July 4th Backyard Bashing!

Here's a quick video of how we spent our July 4th morning.

A Bunch of Updates!

Oh geez!  A lot of happenings around here since the last update. 

Let's see...

We transformed the Redcat Sumo into an open wheeled raleigh racer.

It didn't really take much to do it, and it was worth the effort to see the Pizzmeister's face light up when it was finished and the under glow lit up.

Other than the under glow we installed a bigger motor, lowered the ride height, installed metal out shafts from the differentials, replaced the stock axles with metal ones, replaced all the bushings with bearings, and, of course, we had to adjust the body mounts to fit the new body and installed led's with a separate power source for the under glow, a nine volt battery.  

 

The boy is happy with it, so I am too.

The Mad Gear hasn't been toyed with too  much lately.

We recently had to replace the steering servo, the receiver, and the electronic speed control.  Sounds expensive, it probably is, but more problematic is finding the parts for it.

Luckily for us, the people over at Nitrorcx really helped us out on this one!  

Those three parts all came in a single unit, which made it so hard to find, and, of course, Mad Gear doesn't have replacement parts on the market for that toy yet.  So, I emailed Nitrorcx, asking them if they had replacement parts or could order them for me at least, and they could and did.  Plus, they replaced the unit for free under the 90 day warranty even though I didn't buy the truck from them!  This saved me tons of money since I was prepared to replace all the electronics with readily available parts.  Phew!

Amazing!

Now, I know where to get parts in the future.

Let's see...What else is new?

Oh yeah, project Love Bug is moving at a snails pace.  Still looks pretty much exactly as it did except for the fact that now the body isn't just dirty like in this photo it is also cracked!

Yuck!

Oh well, I will do something with it to fix it up a bit and then paint it at some point.  

Other than that, Herbie has had his shocks over hauled with new oil and heavier springs, and his motor has been replaced with a 20 turn brushed motor that is really close to stock, but for some reason doesn't get as hot as the original motor and is noticeably quicker.

Project monster truck is officially canned.

We did fix it with all new electronics, and the Pizzmeister still adores it, but, as of right now, we can't think of anything else we can do to it with so many other projects in the works.

So, unfortunately, Project Monster truck is no longer on going, but  he is still being played with, and is an awesome example of what a $30 dollar rc can become with a little imagination.

Stay Tuned for more updates, and the Pizzmeister's unveiling a new special Project!

Here's a hint as to what the new project is.  He's holding it in a photo on Just a Dizzy Dad's facebook page!

Project Herbie: The Duratrax Baja Love Bug

Well, a week or so ago the Pizzmeister and I received an e-mail asking us about the Herbie project that we promised to reveal a while ago and put off because our house was plagued illness, but now that we are doing better we will go on with our various rc projects starting with the introduction of Project Herbie!

For those of you who don't know, "Herbie the Love Bug" was a series of movies involving a late 1960's model Volkswagen Beetle that could think and move on its own. I guess you could say it was kind of like the original "Kit" from "Knight Rider" but couldn't talk.

Anyway, growing up I remember that every Christmas time my elementary school would show one of the "Love Bug" movies before Christmas break, and to this day I can't think of a vw beetle with out feeling a little nostalgic.

So, this year when my wife asked me what she and the boys could get me for my birthday, I finally decided that it was time that I got a vw bug of my very own, if only a small one.

So, I can now proudly proclaim to be the owner of a 1/10 scale Duratrax Baja Bug!

Let me tell you, this thing is awesome!  It's so neat to see this splashing through puddles or tossing mud and sand around at the park in the back yard or flying through the air after launching off a jump the Pizzmeister and I have constructed.

Now, that the weather is nicer, I have some plans for it.  Nothing big.  Just a new paint job and some stickers to transform it into a more Herbie-esque bug.

We'll keep you posted on our progress.

Here's a really brief video of our first test run with it.