Thanks. TBH given their age and these just being toys, I’m tempted just to get my mini-a11y’s a MJX MEW4 M163 model each. They won’t appreciate the difference between one of those at £70 and a Hyper Go v2 at double the price, I imagine it’ll still be awesome to 8/11yr olds on Christmas morning.

But I’ll await the inevitable with next week’s delivery first!

@a11y very good reviews on amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B0CKPCPDSG/

hmm then again they all say “Vine Customer Review of Free Product”

I’ve gone and ordered a HBX 16889 pro and a MJX MEW4 for my 2 boys (from UK sellers this time!)

I’ve gone and ordered a HBX 16889 pro and a MJX MEW4 for my 2 boys (from UK sellers this time!)

I ordered 2 x MJX MEW4 M162s from http://www.radio-controlled.co.uk yesterday – delivery due later this afternoon. Although my Aliexpress ones haven’t arrived (were due yesterday but tracking shows them still in China) I’m 99.9% certain they’ll not be what I ordered, going from the reviews and what you’ve all received. Couldn’t take the risk of ‘Santa’ not having the presents for the mini-a11ys on Christmas Day…

Spare batteries – any thoughts/ideas?

Look decent in this unboxing/review:

@trickydisco good choice, mine has been faultless despite my best efforts. Mine cost the same as the Tracer equivalent once they released it.

Talking of Chinese deliveries I had this arrive a week or so ago:

A LCG conversion chassis for one of my Element crawlers.  The only issue with it was that the gearbox mount it came with only had half the holes for the bars drilled in it so I’ve put a spare original one in, actually works better as it has smoother edges and gets the gearbox a few mm lower too.  Be a few weeks before it’s all switched over as I need a few other bits but it’s only an experiment so a £40 chassis is much easier on the wallet than the £100+ for a GCRC or similar one!  The geometry is close enough and I’ve seen some people get very good results with the previous version, very little has changed so bodes well.  Hoping to have it all finished in time for a small event in mid-January a localish club is running.

The overall plan is to make my Gatekeeper a dual use truck: the standard cage body for using at a few of my local crawling spots but have it so that a quick swap of wheels and unbolting the cage hinge at the front means the Sendero body can go on it to use it as a trail truck.  This then frees up the Sendero chassis as a donor for this.  Three different trucks for the price of two and simplifies spares too.  All part of my rationalisation of my collection, have far too many RC’s so hoping to get the collection down to 4 by Easter.

@ally

Mine arrived yesterday

Pretty impressed tbh. Thick metal axles, metal gears, oil filled adjustable shocks

Spare batteries – any thoughts/ideas?

On the battery front I’m going to get a spare from here

So interestingly, after returning the “MJX” I’ve just got a message saying a replacement is on the way. Will it be the actual MJX? Will it be another piece of crap? A box with a jobby in it? Who knows?

Something I guess I’d not considered about the aliexpress process before is that while I’ve always found it safe, and always got the result I want at the end, it’s kind of difficult to actually report a scam. So in this case, while the individual customer should be protected there doesn’t seem anything to prevent the seller from doing it again.

Seeing as the weather has been so bad over the last 48 hours I’ve cracked on with the LCG build.

Most of the parts from the Element crawler swapped over easily enough, the only minor issues was I had to get a different input gear and shaft for the gearbox so that it could run the other way round and having to fight a few rounded screws while disassembling.  Took the opportunity to fit screws with 3mm hex heads rather then the 2.5’s, should make maintenance easier as they’re more substantial and also not domed so easier to deal with if I do round one off.

Upgraded the brushed motor setup to a Hobbywing Fusion SE while it was apart plus some +20mm spacers on each hub to widen the track.  If they improve the handling (will test against the standard ones) then they’ll be replaced by some high offset wheels at some point, keeping costs low right now plus the original plastic wheels are decent and light which is a goal of the build.  I’ll add weight to improve the performance if it needs it but hoping that the limiting factor will be tyre grip rather than centre of gravity issues, the draw to put some copper alloys on it is rather strong though!  Will need to find a shorter steering link at some point, it’s about 10mm too long but works fine.  Just means it steers better right than left and has the possibility of pushing the servo horn too far but works fine as long as I’m wary of binding the drivetrain up.

I ordered a JConcepts body for it too but that got damaged in the post and I’m awaiting a replacement to be sent in the New Year, have used the damaged one to try for fitment though.  The damaged areas means it sits too far back and too low at the rear to be perfect once I had cut them out but it works and means I can at least run it for the time being.  Took the opportunity to try a bold colour too, sort of like it so might be the colour I go for rather than something a bit more subdued that I normally favour.

Can already tell it’s much more capable than with the original chassis, can climb steeper and side hills better trying it on a cardboard box.  Hopefully get it out and test it back-to-back with the Gatekeeper over the next weekend.

How did you get on @a11y

got to be honest the MJX MEW4 is much better than the HBX 16889 pro i got for my other son. I got the hbx as it had full speed control on the controller but then MJX is really well built. It’s been crashed into kerbs and jumps, wheelied, crashed everywhere and it’s still running fine. Battery is a decent size and lots of spares available if needed.

@Merak, I love that. A bit cheaper than the real thing that sold last year for £415k: https://www.iconicauctioneers.com/1992-subaru-legacy-rs-rec12351-3-silverston-0823

How did you get on @a11y

@trickydisco, all good! The aliexpress ‘mjx’ arrived after Christmas and were the same crap/cheap ones that the seller’s been scamming others with, so I’ve a return for a refund on the go. Thankfully I’d also ordered those two MJX MEW4 M162s from a UK seller which my girls got on Christmas morning, and they’re superb. Appear suitably robust and yet to empty the battery in a single use – kids had had enough after 35mins (admittedly not razzing around at full speed the whole time). Really impressed. I’m waiting on restocking and might buy myself one too…

Excellent @a11y. I got the refund for both cars in the end through aliexpress. Not going to make that mistake again. Like i said in th epost i bought the HBX 16889 pro and a MJX MEW4 .Out of the both i’d day the MJX beats the HBX. It’s built a lot better, thicker metal axles, nicer layout. The pros of the hbx is the controller is better. It has full speed control so you can turn it right down for indoors. THe MJX has a 70 and 100% setting.

Really chuffed. My boys have been sending them in the air, crashing into kerbs and they’ve held up well.

Excellent @a11y. I got the refund for both cars in the end through aliexpress. Not going to make that mistake again.

By coincidence I had e-mails from Aliexpress a couple of hours ago issuing full refunds for both cars – that was after me raising the case on 28th Dec. Lesson learnt. I’ve ordered plenty of bike stuff on Aliexpress and this was the first issue I’ve had.

Yeah, ours have rattled more than a few kerbs accidentally and holding up well. I’ve tweaked the front toe as the wheels had significant toe-out and made them a bit twitchy in a straight line. Improved now that I’ve gone very slight toe-in.

Hoping someone can offer some advice.. I recently picked up an LDARC X43 micro crawler for a bit of fun, and it came with a spare plain white shell. I quite fancy a Jurassic park style shell (cheesy I know) and wondering if it’s going to be possible to paint the white shell in a nice way? Everything I read says to paint the inside of a clear shell, which I obviously do not have (and also this thing is tiny so I think painting the inside would be rather tricky).

No reason why you can’t paint the outside of a shell provided you use Tamiya Polycarbonate spray paint.

If you don’t fancy it I’ll paint it for you.🙂

My only experience of painting stuff like this is decades old painting airfix with paintbrushes. Do I need anything special or do I get teeny tiny rattle cans? I imagine if I tried a normal spray can on this, one quick squirt and the whole thing will be covered!

I would quite like to have a go myself though it’s tempting to have it done for me 😂

I would quite like to have a go myself though it’s tempting to have it done for me

Buy two so you’ve one to send to Metak once you’ve had your own attempt. Most hateful part of RC hobby for me. So jealous of Merak’s talent for it.

Just bought a MN99s crawler for my ‘kids’. Seems pretty good fun if a bit bouncy. Is there any thing similar for less than 100 quid that I can get to stop the civil war that’s broken out over who gets to play with it (luckily I’m the biggest so tend to win).

thought i would post here as it might get me off my backside and get it built but i have one of these on the shelf from Xmas still not even opened

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/kyosho-optima-mid-87-wc-worlds-spec-60th-anniversary-limited-1353665

built the optima turbo a year or so back and it swiftly became my favourite car

My X43 was £98ish delivered from ‘unmanned tech shop’. Came next day. Bought it after I watched this:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpsDUOvJfay/?igsh=MXcya25qeDd2eGJldg==

if you have the patience and good eyesight, the 1/32 scale rc trucks from Orlandoo Hunter are good fun to build.

not sure how to add photos, so a link to instagram.

@Ewan add £94 FTX Ravine to your shortlist for consideration

Discount code = “payday” May still work

@Merak /131: fan-bloody-tastic.

Another Escort @Merak ? How many is that now? Must be able to do them in your sleep.

@clubby yeah well into double figures now.😅 So many good liveries to choose.

I’m going for this.

I always open this thread when I see a Merak update, loving your work on these shells.

Do you actually drive them, or is this just for pleasure and display?  I think I’d weep with the first rollover or scrape!

Have you seen the Jäegermeister model,

https://www.wonderlandmodels.com/tamiya-rc-nsu-tt-jagermeister-kit/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3czlhsm1hAMVU5tQBh2_hgUNEAQYBCABEgIVEfD_BwE

I love the look of that one.

Hi folks, Looking for 1/10 size ish rock crawler. Would prefer a kit to build rather than something ready to run. Would prefer lots of spare parts, upgrades available. Not bothered about extreme performance or perfect detail scale, just some middle of the road. Is there a consensus on what is best?

Hi folks, Looking for 1/10 size ish rock crawler. Would prefer a kit to build rather than something ready to run. Would prefer lots of spare parts, upgrades available. Not bothered about extreme performance or perfect detail scale, just some middle of the road. Is there a consensus on what is best?

No idea if it’s anything like ‘middle of the road best’ with the guys that know their stuff and it’s RTR, but I’ve always fancied a Traxxas Defender

@rockhopper70 Hell no! My OCD is off the scale when it comes to scratches. All of my pleasure is derived from the creation of the bodyshells from a bit of clear plastic. 👌

@db I built a G Made BOM and really enjoy it. Haven’t abused it, but seems to be pretty robust. Decent spares availability from what I’ve seen.

Hell no! My OCD is off the scale when it comes to scratches. All of my pleasure is derived from the creation of the bodyshells from a bit of clear plastic.

You should have at least one that you rag the shit out of and has real life rally battle scars and muddy tyres

.
https://m.traxxas.com/news/trx4-sport-kit

Traxxas TRX4 is THE model for 1/10th rock crawling, and comes in kit form so you can select what components you wish to use

More progress today, whites on. It’s a nightmare trying to eliminate overspray from that first dark colour when blocking into white.

There’s always a tiny speck you miss…

Spoiler painted too, utterly impossible to mask inside the shell, the white and red are bad enough, so it goes on top.

With that the paint is done, always nice to get over this stage without disaster.

Decals next…

Obviously it’s not radio control as Yellow himself is driving it….

Nearly there!

Very good!