Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Blog OverHaul!

Title says it all. I have created a new blog site! 

New site, same love for the hobby that we enjoy!

Please visit the new site by following the link below:


And also don't forget to like my FB page as well!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Taiyo Jet Fighter : Translation from a distant Friend

I did mention in my revisited post that it would be great if I can translate or read what's written in the Japanese Manual that came with my Taiyo Jet Fighter. Well a very kind person granted my wish and sent me a message in Facebook with the translation.

I just learned recently about the "Others" Inbox of Facebook, apparently this is where messages from users not in your friends list are saved from. I received his message May 14 and it's already August! Well, better late than never is what they say. (^_^) Mr. George Armitage of Tauranga New Zealand thank you very much for the translation! 

Here is the pictures of the manual again,






This is the message sent to my by George:


    Conversation started May 14
    4:47pm




  • Taiyo Jet Fighter RC - Revisited 

    Your wish has come true

    Photo 1: (This is what is in English on mine. not exactly what is in Japanese on yours) Goes Forward and Reverse Turns left and right. Stops Two Speeds Double Wishbone Front Suspension NI-CAD Batteries Rechargeable system (Charger not included)

    Photo 2: Jet Fighter Car: (Reading Clockwise from top left) Double-wishbone Front Suspension Power Indicator Light Real Turbo performance for Super High Speed Racing Swing rear axle suspension High-grip Brock tire Side bumper High-Grip Brock tire Polycarbonate Impact Bumper (Plus it point out on mine *The Air-Duct - (Yellow No 5) and *RADIATOR (Alongside the swing rear axle Suspension)

    Controller: (Reading clockwise from left) Joy Stick Controls. Forward, reverse, Stop, and Turbo Power Power Indicator light Turn with Joy Control On/Off Switch (Plus mine has a pointer to *Telescoping Antenna)

    Photo 26: Diagrams (Clockwise top left to right) *Transmitter/Sender * 1x9v/006P/ Block * 8xAA/UM-3/R6/Mignon * Car/Auto Turn the knob in the arrowed direction and lift the battery cover up

    Photo 27: Illustration (1) Turn the ON/OFF Switch on the transmitter to "ON" position first, and extend the antenna fully. (2) Turn ON/OFF switch on the car to "ON" position (3) Turn the speed setting switch of the car to either "F" or "S". F: Fast Speed, S: Slow Speed (4) Move the Driving Control Stick forward, the car runs forward. Pull the stick back, the car runs backward. Release the stick, the car stops. Push the Steering Control Stick to your desired direction when the car is running forward or backward, the car turns to left or right. Release the stick, the car runs straight. The car will not steer unless it is being driven in forward or reverse. (5) Turn the Direction Trimmer to left or right if the car does not run straight. (6) Super-Hi speed is controlled by transmitter HOW TO USE TURBO SYSTEM Normal Drive: Move the driving control Stick forward up to first stop, the car runs at "Normal" speed. Turbo Drive: Then move the driving control stick further to second stop as illustrated, the car will accelerate to “Turbo" speed, which is twice as fast as normal running. *The Turbo system does not work in reverse. (7) Make sure ON/OFF Switch on car is in "OFF" position when not in use. (Indicator lamp goes out) (8) Make sure ON/OFF Switch on transmitter is in "OFF" position when not in use. (Indicator lamp goes out)

    DONT'S 1. Don't operate your car in dangerous places. 2. Don't put your car and transmitter near any sources of HEAT. 3. Avoid running through puddles of WATER. 4. Avoid all possible collisions. Check the road ahead and watch for obstacles. 5. Avoid your car and transmitter antenna touching together. 6. Never use a charger to charge regular alkaline, transistor or heavy duty batteries. 7. Don't run your car in the same vicinity as another radio-controlled car. 8. Don't leave your car and transmitter outside overnight. 9. Don't forget to remove batteries from your car and transmitter if you are not going to operate the car again that day.

    TAKE CARE TO 1. Turn the switches on both car and transmitter to "OFF" position when not in use. 2. Use fresh or fully charged Nickel-Cadmium batteries. The major cause of malfunction in radio-controlled cars is weak batteries. 3. Check battery terminals in both car and transmitter to make sure they have firm connections. 4. Keep your car clean. Remove dirt or other material that may collect around wheels or axles by gently brushing it away. An old toothbrush is handy for this purpose.

    Regards George

Monday, June 17, 2013

12th ToyCon Philippines : Blast from the Past Power Prop Gliders

The three day long 12th ToyCon Philippines ended yesterday and everyone was all smiles. Compared to last year's con, this time it definitely feels more like a toy convention rather than a cosplay-anime event. I know I have mentioned it before, I don't have anything against cos players it's just that it's a toy convention not a cosplay event for crying out loud. hehehe 

This year more than half of the venue was occupied by toys of all sorts and this year I was looking for something particular when I went there. I was looking for HO slot cars. Unfortunately I was not able to find any even if there were several stalls that had vintage toys for sale. But the con did not disappoint, I was actually happy with this years con because like what I have said, there were several stalls that had vintage toys for sale! 

I forgot to bring my camera though. (>.<) 

Anyways, going back to the stalls that had vintage toys. I did see the usual Japan made tin toys, some vintage sentai guns and swords, some lesneys, bags of accessories for vintage action figures, a few Chogokin, some portable arcade systems and many more. But what made me really excited when I saw it was this gliders.




I used to have a few of these when I was little and these gliders thought me the concept of aerodynamics. I also used to play with cheaply made Takatoku Battletech Macross and some model planes that you need to build. I really think these toys what made me to be a DIY guy while growing up. 




These where tucked inside a plastic bin covered with other stuffs just got lucky and decided to dig into it. Was even more lucky to find four pieces, and while digging into the bin holding these, I was amused with the reactions that I heard from fellow attendees passing by behind me. Almost everyone of them recognized the toy and stood behind me to check the items. Everyone was ecstatic while exchanging their own story of playing with these gliders.





It was really nice to find something like this and I am really happy that I found this. However this is not the only thing that I got from the convention. I have not posted the full story yet and the post is still in the works but I kind of switched to a different hobby. I sold all of diecast cars and RC cars (reason why will be posted soon, and I'm glad I did, meet some interesting people along the way) and returned to plastic scale models. Bought these kits at a bargain price and was really lucky to find them at the con. I'm planning to document the build process for these cars and the next kits that I will be buying. 




Full stories will be posted soon. hehehe That's it for now, thanks for dropping by and keep on Over Haulin!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Slot From The Past : Onlline Haul Tyco Super Circuit S-300

I saw this posted in Sulit.com.ph and all I said was, "I got to have this.".

I used to have a slot car set, sadly I don't remember what make it was, I can't also remember what the cars where included in the set. All I remember was that the rails on the track where shiny and wide and the colors of the controller where Red and Yellow. It was thrown during the first few floods that we have when we moved here in Cainta. That was a very very long time ago.

That is why I was really excited when I saw this set posted for a very cheap price. The owner said that the set was complete, we meet up and did not bother to check the set thoroughly (Big big mistake!) because his rating in Sulit.com.ph is high. I went home and checked the set and found out that the Tyco Power Pack is missing and one of the curve is also missing. I did notify the seller about this and he did told me that he will check for the parts but I have not received any updates from him since then.Considering the price that I paid for the whole set it is still a bargain. 




When I first checked the cars that came with the set, my initial reaction was, "I don't remember my slot cars back then being this complicated.". My reaction was like that because looking at the under chassis of the car the crown gear, pinion gear and the armature was visible. Well this is not just a toy grade slot car then, I thought to my self. I am a total newb when it comes to slot cars that's why I checked with a friend of mine who from what I understand is a very good slot car racer abroad. His name is Craig and I got to know him because I purchased a remote control car from him. I checked some sites to learn more about the slot cars that I have and soon learned that there are tons of after market option parts for this tiny racers. I got more excited. I checked if there are any parts being sold locally but there were none, that is why I decided to just clean and rebuild the cars for the mean time. I guess it's just high time for me to pull out all of my tools again and work on some motors and gears, it has been a long time since I last worked on something like this.



I found no "How to" posts or videos on the web for rebuilding the Tyco 440X2 kit that is why I had to learn it myself. I first dismantled the wheel-sets from the chassis, found out that the rubber tires can no longer be used since it lost its and elasticity and started to have cracks. I then removed the hair strands and threads that got tangled to the wheel axle. I removed the dried up grease on the axles and on the crown gear using liquid soap and let it dried. It took me awhile to figure out how to remove the motor case from the chassis but I was able too eventually, without breaking any parts LOL. The motor magnets and the traction magnets where all dirty and there where hair strands on the armature as well. I went back to the net to check for mod tips and found this blown apart picture of the 440X2. Thanks to HOSlotCarRacing.com I now have an idea of what small parts should I look out for when dismantling the motor case.

Picture courtesy of http://www.hoslotcarracing.com

I started to work on the motor, removed the pinion gear so that I can remove the armature from the bulkheads. I left the carbon brush, brush spring and the brush tube in place and decided to work on the armature first. Removed all the hairs, cleaned the armature shaft and sanded and buffed the commutator until it's all shiny again. Checked if there were any coils that were damaged and luckily there were none, at this point I know I have a working slot car. I then moved to the brush and removing it was scary as hell at first, I have this tendency of loosing very small parts specially if there are springs involved. hahaha I removed the brush tube and the carbon brush fell but the brush spring was still inside, tilted the tube and the spring came out. Good thing I did not loose anything. Cleaned the tube, spring and buffed the brush and placed it aside. I then cleaned the motor magnets and then started to rebuild the motor case. 

One Peso coin for size comparison.



Only a gear head would enjoy something beautiful like this. (^_^)

Now that the motor has been cleaned I then moved onto the chassis. There was nothing much to do on the chassis all I did was clean it using an old toothbrush and some liquid soap and let it dry. Once done I then rebuilt the whole chassis. placed the motor back with the shoe spring and I then sanded and buffed the pick up shoe. 





Now for those who are clueless about slot cars, this is how Wikipedia defines a slot car:

"A slot car (sometimes, slotcar) is a powered miniature auto or other vehicle that is guided by a groove or slot in the track on which it runs. A pin or blade extends from the bottom of the car into the slot. Though some slot cars are used to model highway traffic on scenic layouts, the great majority are used in the competitive hobby of slot car racing or slot racing."

Well for the Tyco series of slot cars not only does the car have a guide pin it also has what they call a traction magnet. And that's what it basically do, it helps keep the car stay on the track by using a magnet and also helps give the car more traction since it's pulling the car down closer to the track.

Guide pin on the left and traction magnet on the right.



After cleaning the pick up shoe I decided to test it first and see if the motor will run. Got the command control part of the track, found some 12V power supply and laid it out on my table. Usually when we rebuild a motor there is a breaking in phase, you'll know that the motor has been well tuned if you'll hear the motor rev to a smooth high pitch sound with almost no vibration. Sadly for my rebuild I think I have to do it again or I might have to replace some of the parts because I did not get that smooth high pitch sound. Here is a short video of the motor revving. 


I am still checking for OEM parts or even hop parts that is locally available, and I really hope I could get some. But for now i'll settle for what I have. I am now thinking of a track layout to test the cars. Hopefully get a good video out of it as well and will definitely post it here. That's it for now, thanks for dropping by and keep on Over Haulin!