craikeybaby

By Hearsall Common.

I'm in Coventry

"Finished" mine a while ago, but forgot to post a photo: Vans by Lewis Craik, on Flickr It has had some good use around the garden, and my 4 year old has been loving it. However, the steering arms keep dropping off the servo - I seemed to remember having this issue with the servo on another car about 10 years ago, so have ordered another servo. And some upgraded suspension... fullsizeoutput_25d3.mov

That order would make sense! I can always experiment anyway. I still need to find a suitable chassis for the MR2, but really should finish the MX-5 first.

Thanks @m4inbrain that gunmetal looks spot on! The gunmetal/silver/black make sense, but what effect you adding a layer of flat clear make? There hasn't been much progress on the little MX-5, I cut out the new body and did some test spraying on some scrap plastic. After 3 layers of PS-41 it is still looking a bit translucent, so now I'm trying to work out if I should be using more PS-41, or backing it with something else? I am tempted to get both black and white so I can do some experimentation.

That looks spot on!

I tidied up the old body, first by retrimming the wheel arches with proper curved lean scissors, which made a big difference. I then touched up the paint where it had scuffed off, using the 15 year old Tamiya TS paint sprayed into a little pot, then painted onto the shell with a brush. The last job was to patch up the crack in the body with mesh tape and shoe goo, while I was doing that I also reenforced the sides of the body shell. It doesn't look perfect, but should be stronger. Hopefully the second body shell will end up looking a lot better! Work has kind of stopped on the little Mazda as I bought another new model, one that can be used in the garden - a Tamiya Lunchbox! I also got a 2.4GHz radio kit, so at some point, I will get another Rx for the Mazda.

The Lunchbox is here, and built! Except the body, which I managed to put a horrible paint run in, so will be sanding back and trying again. Paint run by Lewis Craik, on Flickr At least the other side looks good though, the colour (Metallic Blue: TS19) is a good match for my 1:1 van. Paint after three coats by Lewis Craik, on Flickr

Ordered a Lunchbox!

Ordered!!! Can’t wait to start the build (I guess that means I should finish my MX-5 build).

I have an Acoms servo knocking about. No idea how good it is though.

Just had a lightbulb moment - a Lunchbox could be painted up like my VW Transporter!

It is looking like a Lunchbox is going to be my next model - I was looking for a kit that would be fun to build for me, but also fun to razz around the lawn with my son whilst on lockdown. I’m almost ready to press “buy”, But just wondered if there’s anything else I need - any key upgrades etc? Along side the Lunchbox kit I am ordering Rx/Tx, paint (TS-19 metallic blue to match my 1:1 van) and the bearing kit. I already have NiMH battery and charger.

I think it is going to have to be the lunch box - especially after looking at what is still in stock! The Lunchbox was never on my radar when I was growing up, it was all about buggies and trucks, but the Lunchbox certainly seems ideal. Why is it so popular against say a Blackfoot?

Despite not yet having finished my current project (Tamiya MX-5, to look like my old 1:1 model), I’m already thinking about the next one! I enjoy the build as much as driving, so would like suggestions for a kit for something that I can use off road, the woods near my house, but given the lockdown, initially in my garden. Growing up I really liked the look of the stadium trucks, RC10T/Schumacher Storm etc, but they seem to have died out. The options seem to be buggies (probably Schumacher retro Cougar or one of the Tamiya DT-03s) or a monster truck, which I am sure my monster truck obsessed 4 year old would love, something like a Blackfoot or possibly a Lunchbox. What type of model do people recommend for bashing?