XV Pilot

I sent you a few suggestions in that regard via pm. Have any of them helped?

Sorex 32Rs with yellow inserts work very well, and they have the added advantage of being the BRCA control tyre, which would help make your car race legal if you ever chose to go to a track to take part in some organised racing.

They are very friendly, and the quality of their shells, while not as detailed as the originals, are nonetheless very robust and well suited to vigorous running. I use a couple of them on my runners, and they have lasted very well indeed.

Most likely an ESC setup issue. The tble-02 ESC is not the easiest of ESCs to set up. I would recommend just going through the instructions step-by-step in a darkened room so that you can see the colour of the LED, and make sure that everything is set correctly.

The three essential upgrades on a base spec tt02 are bearings as mentioned above, oil filled shock absorbers to replace the stock pogo sticks and a steel pinion to replace the soft aluminium one that comes with the kit. Once those essential upgrades are fitted further upgrades are dependant on what you want to do with the car. For example what power system are you going to fit? Are you going to use it as a racer, drifter, rally car or basher?

That's the spirit! I'm sure it'll turn out looking great. Far more exciting than a box of bits, that's for sure!

Indeed. That combo can get my heavy low-geared scaler to about 5mph, or my feather-light tall-geared F1 pan car to the far side of 30mph. A wide range of speeds are possible depending on the car you are running, the gearing, the tyres, the terrain and no doubt other variables that I haven't thought of.

How to say really - if a couple of Ford fanatics or serious Tamiya collectors find the auction and get into a bidding war it could go for many hundreds. It could also be that the auction goes relatively unnoticed and the seller struggles to find the starting bid. We'll have to wait and see!

It is a very nice example, but at that price it will have to go to somebody with either a real love of that particular car or a love of collectible Tamiyas.

Interesting suspension arrangement too.

The Bruiser was a revolutionary model back in its day, but that was a long time ago, and there are far better performing options available now, such as the MST for example. The only reasons I can see to get a Bruiser nowadays is because of its iconic place in Tamiya history and the interesting build process, and a Chinese fake RTR doesn't even have those things going for it.

They make the chassis, which is supplied with a genuine Tamiya Unimog bodyshell. The chassis is well regarded and very capable. Here is a review:

It is a scaler chassis, along the lines of a small SCX10.

A Tamiya unimog shell on a MST chassis would be a capable and good looking combo.

Today I received a pack of Yorkshire Tea decals and other promotional items from the good folks of Taylors of Harrogate for use on my Splendid Teapot Racer.

Agreed! Go for it!

The TL-01 Focus isn't badly priced considering the rarity and desirability of the Focus bodyshell, but you are paying a premium for said bodyshell. The TL-01 chassis beneath, while simple and rugged, is hardly the most advanced piece of kit and can be had far cheaper on its own or with a different shell. You could even build one from NIP parts for under £100 last I looked. As for decals for the TBG shell, perhaps MCI might be worth a look?

The Wild One doesn't need a hump back battery - a standard stick pack shaped LiPo will do nicely. I like the Core RC ones from Modelsport, as they are a good match for both the curvature and the length of a NiMH or NiCad pack, and thus fit pretty much all vintage Tamiyas without modification. As for the charger, I use an Overlander RC6-VSR. It works reliably and quite quietly even when the fan engages.

EBay sellers typically have far lower overheads than brick and mortar shops, so can sell their wares at lower prices. Plus it is far easier to create a new eBay account than it is to start a new shop, so maintaining a good reputation by selling quality products isn't as important.

1800mAH is tiny by modern battery standards, where capacities of 4000mAH and upwards are commonplace. No surprise that your runtimes are a bit short. The solution is simple. Get a bigger battery! There are plenty of threads on here and elsewhere debating the performance advantages of LiPo vs. the relative safety of NiMH. Have a browse and take your pick.

According to Modelsport (https://www.modelsport.co.uk/index.php?product_id=408634) the brushless version of the Maverick Strada XT comes with the MSC-30BL-WP ESC, which according to HPI (https://www.hpiracing.co.uk/piw.php?partNo=MV30003) is rated at 45A continuous.

Possibly, although many modern ESCs have overload protection built in, so the more likely scenario is that your car will cut out regularly and have to cool down before it can start up again. Either way, it is better to over spec the ESC relative to the motor. A higher spec ESC will only deliver what the motor pulls, so there is no danger of blowing the motor if the ESC rating is higher than that of the motor.

Upgrading to brushless is usually a good move, as it increases efficiency and simplifies maintenance. As for the spec of the brushless system, it often helps to check if your car has a brushless version made by the manufacturer, and seeing what the spec is of the power system supplied with it. This has usually been tested to ensure that it is a good match to the chassis. You can therefore use this as a guideline for choosing the system to fit to your own car. For example according to Modelsport the brushless version of the Maverick Strada XT comes with a 3215kV motor, so choosing a motor of the same or similar rating ought to work well in your car. The HPI website indicates that the stock ESC has a modest 45A rating, so anything over this ought to be plenty.

Glad you got it sorted!

Did a whole lot of sanding and filling on my splendid teapot racer body, which is being scratchbuilt in preparation for the Asylum Steampunk Festival in August.