R/C Tractor Kumamon Version

I received a surprise package from a friend in Japan today! It will be a Merry Christmas indeed.

This is such a fun kit, I will build it with my girls over the holiday break

TRF damper pliers

Just got the new TRF damper pliers, I was curios as to what it could do. There's some nice features, especially for kits that have damper end balls. I haven't spent much time with it yet, so I can't say how good it is yet. But it's very light and compact, so it will stay in my pit-box.

TCS#192 GT3 A-Main (RX100 Torg View)

TCS#192 Mini C-Main (RX100 Torg View)

TCS#192 Mini round2

TCS#192 GT3 Round2

My first ever TCS race

 

Today I competed in the Tamiya Championship Series for the first time, in mini class (M05) and in GT3 (TA06). For the longest time I have been apprehensive about participating but a co-worker really wanted to do it but not alone so we basically made each other go. And I’m very happy we did, there is so much knowledge gained and shared I should have brought a notepad to write it all down. I got lots and lots of help with my setup. My mini gained 3 seconds a lap after “the mini car whisperer” looked at it a couple of weekends ago. My TA06 (and radio) was tuned by another local car whisperer. I was at first going to only run mini, but while on the registration page I figured, it’s free to race, no harm in entering two and withdrawing from one. I am glad I did. I made it to the GT3 A-Main and placed 8th, which was quite unexpected. In the Mini class I qualified in the C-Main (those A-B main mini guys are QUICK with their new brushless power) and I managed to get from middle of the C to 1st but walled it all by myself… should have just gone a little wider.

Thank you to Tamiya for putting on such an amazing (and free) event. Thank you to all the guys at the track (you know who you are!!). I will definitely do this again.

New short shocks for TA06 (maybe others)

 

Just finished building the new TRF Short Damper #42273. From Tamiya: “These TRF Short Dampers are fitted as standard equipment in Item 84339 TB-04 PRO Chassis Kit. They are now available as a separate Hop-Up-Option for any Tamiya touring or M-chassis car. Users will find them particularly beneficial on high-grip, twisty circuits, as they give exceptionally fast response when cornering.”

Above on left #42102 (TRF Works Damper), middle #42273 (TRF short) and right #54000 (M Chassis Alum Damper). The spring on the right is overly compressed from me trying to get more ride height on my m-four before switching to (full length) TRF works (I should have returned the collar to top before taking the picture). I’ll have to take #84318 (TRF Works M-Chassis) off one of these days and compare all four.

From the back of the box it shows that these shocks are 4mm shorter than the regular works edition. Car has not been on track yet so I can’t yet say how it changes the car for me.