UK Lightweight Racer

[dinglem]

That explains why my memory has nothing of the rear section of the RC10 body , I never even realised until now what was wrong with the picture in my memory

Yup - i can easily picture these running around in the mud at Donisthorpe. I think it is why I cut the rear end off most of my normal RC10 buggy shells. The Concept Car shell really twists my melon as i had to leave that one in standard format as that is how the mag review car was, but i think they look so top-heavy compared to the lightweights.

This is my MMS shortie from another thread but you can see how low it sits.

[dinglem]

I actually have an early Penn Models advert here, which details their Penn Jackal bodyshell.... available in standard and lightweight formats.

It also shows you how common these cut-away chassis were.... as they also advertise the very chassis liners I have in my car here. These were pretty vital with the mud/grass tracks.

[Dadio]

I always love those old adds

[RC10th]

I always love those old adds

It's funny how you never used to pay much attention to the ads but now the ads are almost as cool as the articles.

[dinglem]

Yeah i agree with that! That Penn Models advert is particularly interesting for me as there are around 4 pages of it, all packed with info for these modified RC10's and parts that came with my red MMS car.

They serve to date the parts on my builds which has become critical for vintage racing in the UK. We have to prove any mods we make are 'in period' and were carried out back then, so seeing the D&D graphite parts, the Jackal shell and chassis liner (inferring at a cut away chassis), Brimod shocks, MG Magnum motors and the Penn Models VF8 esc all in one 1986 article pretty much legitimizes my car in one hit!

[dinglem]

Just for reference....

[Dadio]

The parts in the magazine adds were what we drooled over , mod parts that solved problems or gave some performance advantage (or at least were supposed to ) , I had a part time job as a cleaner in the school I went to after hours , think it paid £36 per week ! all went to the Godalming Model shop my Dad would not pay by credit card for mail order parts but the owner of Godalming Model shop would order parts in for you and you paid him for them , them's were the days of cycling to Godalming with my mate Brent to pick up parts

[dinglem]

I was pretty young at that time.... but was fortunate that my dad was as hooked as me, and eventually started racing himself. He used to do foreigners at work after hours and then that cash would go straight to Penn Models... i still don't think my mother knows he used to do that. HA!

[GoMachV]

For those of us in the USA… that would be called “government work”. “Doing” a foreigner in the USA would be prostitution

[dinglem]

[Frankentruck]

I was curious what that actually meant. But the US version would be good reason for mom to be upset.

[WriteDean]

Someone took some serious time to do up that chassis! Nice!

[dinglem]

Looking at electrics for this at the minute. I am hoping to run it at a vintage grass event in early July.

I had an early Laser esc set aside for this car which would be perfectly period-correct for an '86 British racer. I have also located a super-rare Penn Models Touchtronics VF8 which was also sold that year, so have a couple of options beyond the more typical Demon ProKing offerings.

The Laser and the VF8 have been off to an esc guy for a test and overhaul. I wanted to keep the original heatshrink, wires and stickers on the Laser so that has been barely touched once it was established it was functioning as it should. The motor wire ends have been tidied up and a Tamiya connector added to the battery cables.

Similar story for the VF8, which actually looks very tidy indeed. The 'V-FET' design layout makes for a very compact design, especially considering it has 8 fets.

I will try both in for size and pick one, and have the other on standby in case all of the smoke falls out of one of them.

As per my comments in the chatroom last night I am also considering trying out a Novak NES-1A servo in this... am hoping the supposed light weight will make this a viable choice.

Motor-wise, (considering the esc choice and the fact i will be using old batteries) I am thinking something mild like a Schumacher-Reedy 21D, which is the very same motor i used to run in my Meteor during that period.

[RustyBall]

This build is really cool to see how they were built in the UK!

[scoobyrs25]

Such a fun build to watch. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with weight reduction. I bought a red Blackfoot chassis for my Frog and proceeded to swiss cheese it. First curb I hit ended it's short life. Lesson learned early. That gold pan you have there is truly a work of art. Had I seen it, we would have been in a bidding war!