Informing the World!

[squeegee]

Hello Everyone!
I had an idea today.......We need to inform the world about the wonderful world of Table Top Truck Trials! How you ask? This is where I need your help. Overlander, arch2b, killer, fastboy, lexar, and Thorsten (especially Thorston!!;) ) need to work together and write an article on TTTs. Sorry if I forgot anyone......but anyway.....If we could put together an article which had the history, how-to, sites, pictures...lots of pictures, and every other little thing about Table Top Trialing, why not send it in to major magazine companies like Radio Control Car Action? Inform the world!!!! So who wants to help?????????

squeegee:D

[killer]

great idea!

[Landy Man]

Sounds like a good idea to me. I have been looking for some kind of reference to TTTT in all the major magazines in the UK but nobody has a clue!

[binaryterror]

The saddest part is Radio control Car Action...they are so biased, and if it isn't made by Losi, Associated, Trinity, or Traxxas, don't expect much from them.

I used to love the magazine, but it has gotten to lame anymore. I have sent in many pics of real custom and good looking cars i made, and they have yet to put any in their Readers Rides area, even the online one! They seem to want to push the guy who buys a stock truck and pays a fortune to put on shiny parts. Not guys who put hard work in on the vehicles.

[killer]

:ö: i agree to that binary :), just to add on that, i guess for doing so, is because they get freebies form r/c companies they feature there, notice that everytime they feature so called "homemade" are just expensive aftermarket parts with few modifications..and notice how they itemised parts on every feature ride?.. but hey!, let's give squeegee's idea try ;), GWS is a big company too right? ;)
-æ

[binaryterror]

GWS...hahha we could be in a play flying magazine! hehehe

Nah it would be nice...especially since i am a beginner (ordered the trucks...have another question in the TTT forum right now about servos, if you all could look! http://www.tinyrc.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11449 ) to have a bunch of written items to stare at.

Also i plan to document every step of buying and building that i can...maybe make a pdf type document.

[arch2b]

a pdf documentry...that's a good idea! i wish i had thought of that;) . i just have tons of pictures/comentary in my album....

i'm all for trying to get some published tttt work. trying to get more recognition is why i made tttt decals for my 5 ton man, if you didn't know what it was...it says so all over:D

[Thorsten]

Hi,
in germany some guys (also me) have written a special edition of the "Truckmodell"-magacine (www.vth.de) . It calls "Sonderheft 2/2001" and it includes only 1/87 scaled rc-trucks, hints, sources and tips.
My english writing is not so good, so I can't translate this one in english, but I try to build a knowledge database (english and german ) on www.mikromodell.de . So if you have any tips and hints, ...

best regards

Thorsten


www.mikromodell.de

[squeegee]

Thorsten, Kein Probleme mit den Ubersetzen! Uber 20 Jahren ist mein Vater Deutschlehrer. Er wohnte mal in Passau in Bayern und ist wieder nach Deutschland ( von Zeit zur Zeit ) zuruck. Nachstes Mal wann er nach Deutschland zuruckfahrt, fahre ich mit! Aber das ist , vielleicht, in ein paar Jahren. Ich mochte eine Paracourse Schau sehen, und “ Truck Modell” Magazin kopies kriegen. Solche Modellautos und Lastwagen habe ich sehr gern!

squeegee

P.S. Mein Vater ist auch Funkamateur mit Rufzeichen WB8WIV. Kennen Sie jenige deutsche Funker?
:D :D :D

[arch2b]

anyone able to get a copy of the magazine here in the states? or atricles in english?

[squeegee]

I want some copies of that magazine! Even if I don't know what the article says they would still be very interesting to look at.

[tinyrc]

Cool idea guys; how about we make it an online article here at TRC, and then I'll work some connections to see if we can get it into the likes of RCCA etc. :D

[binaryterror]

That'd be awesome tiny!!!!!

Now...TINY do you know if they plan to release another Micro's and Mini's magazine? This would be great to highlight in that magazine!

[tinyrc]

Last I heard from them, it won't be a regular monthly, but will probably be an annual, so we should definitely try to get it in there. I have a number of contacts there, so it's not at all out of the question. Who wants to head this project up?

[arch2b]

thanks for the connections tiny;) !

i would be willing to do the job, however i feel i wouldn't be able to give it the time it deserves, between the other contest...projects...posting...and the family:D . this could be an amazing opportunity to highlight this obsession! really draw more participation...posting to this section of the tinyrc world:D

[squeegee]

Well....I did start this thread, but I haven't completed any project trucks yet so I wouldn't be the one to write an article......I just wanted to see if any of the other guys would consider it.


That would be great tiny if you could use some of your connections!!!!!!!!!!! However we have to have an article first! I KNOW!!!! Wheres Overlander???? He wrote a wonderful description of how to build a Trial Truck. With Thorston's permission we can get the guidelines and rules off of his site...........Nowwwwww for the history.............Thorston has that on his site toooo! Then we get Thorston to ask his nice freinds over in Germany if we could use their truck and trial course pictures (and some of ours of course ;) ). Someone could right a short article COUGH!overlanderCOUGH!pleaseCOUGH! and include TONS of pictures!

WOW I really got into that one:p

Woops I forgot something........We should also include pictures and a breif description of 1:1 Truck Trialing...........that's where the idea of TTTT comes from...........well half anyway.


Dangit I keep coming up with more ideas......fastboy's sight is useful.......he said that a plastic chassis doesn't make any diff.
We also would need pics of the Smart Car and Gamma Goat for the article! (with permission of course)

[tinyrc]

You guys do what you can to get some of the heavy hitters you mention to hook up an article for TRC, and I'll handle the print connections. :)

[squeegee]

OK,
I know I haven't finished my MAN 5t yet.......and pry will not for awhile:( ..........but I did a little research to begin to write an article. WELL ON SECOND THOUGHT...............

Hey Overlander........if I sent you what I have....11 pages worth of stuff I found that might be useful:D .......could you write up a short article? Pretty pleeeeeaaaaaassssseeeeee!:o I have seen your descriptions and know you could write a better article than some 14 year old with no experiance;)

The article would have to recognize all the wonderful people that keep TTTT alive in the USA! AND TINY RC FOR ALL OF THEIR HELP!!!


PLEEEEEAAAAAASSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEE OVERLANDER!!!!!!! I'M BEGGGIIIINNNNGGGG!!!!!!!:D

[squeegee]

Ok,
I never heard back from Overlander so here it goes..........PLEASE remember I am only 14! Don't hurt my fealings too bad.;)


Table Top Truck Trials
By: Chris Warnock

In Europe, there are very technical off-road driving competitions that are most certainly not known as a “race” but a trial. Much like an obstacle course, these trials test the driver’s skills and the balance and flexibility of the trial truck. These trucks are put to the ultimate test while slowly maneuvering over obstacles that require the vehicles’ suspension to flex and articulate so that all or as many wheels possible are on the ground at once to provide the best traction. Trial trucks can be anything from 2WD buggies all the way up to a gargantuan 7ton 8WD beast. In most other places trials are simply known as “Rock Crawling”
TTTT stands for Table Top Truck Trial. A true TTTT is scaled at 1/87, or better known to most modelers as HO. HO train modelers create entire miniature worlds that are not only perfect to scale, but also almost as complete as or own. Some of these extraordinarily talented people that live in Germany got together and said to themselves “If I can drive a train around on my HO layout, why not drive the cars, trucks, and busses also?” The very first 1/87-scale vehicles were mostly semi trucks or tractor-trailers that played part in the shipping and railroad industry. Someone along the way came up with the idea to not only drive around on the streets and highways but also try and take the HO vehicles across miniature off-road terrain. This is where the spirit and intention of TTTT was started.
At the time there were 1/8 and 1/16 scale radio-controlled trials going on in Germany, so they wanted to have meetings and contests scaled at 1/87 too. Table Top Truck Trial is a new type of modeling sport. At this time there is only one person who makes parts available for TTTT models, so most trucks are built by the modeler them self. These trucks are mostly based on plastic models from a model-railroad supplier known as ROCO. This is a VERY BASIC list of what you will need to build a trial vehicle:

1. A ROCO or similar type model…Most people start with the MAN 5T or 7T because they offer the most space for all of those electronics.
2. A micro servo…5.4 gram or smaller.
3. A receiver
4. A speed-controller...you can make your own out of a servo.
5. A motor…. Most people use 7mm or 12mm pager motors which can be bought at micro flight hobby shops or be found in old cameras, pagers, and vibrating phones.
6. A gearbox…You can make your own from gears found in watches and kids’ toys or purchase one from Germany.
7. 4 120 MAH NIMH cells
8. A homemade chassis…Or one purchased from Germany.

And now for the rules…
Any type of truck based on a 1/87-scale vehicle is allowed to participate in a “trial” as long as it looks like the original, and all trucks competing in the competition must be driven by wireless remote control. There are barriers that are labeled with numbers and are to be passed through in order; this will be determined before the start of the competition. Every layout has a maximum point value of 10 points. The owner of the layout defines the distribution of the points and barriers.
For Example…
Passing through a barrier: 3 points
Helping by hand: -3 points
Rollover: -3 points
Passing through the barrier in the wrong direction: -2 points
At the end of each layout the points are added up. You can not get a negative amount of points, the lowest would be zero. The layout should normally be completed in ten minutes, but there isn’t a time limit. If the truck’s batteries run out, the owner is given the points that are collected up until the position of the breakdown. Maintenance or charging while driving is not allowed. In order for all the layouts to fit together there should be a 4cm wide pass from one layout to another; this pass should be 3cm off of the table. All trucks should be allowed to compete in the contest. If there are enough participants drivers should be put into sub-groups based on the abilities of their vehicle.

I may only be fourteen, but I would really like to see more interest here in the U.S. on TTTT modeling; the only problem is that most young hobbyists in the U.S. are NOT MODELERS so TTTT might not “take flight” like other modeling sports.

“Our collective brains have evolved smaller and smaller until no one wants to build anything anymore. Most kids just want their RC toys RTR right out of the box, and so no one is learning the skills of model engineering. This is evident just looking at a typical hobby shop inventory. Try to ask a typical hobby shop employee about anything other than a RTR T-Max, and all you get is a drooling “Rain Man” impersonation for an answer. “ Quoted from Todd ?yournamehere?
If you would like to learn more about the wonderful world of Table Top Truck Trials or modeling visit the tinyrc.com forums where there are always helpful people to answer any questions you might have.


Something weird happend......I don't think it mest up the article though.

You might recognize a cut up version of one of your old post......I tried my best not to plagerize.

This is just a ruff version!!!!!! I want YOU (old ;) Look at my signature. ) people to do what you want with it............I might be mistaken or just plain wrong in some places. I did my best!

[squeegee]

UH OH!!!

I didn't think of it until now......but I was going to ask for permission to quote Overalnder after I heard back from him.....to late now.


I hope he doesn't care!

[killer]

:ö: OLD here!,

great job Squeegee, but may i ask, how come the name Thorsten Feuchter, Harry Jacobsen, Geoge Kinzky and other German guys did not come up?.. they should get credits right?, hey they are the ones who started it all.. like Thorsten and George K., made the first micro esc for this truck and Harry J. as far as i know... was the one who revolutionize the "all-wheel-drive" 1/87 truck, something like... read this one, maybe you could use this as your basis for your write-up ;)

http://home.t-online.de/home/tfeuchter/LKW/geschichte.html

just a suggestion ;)

-æ

[squeegee]

You know I thought about that, but then I would have to have my dad translate an article into German.......which I already ask for a lot of the time anyway.........to ask for permission to include them in the article. I tried to keep it as broad as possible by not including any names. If anyone can get ahold of them and ask permission.......that would be great, although I want other people to rewrite this article to try and find one that works the best. Overlander? arch2b? killer?............anyone want to take a shot at it? You guys can pry write much better than I can.

[Harry J.]

Hello,

Squeegee made a very good description of TTTT. But you don't need our permission, because we are honored to read our names in your articles :) :) :)

Addition:
The building of 1:87 RC-Trucks startet in 1989. TTTT was an idea of Thorsten and some more drunken and bright guys in 1999: They had a discussion with the TruckTrial modelers in scale 1:16 and bigger. "What the 1:16 are able to do, can we we too!!!!". That was the birth of TTTT.

Contests: Every time we try to make a contest, we forget to count the points. We only want to have fun. But we have a other nice kind of contest: Two trucks and the second truck have to follow the first. At the finish we are all winners, because we had a lot of fun.


Regards
Harry

PS: I'm not every day in this forum, please have patience for a answer.

[tinyrc]

You guys want me to take it and polish it up and put it on the site now? Or is there more to add?

[squeegee]

There is a little more to add............I still am having trouble adding names. I will add Harry's information to the article and repost it.
http://home.t-online.de/home/tfeuchter/LKW/geschichte.html
I am having trouble translating this in English........can't find the origin of the link to translate it.

[Thorsten]

Hi squeegee,
Harry Jacobsen and me was the writer of the german history of "TTTT" (link below). I try to translate it and put it on www.mikromodell.de . But I think it take some time.

best regards

Thorsten

[frizzen]

I know we've probably already tried, but has anybody that's finished one considered submitting a few pics and a write-up to the "reader rides" equivilent for "RC Car Action" magazine.

They seem to have a thing for trucks, rock crawling, and modifying stuff using custom and purchased parts. They probably still won't run it, but if they do....


Anyway, If we could arrange it to send in like 1 different truck & write-up a month, eventually they might take notice.

Besides, I *think* there was that place you could send off and buy complete or nearly complete parts for building them. although it'll be a bit harder to build than the average T-maxx..... ;)

[vinnyg]

hey guys, i dont know if it will help but here is the link to the translated mikro modell page. it was translated by google.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.mikromodell.de/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.mikromodell.de/%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8

[vinnyg]

also try this one

http://216.239.37.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.modelltrucktrial.de/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.mikromodell.de/%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8

[Tam]

Hello everyone,

I am new to bits, and I haven't built a TTTT. But I am not new to Model Railroading. I think if you really want to get the information out, try starting with Model Railroader or other Model Train magazine. There are alot of guys out there that scratch build their own locomotives as well as other things. Not quite as many as when I was growing up, but there are still some hold outs. My Dad, saw my bit char-g the other day and asked if there were any in HO scale. I explained to him, that some of you guys were using the Faller Car Systems to build your first cars. Which is another reason I think that it would be a good starting place in the Model Railroad community. Not to mention the fact, that it seems like that is where this was born out of. Just a thought. And if you guys want any help with the article, I would be willing to help. such as layout with the pictures if you are going to do a PDF. I also can use distiller to get the PDF very small and managable for people to down load even with quite a few pictures. I also think that the how to would be really good to do with pictures. And the list with pictures of the parts. I make PDFs of the Site Surveys I do, which we send out to all the parties involved in the project. I can't guarantee you on how fast of a return since my busy season is starting back up. But, this project would interest me(and might prod me to make one for my dad and his train layout), so I would be willing to make time to help.

Tam