General Grassroots R/C hobby thread

Love the sketchy flying too! 

Stupid Rustler project hit 85.3 mph, which appears to be where it plateaus with the current gearing.  That's also several thousand RPM over what the motor is supposed to do so I assume that's what is holding it back.  Ordered new gearing and finally some 'real' front tires because the 23 year old ones are a little rough after, uh, launching into the grass at 80 mph and cartwheeling for a hundred feet.

83 mph for a brief moment in this video.  Sadly the big crash corrupted the video file of it :(

Alrighty... finally finished modding the Kyosho Inferno NEO 3.0 to how I want it, just need to calibrate the new receiver to get it functional.

Before/stock:

After/Modded:

Changes:

MP9 17.5° front Al hub carrier [IFW474] (stock arms had to be clearanced to allow for proper droop & camber)

MP9 TK14 -2.0 offset rear machined Al hub carrier [IF490] with MP9 3.5mm lower suspension hinge screws [IFW415] (had to drill out rear arm from stock 3.0mm to 3.5mm to fit it)

MP9 machined Al knuckle arm [IFW332] and King pins [IF438] (stock king pin bushing shoulder thickness had to be stoned down for clearance to allow steering knuckles to swivel)

3.0mm stainless hinge pins with e-clips for bottom hub pivot and inner upper pivot of front arms [IF111-38 & IF111-40], selection of different thickness 3.0mm spacers used for proper fitment.

3.0mmx30mm shouldered socket head screws cut down to length for front & rear upper arm top hub pivots, with 3mm locking nuts used to secure

MP10 front CVD set (94mm)[IFW613]

NOS HPI Racing 8x100mm dogbones for rear (good fit, but an 8x102mm dogbone would be the absolutely perfect fit)

All turnbuckles replaced with a Lunsford titanium set

Rear MP9 mud guard set [IF452]

MP9 HD shock sets, 47mm front [IFW471] & 55mm rear [IFW470] - assembled in aeration type configuration with 35WT TLR shock oil and 70mm/4.42lb-in & 84mm/3.68lb-in springs F/R (will probably up the rear spring rate, have 85mm/4.12lb-in & 84mm/5.28lb-in options in my inventory)

Lightweight shock bushings [IF346-04LB] - needed for the larger diameter HD shocks to clear the towers

Rear stabilizer bar set [IF117]

Machined Al motor mount [IF501] (snapped off a screw in the stock pot metal one... so decided to upgrade - lighter, stronger, and easier gear mesh adjustment)

Kyosho TORX 8+ 2300kv motor (additional 4,400+ rpm over the stock 2000kv motor @ 14.8v)

Changed from 12 to 13 tooth pinion [IF505-13]

ESC mounting area had to be cut to fit with new side guards and ESC rotated 90° and power switch relocated from rear to facing left outside to fit.

Cleaned grease out of all 3 differentials, installed new gaskets, and filled with Kyosho differential fluid (3k/7k/5k)

RC Screwz stainless fastener set for Inferno NEO 3.0 VE

MP9 TK12/TK13 side guards [IF474B] (a bit of work required to fit to the NEO 3.0 chassis - was required since I wanted to switch to a MP9 TK Style body)

Bittydesign Force MP9 TK12/13/14 body (painted in Tamiya PS-63 bright gun metal and both front port areas of sidepods cut open for cooling)

Dusty Motors universal large (13"×13") chassis dust shroud

MP9 TK14 rear wing [IF491BK] with high downforce wickerbill installed and flat wing washers [IF455]

Savox SB-2273SG high torque steering servo & ProTek aluminum servo horn

Sanwa RX-380 receiver with a 4700uF capacitor voltage protector (Spectrum SPM1600) plugged in unused channel

Super cool RC F4U and F-4 Phantom

There was a top speed contest/ collab between several RC YouTube channels... using a 1/10 scale RC crawler kit (Vanquish VS4-10).
Like any competition, there were many different approaches, and levels of $ and effort put into it, and degrees of running out of time at the end.  Batteries were limited to 4S.  60mph was fairly easy (swap in a different gearbox or simply use direct shaft drive from the motor to the rear axle; gyro/stability control mandatory, but surprisingly little aero needed), 3x broke 70mph (4x if you include an unrecorded run by a nitro-powered entry which mostly ignored the rules).

https://harleydesigns.com/monthly-mayhem-vspeed-challenge

Cool dust trail (when all 4x wheels are on the ground and pointed the same direction of travel)

In reply to Oapfu :

I like it. Now I want to see the same contest but with WPL D12s.

I modified my E-flute twin Otter to resemble a search and rescue twotter from RCAF reserve squadron 420. Turned out ok. Still flies nice too.

In reply to slefain :

It turns out WPL ran a D12 top speed competition in 2021.  The fastest was from the FWD/AWD modified class at 82km/h (51mph), somehow the fastest 'stock' class was faster than the fastest RWD modified class (43mph vs. 35mph).  RedGT's Rustler is still much faster, probably Vracer111's Inferno too. https://www.wpl-rc.com/blogs/news/world-fastest-d12-challenge?ref=TRC

Bump. Just picked up a couple TRX4Ms for me and the kiddo. No mods except light kits so far.

I was legit surprised yesterday by Tunakid 1 who bought me (with pooled money from his siblings, and, uhhh, me) an Arrma granite 4x2 boost.

Wow.

So I guess I'm asking... what's the cheapest way to make it insane fast?

In reply to tuna55 :

Brushless motor, ESC, 2s lipo. Be prepared to break drivetrain stuff.

slefain said:

In reply to tuna55 :

Brushless motor, ESC, 2s lipo. Be prepared to break drivetrain stuff.

Bought that along with a 4x4 kit!

What Beetle Body should fit? It looks like the Slash stuff does not fit, but the Rustler stuff does.

https://www.kamtec.co.uk/p/repro-tamiya-sand-scorcher-lexan-bodyshell

https://www.kamtec.co.uk/p/kamtec-baja-abs

https://www.kamtec.co.uk/p/kamtec-baja-lexan

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304114143425?hash=item46ce9d90c1:g:fi8AAOSwuzNhICng

https://www.horizonhobby.com/product/1-10-rc-body-set-sand-scorcher-2010/TAM51406.html

Also, for satin/flat look, is it better to paint the outside or sand the outside and paint the inside?

slefain said:

In reply to tuna55 :

Brushless motor, ESC, 2s lipo. Be prepared to break drivetrain stuff.

I did that to my vorteks. It's been running that way for a while and hasn't broken anything....and I'm pretty hard on it. Definitely do expect to wear out tires pretty quickly though.

Honestly I'd say that setup is *very fast* but not *insane*. For insane, sell it and buy the 3S BLX version (because that's cheaper than DIYing the 3S/4x4 upgrade yourself)

dps214 said:

slefain said:

In reply to tuna55 :

Brushless motor, ESC, 2s lipo. Be prepared to break drivetrain stuff.

I did that to my vorteks. It's been running that way for a while and hasn't broken anything....and I'm pretty hard on it. Definitely do expect to wear out tires pretty quickly though.

Honestly I'd say that setup is *very fast* but not *insane*. For insane, sell it and buy the 3S BLX version (because that's cheaper than DIYing the 3S/4x4 upgrade yourself)

Already bought the upgrade 3S gearbox and 4x4. I am only planning on running 2S to keep commonality with the Tunakids trucks battery supply.

Well...

The 4x2 BOOST version of the Granite has a neat ESC. It's the ESC and the receiver. From a guy who got into R/C when the throttle was a servo controlling a wiper arm and a variable resistor, and the receiver was powered by its own separate battery, this was like magic. Welcome magic. Wonderful magic.

I finished installing the brushless motor and ESC this weekend, and added the front differential and driveshaft. I also soldered XT60 connectors onto each of our seven batteries as well as all three of our cars and the charger. When I went to plug in the battery I realized, very slowly, that the extra leads from the new ESC are intended to be plugged into the receiver. The one which I do not have.

It's arriving Wednesday. You're right, the 3S kit would have been cheaper than piecing it together.

Someone tell me this thing will actually fly as good as it looks and then actually take off and land in water.

https://www.minimumrc.com/products/lisa-magnificent-italian-vintage-sea-plane-q-series-4ch-rc-airplane-kit?VariantsId=10329

I'd be skeptical about something so small being capable of taking off and landing in any body of water larger (meaning waves) than a swimming pool.

Super cool if it IS capable!

tuna55 said:

Well...

 

The 4x2 BOOST version of the Granite has a neat ESC. It's the ESC and the receiver. From a guy who got into R/C when the throttle was a servo controlling a wiper arm and a variable resistor, and the receiver was powered by its own separate battery, this was like magic. Welcome magic. Wonderful magic.

 

I finished installing the brushless motor and ESC this weekend, and added the front differential and driveshaft. I also soldered XT60 connectors onto each of our seven batteries as well as all three of our cars and the charger. When I went to plug in the battery I realized, very slowly, that the extra leads from the new ESC are intended to be plugged into the receiver. The one which I do not have.

 

It's arriving Wednesday. You're right, the 3S kit would have been cheaper than piecing it together.

 

 

This thing is pretty quick even with 2S and the brushless system. Wow. I only got a few minutes in the dark, but it's silly. I don't love Arrma's manuals, though. I found that the ESC has some settings which are only available through a cheat-code button pressing sequence, and the only place I can find them is in the manual for the truck which the ESC comes with. I can tell the ramp to power the thing is super slow. It's powerful enough to do reverse donuts in place on pavement, and forward donut attempts just flip it over before the first revolution.

tuna55 said:

Someone tell me this thing will actually fly as good as it looks and then actually take off and land in water.

 

https://www.minimumrc.com/products/lisa-magnificent-italian-vintage-sea-plane-q-series-4ch-rc-airplane-kit?VariantsId=10329

Doubt it. Planes that tiny and light need absolutely still air to fly half decently. And probably absolutely still water for takeoff and landing.

So I've been out of this hobby for too long. I only have 2S batteries here, just to keep continuity with the kids, even though the granite is 3S ready right now. I just got done driving it for the first time after I understood how to set the ESC, and it's insane. I can do a backflip from a stop, I can do a wheelie essentially from whatever speed I want, the brakes are so good, and because it's four-wheel drive, I can do a stoppie and do a front flip out of it. It's genuinely difficult to drive because under most speeds it will just do a wheelie instead of turning. I really believed that wheelie bars were mostly for decoration, but I'm here to say that I need a wheelie bar.

Over the winter we took a ride to a hobby shop and I gound a new Monster Beetle.  Had to buy that.  Wish they had the blackfoot, because I've wanted that since 86.   2 weeks ago on another day trip, another hobby shop, and with a blackfoot, so bought that too.  They had a Midnight Pumpkin, so I had to get that too.

R/C 1920's sprint car, made by Traxxas but available only thru Snap-On.  As the saying goes, NMNA...

Here is some 1/5 scale dirt Late Model action from last fall. I'm driving the orange #28. These are converted HPI (or clone) 5B buggies. Season starts in a couple months and I'm hoping that I have come upon a much faster chassis setup. Seems a lot better in off-season testing.

solfly said:

I JUST came home with one of these. I saw it on the Internet and needed it. And thenI saw my LHS had the black F150. I needed it. My cats are gonna hate it. It's so damn cool though.