I’m Learning to Build and Drive a TAMIYA RC Car!

I found a new Hobby:

Way back in February I purchased a Tamiya TT-02B 4WD RC Buggy from an Australian distributer . Price was decent, but I learnt a helluva lot within minutes of buying it: I needed to buy the servo, transmitter, battery and hand-controller all seperate. I squirrelled away money for a month then managed to buy them. After a few financial hiccoughs, all the accessories required arrived first, with the car being the last item to arrive.

Because I work so often in my day-job AND I am a parent to two amazing sons, the car-build was delayed for about 2 months. OK, that was not the only reason: I found the concept of building something I knew absolutely nothing about very daunting. Heck, I still do.

I started videoing parts of the construction thinking I would make a full length video of the unboxing and build. But that idea was squashed when I realised how much mental focus I needed to put into the build. The though of accidently making a mistake that would destroy something I spent so much time to earn enough to spend so much hurt my mojo. So it was left on a shelf for a while. To get myself out of that rut, I created this short video:

I’m Learning to Drive … a TAMIYA RC Car

The fact is that I not only wanted this, I actually need this. I have been either window washing, radio-presenting or parenting for the last four years – so I needed something to get me outside. Oh, and to get my kids outdoors. A trampoline was not enough for them. This might do it. The younger lad says he wants a RC tank, and I agree that would be pretty cool. But expensive. Maybe after we get the track built.

A remote control race track? Yes, with berms, table-tops, bumps, curves and straights. It’s a work in progress with lots of drawings and ideas floating about. The land is available as I have a decent size backyard. I plan to mow the track down to dirt, put in tractor-tyres at the corners and drain-coil OR thick mooring lines for the track sides. Too easy and hopefully not too expensive. The upside to this design is (1) I can modify the design easily and (2) all the parts are reusable in the garden. My wife likes that last fact.

But first I needed to cover a fence line to make the track less obvious from the road. This video shows what I did:

UPDATE: Project #1 of the Kangaroo Island Remote Control Car Club – Shadecloth along Fenceline

Thanks to a few good friends who also got interested in being a part of this, this small idea is jumping forward faster than I expected. I am very-much a conceptualiser, so it’s good to know people skilled in turning ideas into actuality.

What I really wanted to do was build this into a community club, whereby both locals and tourists can get involved – either as drivers, sponsors, spectators, administration (because it’s necessary with clubs), or just want to help in some way.
I see it as an opportunity to allow older people to use motor-skills to keep their mind active and improve hand-to-eye coordination. I am very much an advocate for helping the elderly to remember their younger self. Too often I see or know of older people whose entire day is spent siting on a chair staring out the window. This activity not only gets them off that chair, it also keeps their mind active and their daily-routine is more interactive.

So a few of my closer friends and I are taking steps to make this a club. We already have a facebook page (although hidden and private for now). Soon we will have an Instagram and YouTube channel, plus I am posting some of the progress of my car on Instagram. Life is on the up.

Beginning of the KI RC Car Club Race Track

Yet I still have to finish building my car. Still waiting for a battery to charge, so I am spending time watching and learning from others who have built this same car.

How to Build the Steering Assembly & Install the Servo on the TT-02B Plasma Edge II

A few links for easy reference:

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