Tamiya America Item #58499 | RC Mitsubishi Montero Wheelie

 Coming Soon from Tamiya! Based on the "Lunch Box" chassis this is a fun looking retro-RC ride!

Tamiya America Item #58499 | RC Mitsubishi Montero Wheelie

Tamiya Wild Willy Re-Born!

If you have been collecting and building RC vehicles for a while like I have; I am sure there are some old models lurking around the garage or basement that have been collecting dust. My Tamiya Wild Willy was one such vehicle! And I asked myself, "WHY?" - especially since it is actually one of my favorites to run!

I dusted off the body and checked things out....everything was there except for a receiver. I had a RedCat Racing AM transmitter / receiver on the shelf....so I got this one working for FREE!  

My Wild Willy is one of the special Metallic Editions, so it has the silver body. I also had added Tamiya oil filled shocks and full ball bearings when I built it. I am running a 2yr. old ACE 3300 mah 7.2V Nimh battery pack and a 10 year old Hitec HFX foward w/brake ESC.  The motor is a brushed 21d Venom Fireball motor which seems about like a Tamiya Sport Tuned when it comes to power.  

I had arranged the ESC to sit atop the steering servo to help balance out the chassis just a little bit. It still is a  wheely king, but driving it is very fun! 

I took it to the vacant lot where I have been running my cars and as my photo shot location. The motor pushes the Wild Willy at a decent clip - I would say near 18 - 20 mph. Uh....what? That's it? Well if you aren't familiar with the Tamiya Wild Willy....that is pretty fast. The best thing I did was install bearings and the oil filled shocks as I was able to handle the rough stuff with ease as long I kept the throttle progressive. The truck is nice and quiet with the bearings. I am so happy I got it back running! 

ACE RC Veloci-RS Brushed 170A Car Electronic Speed Control

I know RC has totally embraced the brushless motor, but there are Tamiya and other old school purists that would really like a nice FWD / REV brushed speed control.  I just noticed Tower Hobbies is selling a new line of ACE speed controls reasonably priced with awesome specs ( 170 A rating and .004 ohm resistance ) for their Veloci - RC ESC.

As of this post, the price is $44.99 and as per photo has Tamiya color coded motor wires and battery plug. This will get the Hobbywing crowd asking why I would post this when you can get complete ESC brushless motor combos for like $60.00. I say some of us still like Mabuchi RS 540 motors or using one of the many overpriced Tamiya motors!

Old School 1/28th scale Xmods

It is sad not to see Xmods at Radio Shack anymore. Radio Shack is a mere shell of its original self. What used to be a store for tinkerers is just a glorified mobile phone store.  Hardly an RC toy anywhere to be found - let alone the great Xmods 1/28th scale RC cars and trucks.
See below one of my most treasured RC cars:

Believe it or not - this excellent Nissan Skyline model was available at Radio Shack!

Redcat Racing Vortex / Volcano Project Brushless LCG Beast

I never really liked the proportions of the Vortex "desert racer" / "short course" body.  The Vortex Chassis is a great platform. 4 wheel double wishbone suspension with adjustable links and aluminum oil filled shocks keep the 4 wheel drive shaft drive chassis planted. The stock Vortex  body is bulky and heavy, and is forced to sit high above the chassis for wheel clearance. A Lower Center of Gravity is provided by a body swap.

The Volcano body is much lighter and can be mounted much lower as the tires won't hit the fenders as with the stock Vortex body. I did have to do some cutting so that the bumpers and front / rear cages would clear, but I think it came out really nice. Also there is less dirt that enters the chassis and that is a big deal, as the rear spur gear is susceptible to damage, and is a major pain to replace. With the lower center of gravity provided by the lower and lighter weight body the Vortex / Volcano hybrid handles awesome, doesn't roll over as much, nor does it "parachute" when it jumps.  With the Volcano body the truck is transformed into a high performance racing truck.

I also did a lot of electronics swapping. My Vortex had come with an AM radio that frankly does work very well. I decided to change to my Tactic 2.4GHZ system as I like the fact the transmitter uses only 4 AA batteries. I also swapped the steering servo for a Hitec ball bearing high torque unit, and most importantly replaced the stock ESC with a HobbyWing 60A EZ Run unit. I kept the stock brushless motor as it is very powerful and I never had any issues with it.

The stock ESC I scrapped for two reasons. There is no way to adjust any of its parameters and it operates very clunky. The HobbyWing unit works flawlessly and with a simple programming box I can adjust acceleration, timing, and braking parameters to my liking.

I used my DBY 5200 mah 7.4V Lipo for power. No disappointments with runtime or output power, the Lipo never even broke a sweat. Speeds approaching 40 MPH were witnessed, and will make driving this beast a handful.

I enjoyed running this truck in the vacant lot near my house, and with the varied terrain and some hills, the course proved fun and challenging with the high speed and power of my Vortex / Volcano hybrid.