A few weeks back I was browsing Maxbashing and I saw this for sale

It’s part of a Mini-LST project, basically a bunch of after market parts put together to build a whole truck from the ground up .. but never finished it seems

So I bought it, it’s now my winter project, I will continue with the theme of using all after market parts (hop-ups) and build a BLING brushless truck
more pics will follow as I build it up

Technorati Tags: MLST, RC, RC Nut, Team Losi

Popularity: 36% [?]

I just returned from a trip to the SWsoft office in Germany.

PSoft was sold to SWsoft not long ago, so I went over for some training on the SWsoft products, it was very pleasant, on my last day there we also had the office XMAS party, so that was a bonus

Popularity: 28% [?]

Today I took a 2 Hour drive to visit The Hobby Co .. the distributors of Tamiya, Italeri, Carson, and a few others, they invited us over for a little bit of relations mending .. to show they are a “nice company” and the bad experience we had with the rep should not put us off … O-K

Paul (Racing buddy) came along with me, we where quite excited to check out the distributor’s place and see what great toys they might have, and of course, what products I should consider for the shop.

I must say, their building was quite nice, but not a single indication that it’s them, no signs, no name at the door, nothing .. I guess they dont want people knocking at the door and asking for repairs

Overall it was a pleasant experience, I was trilled to check the Tamiya 1/14th Big Rig trucks, they where quite impressive, and there where a few other bits and bops that looked “nice” .. but in general, I was not trilled… there was really nothing new, neither there was any one product I felt the need to pull the credit card out for.

So .. we will of course stock the Tamiya plastic models and paints, and some of their on road electric cars, not sure if we will bother with any of the Carson RC line, they also sell Ninco slot cars .. it looked interesting, perhaps something to consider in the future .. but for now, it’s Just Tamiya and Italeri.

Popularity: 25% [?]

A few weeks back, we opened the RC NUT shop in Sandbach

Ever since, it’s been quite an experience, especially when it comes to dealing with Agents.

Today got the cake, I got an email from the Agent for “The Hobby Company” that really upset me, I had asked him to put a list of plastic models and paint for me, as he knows better than myself what is selling, worth about £500 plus another £280 or so worth of paint (hey, it’s an £800 order for him visiting me for 20 minutes, and these are very cheap products too, so it’s a nice size order).

I got the list this morning, and I was quite happy with it, so I sent him an email back saying “looks good, will buy in a few weeks (just got done paying a large order to Ripmax)”

And the guy goes mental, sends me an email all pissed off that I told him I would buy it in October (I still might) and that he came over because I said i was going to put an order etc etc etc .. all bitchy and acting as if I had done something wrong or wasted his time, I meet the man ONCE, have since sent him one email (that I NEVER got a reply to), thats it ….

Who the F*** does this guy thinks he is ? I am the customer, not him, he needs to kiss my ass to gain my business, not act as if it’s my privilege to be able to buy from his company, Models Shops go out of business in this country by the dozen per year, so we are very careful, we have a proper business plan, and buy all stock cash, so we dont get into loans and a big overhead .. makes sense .. no ?.

But that seems to be a common problem, like another rep called me a few days back saying “Hi, I am from company X, I am in the vicinity .. mind if I pop in and show you our products ?” now, bare in mind, I never called these people, so I said yes, he came in about 2 hours later, after his presentation, I told him thanks, and informed him I would reviewed his catalogs and if i decided to buy something I’d call

He was all surprised by this, the man actually EXPECTED an order .. now, I dont know him, or his products, I need to research .. do these Agents actually think peer pressure will make you buy ? .. well, it seems YES .. so what is this ? .. are the other Model Shop owners all sucked into buying anything every time these guys some by ?

To be honest, I dont even need them to come by, once the account is set, I do my own orders, I dont need some fancy suit to come in and tell me they think I should buy this months overstock special .. the one that did not sold before and now they trying to flog .. nor I need somebody pressuring me to buy more than I need … yes, I know it’s their job, and they get paid on commission, but sorry .. I got no patience for such behavior.

It’s just, that once again, doing business in the UK continues to surprise me…

Technorati Tags: RC NUT

Popularity: 20% [?]

For the past few months, I have been working on the side on a new venture, a RC / Hobby shop.

It was allot of work, and sure was allot of money, but yesterday we finally opened it
The shop will be mostly run by my wife, I’ll be there on Saturday’s ..

The name of the company is “RC NUT” .. I was even able to buy the .com (rcnut.com) from a chap in the US for $150.00 USD .. a bargain if you ask me.

The website can be seen here and below are a few pictures of it.

Technorati Tags: RC NUT

Popularity: 22% [?]

A few weeks back I mentioned I was moving to BT .. and was anxious to see the speed difference .. well, there is it

According to my router, I am connected at 6Mps+ .. but BT says they cap 2 of those for the VISION (on demand TV) that we have .. and sure enough .. I am getting now around 4Mps

And here is the OLD one

Not bad

Popularity: 30% [?]

The wheels for the van arrived today, they are OZ 16’s .. look great on it

Unfortunately it was not plain sailing .. those alloy’s cost £599 plus tires, I got them off ebay with tires for £230

And sure enough, 3 of the wheels where buckled and one tire has some sidewall damage .. so the guys at Sandbach Tires had a massive job to balance them properly .. they seems to hold OK .. but it’s the old saying … “beware of a bargain”

Regardless, it was still worthwhile ..

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I got an email tonight .. ebay suspended my account for lack of payment !!!

We regret to inform you that your eBay account has been put on-hold due to the violation of our site policy below:
Non-payment of US $1.88 balance on your eBay account.
To be considered for reinstatement of this account, you must pay the US $1.88 balance due immediately.

LOL .. well, a debt is a debt ..

All paid now, but this is what happens when you dont pay attention to those threatening letters from collections department

Popularity: 22% [?]

A friend of mine asked me “why ?” today, I reply “why not ?”

Yes, why put racing stripes on a .. van .. but heck, I tough it would look cool.

It was quite cheap also, in total the big middle stripes and the side small ones costed less than £15 .. me and some of the speedway rc guys put it up at the track, took a little over 1 hour, and for a bunch of guys that had never done it before, i think it came out quite nice.

Now .. I am waiting for my new OZ 16″ Wheels/tires that will arrive Tuesday

Popularity: 32% [?]

As I mentioned here, I have bought a Holiday Home in Blackpool

Well, it’s a week now since the wife and the kids went there for the weekend … and never returned
And for the looks of it, they wont be returning for another 2 or 3 weeks !!!

I did spent the weekend there, but got back Sunday night .. I’m about to go back there tonight and once again return on Sunday .. but the wife and the kids .. they wont have none of it, they loving it so much they dont want to come back home.

So it’s just me and the cat these days .. yeah, one might think “Cool” … but it kind of sucks, one misses the family after a few days, and to be alone on a big empty house, with nothing but a cat for company can be quite lonely, plus the cat is a bad poker player, he cheats too much.

Well, at least they are enjoying it .. the kids love it because there is a huge play area right outside the doorstep and the clubhouse new pool will open this coming Sunday.

As for me ? .. well, that God for take-out.

Popularity: 40% [?]