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#21
30-07-2015
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Hi - Going to Sidcup tomorrow, first time. My son is really looking forward to it.
Had another disaster, MB Models to the rescue though. Guess who used the wrong paint? Me. I bought Tamiya for plastics rather than polycarbonate... Quick drive around the living room, paint flaking off everywhere! Ordered a new shell, next day delivery and one late night later and with the new paint an identical shell! Waiting on a programming card for the Trackstar ESC, but I guess they will let him run it as is until it arrives and I can programme to blinky mode (still not sure what that actually means). I've reduced the EPA on the throttle to 80pct so hoping that Joseph (my son) will learn to drive properly first, rather than smashing it to bits on day one  I hear you about Maritime, it is not far from me, but a Thursday is tricky as it starts quite early and I will not be home from work, and given it is a school night probably not a good idea...ear bashing from the missus (wait till she sees the credit card bill!) I definitely have the bug, so looking forward to buying and racing a car of my own, for now I am team mechanic and taxi service. Thanks for all your help, lets see what happens tomorrow. 
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#22
30-07-2015
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Maritime opens its doors at 5-5.30 for practice. racing starts about 7ish.
Its a large perminant track that gets changed every 6 weeks as not to get staile, theres plenty of pit area with benches and mains. The members are all friendly and helpfull, infact your'll meet a few at sidcup. If it interfears with school, its worth the trip during school hols PS Enjoy your racing tommorow....im sure you will.
__________________
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#23
31-07-2015
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Draper... 'Blinky' mode means that the speedo does not add any additional timing to the motor when you open the throttle. Check what mode the speedo comes in as t may be the case that the car will be silly fast and/or make the throttle like a bit of a switch.
If the throttle feel is bad, switch-like, it is better to drop down two or three teeth on the pinion than cut off the top of the throttle curve. Blag a smaller pinion from someone if Junior is struggling with the car and put the throttle back to 100%. Once you have it programmed correctly all will be well and the 80% idea will work just fine. Ask if someone has a card at Sidcup and can change the programme for you. First run at first club night - here's a few tips: Check everything twice before every run. After the run check every screw and give the car a good eyeballing to make sure nothing has gone awry. If there is not much time between heats, put the additive on to the tyres while they are off the car. Start with 20 minutes additive 'on' time at each end. 100% width on the rears, 50% width (from the inside of the tyre) on the front. Wipe it off with a towel and make sure the tyres are as dry as possible before the car goes on the track. If the shell gets bent try pushing it around so it doesn't foul the tyres, and if necessary just lop lumps off it and get a new one later. If grip is low early doors, don't change the car. Let the track come to the car. If after round 2 there is clearly something to change, do one thing at a time and not many things at once. Do not shout at Junior at any time, and do not criticise the driving - nothing more guaranteed to put him off. I've seen it done!! Or, at least, don't say anything about the driving until you've tried it. When that happens, don't get the hump if Junior beats you!!  Ask anyone and everyone for advice, they'll give it. Look at as many other cars as you can and see what their set-up is and how they have built the car. Pinch ideas with pride! If any of that teaches you to suck eggs, apologies. I hope you both have a great time and please come back here for more advice and tips. Good luck! 
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#24
31-07-2015
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Hi Slowone, Brilliant advice, and just now back from a fantastic night at Sidcup.
I can not speak more highly of the supportive and helpful attitude there, I wish "real life" was the same, just amazing. Draper Jr had a great night, and can not wait to go back. We had our ups and downs, and overcome all the initial problems with the support of some amazing people. Watching my 12 year old interact with one of the nicest 74 year old was just fantastic, 1/12 is a great leveler and the kindness and consideration shown to their newest and youngest member was heart warming. The Grandfather, Father and Son that came straight over to help set up the car was valuable and so welcoming. So what did we learn. These things are indeed fast, had to dial the throttle back to ensure Jr maintained confidence and avoided incidents. We found that the RC gear had a gyro, which explained the "interference" and turned that off. Dad's soldering needs to get up to scratch, a high wattage iron would be the next purchase! We learned that body shells can look like a work of art, until track day! We now understand "droop", "Tweak" and MARSHALL! But most of all I learned that 1/12 has not changed since my ministox days...everyone is happy to help, provide advice, offer assistance and a few spares. What a great night, Draper Jr now tucked up in bed with a copy of his lap times that Keith kindly provided (he also would't charge us as it was our first time). So now every other Friday is indeed "boys" night for JR and I, and long may it continue. Thanks to all of you for getting us started, and Sidcup for getting us to the end of the night. With grateful thanks, Stuart. Last edited by draperst; 31-07-2015 at 11:31 PM.
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#25
01-08-2015
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You got to the right place and you found people to give more help - guys, our work here is done!!
Keep in touch so we can follow your story, like Stu's, and if we can help any more you know where to find us. Say "well done" to Junior - boy's a star!
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#26
01-08-2015
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Hi Draper,
So pleased you and Jrn had a ball. Lads night out most deffinatly, thats how i got back into racing my son showed an interest so off we went (he races TC 10.5t boosted rocket ships). This season maritime started GT12 watch a few and was hooked, had to try it, never looked back since. Look forward to hearing your next race reports. P.S. it wont be long till you get infected........  BTW did you get your speedo set to blinky?
__________________
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#27
01-08-2015
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Not set to blinky yet, waiting for the tuning box to arrive for the esc.
Club was great and didn't mind, which was kind. Yes, won't be long...weighing up the pros and cons of having the same car myself versus something else like the Zen, but will certainly have the same esc, motor etc as they seem fine at novice level. Urgent need for new tires, and have ordered them today 50 Front and 40 Back on the suggestion of a club member, superglue was omitted from my shopping list what an error! And a higher wattage soldering iron is on its way, should avoid further problems. Jr has now applied for his BRCA license, and it would appear mine from 1990 has expired so will need one soon too I hope Maritime is appealing as it is so close to where I live and waiting two weeks for the next race is quite hard! After the initial expense, it is a cheap night out. Entrance fee, couple of bags of crisps and a few drinks... less than a tenner. Missus and daughter spent more watching a film! Quick question. I bought the lipo strap upgrade as I reckon that it is more cost effective than buying battery tape, and whilst it works perfectly, thumbscrews to retain it would be better (maybe Schumacher should do this as standard?), anyone done this? I think they are M3 size, would be interested to know where they got them from. In general, I think the best advice for a novice is to slow everything down, the throttle is limited to 80pct on my sons car now with the steering expo at -30pct. This dramatically changed his ability to get round after the first qualy, particularly keeping it in a straight line on the main straight of the circuit. Drive first, speed will follow. Cheers Stuart
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#28
02-08-2015
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Hi Stuart,
That speedo is used by quite a few people if you look on the facebook pages and highly praised, when they come up for sale they dissapear like hot cakes...bang per buck i dont think they can be beaten. Would love to see/hear a national level driver use one and there opinions on them. this is another way you can adjust your speedo but will need it connected thro a pc/laptop....and the prog from hobbyking.....http://www.rccarshop.co.uk/index.php...c-skylink.html. Thats if your having trouble getting the setup box. Once the speedo is set to blinky it will calm it down a lot cos it removes the timing and boost, so you may have to re adjust his handset to suite. The battery strap is a great idea, what i did with mine was buy some of these...http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-BLACK-P...item4612024d34 shortened the thread a little job done, remember tho they are nylon so wont take being cranked down but being nylon they wont put weight up high.... You hit the nail on the head with your statement drive practice and get consistent, track time is everything, then speed will natrually follow. As far as a car for yourself its swings and roundabouts, Schumacher versus Zen. My gut feeling would be buy a second hand SSGT with the updates theres lots around cheap if you look on the forums/facebook as well as ebay. I say this for two reasons, firstly is spares it means you only need to carry one set of spares for both cars but to be fair the SSGT is fairly unbreakable. the other is it is undoutably more complicated than a Zen but it is a good training ground to get to understanding how to setup a car, (get a book and note down what changes you make and the affect they have on the car. Make a good ref libuary) and this you can carry onto a Zen or other chassis of choice. But remember if you do follow the route i mentioned above but desided to upgrade to the zen the S/Hand SSGT could be used as spares for jnrs car so its not money going to waste in that respect. The Zen in my opinion is a great car (ive just upgraded to one myself) but jumping into a Zen i feel you would miss out on a lot of learning curves as mentioned being a new to GT12. As you can litrually take it out of the box bolt the wheels to it fit your electrics and go faster! Not to say there arn't tweeks you can do to the Zen because there are to tune it to the track you race. Hope this all makes sence and not just the ramblings of a mad man, and helps in someway. Shiny.
__________________
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#30
02-08-2015
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Just sent you a private massage Stuart
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#31
02-08-2015
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Thumb nuts
Hudy do a set of four M3 black alloy thumb nuts for their car setup equipment part no. 108060, you can remove the existing countersunk screws and fit longer ones if you need to, both my SSGT and RSGT have them fitted.
SSGT Low pivot conversion 1r.jpg
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#32
02-08-2015
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Drapster if you are on Facebook join the gt12 circuit UK and the Schumacher supastox GT groups. Loads of info, sales and top team drivers to help in there.
__________________
MBModels - Schumacher Racing - Vapextech.co.uk - MRT - Savox - SMD
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#34
03-08-2015
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Quote:
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#35
14-08-2015
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Well, second race night and it went fairly well. Jnr has tamed the car somewhat and had some good pace throughout. Trim was a bit off, and there was little time to fix it but as the night went on we think it was just right. Looking at a solid third or maybe second place in the B final, when one of the motor leads came off after a bit of a shunt, but that's racing (and poor soldering!). Jnr not too despondent, and had a good night overall. Now fired up for the next round!
What was interesting was the EPA for the throttle is adjusted down to 100pct rather than full fat 120pct, and proves speed on the straights is much less important compared to getting the car round cleanly and being tidy in the in sections. Lots more advice and a very friendly crowd, silver solder ordered and some new cable, plus an Ascari shell to order and painted in a bright colour as the lambo one is indeed not the greatest shell to run. As per the advice from Mark, I can see now that the shell is rather big and unwieldy in comparison. No chunking of the tyres which was nice, we prepared them properly this time with glue and putting an edge on them. May run my new car next time, but need to get into a very disciplined approach to fit in mechanic duties for two cars and marshalling! I did have a cheeky couple of laps "checking" Jnr's car, its remarkable how direct they are, very different from my Mardave Mini Supastox days! All good overall! Cheers
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#36
14-08-2015
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Pleased your happy and junior is enjoying it.
__________________
MBModels - Schumacher Racing - Vapextech.co.uk - MRT - Savox - SMD
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#37
15-08-2015
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Yes it is great when your kids take to a hobby that develops all sorts of skills, social, technical and mechanical apart from the competitive spirit and hopefully fair play that a restricted racing class engenders.
You say silver solder, are you sure about that one? Silver solder is a very high temperature solder and should not be needed for this particular hobby, a good soldering iron and some practice is all that is needed for sound joints without overheating everything!
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#38
28-08-2015
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Well, another night at Sidcup.
Jr had fun, new shell (Type A) far less issues than the Lambo style shell as per advice. I ran my car for the first time and to say it's hectic dealing with two cars at a time is an understatement. Jr's seems to be set up in a way he likes and I have done practically the same. However, mine understeers a great deal, will have to work on that! Interesting problem which is most likely a case of buy cheap, buy twice. Our radio gear seems to interfere with each others intermittently, very strange so open to suggestions for replacement. I think I prefer sticks, and he likes a wheel. Bit of a disaster before the final. Let Jr get his car ready, glance to the left and see smoke pouring from the car. Wrong polarity on the LiPo, dead ESC... Did a quick change of transponder and sent Jr off in my car for the final. He's upset but I did not get angry with him. Lesson learned for us both. Dad will supervise more closely, and shorten one of the wires to ensure its impossible to get it the wrong way round. New ESC now ordered, and off to bed. Cheers Stuart
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#40
29-08-2015
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Ah the stress of parenthood, great when you can share your hobbies and interest though and he will soon learn how to prepare his car hopefully, then you can get down to enjoying your racing too and long may his interest last!
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Linear Mode
