Astoria pilgrims to holy-Otley – (Home of ModelSport.co.uk)

Our avid teamvebra member, Astoria, found nothing better to do with his free time than plan a 1500mile round trip from Luxembourg over to the small town of Otley in West Yorkshire, WHY ??? Well… it just so happens that Otley is the home of our favourite store, : modelsport.co.uk

The visit to ModelSport was a bit of an excuse to venture into Yorkshire’s pretty countryside  and catch up with some friends, but of course, the trip was worth it! Astoria had an opportunity to fill the first non-online-basket ! :)

  

We replenished the stock of Shimizu tyres, got a spare Lipo 4000 and also bought the replacement gears for the Losi 1/32 differential (which, sadly, had to wave goodbye to us after a little too much brushless-fun)

       

The trip also gave us an opportunity to meet the friendly and useful staff. They turned out to be just as we were picturing them to be! :)

Thanks for reading us,

A.

Our Beautiful 1955 Chevy – (aka Micia)

This post is long overdue as in fact, this car was finished a couple of months ago. Anyway… we’re here to show you the results of a secret project we had going on for some time. Just so you know, our TeamVebra founding member – and originator – actually  used to drive one of these (real ones) back in the sunny 1950s. Our Model here is just an attempt at recreating a classic look in the 1/10 scale. The chassis is our sturdy TL-01 and, for it, we got a Parma PSE shell from our favorite supplier:   Modelsports.co.uk 

It arrived in three separate parts (not something we’re used to being Tamiya fans) and the latter were not pre-drilled (another challenge for us)

         

As the pictures show, although there are three shell parts to cut out, the front and rear bumpers are actually molded onto the same piece of plastic.

We got a good pair of scissors and a shell-hole puncher (we think there is a more technical term for it but it escapes us right now)

         

Next came the tricky task of positioning the unfinished shell (in two parts) over the body of the car and deciding where to drill the body-posts holes. Astoria and Ka worked on this bit together as it proved “fiddly” to say the least.

Then it was time to place some standard Window masks followed by some “ad-hoc” masking tape. The truth is that the Parma PSE shell is actually the much more popular 1957 Chevrolet BelAir but we wanted to replicate – as much as possible –  the look of the two door 1955 Chevy 210. So in order to get the same colour split down the sides we had to improvise a little bit.

         

         

We then graced Micia with a few decals (that came with the Parma PSE kit) and she was ready for a pair of HPI offset shiny rims (offset by 6mm because the shell is a larger 200mm body compared to the Tamiya 186mm TL-01)

And here she  is, in all her CLASSIC beauty :) 

She’s not been raced yet, and she possibly never will be :) we like her a bit too much to see her landing on her back and scraping across the tarmac of the LMCC track :)

Thanks for watching!

A.

SideCar Tested at the LMCC

So we finally made it to the LMCC  this morning and we tried out the new “sideCar” in our mighty Giulia.

         

Some pretty good results considering that the track was damp in places. This is a first set of results.

008       00:04.12.208   00:00.34.940
007       00:03.37.268   00:00.32.985
006       00:03.04.283   00:00.32.284

004       00:02.25.883   00:00.47.490 <– FAIL
003       00:01.38.393   00:00.32.947
002       00:01.05.446   00:00.32.004
001       00:00.33.442   00:00.33.442

And another few laps brought us the best lap today

008       00:04.23.854   00:00.37.497
007       00:03.46.357   00:00.33.052
006       00:03.13.305   00:00.31.590
005       00:02.41.715   00:00.30.413 <– BEST LAP of May 1st 2012
004       00:02.11.302   00:00.31.833
003       00:01.39.469   00:00.32.504
002       00:01.06.965   00:00.32.240
001       00:00.34.725   00:00.34.725

We also tried out the new Shimizu Hard Compound tyres on a new set of 3Racing wheels. Seemed pretty good !

We’ve got more 3Racing gear to install, test out and report on so stay tuned for more RC news on TeamVebra!

A.

Giulia’s sidecar (aka ‘ESC-seat’)

Hello everyone,

Well the truth is that we are all very disappointed with this weather. It’s been … for lack of a better word…. disappointing indeed !

We nonetheless took the opportunity to do some work in our TeamVebra’s Studios; this idea came from looking at other “sportier RC cars” – such as the Tamiya TA05 or TA06 – those chassis tend to be larger and “flat”. The space to lay the equipment is wider and lower which in turn should lower the overall centre of gravity.

Example:      <– Low down chassis basin.

Whereas our beloved M-03 doesn’t exactly have tons of space to set equipment on it, and more importantly, the little space available is pretty high up behind the Servo. We feared that the heavyish ESC might be playing havoc on Giulia’s centre of gravity so… after much thinking (approx 2,3 minutes) We found a spare piece of plastic. (Couldn’t tell you exactly what it is, it seems to be some kind of hardened vinyl, shiny on one side only and very stiff for how narrow it is.) We wanted a “shelf” to put the ESC on …

This is what came out, as soon as it stops raining we shall try it at the LMCC track and let you know what it does!

Thanks for reading us and stay tuned for more TeamVebra info very soon!

A.

Our Giulia Hits the LMCC (and the LMCC hits her, twice)

Hello everyone!

Today we had about 90 minutes of sunshine and of course, we took advantage of them by reaching the LMCC track with our brand new Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA (AKA ‘Our Giulia’)

         

Just some pictures for now, no LapTimes nor particular observations can be made for the moment as, ultimately, it’s the same brushless M03s that was under the MiniCoop shell. Yes, with the same handling problems!

Pictures were taken prior to the 15 or 20 laps that we got her to do. Unfortunately, despite our best intentions we had two minor “FAILS” and, oh boy, do scratches show up well on that Mustard Yellow!

Stay tuned for more pics and info on our Giulia.

A.

Our Giulia and MiniKast are Race Ready! (M03m + M03L)

So the weather kept us away from the track today, as expected during April it can’t be sunny everyday….so…. we took the time to do some body-shells-hopping-magic in our TeamVebra’s Studio.

The Ka500 (Medium Wheelbase) has been extended to the Long Wheelbase and is proudly “wearing” our veteran MiniKast shell !

Current Specs of this M03L:

  • HPI Firebolt 15T
  • Viper 12R (Lipo)
  • Kyosho 2.4ghz
  • CVA Oil Shocks (yellow springs) FRONT
  • Aluminium Oil Shocks (white springs) REAR <– we’re weary of the possible results!
  • Tamiya MiniCooper Radial Tyres (50568)

And our MiniCoop shell (short Wheelbase) is going to have a little rest because, with the Medium-Extension parts taken from the Ka500, this M03s has become an M03m and will be “wearing” (proudly) our rather neat Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA (in groovy mustard yellow)

For our Giulia we also fitted a Front Bumper to try and protect its muzzle that does stick out somewhat (compared to a Mini) we’ve also finally drilled holes in the body-posts (at the rear) so that the shell is held at the right height.

Giulia’s Specs are:

  • Etronix Photon Brushless 10T (+esc)
  • Spektrum SR3300T – Temp Sensor on Motor (highest reading to date 40degrees)
  • CVA Oil Suspensions (Blue at Front, Red at Rear)
  • Shimizu Tyres – Medium all Round (Mid Inserts at Front, Soft Inserts at Rear)
         

We’re secretly confident that the Giulia’s slightly more aerodynamic shape (compared to our faithful MiniCoop) will translate into a new record lap… stay tuned to find out if it’s true !

 Thanks for reading us

A.

Easter Track Recap & Tuning…. (Ka500 & MiniCoop)

This Easter weekend has brought us more sunshine than expected and we took advantage of every ray with long sessions at the track. This morning, for instance, the MiniCoop set a new lap record of:

  • 29.028 seconds – Driver Astoria – Dry Track

(we mean a TeamVebra only Record, of course :) ) The track was nice and dry but cold at around 8 or 9 degrees Celsius, it always took us a couple of laps to keep the tyres in check. It proved a very pleasant and successful session with quite a few “lessons learnt”.

For instance, whilst at the track:

  • We tried 1/10 Touring Racing Slicks on the Ka500 with rather dubious results. It might have given it a slightly higher top speed but it also raised its centre of gravity and made it handle a little worse in the steep corners. More importantly, they looked too big on the M03m
  • We moved the Receiver further away from the Brushless-Esc (on the MiniCoop) as we’d noticed some strange interference (at very random times) and, once we moved it, it behaved normally again.
  • We moved the Brushless-Esc a little as well to try and have a better angle for the Motor wires. I don’t think we can say we noticed any difference but it was after that small change that we got a new PB… so perhaps it did … :)
  • Changed the settings of our Brushless Etronix Photon Esc via its very user friendly,  if a tad obscure, programming card 
    • Set the ‘Start Power‘ to High (from Med)
    • Set the ‘Drag Brake‘ to Low (from Med)
    • Set the ‘Settings‘ to “manual” (having no idea of what difference this might make!)

Once back in our TeamVebra StudioLab  we also:

  • Fitted a replacement Futaba S3003 Servo on the Ka500, and re-adjusted the Turnbuckle tie-rods. As mentioned in previous posts, the steering was way off.
  • Fitted the HPI Firebolt 15T on the Ka500 instead of the Ansmann Clash15T
  • Changed the Pistons of the Aluminium  oil dampers from the 1-hole type (too slow) to the 2-hole type. We also added 3 additional O-Rings in the Piston shaft to shorten the pistons’ travel and make them more appropriate for a low M03 chassis.

  • Swapped the Right-Hand-Side tyres with the Left-Hand-Side tyres on the MiniCoop. At the moment all 4 tyres are Shimizu-Medium. We noticed that due to the fact that the track is counter-clockwise, the tyres on the right hand side (the “outside tyres” on most corners) were wearing down more rapidly than their left counterparts.

We’ve still got some work to do on the Videos that we took this morning and, very exciting, a new section of our Website should soon be up to report our Lap Times and Car’s Specs… so stay tuned to vebra.lu for more RC GEEK STUFF !

Thanks for reading us !

A.

Brushless MiniCoop – Take 2

After last night spent in the workshop, the MiniCoop was back out on the Track this evening with some more positive results!

First of all it should be noted that the track was really rather cold and the grip wasn’t that great.

The Ka500, which also came out for a spin, was a real challenge to handle; this was also partially due to the front suspension which was set too stiff (and have been modded down since) Side note: We wonder how many people find a use for the White Tamiya Springs out of the On-Road Set  

The MiniCoop, got us a new Personal Best (PB): 29.243seconds

Astoria also lapped another 29.959 and 29.942. Should be promising as hopefully with a little more heat, a little less headache and a little more sunshine we could bring that Personal Best under the 29 mark.

This Easter Weekend should hopefully provide more opportunity for Track Fun so stay tuned! As usual, thanks for reading us.

A.

 

Brushless Recap and tired tyres…… oh my…

So we tried the Brushless MiniCoop at the Track today. To use a common phrase, we got “mixed reviews”…. Let’s just say that we weren’t even close to being as pleased as we’d hoped we’d be.

  • Best Lap was – 30.02sec – (half a second slower than our Best)

At first there seemed to be a general incoherent behaviour but, thanks to a quick Transmitter Model Reset we managed to get things acting normally again. We adjusted the Steering Trim and set off for a few test laps….

The handling had definitely got worse and, in my humble opinion, this was due to the heavier ESC unit positioned on the rear of the car and too high up. The car was far more likely to oversteer in the corners especially if we let go of the accelerator on the way into the slower sections of the track.

The 10 or 15 laps we got out of it also served as final straw for the recently purchased Shimizu Tyres. More dramatic was the damage caused to our veteran 2001 BMW wheels .. see for yourself:

Yes, it’d be fair to say that we now consider these as ‘RC’ parts that can be filed under ‘B’ .. : ) 

So it was back to the drawing board. We got some new Shimizu Medium fitted on a pair of Fiat 500 60D Wheels. Turns out the Fiat 500 Wheels are sturdier than the BMW Mini Wheels.

 

And to try and add some stability to the chassis we’ve also placed the ESC behind the Servo on the top. We’re hoping it’ll help with the over-steer.

So we got brand new Medium-Shimizu at the Rear, some fairly decent Medium-Shimizu at the front.

The only small problem we’ve got is finding a longer screw to hold the Servo-Saver onto the Servo itself. The one supplied with the Alturn USA Servo is a little short and if hadn’t been for the blue-tack trick, we would have lost it today!

Stay tuned for more geeky recaps of races to come!

A.

Our MiniCoop (M03s) Goes Brushless w/ Telemetry

It was time that we dared, it was time that we went …where many others had already gone before… We fitted our veteran M03s (circa 2001) with the Etronix Photon Brushless Kit ! (10T). Yes… our mini is now Brushless! Welcome to the 21st Century…

The move is simple if your car is already fitted with Deans T-Type connectors there is no welding to be done, this makes the Etronix Photon Brushless kit a great starting point for beginners or lazy people (and we fit into both categories) :)

The Receiver we fitted is the Spektrum SR 3300T with Telemetry, it allows you to read the Battery Voltage, The Motor Temperature and, if you can fit it on an M03, an RPM counter. (we opted out for the moment)

It’s perhaps not the prettiest setup due to the odd placement of the ESC on the rear.

The motor is shown with the Temperature Sensor taped in between two cooling fins. It is actually quite impressive how sensitive it is, you can make it change temperature just by holding it in your hands for a few seconds.

Enough DIY for a school night… LMCC updates coming soon!

A.

New Lap Times @ LMCC – HPI Firebolt + Shumacher Shimizu

Hey Everyone !

the sun has finally started shining and the days&evenings at the track are multiplying rapidly. With this quick post we wanted to share some pics and, more importantly, some lap times!

All Drivers of TeamVebra got their respective new PB! (Personal Best) a very encouraging omen for this new 2012 season!

  • KA : 36.091
  • CLARIS : 34.947
  • ASTORIA : 29.520

All Drivers’ times were lapped with the latest version of our MiniCoop fitted with the recently purchased:

Stay tuned for more info!

A.

Losi 1/36 Micro-T ( “ze Mascot”) running stock

Some days ago we posted about our “Mascot” getting an upgrade to Brushless and 2.4GHZ. A video of it running “boldly” on the LMCC track (yeah, we were alone) is bound to come pretty soon but still being edited at “Team Vebra Lab”.

In the meantime, here’s a video of the same car but when it was still “stock”. You’ll appreciate the difference when the “after upgrade” video will be published.

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

Once again, thanks for reading / watching!

Ka.

Transmitters’ Case – DIY

A couple of pictures taken whilst making our TeamVebra Ad-Hoc Transmitters’ Case. The whole thing was a bargain (under 20Eur) and setting it up took about 30minutes (including time to drive to the DIY store)

We have a spare Foam Sheet so that we can, if necessary, stencil out another layout (different Transmitters or other parts)

In the DIY Section of TeamVebra’s you may soon see other little projects so stay tuned!

A.

Recette du jour: Petite Losi à la façon Brushless dans sa sauce Lipo

Today has been a good day for our little Mascot, the Losi 1/36 Micro-T.

Package containing the Brushless and 2.4GHZ conversion kit arrived on Friday, just in time for some Weekend RC upgrades.
Middle of the afternoon, lunch is over, sun is still shining strong, the dining table turns into Team Vebra’s “MicroGarage”.
Here’s the box containing the conversion kit. Being a “micro” car, the kit is also “micro”

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Once the box is opened, I carefully extract all the components from what I’d consider some professional and enthusiast “bubble wrapping”.

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Now please check the new motor. 8750Kv, Brushless. On a 1/36. This thing gonna fly! Maybe even too much.

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Follows

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the ESC and 2.4GHZ Receiver Combo and other parts which are not needed for this setup (this kit is also working on 1/24, that one though requires new parts).

We couldn’t consider the conversion totally complete without replacing the nickel battery. Therefore ordered the Lipo too.

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This is a really tiny car with tiny screws. Before doing anything I wanted to be sure I knew what I was doing. The kit comes with a huge folded doc…

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Nevertheless, Youtube is your friend and this video here is perfect to know how to proceed.

The video cannot be shown at the moment. Please try again later.

The Losi à la façon Brushless dans sa sauce Lipo starts by opening the Losi shell.

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Do disconnect any cable you may see. You’ll be taking away pretty much all of them.

Goal is to replace the ESC/Receiver component, motor and battery.

I must admit it was pretty much straight forward. Managed to do it without anything exploding.

Once everything is replaced, you put back the original cover (the one you removed at the beginning) as the new one (the one in the kit) is for 1/24 models and not 1/36.

Once your Losi looks like this

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It means dinner is nearly ready to be served.

You add a pinch of Lipo

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And let it cook gently

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Uhm… Mais c’est divin!

Videos of the official test at LMCC will be online shortly!

Ka.

Mascot gets an upgrade!

Here at Team Vebra our primary goal in the RC World is to have fun, no matter if the chassis is a Pro one or not. But this doesn’t mean our little cars have to stay “stock” their whole life! As Astoria wrote already many times, we take pleasure in upgrading and testing new parts and configurations.

This applies as well to, what could be considered, Team Vebra’s “Mascot”!

“Mascot” is how I like to call the smallest RC Car in Team Vebra’s Garage. We got the 4WD TL01, the two “minis” M03, all of them are 1/10… And then we’ve got the Losi Micro-T who happens to be 1/36! Hence the right to be the “Mascot” of the team.

Ain’t it cute? Check this one out to have an idea of the size.

It’s a funny little car which, for the time being, raced mostly indoors with the result of driving our furry “Supervising Engineer” (our cat Litxia) totally crazy!

But it’s time for upgrades for our Mascot too and the order that was placed with our fav “RC Part dealer” (a bit like an online “drug” dealer for us) is now travelling from the UK to Luxembourg. It’s only a matter of a couple of days before our tiny Losi will receive the following upgrades:

  Losi Micro 22 On-Road Tire Set, Chrome, Mounted
   Losi Micro 2.4GHz Brushless Combo with 8750kv Motor
   Losi Micro Li-Po Battery Pack

The tires are made for “On Road” tracks. The car came with more of a “Rock crawling” type of tire setup. As we want to try it on a proper “On Road” track, these tires should do the job.

The stock car comes with a tiny brushed motor. I took the plunge and despite Astoria’s sensible advice not to invest too much money on such a small car, I couldn’t help but order the 2.4GHZ and Brushless conversion kit. This will bring our little Mascot to a totally new dimension! It’ll surely be even more fun to drive once the Brushless is fitted. Why 2.4GHZ? Simply because I think it’s much better and you never have to worry when you’re on track that somebody else might be using the same “crystal” you are. This is a little freedom that I consider priceless.

Finally, I couldn’t leave the car with a NiMh battery after having a new Brushless motor and 2.4GHZ Receiver so, I ordered the small Losi Lipo as well.

That’s all for now… Stay tuned for the next posts, you might see how the kit is fitted!

And as always, thanks for reading us!

Ka.