After building the Jay Halsey themed RC10 Stealth Car 1985 (see the older article), I was so excited about the look and feel of this car, I wanted to build another one. But a little different!
This car had to be a little more sophisticated. Maybe something, what only one of my RC gods could do back in time in one of my alternative universes. Brian Kinwald!
Let´s see, what he would be done on this car!
We see the iconic Team Associated RC10 Protech body. Low and neat! With Brian´s iconic paint job. Maybe the most iconic paint job ever done. And it looks so fresh, even today!
It looks so nice - from every possible angle.
The comparison between Jay Halsey´s and Brian´s Stealth cars.
Both looks so lovely.
Front view.
Yeah! I know, you want pictures.
Same cars, but different. Depends, in what universe you are living.
Under the hood. First of all, Brian´s car has different wheels. The rear rims are Yokomo´s 1.9 inch wheels with their adapters to fit the MIP CVD axles. Yokomo TR-9 tires do their job!
The front rims are the black Kyosho Tomahawk´s from the re-release kit - with Proline Knobby 1.9 front tires, what I owned since more than 20 years. Now they have gib time finally!
We know Brian Kinwald was famous for his attention to the details. And I would say, this attention comes from true love for RC Cars. First big difference to the Halsey car are the black shock towers. Brian has a good sense of aestehtics and he always played with colurs and contrasts on his cars. And to take care of the details, there are flat heat screws used to bolt the shock towers to the bulkheads.
Apart of the black shock towers, there are the hard anodized Team Associated shocks installed, what came a vew years later, than 1985. Maybe Brian made this shock coating by himself in his kitchen back in the days? Who knows? Everything is possible in an alternate reality.
I found, the Yokomo copper shock springs works best on this car. I carefully polished them and now they look like new! The experts know, this springs are worth gold and ultra rare to find. I found them in a box with old RC Car parts, what I owned since the late 80´s. Never throw away old RC parts!
Flat head screws for the shock towers. I used mostly stainless steel screws.
Steering assembly with some Kinwald style blue bits.
Left side. Can you see the 3D printed battery cups? Yes, they are printed and look so close to the original!
The rear wing is a re-release Schumacher Cat XLS wing with some side plates from a flat Lexan sheet.
As always, I took a LRP Flow X and a Reedy 13.5T Brushless combo with a LRP 4000 mAh stick pack style NiMh battery. Yes, one day I want to drive it!
Black battery holder plates for some contrast (details!).
It took forever to get those Yokomo TR-9 rear tires and rims. Ebay prices for vintage parts are beyond crazy! Futaba RX on the right side. Antenna mount and wing mounts are 3D prinzed as well (and you did not see it, right?).
Steering unit with a Futaba Servo. Lunsford titanium tunbuckles all around.
6-gear transmission in a aluminium gear box? Why not? I am sure, Brian had a milling machine in his garage! Ha! To be honest, this China made gear box was cheaper than the original plastic parts from Team Associated. But the look is aweseome and maybe this is something, what Brian definitely wanted back in my other universe, where the internet was invented long before the microwave. And for some reason, social networks never existed and the world was mostly a peaceful place.
The back. Black motor plate and the Reedy Sonic 13.5T motor.
The front. Blue, black and white. Brian´s colours!
That´s it! That´s the story.
I hope, you like it so much as I do! I am glad, that there are 30 kits of this car out there and people can enjoy the build as i did. Maybe I will add one day a Masami Hirosaka edition.
Long live the RC gods! Your life was my inspiration. I am grateful to born in an era, where they were young and did so much more, than just racing. They inspired us. They teached us to be a sportsman and to have tons of fun at the races and to love and live RC Cars.