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G’day mates! I hope you’ve all had a good Christmas and that you got some RC stuff from Santa. I did and did not. Christmas was great, but no RC stuff for me this year, somewhat surprisingly. My wife forgot about the Vanquish VS4-10 I had on the top of my list and gave me an Exit game instead. Or [...]
One of the easiest ways of improving your rigs crawling performance is to move its center of gravity closer to the ground by adding weight down low. The further down, the better. In other words: think around the axles. Portal covers, C-hubs, knuckles, differential covers and such. There’s numerous brass options available, and I have had the pleasure of trying [...]
G’day folks and welcome to another Losing Grip column. Except for Doug, he’s not welcome, he stole my planned subject for today! Dang. Anyway, late again, I am sorry to say, but such is the nature of hobbies. They require spare time, and when little or no spare time is acquired, hobbies are given no quarter. What I am happy to [...]
With these tires I fell in love at first sight. For comparison, with my wife I fell in love at about the one-hundred and first sight. While the latter admittedly was on a rather different level, that does in no way subtract from the fact that the BFGoodrich Mud Terrain T/A KM3 2.2″ from RC4WD are the best looking 1.9″ [...]
When compared to humans, RC cars have several advantages. For one, they are easier to control. Think of teenagers. Also, they are a lot easier to perform studies on. Evaluating the effects of interventions on humans is a tricky process, since we are all slightly different. Two RC cars of the same make are not. Suppose I want to evaluate whether [...]
SamixRC recently sent me a tool that I myself would have bought long ago had I known it existed, the SCX24 .050″ hex & 4mm nut 2 in 1 screw driver. It’s clever, fitment is very snug, does not roll away, feels good in the hand, and so good looking it could be worn as jewellery. Not really sure where though, [...]
We all want a good looking car standing out from the crowd, and while a custom paint job requires a fair bit of work and skill, boosting the look with accessories do not. Also, it’s basically fool proof. A custom bumper simply cannot be messed up the same way as a paint job can. As I was planning my TRX-4 2021 [...]
Here it is, the Traxxas TRX-4 2021 Ford Bronco Simba edition. This version of the TRX-4 comes with a custom paintjob, upgraded lights and electronics, and a creative rearrangement of the diff lock and gearbox servos. Only one will ever be made. The lion. Available exclusively from Yours Truly, at a price so shockingly high I am sure I’ll get [...]
G’day folks! I am happy to report that last week was a good one. While there is more to life than work and RC, a week with nothing but work and RC is a pleasure at times. A bit of eating, reading and sleeping too, but that’s about it. I worked away from home, and had my family laugh at me [...]
G’day mates! The one thing that keeps me attached to this hobby of ours, toy cars, is all the many aspects of it. Last week’s column was dedicated to electronics, something I am slowly getting more and more comfortable with, today’s topic will be painting. I have now come to the point where I cannot immediately say how many lexan bodies [...]
As far as plans go, mine was as simple as they come. Even so, it failed miserably when faced with reality. It was like this: 1) Buy TRX-4 kit and 2021 Ford Bronco body, 2) build and paint TRX-4 kit and Bronco body, 3) drive and enjoy TRX-4, 4) upgrade and do pre and post comparisons one thing at a [...]
Knowledge ought to save money, but it doesn’t always. Lacking a BEC, a receiver can be powered by a receiver pack, often 5 NiMh cells with a nominal output of 6V. I knew this, and that’s why I just smoked my Traxxas TQi receiver and need to get a new one. Very annoying. Let’s start from the beginning. I have a [...]
When everyone else out there seem to be building their own version of the new TRX-4 High Trail, I’m as behind as ever and am turning a TRX-4 kit into a 2021 Bronco. Goes to prove that I never was an early adopter, and that Brian needs to raise my pay check. Speaking of money: if you want a TRX-4 [...]
Do you know where your car’s center of gravity is? I do, and you can find out in less than five minutes. It might save you money, and it might inform you to make better upgrade decisions. I’ll start by explaining center of gravity, will then touch on torque, do a quick brief on tipping point and base of support, and then run [...]
An external BEC is a nifty little device that I recently realised I use too often. Maybe you do as well? My Bomber, Yeti and SCX10III all have one, added by way of default thinking as I was setting up the electronics on them. I had read that it’s a good thing, and so added one to every car without [...]
