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Hello 5 years 1 month ago #53956

  • daz
  • Offline
  • No Guts No Glory!
  • No Guts No Glory!
  • Posts: 4
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Hello from Yorkshire, UK.

About 30 years ago I got my first true RC model, a Thunder Dragon, it was run hard and modified with Terra Scorcher parts, Hi Cap dampers and up rated motors. I still have this but it is in poor condition.

My collection grew to include a Mk1 Sand Scorcher that I bought off a friend. It has a slightly more interesting history. My friend's farther was in the merchant navy and during one trip when the whole family went along his older brother was bought the Sand Scorcher from Japan to keep him occupied during the trip. The SS was handed down to my friend and then eventually sold to me.

I have also had a Hornet, bought from the same friend as the SS, this was sold on eBay about 10 years ago.

I bought a Mad Cap as a new kit as I just wanted to build something new. I bought a Super Astute as a part complete chassis and built up with parts and a replica body it gained the Hi Cap dampers from the Thunder Dragon.

I got in to racing but the Super Astute could not keep up with the RC10's so I ended up with a Schumacher Cougar 2000. I raced this for a few years but then went to University and the cars started to take a back seat to other things.

I decided that as I was moving away from the hobby I would sell some (not all) at the local hobby swap meet. On one trip home I went to go through my metal locker where I kept all things RC in current use but found it locked and the key missing. I went back to University leaving my parents looking for the key. The next time I was home and the key had still not been found I took the decision to drill out the rivets that held the top of the locker on. Doing so meant that the top lifted off like a shoe box. After removing it and the top shelf to gain access to the main area of the locker it was virtually empty. It became apparent that the bulk of my collection had been stolen. Discussing it with my parents they said that there was an incident that confused them a few months prior. Our cat used to sleep in the garage and my mom said one morning the cat was outside having been put in the garage the night before and they could not work out how she'd got out. We concluded that someone must have broken into the garage through the main door (the only other access was the internal door to the house) and that was how the cat got out. We also concluded that who ever stole the RC kit took the key as it was always left in the locker door. About a thousand pounds of kit was stolen. From memory the Mad Cap, Super Astute, the Cougar 2000 (with lots of mods), multiple high end chargers, parts, multiple NiCad packs SCE's SCR's stick and split packs, multiple transmitters 27Mhz Acoms and Futaba and 35Mhz Futaba & Sanwa from my gliders all were stolen. There was probably other things that I've forgotten. Whoever stole them must have known they were there and targeted them as they walked past 2 good quality mountain bikes, all my dad's tools and my golf clubs leaving them untouched. Lucky the SS was kept in the loft as it was not run very often at that stage. The Thunder Dragon was also in the loft as it as a none runner by that time along with the Hornet as it was also not used.

Fast forwards 5 years and my parents house was sold and I cleared out the loft moving what was left into the loft of my house. The Hornet was sold but the SS and TD have sat for a further 15 years. I have thought about a restoration of the SS for a number of years and bought one or two parts but never put anything in motion until this winter. I have started a mild restoration of the chassis and a full restoration of the shell, probably to be as the box art. Any parts for the chassis have been kept vintage as much as possible, I've had to turn to ReRe rubber parts and front bumper but everything else is Mk1 vintage.

I've thought about doing the TD but it needs a lot. The drive shafts and cups all need replacing as do the shocks, the body is very battered, all wheels and tyres need replacing. It also has no radio gear. I've had a look at parts but at the moment I think its going to cost more than its worth. I see way better condition second hand examples on eBay for less than what it would cost to put mine back to a running state.

So that brings us up to date. I'm aiming to make the SS a high quality occasional runner. Too much would need changing to become a shelf model and this would loose some of the originality of it for me. I also have got back into flying but not with fixed wing but with a heli. I bought a Hirobo Shuttle to restore and modify to plus 2 spec. It's not seen flight yet but will do soon.

I'm enjoying building the SS as much now as I first did.
The following user(s) Liked this: Al

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Hello 5 years 1 month ago #53958

Welcome on board :y: B)

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Hello 5 years 1 month ago #53962

Welcome on TB.

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Hello 5 years 1 month ago #53965

Wow what a story, Welcome :)
If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem mate :)

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Hello 5 years 1 month ago #53983

Thanks for sharing and welcome!

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