addiemonster
Pebble Pounder
I'm that guy. The "they're ALL toys!!" guy. Some are just more expensive than others. That said, I understand the need for the delineation of "toy grade" and "hobby grade".
I also like to blur that line whenever possible.
Take, for instance, this amazing score I made when visiting a friend in Indiana (last summer, when travel was safe). Three late-90s vintage Radio Shack RCs, every one complete with radio and box, the Road Phantom having never ever even left it's box for more than display purposes! $60 for the whole lot.
Yes, I've seen the video of the Road Phantom running twin Traxxas Titan 550s. No, I'm not messing with mine. It runs great and is a literal new old stock RC!
Anyway, The one I took the most interest in (and the one that grabbed my attention in the second-hand toy shop) was the bright red, Hilux-bodied Tremor. 2WD, open diff, swing arm rear with proper double wishbone front suspension and all the styling Radio Shack/Tandy are known for.
I fibbed a little earlier. Every RC was slightly incomplete. The Flashtron and Tremor were missing the front bumpers, and the Road Phantom's radio had a broken steering stick. All of this has been remedied. I also shot a couple coats of clear over the Tremor's body as the decals are paper-based and will not last long out in the wild otherwise. Also snuck in a few cheeky Tamiya decals as a subtle hint about it's new electronics...
Sadly, I didn't get any shots of the limited chopping I needed to do to replace the stock steering gearbox with a proper servo. The rest was simple - replace the stock circuit board with a spare ESC and swap the weak stock 540 for a brand new Mabuchi!
Here it is with my re-release Blackfoot for size context:
I'm quite happy with the results.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GXI2w6a0rno" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LeytLvtmy1o" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Then I did the same thing with a Radio Shack Golden Arrow that I purchased from some dude's trash.
All it really needed was some elbow grease, a set of direct bolt-on Hornet wheels and tires, some bearings, a transmission re-grease, and of course a complete gutting of the entire damn electrical system. I'm amazed how much of this car is almost a mirror image of a Hornet or Grasshopper. I'm almost 99% sure you could replace the transmission gears with Hornet gears. In fact, I think you could probably just mount up a Hornet or 'Hopper transmission! Oh, speaking of which, I needed to order some AMPro transmission mounts to reinstall it, as the stock mounts require this weird press-on pin collar that just sucks to deal with and will likely break your car trying to get back on.
Anyway here it is with my re-release Grasshopper.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_QHDnWO2kcg" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I've since swapped out the unbearably noisy ancient Traxxas servo. It's running a kit-stock Tamiya 540 for now, but a Sport Tuned or some other hot Tamiya motor is in the near future.
I also like to blur that line whenever possible.
Take, for instance, this amazing score I made when visiting a friend in Indiana (last summer, when travel was safe). Three late-90s vintage Radio Shack RCs, every one complete with radio and box, the Road Phantom having never ever even left it's box for more than display purposes! $60 for the whole lot.
Yes, I've seen the video of the Road Phantom running twin Traxxas Titan 550s. No, I'm not messing with mine. It runs great and is a literal new old stock RC!
Anyway, The one I took the most interest in (and the one that grabbed my attention in the second-hand toy shop) was the bright red, Hilux-bodied Tremor. 2WD, open diff, swing arm rear with proper double wishbone front suspension and all the styling Radio Shack/Tandy are known for.
I fibbed a little earlier. Every RC was slightly incomplete. The Flashtron and Tremor were missing the front bumpers, and the Road Phantom's radio had a broken steering stick. All of this has been remedied. I also shot a couple coats of clear over the Tremor's body as the decals are paper-based and will not last long out in the wild otherwise. Also snuck in a few cheeky Tamiya decals as a subtle hint about it's new electronics...
Sadly, I didn't get any shots of the limited chopping I needed to do to replace the stock steering gearbox with a proper servo. The rest was simple - replace the stock circuit board with a spare ESC and swap the weak stock 540 for a brand new Mabuchi!
Here it is with my re-release Blackfoot for size context:
I'm quite happy with the results.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GXI2w6a0rno" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LeytLvtmy1o" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Then I did the same thing with a Radio Shack Golden Arrow that I purchased from some dude's trash.
All it really needed was some elbow grease, a set of direct bolt-on Hornet wheels and tires, some bearings, a transmission re-grease, and of course a complete gutting of the entire damn electrical system. I'm amazed how much of this car is almost a mirror image of a Hornet or Grasshopper. I'm almost 99% sure you could replace the transmission gears with Hornet gears. In fact, I think you could probably just mount up a Hornet or 'Hopper transmission! Oh, speaking of which, I needed to order some AMPro transmission mounts to reinstall it, as the stock mounts require this weird press-on pin collar that just sucks to deal with and will likely break your car trying to get back on.
Anyway here it is with my re-release Grasshopper.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_QHDnWO2kcg" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I've since swapped out the unbearably noisy ancient Traxxas servo. It's running a kit-stock Tamiya 540 for now, but a Sport Tuned or some other hot Tamiya motor is in the near future.
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