HPI RS32 Has Landed!

So at long last I got my hands on one of these and for a mere 90$ + shipping. Box is quite appealing as is the hard plastic, model-quality Calsonic R32 body.



Everything is packaged fairly well, nothing to complain about.





Now this is where RS car differs from the Kyosho Mini-Z- not only does it sport modular electronics seen in other scale R/Cs, but it also comes disassembled. Nothing is tricky in this car save being super-bite sized, but so are kyosho dNanos.





The car handles well, but could DEFINITELY use a little more speed and battery life. My guess is to use a Losi motor and/or lithium battery packs, perhaps from R/C helicopters.







Note that because these will go hand-in-hand with the new HPI slot car line, the details may surpass that of Mini-Zs, like rear view mirrors, for example.

New Mini-Z Atomic 90mm MidMount and DPS

Just got these in the past weekend, AR-265 and AR-265-BKDPS. Looks like Atomic only recently caught up to PN's idea of last year, the 90mm Mid Mount with a custom Damper Plate System.

Overall much more simple than the PN unit, not much heavier nor lighter, but it does have quite a few new elements. The DPS post only uses one spring now and does not attach to a bottom holder plate of any sort, but rather to the motor mount's DPS arm itself. The plastic plate gets pressed against the metal one, and it even has a little trough to hold a little bit of dampening oil better than the old, completely flat plates (maybe atomic always had this though, this is my first Atomic DPS/disks). Lastly there is an optional, bolt-on rear diffuser.

Narrow Focus

So this coming late Feb. the DMV area will have another, BIG, Z race that's sure to attract all the prominent racers from up and down the coast. The interesting part will be a compact car race with rules I haven't seen done before- only narrow wheels/tires allowed. Oddly enough, there will be no motor restrictions, but narrow tires are bound to force racers to limit their options to slower and more controllable powerhouses.

That said, an immediate idea that came to mind was to try the MA chassis once again considering that it may have an advantage running all narrow tires and not losing much of its performance like the MR brotheren (yet to test this thought, however).









And what better body than a Rally classic, Ford Focus that was driven by Colin McRae himself back in the days!

Setup is as aggressive and low as possible, starting out with hardest springs up front and 2nd hardest in the rear, kyosho 30* tires all around for balance, all key parts in aluminum to ensure finishing the race.

*Post testing on RCP- wow! What a car when used with the right tires. Also the only hatchback that allows more than +1 wheel offset for that extra wide stance.

Kyosho Mini-Z MR-03 w/ Makers RX-7 Unboxing and Setup

Finally got my hands on this lovely piece, so here we go:















Now for the first setup and the reason I got 03 in the first place- Skyline GT-R 1970

Mini-Z Are Going Offroad

Thought I'd share my recent collection additions with an appropriate setting. Ford, Subaru, and Mitsubishi duking it out.

Mini-Z Painting & Detailing Hints and Tips

After doing miniatures, model kits, and various other paint jobs I've concluded that the RC bodies are the most demanding, but the right tools will yield a superb and durable finish. I'll make this brief and cut straight to the chase.



Tamiya acrylics tend to get rubbed and beat off of the Z bodies quite easily and will require frequent touch-ups, but are fairly easy to work with. Testors enamels surpass the oversea brother, but can end up too thick when sprayed on if the painter is a little careless or trigger happy. Both of these can be removed with simple acrylic or enamel thinners and some rubbing. Now, Testors Pactra Polycarbonate Coating sprays on in thin layers, yields very even and consistent finish, can withstand quite a beating and cannot be removed with some simple thinner. Furthermore, the ideal finish can be achieved with only 1 to 1.5 coats and up to 3 coats of paint will retain all of the details beneath them. If you mess up you have room for a primer and a recolor coat without endangering the finish.


Pactra Candy Purple and Testors Gold Enamel details

Whats the next step to completing your masterpiece? The details and trims. The weapons of choice now are:

Testors Enamel Paint Markers with user-trimmed tips prior to use that will ensure precision and control;



Micron archival ink pens because not only do they come in 0.2mm tip variety, but can withstand a glosscoat laquer easily unlike their competitors.



I've tested(from bottom to top) Micron, Sharpie, and Gundam Marker on top of white Pactra layer and topped with Testors Glosscoat with the following result-



So there you have it folks, for a clean, durable and professional RC body finish your friends are Pactra spray cans, Micron markers, and Testors enamel paint markers. Happy painting!

THE set of upgrades for Xmod Evo to steer it clear of trashcan.

Yes, 2.4 ghz radio thats in most cordless home phones and routers. Why? Any xmod owner should know how junky they are out of the box even for some home fun, but this upgrades makes it a semi-hobby grade RC.

Is JUST the radio enough? No because the chassis itself is far from flawless, so #2 on the list are GPM Adjustable Knuckles vs GPM's regular junky looking and working, 3-screw knuckles:






Now we have 0 wheel wobble and car is actually drivable on RCP track or anywhere else at high speeds, but is this enough? Not just yet.

Last upgrade- shaving the wheel pegs to fit Kyosho Mini-Z MA-010 rims.





And now the Xmod is complete. Drives very similar to a Mini-Z or any other quality RC. Can have different offset wheels to accommodate different bodies without looking funky. Has actually round, quality wheels and doesn't have to use xmod tires that are getting harder to come by. Lastly, can easily accept a drift tire kit for some slipping and sliding without buying an xmod-specific 15$ kit.