I’m at SNRC at the moment doing the race control for Round 4
Smaller croud today (less than 30 cars), but it rain heavily last night, so many people probably did not go out due to it, the weather is a little dim, but no rain (so far)
I sold my 8T a month or so back, I really miss racing now 
Well, my new blade server is running at Hosting365
I’m quite pleased, even so the server is in Ireland, ping times are in the low 30ms regions, here are a PING test from my location
64 bytes from 82.195.xxx: icmp_seq=7 ttl=56 time=33.289 ms
64 bytes from 82.195.xxx: icmp_seq=8 ttl=56 time=34.724 ms
64 bytes from 82.195.xxx: icmp_seq=9 ttl=56 time=33.542 ms
Now here is my ping test to a site in a Manchester datacenter (30 miles away from me)
64 bytes from 85.159.xxx: icmp_seq=0 ttl=56 time=29.258 ms
64 bytes from 85.159.xxx: icmp_seq=1 ttl=56 time=28.759 ms
64 bytes from 85.159.xxx: icmp_seq=2 ttl=56 time=27.768 ms
So, thanks for 365’s superb peering, it’s only 4-6ms more .. amazing ..
I have been doing some testing to the server for a few days now, nothing had broken and lagged down, so far, it’s all gree, I am hoping to start moving my Live sites to it this weekend, here are some specs:
Processor #1 Vendor: GenuineIntel
Processor #1 Name: Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU 5140 @ 2.33GHz
Processor #1 speed: 2332.701 MHz
Processor #1 cache size: 4096 KB
Memory: 1031608k/1048576k available (2081k kernel code, 16072k reserved, 868k data, 220k init, 131008k highmem)
And the best !!
/dev/mapper/VolGroup00-LogVol00 7.7G
fas940head4:/vol/nas0/rcnlnas0 10GB
The first Volume suppose to be 10GB, but not a problem at the moment, can easily be changed later on when I need it, thats of course the root drive in the HP EVA system, the second is a backup drive NFS volume, with it’s own network interface … cant beat that 
A few weeks back I finalized the deal with the landlord for a new area for RC NUT
Basically it will allow the shop to be almost 5x as big, loads moire space with direct access from the car park (currently access is thru the inside corridor only) .. plus it will be big enough to have a nice Lounge Area, with TV / XBOX and Simulators .. good for chill-out .. people on the RC works do love to come to the shop and just chill .. this gives them an area to relax.
We will also have a proper office area and storage / packaging, on the other side of the shop we will have a proper workbench, with tools and chargers, to properly work on customer’s cars .. no more plunking it on top of the display counter
On the center of the shop will be the massive (when I say massive I mean probably 50+ feet) display and sales counter, these will be glass showing the models inside, in the back of it we will have the hopups and expensive small stuff, in the front .. the area where the customer is, we will have massive amounts of space for models, and large items.
Unfortunately this all costs loads of ££ .. so the plan with the landlord is for us to have it done by Christmas time .. we will do it in stages and then move when it’s done, this gives us loads of time to do it right (plus pay it as we do it) .. it will be great once it’s done .. the shop will be massive.
We are taking basically almost an entire side of the building, we will have our own car park and green area, on the green area in front of the shop I’m even contemplating building a small 1/18th Astro track (for electric) .. just for ambience and a bit of fun.
The only problem with all this is .. as those who have visited us recently have seen .. we are getting FULL, the shop is packed with stock .. I could use to have this done for next week .. but hey, one needs to be smart and not go crazy and get into debt, so I rather do it slower and pay it on the spot as we go.
A few weeks back I was trying to decide on a new paint scheme for the Summer Series, in the end I went with my regular yellow/red/blue with white accents scheme, just a little different design, this is the sketch I made of it:
Well, I then went ahead and got me a Aztek A470 airbrush, I decided to use my petrol powered air compressor to do the painting, that proved to be the wrong choice, the compressor is great for trackside when I need to remove dirt and stuff from the car, but it does not have a “smooth” air flow for an Airbrush (plus is a bit too powerful, even on the lowest setting) .. so when I was doing some of the detail, it did too much spatter .. thats ok, I’m going to buy a proper airbrush compressor for the next one.
I used masking tape and a custom made stencil for the RC NUT .. this is how it looked after it was all applied
Two weeks later, a few minutes here and there and it’s finally done, I love it, I do wish I had used a pearl white for the RC NUT instead of silver, but in the sun, the silver does whine nice.
It was fun, allot of work, but fun, not too sure on the Faskmask liquid mask I used .. it felt rubbery at times, the Pactra colors on the other hand are beautiful, I backed it all with some Tamiya rattle can silver, just to protect the Pactra paint from Nitro Fuel, I do have some sealant from Pactra, but lets see how this works.
About a week ago, I was talking to my rep for Horizon Hobby when the subject of “sponsored” drivers came up, he felt that in lieu of RC NUT growth it was time to have a proper sponsored driver, and they would back us up.
I immediately tough of Sham, he’s an amazing driver at NNRC, and I knew SMD / BMM where already putting some offers to him, so I’d had to act now if I was to have a chance.
Luckily enough, Sham preferred the deal I presented him to the prospect of still having to wait for the CRT X2 to drive, you know what they say, the early bird and all.
So last Saturday, we spend a good 5+ hours rebuilding a brand new Losi 8T for him to race with, we basically tore the roller apart and change oils, settings, as well as some hop-ups, while the 8T is solid from the box, there is always room for a little improvement here and there .
This coming Sunday is the first time SNRC opens, a nice relaxed atmosphere on a Astro track is just what we need to run the car in for the first time, so Sham and myself will be there for testing and practice .. I hope to have my own 8T rebuild by then so I can take it for a spin as well
I’m very excited, I know Sham is a A-Main contender for the truggy nationals, and that in turn will mean more exposure for RC NUT .. very exciting indeed.
The time has come for a new Shell, and with that, a new paint scheme.
I was debating going with a different color scheme, but decided .. if it aint broke, dont change it, I will use the same colors as last year (Rally Blue, Camel Yellow, Glow Orange, Red & White) .. but on a more vibrant configuration
This was last year’s design:
This is this year’s:
Basically, same colors .. but different (a little) scheme, I will also be using shading this time to make it have a bigger impact .. so I need an Airbrush :p
I just realized I never posted a followup to my new van posts of last year
Well, there is is, I quite like how it came out, very sporty with the OZ wheels and low profile tires, Beanhead (buddy of mine) did the decal work
I literally just stuck the camera out the window to take that pic now, did not even had to leave my desk 
Now that the winter season is off, I figure it was time for a much needed rebuild before the summer season starts, the 8T was still all muddy from the last race at NNRC
Today I basically just started taking it all apart, I will replace all the oils (socks / diffs) as well as new bearings and probably some dogbones will be worn out as well, basically, a rebuild.
I need to order a 8T screw set, as some of the screws are quite worn out as well
Anyway, Day 1.. the tearing down of the beast
More to come in the days to follow …
We received a shipment of new Fioroni parts today, and some of them really surprised me
My first pleasant surprise was the new Losi 8/8T engine mount, granted its not cheap, but gosh is it lite .. but my real suprise was when i notice .. it SLIDES !!
The way the screws for the engine mounts work, they have a rail that allows them to slide about 5-6MM .. perfect mesh anyone ?
We also got in the new “Low Innercia” bits (for the 8/8T only at the moment) .. again, they are feather weight .. amazing
We are shipping the first pre-orders of those today, so I should get some feedback on how they perform in the upcoming weeks
Last, some people have asked me the difference between the FR50 and FR51 flywheels .. basically the FR51 is slightly longer, great for the older Kyosho engine and those who need a couple extra MM to reach the spur gear
FR50 on the left, FR51 on the right .. the FR50 is the Standard one and used by most cars.
Here are some updated pictures of my Mini-LST Project
No Standard parts, all upgrades, most of them I had to outsource from the US, so this project is taking time .. it will be done when it’s done, no hurry
One of my favorite features are the Alloy Wheels
It will of course be Brushless & Li-Po
