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.
Using nothing other than Legos. Stand rotates via rod that doesn't interfere with painting process. Holds any Mini-Z, Xmod, or even 1/24 model kit bodies without any additional modifications or alterations. For Mini-Z bodies, stand accommodates for glued-in side clips.
Pun intended. I felt like my racing KPG was lacking, well, everything and my previous idea for Armored Core deco was overshadowed by Mirror's Edge on the RX-7, so here we are.
I love all Armored Core games, but the real pleasure was the fact that PSP received its own version and to glorify that I dressed up one of my favorite race bodies using some Formula Front wallpapers.
At long last my beloved short wheelbases 90 and 94mm got a midship motor mount! Problem of the past was that the only available MM configuration was at the shortest 94mm while to use the 90mm base one needed a Rear Mount(motor behind rear axle). Changing a whole motor mount just to try a shorter body is too tedious, but the performance of the midship chassis was far superior than that of rear mounts. Another problem was a complete lack of 90mm mid mounts, so the quick, short cars were stuck with RM config and horrible weight distribution.
Now this is a thing of the past and this mount looks very promising. I managed to keep this Cobra MR-015 at 166 grams which rivals custom-built chassis, let alone stock MR-015s or even 02s. I'm very curious to see whether this mount will help cure the notorious body roll of the narrow bodies I love as well as 15 chassis. Lastly, this will drastically increase the effectiveness of my front end lead ballast(held on by 2 screws at the very front of the car seen in the last picture) which will in turn help the body roll by keeping the front end planted during accelerating turns.
Note that the white damper plates, the springs in between, and the blue post are from my 3Racing Disk Damper System since PN does NOT supply these with the new mount. I'm still glad that they supplied the carbon fiber plates instead of making a separate 20$ set.
Last addition is my custom rewiring using thinner conducting wires that hold their shape when bent to free up the motor area. I also flipped the motor to give the mount that 1mm of clearance from the body, and new wires allowed me to steer clear from the rear axle.
Stumbled upon Testors Pactra Racing Finish lexan body paint today and after asking clerks whether it would work with ABS, decided to give it a shot. Picked up True Blue Pearl that looked like regular metallic paint and boy was I surprised with the finish!
As you can see, finish is fantastic! Colors play with light and look far beyond even what Kyosho Auto Scale series are.
Hooks were not glued in because I will race this thing and they'll bust in first 10 seconds.
I plan on adding 2 lime green stripes to mimic the original look to my liking. I also plan on spraying enamel clear coat when all is said and done to preserve it as best I can(and hopefully not fk up the paintjob that way).
This is my attempt at a RWD MA-010 that may become a great MR-xx killer car. My goal is to utilize MA's even weight distribution(after weighing the motor side down for horizontal balance) and ease of maintenence to its fullest advantage and compete in RWD with RWD opposition(maybe even awd as well).
This thing handles like a true mix of two platforms: steering response and sharp radius like that of awd MA and acceleration like that of MR-02 (when both have wide rears). I'm hoping that independent suspension would help this guy triumph over MRs' rear disk dampers and hplates.
Another thing I like is ease of changing rims if I have to. Since MA doesn't have its bearings in the rims, swapping is a real matter of seconds that also saves the bearings themselves(I imagine poking MR bearings out of the wheels each time takes some kind of toll down the road).
In terms of weight this guy is 185.6 grams with the horizontal balancing lead pieces (5-7 grams in total), so without those it can probably match a stock MR02's 180 grams. Its 7-10 grams lighter than a stock MA10 with exclusion of the front diff and driveshafts halves/alum driveshafts, so its at a slight weight advantage over MA10.
How did I achieve RWD?
Very simple and effective. I might look into an even better center shaft shield out of a tougher material to help keep everything together when changing rear gears. Right now, if you pull the shaft out the back too far and put it back in, the front shaft bearing tends to pop out and hang between the chassis and the styrene shield while the shaft rattles. The MR bushing may prevent that from happening, but I'm not 100% sure yet.
After recycling some more money and hitting the track with my AM radio MR-015 Z I decided to upgrade to the 2.4 ghz radio seeing how convenient this option really is. There's no antenna; greater range; absolutely no glitching or jitter; up to 40 frequencies that the car and controller automatically find when powered on; no need for frequency crystals so one controller can be used with infinite number of 2.4 chassis.
Here are my new chassis sets with a baggie of PN Racing ball bearings for the All-Wheel Drive MA-010 chassis. Total of $272 shipped. Managed a used controller from a friend for $20.
Since my AM car was a MR-015 configuration(basicly a Rear-wheel Drive), I decided to get the same 2.4 chassis to build onto my brief racing experience rather than start clean with a MR-02(15 has battery trays on the sides while 02 has batteries on the belly, so there's a different feel and weight transfer between the 2 setups; 15 can use more narrow bodies than the 02).
Since I had a boost of cash, I went ahead and got a hold of the cheap MA-010 chassis from TinyRC.com. Beauty of this besides the obvious gripping power is the wheel-independent suspension and quicker wheel installs than the MR chassis. The bearings on MA are in the wheel knuckles rather than in the wheels themselves, so swapping different sets only requires removing the lugnut. So why did I really get MA? Drifting! Unlike the MR chassis, MA can actually handle the plastic drifting tires just fine due to all wheels pulling the car. MR can be drifted, but requires hard rubber tires and much quicker, more precise, and speedy turns. MA can go sideways almost anywhere and at a fraction of the MR's required speed.
Here are 2 videos of each chassis in action, 2nd day of owning them both, and 2nd day of running the MA-010 in my life:
So why Mini-Z over say, a Xmod? Much higher control precision, very smooth feeling, VERY durable(for once a high price = superb quality), much more durabile and detailed bodies and 5x the selection and growing, and lastly ready availability of all replacement parts no matter how big or small at about $10 or less per part(s). Zs are a pleasure to drive out of the box and can defenetly race without any upgrades. Upgrades are made by Kyosho and other aftermarket companies like Atomic, PN Racing, 3Racing, GPM, and some others. Very well worth the money you'd spend on one unless you don't have space to run it, a club with a track to visit, or lastly money to buy a small track yourself.
To wrap this entry up, let me post my current custom bodies made from unpainted, unassembled kyosho sets:
