction. I'll take some more pictures tomorrow. But so far, I'm very impressed and can't wrap my head around such negativity towards this outstanding rig.
  16. Thanks! I'll add my thread from the 'other' site here.
  17. My Kronos XTR Detailed Build As a long time RCTech member, I detailed my Kronos XTR build in a thread. Surprisingly, literally no-one on RCTech has any interest in the rig and the forum is generally very quiet unless people have found something to argue about. I could add all my 'build' posts here, as it seems a more active forum for this kind of rig. Would that be OK?
  18. Somehow, my post ended up in the wrong thread! My bad.
  19. Here's an example of spurs that slip past QC and on to our Baja 5B's, causing no end of problems. Note the difference between the outside/inside diameter measurements, which at it's worst was 0.5mm of difference! In gear manufacturing terms, it may as well be half a yard, for all the good the spur is worth. It's totally unusable. Thankfully, the spur holder and bushings were good so for that reason alone, I decided not to send it back to RCModelz, who's service I've found to be very good generally.
  20. There's clearly an issue with the gear mesh here - it looks like the wrong pinion/spur combo, or something is in the wrong place - either your engine or gearbox. Or something might be bent possibly? With the Baja 5B, you don't really 'set' the gear mesh - you just choose a pinion/spur ie: 16/58, 17/57, 18/56 - note that the sum total of teeth is always 74, as there is no scope to adjust the position of the engine. Because there is no option to slide or move anything to accommodate different size gears, using 'the paper trick' to set play/backlash with the mesh of the gears on the Baja 5B is neither relevant or applicable. Some have indicated that you can go up or down a tooth on the regular gear combos. For obvious reasons, this isn't advisable - going up a tooth would cause a very tight mesh, going down a tooth would cause a very loose mesh. Issues with mesh can also be caused by inaccuracies with the molded plastic spurs. They're never perfectly round, which causes tight spots that ease with bedding in. Worse - and this is very easy to miss - some spurs aren't straight/square ie: there is a very slight conical shape to the spur. You can check this by placing the spur on a flat surface, standing it upright, and either using a square, or one of your straight/true gears to compare against. Anything more than a degree will cause problems. The only solution here is to use a different sour. Machined steel spurs are generally much more accurately made, rounder and square/true.
  21. Rdarsa - so how did you get on with the KM brakes? Any improvement? 🤔
  22. If you've had plenty of experience racing various types of car and you intend to race on well prepared race tracks rather than bash, you'd really enjoy racing a 1/8th buggy - lighter, nimble and generally sharper (quicker response) because they are narrower and have a shorter wheel base. I would argue that they are actually more demanding to drive and have less ground clearance so need to be raced on a proper track, rather than a building site! To stay within the BRCA rules of most clubs, they run with .21 size engines and are very quick if used with competition style engines (and yes, they are expensive). Truggies have many of the advantages of a buggy's rugged and simple design, but have a wider stance, higher ground clearance, longer wheelbase and are generally more stable because of this. Whilst they are heavier, you always have the option to use a higher torque .28 size engine (or bigger! - but most clubs allow up to .28 for racing), which tend to be cheap and cheerful and have plenty of bang for your buck. For racing, you have the option to use competition .21 size engines that are generally higher revving but are more manageable on slippery tracks (because they have less torque) and give better fuel consumption (longer runs between re-fuelling stops). Comparing them with buggies, you'll find that truggies being so stable are able to shine on rutted and bumpy sections. It's easier to be consistent with a truggy, even if you're an average racer. Ultimately, buggies should be slightly faster around a well prepared track provided the driver is skilled. If it's a 5 minute race with a high performance .28 in a truggy vs a high performance .21 in a buggy with drivers of equal skill, well I wouldn't want to put money on the outcome - especially if the track is rough in places. If you're in any doubt still as to which to get, then my advice is get a truggy. You can bash it round a park mid week and race it on a Sunday!
  23. I can honestly say, that the Baja 5b SS is a good quality bit of kit. Notice I say 'good', but sadly not 'perfect'. I've had some minor issues with mine. 1) For starters, during the build, the inner bearings simply wouldn't fit in the alloy diff case halves. Or rather, they fitted when heat was applied via an oven, but the bearings ended up being pinched - so getting them out to relieve the diff halves resulted in the bearings being completely knackered afterwards. 2) The spark plug I had didn't last a whole tank of fuel - a bit of bad luck, but still very annoying. Apparently, 'R' resistor type plugs can fail suddenly, or in some cases actually come out of the box faulty. It's not always because the plug has become fouled. It's a rare thing, but I was just plain unlucky. So get a few spares, just in case. Even if you don't need one, sooner or later you'll come across someone who does - and they'll be grateful you've got some to hand! 3) The clutch bell, clutch carrier and pinion on my SS simply wasn't straight. The problem seemed to lie with the clutch bell, but the slight wobble caused the bearings to creep out of the carrier, destroying the spur in the process. The nylon clutch bearing carrier is simply not up to the job, nor is the clutch bell unless it's perfectly straight. My example was out of true - enough to produce a 0.7mm wobble, when measured at the pinion. This elongates the holes that the bearings sit in and when that happens, your clutch carrier is effectively only fit for the bin. The buggy has a huge appetite for grass, more so than anything I've ever driven. The tyres are lacking if you race in the UK - they fine for general purpose use, but they don't work on grass. I think the Hostile MX tyres are the way to go. Hope this helps anyone who has run a search on 'Baja related problems' on google!
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