Large Scale News

Well that didn’t take long… It was only a matter of time once HPI decided to offer mud flaps on their new baja 5sc and 5sc SS kits that someone was going to make trucker girls to bolt up to ’em.

TeamFastEddy was quick to the draw to get these made up for all us 5sc owners. Thanks Ed! He was kind enough to post a video with more information including a trip to the water jet company doing the cutting. More information on the prices and release dates coming soon. Thanks Ed for this cool look inside the production of a new product.

** UPDATED 3-1-2011 **

The event has passed and the Aldaour Team has posted some images of the finished track and some of the cars in action. Looks like some good racing for the HPI Bajas and other large scale cars and trucks. We would like to thank the Aldaour Team once again for bringing large scale r/c racing to this special event and allowing so many people to see this great hobby up close and in action. TGN would be happy to help again if the Aldaour Team comes across another venue in the future.

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TGN has been working with the Aldaour Team on an event in the Sultanate of Oman. Its the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series with lots of side events to entertain the thousands of spectators. One of these events is Large Scale R/C Racing.

TGN has shipped them some supporting products along with raffle goods and they also ordered up a shiny new HPI baja 5SC (which I am sure will be the show stopper). It will bring a lot of positive attention to Large Scale R/C racing to thousands of visitors at this unique event.

LSN hopes to get live updates with images and details of how things are going next week. Please stay tuned as this post will get updated.

Their facebook post is below, or see it by CLICKING HERE.

Wanna know what Aldaour Team is doing in Sultanate of Oman?

At the beginning of every year, Muscat Municipality organizes a month long festival in the city and surrounding regions of Muscat as part of the celebration of life in the Sultanate of Oman.

The Muscat Festival for 2011 will include a large variety of entertainment including the second edition of the internationally acclaimed Tour of Oman cycling race run by the Tour de France team from 15-20th February and the world’s most exciting sailing event the 2011 Extreme Sailing Series.

The 2011 Extreme Sailing Series will kick off in Oman from 20-24 February with some of the world’s top sailor’s set to compete on Omani waters; our client Oman Sail were the 2009 & 2010 champions, They are investing in the public village so they can attract as many crowds as possible and that’s exactly what Aldaour Team is good in “Attracting People”.

With Giant Kites in different shapes & adorable characters and 1/5 Scale Gas Powered badass looking Trucks with Noisy Engines; for sure we will attract crowds unless you are Deafblined.

Special thanks for our R\C Supplier and Sponsor TGN Distributing.

Cheers,

Aldaour

To see more images of this event and the Large Scale RC track CLICK HERE.

Looks like I see an HPI baja 5b and a maybe a HPI baja 5t or two?

The BZM-Micro Bizeta motor for your HPI Baja 5b, 5t, 5sc, ss

Available Soon at TGN.

LSN was lucky enough to be allowed to show the first ever CAD drawings of the new Bi Zeta Motors engine case. These drawings are of their reed inducted case that will be a direct replacement for the engine in your 1/5 scale RC. Looking for more hp for your HPI baja, FG MT or other large scale car or truck? Then these are the motors your going to want to keep on eye on.

Something tells me these are not the last of the sneak peek photos you will get to see on LSN. So keep your eyes on LSN for all the up-to-date information. Including prices, ETA’s, and additional specs.

** UPDATED 3-1-2011 **

Check out these additional images from BZM-Micro. They show us the cylinder for the new Bizeta HPI baja motor. We are told these will come in 23cc, 26cc, 28.5cc options.

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** UPDATED 2-16-2011 ** LSN just got another sneak peek image from BZM-Micro. Its a small image but its exciting none the less. More to come…

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** UPDATED 2-23-2011 ** LSN just got more sneak peek images from BZM-Micro. Now we can really see how this engine is going to look. You can see the new case design will allow it to fit into your HPI baja 5b, 5t, 5sc and SS with no issues of hitting the tank etc.

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Now watch Par 3 HERE!

Part 2 of our series is LIVE!

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LSN takes a closer look at some of the parts we plan on using in our Castle Creations Brushless Conversion being done on our HPI Baja 5b. Including parts from Max-Amps, DarkSoul, RPM, TeamFastEdddy, TGN Distributing, GRP Tires, and BajaSkunkWorks.

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Watch for part 3 where we show you more items used on our project baja, we finish up the build and take it for a spin. Cant wait to put this thing in reverse.

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#85475 HD STEEL SPUR GEAR SET (57T)

HPI puts out another new announcement today. This is kind of “part 2” with the announcement of the new Slipper Clutch. While it’s a replacement part for the slipper, it’s also a HP part for any of the HPI 1/5 scale models.

See this and other new products from HPI by clicking HERE.

This hardened steel 57T spur gear is precision machined from steel, then hardened for maximum durability. It’s a heavy duty direct replacement for the stock nylon spur gear found on the Baja 5B, 5T, 5SC and 5SC SS vehicles. The steel gear rides on an aluminum hub to save critical rotating mass. Damper bushings are included to help reduce drivetrain jolts. It’s also a replacement part for the Power Control Slipper Clutch spur gear. It’s specially designed for extreme driving conditions and high-power engines fitted in the Baja 5b buggy, 5T truck or 5SC and 5SC SS short course trucks!

• Hardened Steel 57T Spur Gear
• Increased Durability
• Lightweight Aluminum Hub
• Damper Bushings
• Fits Baja 5B, 5T 5SC, and 5SC SS

.#85475 HD STEEL SPUR GEAR SET (57T)

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Just ahead of the release, LSN was lucky enough to get our hands on the all new HPI Baja 5sc-SS kit. So naturally we wanted to show it to you. Watch our unboxing video of the 1/5 scale Super Sport below.

Once the HPI Baja 5sc was released it was the talk of the town and many people were excited to get their hands on one. But lots of builders preferred, hoped, and dreamed that HPI would release a HPI Baja 5sc-SS KIT model. Well it has happened and much faster between release dates compared to the last Baja 5b SS kit vs. when the RTR Baja 5b was released. Glad to see our wait times from HPI are shrinking.

The HPI Baja line of 1/5 radio control cars and trucks are built very well and can handle a decent pounding. But with THOUSANDS of items built by aftermarket companies now, it’s often preferred to build your own starting from kit form. It allows the user to get more involved with the car or truck and understand the workings of it. It also allows the user to take those stock parts and maybe sell or trade them off for cash or other needed parts. If your looking for a custom paint job-that also can get expensive if you had to buy a new clear body-getting one already clear and ready for your painter saves time and money. Many will also prefer to use an aftermarket motor, radios, and gear boxes. These things alone could take hours just to remove and replace, so the kit option by far is your best bet. Watch the video, get out those tools, and send us images of your custom built HPI Baja 5sc-ss.

So are you getting one? Post your comments below.

We would also like to host a contest. There is a mistake on the color printed box of the HPI Baja 5sc SS. The first person to email me an image of the mistake gets a free TGN shirt of their size. Email photo to lsn@TGNdistributing.com

The kit many people have been waiting for. Get more information by CLICKING HERE.

BUILD THE ULTIMATE 1/5 SCALE Baja 5SC SS, BUILD THE NEW Baja 5SC SS!

The exciting Baja 5SC SS gets the SS treatment! HPI is proud to announce the latest addition to the Baja line-up, the Baja 5SC SS. Like the rest of the SS line, the Baja 5SC SS comes as an unassembled kit that you get to build from the ground up. But we don’t stop there; the Baja 5SC SS is equipped with all of the high performance goods in the box, right down to a clear SC-1 body that you can paint just the way you want for a truly custom truck. The powerplant has been upgraded to the high performance Fuelie 26s engine, coupled to the optional aluminum tuned pipe with steel header. Combined with the 8,000 RPM clutch, the Baja 5SC SS has some serious grunt to help it propel to speeds in excess of 40MPH! We have also included the stock muffler if you feel like quieting things down a bit. Traction comes from the high performance and extremely sticky HB Rodeoo tires mounted on the new TR-10 wheels.

Is your HPI baja 5b or 5sc your baby? Do you want to share with the world your hard work and effort you put into your Large Scale car or truck?

This will be a series of posts that will give tips and tricks for taking great photos of your radio control cars and trucks. We will cover everything from using cell phone cameras to smaller point and shoot cameras to full DSLR’s. We will cover everything from framing the shot to lighting to equipment.

We hope you enjoy these posts and that the tips help you capture your pride and joy.

Background- Watch your backgrounds, keep them as clean as possible. Especially if you’re just taking a beauty photo of your car or truck. Bring it outside, nothing kills me more than seeing an RC car in someone’s kitchen or on their bed. I don’t want to see a grown man’s Superman bedspread when checking out their baja.

When on location at an event, you can see I tried to get the banner in the background- so you know who’s track you’re at or who the track sponsors are.

GET LOW!

Standing and getting the shot from 5 feet above the ground is too typical-like everyone else’s. Here is a standard high position shot.

Now look what happens when you get LOW! It brings you into the action and also can make the image appear to be more like a real car because your at eye-level to its scale.

Also note the tight crop, keeping the focus on the car only. Putting the car to one side of the image gives the impression that it’s leaving the frame. That’s called the “rule of thirds“ and the idea is to keep the subject away from the center of the frame. Imagine the frame broken up into thirds (with lines vertically and horizontally), you would want to keep your focal point where any of those lines cross.

You can get HIGH too…but make it interesting. For example, this great shot from the driver’s stand.  Also note this is a PANORAMIC, that was stitched together from a dozen or more images.  More on that in the coming episodes…

More is Better. Include more than just one car. Tell a story with your image and show that you’re at a race and get the shot of them battling it out for first…..or last…

We hope you have fun with these tips and tricks and stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for live notifications of all our posts. CLICK HERE

Ed from TeamFastEddy is building a brushless converted HPI baja 5t. Using the Castle Creations Conversion Kit. As always with TFE projects, he is making a detailed thread along the way while also posting videos. Read and participate on his thread posted HERE on BajaPlanet. Watch for more videos from TFE coming soon.

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Have you tried browsing LSN on your mobile phone? LSN is setup to automatically be viewed in “Mobile Theme” when visited by a mobile phone. It’s a cleaner and less data rich way to view the site. Once you’re inside a post you can see the images within the post just as you would on a PC, example below.

If you choose to view LSN like you would on a full-size screen, you can go down to the bottom of the page and swipe the “Mobile Theme” button to OFF. Then you will get a view like you see below.

I am a big fan of browsing blogs on my cell phone, while I am in line for lunch or waiting for my truck to be cleaned etc. It’s a quick and easy way to catch up and help pass time. Two of my favorite non R/C related blogs to watch are Engadget and MacRumors.