Masonite - the perfect drifting surface

Now I'm a drift boi like yuz guys

Being the sheep that I am, I had to make my R34 look more like a drift car. Here's what it looks like now. By the way, I just fitted front and rear stabilisers... you wouldn't believe the difference it made to drift-ability... I'm smiling ear-to-ear...

Latest vids from Das Drift-Haus

From this morning's session, guys. The third one shows off Wendy's cinematographic skills...

New RX7 body underway...

I've had some fun masking & such. Took some piccy's for your viewing pleasure.

Wheel hop-up

Regular visitors to this blog will be aware of the chrome wheels I have been using - here's a photo to refresh your memory (much larger if you click on it):

Well, here's my new wheels, by "Hot Works Racing" (www.hotworksracing.com) shod with a set of Tamiya's DrifTech tyres. A nice match for the bodyside decals, I think... also note that the tyres were MUCH easier to fit to these rims.

R34 drift action

OK, here's a (very) short video of my R34/TB-02D r/c drifter. I only have a digital camera. Don't laugh.

Rex gets a body change..

The other thing i've done which you can't really notice on the video is i took the rear wing off. I had some stickers left over from the aftermarket sheet i bought for the truck & found some 76 fuel stickers that were a good size for the holes.

1st video on the blog

Guys, I locked my rear diff with bluetack, set zero camber all round & changed from toe in to toe out (i changed back just to see difference & it was quite noticable so i changed back to toe out) & now the REX drifts like a dream. This is with type d tyres on cement in the garage at relativley low speeds. Have a look for yourself. Sorry the video is bad quality & there's no music backing, 1st attempt at the program i have got, but anyway, you'll get the idea...

The Supa Silvia

At last! Some Pics of my TT-01D Silvia complete with lights all ready to run.


Check out those head and tail lights.

MY REX...

Here's a couple of pictures of the WRX. Not the greatest of shots, but it gives you an idea.

Lexan body polishing

Even though I've only been running solo so far on my private circuit, I've managed to accumulate some battle scars on my R34 body shell. My excuse is that I'm new to R/C...

The following photo shows one example where the front left corner met a wall.



















It turns out that these can be removed by rubbing with good ol' "Silvo" metal polish - see image below. I ended up doing the whole body with it - looks great!

Tailpipe body mod

I wanted to improve the realism of the body, and had seen a number of plastic fake exhaust tailpipes on eBay, but $15 or so dollars (delivered) had put me off.

So, when I was in the local hobby shop (Wings over the Downs) and saw some small aluminium tubing, I realised there was a cheap way to achieve the desired look.

The tubing I selected is K & S brand, size "9/32 x .014", in a 3o cm length for $3. It represents a 1:1 scale of approx 2.5" diameter pipe, which really isn't "phat" enough for a drift machine, but I don't remember seeing anything larger. So, I decided to make a twin outlet, cutting off two pieces about 15mm long, from each end of the length so I had one clean edge on both.

The following photo shows the two pipes mounted, clean edge out. This was easier than expected, as the bottom face of the body stiffening foam I'd installed earlier happened to be at just the right height... I used '5 minute' liquid nails as the glue because it has a good instant grab but still allows some adjustment after placement. In retrospect, I could have been more carefull with initial placement, but it worked out OK in the end.



















A bit of black paint inside the tubes for added realism, and the result: