Post by Chris Sturhann on Dec 28, 2017 1:04:01 GMT
I may have found the perfect $10 Teapot Racer. The vehicle is a very cheap RC Truck/Loader ($8.50) at Santa's Toys, 657 Palomar St A, Chula Vista, CA 91911 (unfortunately, I haven't been able to find it online), plus a toy teapot from a 99 Cent store teaset. To test, I did it two different ways, so the teapot could be attached with zip ties to either the original truck top or just the base. It's small about 5 inches long without the bucket and about 3 1/2 inches tall with the truck top attached without the teapot. Obviously, you'd need paint and decoration, but it went together with almost no effort.
Truck fully assembled.
The top of the truck just snaps off and likewise the loader bucket snaps off. The roof of the cab comes off with one screw, and as I found out later the entire cab just snaps off as well.
I drilled two holes in the teapot, at the arrow and one on the other side.
I drilled four holes in the top of the truck, two at the arrows and two on the other side. On the final racer, I removed the cab entirely and drilled holes on the truck body similarly.
Attached the teapot to the top of the truck with zip ties.
I drilled four holes in the top of the base, two at the arrows and two on the other side. Be careful drilling. There's electronics inside there.
Attached the teapot to the top of the base with zip ties.
This is it, more or less done. I spray painted with black plastic primer spray paint and then European Gold Rub'n'Buff with Rub'n'Buff Patina applied in spots. The only change I made was to remove the cab. It just snapped on and off and allowed me mount the teapot a little lower, which looks better I think. I also decided to keep the bucket, mostly so I would have something to tie the teabag to. For the driver, I used a small Iron Giant figure I had lying around.
Shows how it runs, but if you notice toward the end. The bucket drops to the ground from the vibration, and it doesn't drive well, so I probably need to rig it, so that doesn't happen.
If you look at how it runs above, it might do okay. It's not real fast so I think it will do well on the slalom. I set up a ramp at roughly the same incline as what you'd get on a normal teapot racing ramp. It didn't like the lip of where the plywood hit the ground, but it climbed it okay, though if you let off the power it rolled backwards. The ramps we normally use have a bit of a bevel so it might be okay. But then I thought of one potential problem. It might have trouble on the ramp of doom (U-turn ramp). It's 2-wheel drive and the way it turns is you push the right turn button, it dumps the power on the left side to go right and vice versa on the other side. On the ramp, it might not have enough power to turn and climb at the same time.
Truck fully assembled.
The top of the truck just snaps off and likewise the loader bucket snaps off. The roof of the cab comes off with one screw, and as I found out later the entire cab just snaps off as well.
I drilled two holes in the teapot, at the arrow and one on the other side.
I drilled four holes in the top of the truck, two at the arrows and two on the other side. On the final racer, I removed the cab entirely and drilled holes on the truck body similarly.
Attached the teapot to the top of the truck with zip ties.
I drilled four holes in the top of the base, two at the arrows and two on the other side. Be careful drilling. There's electronics inside there.
Attached the teapot to the top of the base with zip ties.
This is it, more or less done. I spray painted with black plastic primer spray paint and then European Gold Rub'n'Buff with Rub'n'Buff Patina applied in spots. The only change I made was to remove the cab. It just snapped on and off and allowed me mount the teapot a little lower, which looks better I think. I also decided to keep the bucket, mostly so I would have something to tie the teabag to. For the driver, I used a small Iron Giant figure I had lying around.
Shows how it runs, but if you notice toward the end. The bucket drops to the ground from the vibration, and it doesn't drive well, so I probably need to rig it, so that doesn't happen.
If you look at how it runs above, it might do okay. It's not real fast so I think it will do well on the slalom. I set up a ramp at roughly the same incline as what you'd get on a normal teapot racing ramp. It didn't like the lip of where the plywood hit the ground, but it climbed it okay, though if you let off the power it rolled backwards. The ramps we normally use have a bit of a bevel so it might be okay. But then I thought of one potential problem. It might have trouble on the ramp of doom (U-turn ramp). It's 2-wheel drive and the way it turns is you push the right turn button, it dumps the power on the left side to go right and vice versa on the other side. On the ramp, it might not have enough power to turn and climb at the same time.
