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Show Us Your Mini Z


Chris1810

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As the Mini z craze sweeps my racing club, thought i might start a Miniz topic where drive/builders can show off their creations. At Xtreamtrax Dapto, we race kyosho mini z bodies (1/27 scale) under any Plafit chassis. Foam tyres, fox motors, and basically any other go fast bits that might give you an advantage over the guy standing next to you.

Edited by Chris1810
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...This thread should be a popular one.....

 

Until today I have now built way over 50 Mini-Z Cars on Plafit Chassis. A few for myself and most others for customers.

 

Here are a few photos from a personal favorite of mine built for Glen some time ago.

 

G-9.jpg

 

G-8.jpg

 

G-10.jpg

 

G-7.jpg

 

G-11.jpg

 

G-12.jpg

 

Cheers

Werner

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Might I ask, what is it about these cars that makes them so popular? Is it the detail the scale allows? Wouldn't full 1:24 offer more of that? Why the odd scale in the first place? Is it the popularity of these MiniZs that caused Ninco to release the X-Slot range? Are there more shells available in this scale than the 1:24? Surely they can't work out any cheaper when you've got the expense of a Plafit chassis beneath them.

 

Sorry. You might guess at the moment I don't get it. :)

 

Embs

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Embs I think they are popular because of the range of bodies available, how robust they are, how good they look, ease of application to a plafit chassis. I know when i get a 1:24 scale model it going to cost more than $45 bucks to get it to look as a good as a kyosho autoscale. My 2 cents.

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My now battle scarred Rockstar GT1 Porsche I built from a white kit.

 

I vinyl cut all the decals on this one.

 

gt1rockstarporsche004.jpg

 

gt1rockstarporsche003.jpg

 

gt1rockstarporsche005.jpg

 

 

 

Sorry. You might guess at the moment I don't get it. :)

 

Embs

 

If you ever get the chance to drive one Ember, I think you'll understand.

 

- Cam

Edited by Camber

Hoo Roo

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Sorry. You might guess at the moment I don't get it. :)

 

Embs

 

If you ever get the chance to drive one Ember, I think you'll understand.

 

- Cam

Strong possibilities there Cam. I only fairly rarely at the moment get the opportunity to run something bigger than 1:32. Busily converting a friend to 1:24 hard body over his beloved flexi. I'll put the MiniZs on the list for the future.

 

Embs

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Busily converting a friend to 1:24 hard body over his beloved flexi. I'll put the MiniZs on the list for the future.

 

Embs

 

 

They are very different to Flexi's, not as quick thats for sure. Still, with a 26K fox motor they're no slouch either. If you were to get one that was poorly setup on small plastic or wood track you would probably not be overly impressed, they are mean't for decent wood tracks IMO and need to have the basics done in setup and tweaked from there.

 

I just like the way they look and drive plus we are fortunate to have a good bunch of guys to race with and Jim Paterson to help with setups and push us along...he's a good bloke and a bloody good driver! They must have something going for them, many clubs are adopting the format now.

 

My setup is pretty basic Chris, a 1700 with a +10mm chassis plate I managed to sqeeze under it and fairly tall gearing for the pointer. I am using the box stock 17mm wheels and tyres that came with the chassis and a bit of lead to get the total weight up to 155g. This is probably going to change when we go with the Fox motor this year, I'm guessing the gearing will come back closer to 4:1 and I may need to put bigger wheels under it.

gt1rockstarporsche010.jpg

 

gt1rockstarporsche006.jpg

Hoo Roo

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Hi Cam,

Nice effort on the detail. You are correct on the cost of 1/24 . I recently picked up a 1/24 Fujimi p4 And the kit alone was $80.00

We run MJK chassis and that will be around another $90.00 by the time you get tyres and wheels under the thing

 

(dont tell the missus)

 

The 1/24 cars do run nice though, as you mentioned a tweek here and there to get them going.

Have fun

Like the gloss black

 

Paul

Try Harder, if you dont fail your not trying hard enough

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........Two more :

 

Cobra-1.jpg

 

Cobra-2.jpg

 

Cobra-3.jpg

 

Cobra-4.jpg

 

Cobra-6.jpg

 

Cobra-5.jpg

 

Cobra-7.jpg

 

Cobra-8.jpg

 

Cobra-9.jpg

 

Cobra-10.jpg

 

Cobra-11.jpg

 

Cobra-12.jpg

 

The Shelby Cobra Roadster body is by far the most beautiful Kyosho creation. The silver livery is very hard to find these days but the blue Cobra has been re-released and is currently available.

Both cars were built for customers some time ago and feature different specifications. A resin full driver figure plus some cockpit interior detail has been added. The Kyosho Halibrand wheels were used as rim inserts plus some Nylon knock-off nuts.

 

We still have to build two Mini-Z Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe's, but we leave these for another day......

 

Cheers

Werner

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Here's the last few I have built .

 

This car is a killer , fast and pretty

IMG_0033-2.jpg

IMG_0034-2.jpg

The mclaren is still 1/10th off the pace but a new motor should help there

IMG_0036-2.jpg

IMG_0035-2.jpg

 

I've just started tuning the NSX but it is on the money in it's first outing

IMG_0037-2.jpg

IMG_0038-2.jpg

 

I think I have built and re-built and re-built these cars over and over . Building them is quite enjoyable but getting them to run at the pointy end of the field is quite a challenge . Two things I have learnt is you want your tyres as thin as possible ( no side wall ) and stabelisers are over rated . The cars I have that are competative all run soft loose front suspension . Just my thoughts , be interested to hear from others .

Edited by paulthetexan
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Yeah , I think the Mclaren is as fast as it will be . Nobody in the club I go to has one running at the front . I think mine will get the occasional podium if you drive consistant and others have a tangle or two . Our mini-z GT cars run Plafit Pointer at 13 volts and 155grams . The Merc goes a bit better . We run the Group C cars with Plafit Fox motor at 12 volt and 160 Grams .

 

Hi Shane , the wheel inserts are from a mini-z Nissan BlueBird Sportsedan . I haven't got around to building that one up into a runner yet but the wheels where to good to leave sitting on the shelf .

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I'm probably not the best to ask , I've only resently taken interest in Plafit . But from my brief relationship with them once they are set up they give little trouble at all . Keep them clean ( don't oil them ) and keep them straight ( they bend in big crashes) and they keep going . Tyres last longer than I thought they would . The 1/32 are different to the mini-z . Not all the guys like them but I think it depends on which end of the scale you come from . I started with 1/32 and I like them . The 1/24 guys not so much . I run the stabelisers on the front with the 1/32 . I seem to be better at setting up my 1/32 cars than the mini-z .

 

As far as speed and enjoyment , 1/32 Plafit nonmag is quiker than a magnet Slot.it on gloss board with magnabraid . The best way of building up a collection I have found is to buy other peoples dogs and then strip them down and blue print them . You can get out of it for 1/3 to 1/2 the price . I have found it quite expensive if you build up a race competetive car from scratch $250 with a body .

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I notice non of the fast guys are giving away any secrets !

 

....There are no secrets, Paul.

You can ask me any questions anytime.

Maybe we can show some different chassis, their set-up variations and explain why it works or not ?

 

Cheers

Werner

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In 2011 at X-Treme Trax Dapto we introduced the Plafit Mini Z's about half way through the year & within a very short time every one had at least one Z in their box.

With the very large variety of bodies avaliable we had 20 or so cars all of different liveries

I've just spent the last 3 weeks building 1/24th MJK Nascars and the amount of work that goes into them is well beyond the average slot racers capabilities

The Mini Z's are much more simple a build & very addictive,I think Werner said Plafit are bringing out a new 1700 ready to run chassis with glued & trued tyres & chassis set to 2mm ride height.

This will make it much more simple for new starters to get involved without a lot of experience in chassis set up

Here's a field from X-Treme

Rd4Thursdaynight006.jpg

My Zed cars

MiniZ008.jpg

This one will be the first one for 2012

Scorpiousnight005.jpg

Cheers Jimmy :D

To finsh first,first you gotta finish

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