fritzzzz

The HPI seems to have not been a success whereas the Tamiya cars have been around for a while and parts etc. are abundant.  Tamiya cars are also more realistic body wise.  I think a lot of people run them on smooth roads and parking lots.

BodiesByBean

Here is a couple pictures of my F104w with the exoteck frame

stulee666

Hi guys

i'm new to the forum and just wanted to share some pics of my f1's with you
i have a f104 pro black,f104x1,f104w, f104 clone.

Vyger

Here are some pics of my F104 Vir 2 build.

ElectricGuy007

That's a nice build. I want one. I think it would be cool to have a brushless F1 speed Demon car.

Vyger

Hey thanks man. It was a really fun car to thrash on. I'm looking forward to the shakedown with the brushless system in it.

On another note...

I received an interesting message this morning from D-Drive and thought I'd share it with those that still read this thread.

Apparently they will no longer be selling F1 sticker sheets. When their current supply runs out...that's it. Below is the message I received.

"Hello
Decal Island has stopped making Decals,what we have in stock now is the last of the decals we will be able to get.
So don`t delay,if there is something from the stock we have left you should get it now before its gone.

Its not all bad news though. F1 Paint lab does have some nice decals. You should browse his decals if you can`t find what we have left in our very limited stock/

http://f1paintlab.com/zencart/

Thank you
D-Drive Sports"

Thank you D-Drive and Decal Island for all your years of support to our hobby. It's been appreciated and will be missed.
Vyg

Vyger

Hey guys, I’m not sure how many people are looking at this thread these days…it seems like F1 on here has sort of died. Too bad really cause it’s gotten HUGE in So Cal.

To continue my previous post about the F104 Vir. 2, I had some time yesterday on 4th to do some stickering of the new body. The body I chose to start with is the Tamiya Ferrari F60 painted by Brad at F1 Paintlabs. Brad did a great job of matching the green paint to his Petronas Stickers, he even added a little carbon fiber to the bottom portion that’s normally painted or stickered black. The carbon looks GREAT. The pics below don’t do it justice.

As I mentioned I also used Brads sticker sheet from F1 Paintlab. His stickers are amazing and in some ways a little better than the Tamiya stickers. The printing doesn’t rub off or flake and the vinyl is awesome. You can roll it around compound curves with any wrinkling.

If you’re interested check out his site here and see the selection he has to offer. [link=http://f1paintlab.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=9&zenid=9bj69ippppf82d8vrofu96kug7]F1 Paintlab Decals[/link]

Below is a pic of the car the way I received it from Brad.


And here’s where I’m at now.




I’ll post up more pics once I’ve completed it. I can’t wait to get this finished to take it to the track.

Vyger

Well here's basically the completed car. I'm working on the helmet but the car and body are basically done.

It's been a blast to work on and I've already started working on a McLaren MP4/24 painted and stickered up just like this one. I can't say enough about Brad at F1 Painlab, great guy and great products. If you see this Brad, THANK YOU!!!!!!

fritzzzz

Too spectacular to drive - that thing looks amazing!

neewb

hi all have a problem just put together the tamiya f104w chassis and bought the f104 compatible tires and wheels rubber now the rear fit but the front wheels dont so i did a search on timya web usa and now i totaly confused . thought that maybe since the front arms are from f103 that maybe i need those wheels for front so i used competitionx.com manuals for f104 and f104w gp and sure enough the bearings are different so went to tamiya site used the part to kit identifier and used the bearing number for my kit f104w gp and it gave list of kits that the bearing fit and it fit on road 4 wheel cars off road buggys and the f104w and gp but no listing for the f103 so what the world do i order for the front wheels kinda upset that kit has been available a long time and tamiya has not corrected this issue or at least put a note in kit supplied the wheels or somthing as i dont know which wheels to order any help will be apreciated as the hobby shop where i ordered got it wrong also dont know where else to turn thanks

Vyger

From looking at the online manual on Tamiya USA's website it looks like the F104W GP kit uses the standard size F103 bearing, which is the 850 size. That size will not work with F104 wheels, they use a larger outer diameter bearing. With that being said, and looking at the manual illustrations the car would need F103 wheels front and rear. The ones pictured in the manual are compatible with the F103 sponge tires.

Part number Wheels: 51349 or 51348
Sponge Tires Front: 84094
Sponge Tires Rear: 84095
Or pre-assembled wheels and tires: 54135

For rubber tires on the F104W you will need the following from Tamiya:
Front Wheels: 9338096
Rear Wheels: 9338097
Rubber Tires Front & Rear Bag: 9408053

These are listed as a 7 digit part because they're replacement parts and not "hop-ups".

Keep in mind the standard F104 wheels are a different size. The are set up to handle the longer kingpin for the newer style a-arms. Your car uses the F103 size kingpin and and a-arms, meaning the standard F104 wheels are to large.

Now, with all that being said the kit tires referenced above aren't that great and will most likely cause you more headaches than actual pleasurable driving. There are options out there for better tires. Pit Shimizu makes tires for the F104W cars and they are WAY better than the kit tires. Click the link below to TQ Racing's website. These guys are reputable, helpful and have a great selection to get you on your way with something that works well.

[link=http://www.tqrcracing.com/shop/product_view.asp?p_id=1987&s_cate_id=&s_maker_id=&s_sort=3&p_keyword=f103&pg_no=2]TQ Racing F104W Tires[/link]

I hope this helps and good luck with it!

neewb

thanks alot. i did some measuring and bought 4 qty5..x10mm bearings and the rims mounted but i am 180 in rear and 200 front so will order the f104 front suspension set 51381 and use what i have tks also for the suggestion on tires this is what i have part numbers r 51398 mesh wheel rubber tires 51400 rubber tires rear 51399 rubber tires front and the vodafone body to paint like caterham 2012 still working on decal was gonna paint decal but to old caint see and cancer came back so battling that so now gonna opt for the decals as way to tiny for me to cut out all those words while trying to hold body so yep decals it is and thanks again for quick reply



ps if u have wheels handy could u measure the 104 od and width of wheel and also od of where bearing seats as i am curious to know if mine r same except for what bearing it takes would save me getting another set of wheels for now on a budget these days

fatboysracing

5x10x4 fit the 104 front wheels, when you put the front 104 suspension on the f104w gp, you have basically changed it into the f104x1 which is what i have done and the car handles great, it has standard f104 wheels and tires on it, the f104w gp was made to run the f103 wheels and tires out of the box

fatboysracing

the knuckles, which are kick butt by the way are the same for 103 and 104 wheels as far as the f104w gp knuckles are concerned

neewb

tks while waiting on the 104 front suspension i started trying to figure what to do with the wires and man what a mess lol. bought novak club 17.5 and it has so many wires and then like this capacitor also look nothing like castle esc i have no way to hide em ah well maybe tommorrow will get a brain storm and thanks for the info i wanted the x1 but was discontinued and was hope i could swap front end out just didnt plan on the bearing difference between 103 and 104 tks again

neewb

hi man this f1 is a blast to drive i like my sprint 2 flux but this f1 is faster more control turning . but one question i read somwhere about what was done to stop the car from spinning out on breaking i have this problem if im not realy careful itl spin out any sugestions tried to find that post but no luck tks

phmaximus

set the EPA for braking on ur coltroller lower

Vyger

I finally got a chance to take out my Vir2 car this weekend and put some laps in. The car was a blast to drive right out of the gate. I was truly shocked at how well it handled and how much grip the car has. I used the tuning tips posted on Tamiya USA’s website ([link=http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/feature.php?article-id=613]F104 Version II Detailed Overview[/link]xxxxx) to get everything dialed in from the start. Eventually I made a couple of minor changes to the chassis throughout the day.

I ended up putting heavy/hard damper grease on the front kingpins to reduce the front end bounce. I also rand the silver front springs to help with turn in and help absorb the bouncing through the rougher part of the track. At the rear I went to 1000wt oil in the roll damper, this is up from the kit supplied oil, which I think is 800wt.

The tires…WOW. The pits were incredible to run. Again the car just had massive traction. The only time it spun out was when I did something wrong and even then it had to be a pretty stupid move. I ran the PS-0571 fronts ([link=http://www.tqrcracing.com/shop/product_view.asp?p_id=1650&s_cate_id=0203&s_maker_id=&s_sort=3&p_keyword=&pg_no=1]Soft Fronts[/link]) and PS-0572 rears ([link=http://www.tqrcracing.com/shop/product_view.asp?p_id=1988&s_cate_id=0203&s_maker_id=&s_sort=3&p_keyword=&pg_no=1]Hard rears[/link])

I started out the day with the radio setting slightly tweaked. I ran the steering expo at -18%, steering speed at 75% and brake expo at -50%…by the end of the day I had reset all three. The steering expo was -4%, steering speed 100%, and brake expo at -30%.

All in all the car was a BLAST!

rc-kramer

So I've just spent every evening for the last fortnight reading this thread, and all I can say is WOW!!! The level of detail and preparation in these F1 cars is amazing!

I've recently got back into RC after about 15-odd years and bought myself a Lunchbox and Super Fighter to get started. I am a huge F1 fan and always thought about getting one of these chassis, however they always seemed a bit flimsy and simplistic; how wrong I was!! Now I'm hooked after reading this thread and have already placed an order for an F103 with a whole bunch of upgrades, with another order all ready to be placed next week (and plenty more to come after that!!)

Ayrton Senna is my hero and without a doubt the greatest F1 driver of all time, so my first cars will be a tribute to him - the F103 Lotus Honda 99T and the F104w Mclaren Honda MP4/6. I'm also a BIG Ferrari fan so the F60 has to be in the list (with Massa as the driver), and what classic F1 grid would be complete without the F643 of Prost lined up next to Senna's Mclaren...? I'm also keen to do the 2012 Lotus E20 (Raikonnen), Mercedes W03 (Rosberg), and the Williams FW34 (Bruno Senna, of course!).

I'll be sure to post some pics in due course, and rest assured Vyger, my standards as as high as your own! ; )

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

I watched "Senna" yesterday. I think I might finally finish my F103 Lotus-Honda 99t  Senna now! Haha... would prefer the McLaren paint though, but I'm not that good.

The_Shark

anyone looking at a HPI F10, don't do it. the rims alone (which crack almost constantly for no reason and there are no replacements for them) make the car horrible, the friction shock is useless and it overall just doesn't work well stock. stick with Tamiya.

just letting anyone know when they look up F10, If this is the wrong place, PM me and I will have it removed Immediately.

rc-kramer

Yes, do!! I'll be keen to check it out...

I saw the Senna movie a while back, was very interesting and quite moving actually. It made me realise just how dedicated he was; I was only 15 when he died.

And thanks for the F10 information there Shark! Whether this is the right place for it I'm not sure, but I've never been tempted by it; I've always preferred Tamiya...\

narwalrus

My Feedback: (4)

Almost done...

Vyger

Nice lookin Lotus! That's on my list of cars to complete. I have so many projects in mind sometimes I stall out not knowing where to start. WHOOPS!

Well WELCOME to the playground Kramer! I can't wait to see some of those cars you're talking about. It's sort of amazing to me that so many people think the same way...those Tamiya F1's are so fragile...or they're just a toy, not a serious racer...what ever. It's all what you make, that's what I say.

Here's some pics of my latest addition. I made two Petronas cars using the Ferrari F60 and the McLaren MP4-24 bodies from Tamiya. I did one of each because I hear they each handle a little different. The F60 has the yellow Pirelli stickers and the McLaren has the white.

rc-kramer

Thanks for the welcome Vyger, and very nice work as usual on the Mercedes.. I think the McLaren is the more realistic as the rear wing and engine cover more closely resembles that of the real W02. I just ordered the sticker set and a full set of Pirelli tyre decals, do you know where I can get scale wet tyres?? However I haven't purchased any late model bodies yet, I'm kinda waiting to see if any 2012 style bodies come out with the stepped nosecone...

I agree you can always make of them as you wish; I've opted for a bunch of the usual upgrades such as carbon this and alloy that, so will probably build one with the standard parts and another from hop-ups. I've already made just about every modification possible to my Lunchbox and I'm waiting on plenty of more nice parts for my DT-02 chassis!!

Here are my build threads if you're interested...

Lunchbox - http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_40...96/key_/tm.htm
Super Fighter - http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_11.../anchor/tm.htm