Maximum Insanity - Plus

I just had time to go through my pictures from yesterday... I was totally exhausted.

With the new charger, I managed almost 10 hours of non-stop driving. My body was hurting. But there was craziness.

Enter AE86... I am really enjoying this body... The scars are giving it character also.

I'm enjoying the driver also, but I haven't found time to paint the face properly.

I like both wheels, the XSA and FXR as well as some black watanabe looked good. This weekend I'll be using some Asphalt Tyres on Prodrives. see how it goes.

This month has been a sea of red at Max One.

Team Red is made up of callsigns... RE-Xtreme, Hidari-Maru and Taku-13Bt (driving the 86/DRB here.)

While I can't take images of the three of us together. I can get a couple at a time.

 I forgot the "RAW" camera too.you can just see the empty camera holder through the 86's window.

These are the other two crazy men in action.

Crazy Man No.1 OTA-R conversion

Crazy Man No.2 (this is a TA-06) and I am Crazy Man No3 with DRB.

Today seemed to be a Red vs White day.

 
Team red has a slower more compact flow.

Team white today was running Takeuchi-san in the lead. These guys run a slightly faster line with a slight spread between cars.

Under constant attack.

The Turbo'd Zeon was doing well.

But if you let some one this far along side...

You'll be taking the expressway exit involuntary.

off topic.

I spent a bit of time finding a line on the reverse direction highway at Max One. It's freaking difficult with a low percentage of success but if you can link it all it's very rewarding.

Anyway... The S15 lives on. 

The other white members include this TA-06 Skyline

VDS Porsche or VDFII S15 during the day as well as the AE86 seen here.

Everyone has really upped their game. and makes for constant battles.

Marine-san's new ER34 is a beast. 

The bullet holes around the car cap off the military fighter warthog theme. Flat paint on the outside is a good effect.

Enjoyed today a lot guys... thanks.

Russ.

Japan RC Shop Guide

If you come to Tokyo on vacation and want to pick up a few parts. then Akihabara is the main centre for hobby goods.

Some shops have a little, some have a lot, some have standard stuff and some are customisers dream.

 I'll give you a little tour in no particular order although the first 5 or six in Akihabara are in a walking tour direction.

Rakusei Model is in Akihabara in Tokyo Centre.

The shop specializes in Tamiya and Kyosho, with TECH-Racing products abundant here.
Yokomo parts are few.
Shop laid out in a chassis / function wierd style.

Futaba sangyo is an on road specialist. Also one of the two main aircraft stores.

the window is full of Yokomo,

But actually here, I find a lot of unique stuff that's not so mainstream. More Tamiya than Yokomo and a lot of F1 gear. Store is laid out by brand.

drift max is a smaller store without so many major items but specializes in the small parts especially for drifters.

You may even find a Japanese Champ behind the counter. After good advice, go to Drift Max.

Store is laid out by function/brand

the store is small, but remember in Japan, that's nearly always the case. They are crammed full of stuff.
I have found some nice gems here. 

One of my favorite haunts is Super Rajicon. This store has a lot of RC square, Yokomo, Kazama, Street jam etc. It is the only store in the centre with a small drift track.

Store is well laid out by section and brand. Easy to find what you need.



Probably the most convenient is TAM TAM. it's literally right in front of the Suehirocho station.

I purposely didn't show store interiors, because I would like everyone to be surprised.

 But something like this is nearly always inside. most stores offer massive discounts over retail.
not so easy to find what you want and not so much advice, but they have a good stock level.

Damn... They are all my favourites... I usually go to them all every time I come here.

One of the bigger stores is RC champ. They do high turnover, so like many stores in Japan, stock is minimal. Simply due to the nature of business. you order and it's there in the next day or so.

Don't be too worried if it's not on the shelf. things can arrive quickly. 

Champ is also an aircraft / heli specialist and is one of the bigger stores with good yokomo and tamiya parts.
They also have their own brands of items.

That's all for Akihabara. It takes about 4 hours to have a good look. Or 2 hours if you just want to check them.

Not far away... 190 yen on the subway is Shinbashi's Tamiya Gallery.

It's the upmarket version with few discounts, but maybe the odd rare piece.

you can see the complete history of re-releases. I almost was tempted by the subaru brat today.

Anyway If you want to Run in Tokyo then MAX one is good and close to the city but venture further and there's a world of Rc out there.

MAX one is now closed.

Here are just a few I added to a map for you.

If you can read Japanese you can always check http://rccar-navi.com/

Russ.


View RE-Xtreme RC Maps in a larger map

Circuit Dr. Check Up.

Circuit Dr. is awesome. I really liked my time here.

 

Some super "RAW" footage

A Visit to the Circuit Doctor

Circuit Dr. Evil! haha. No that couldn't be further from the truth. This place is Dr. Fun!

I spent a few hours here today, the main reason was to setup another chassis, but I still wanted to try this track. The size is pretty much perfect. Theme is Hawaii fun. Hawaiian shirts and Hawaiian music. Concentration usually eliminates that from your mind.

 My main battle partners today were running these huge ER34 Skylines. somehow the 86 looked very scale against them. Very realistic.

 The Full Uras kits look awesome. This machine is a OTA-R Wheels are top line DRS-10 in gold. The HKS livery looks pretty cool too.

 Active LED and some custom cylon style making this pretty cool! in the background you can see how busy it was. Almost all the pit tables were in use on this national holiday season

 I apologize for the pics. But more to come later.

 My camera was playing up, so I resorted to P mode. but that just doesn't have any feeling..

Anyway, the driver of this Zeon was awesome and he allowed me to follow very closely without error. His technique was different to many, but very effective. Presentation was excellent. I enjoyed this a lot.

Here is my favorite shot from today. I have some rough DV, from onboard, but it's terribly bumpy and you can only see the skyline flash by as the camera was pointing mostly at a 45 degree angle. haha.

Thanks to all the guys I ran with today. I rarely have time to remember all your names.

 This 180 was also looking cool.

I'm liking the spot of grey primer on the side. Damage.

 This section of the track was awesome. Mostly today, I was in tandem mode, but full attack down the Skull corner is awesome.

Battleship grey!

Very cool.

 Many other guys on track. this black beast had some wicked custom wheels with super dish.

 Some drift packages always out for some fun.

Trying to sort out the drift package today. It's a work in progress.

Needs a front one way, but we are making do with old tech. Would you believe the Yokomo running set in "AM"  is better than the 2.4Ghz version.

A few shots of the madness as I was leaving.

It's all good.

I should have some more shots for everyone in the next week or so.