we’ve reached January 2012 and things are still moving along well at nanotrax. we’ve seen members come and go, some due to their own personal issues, others due to me and my big mouth. i think i should extend an apology to those turned off by anything i’ve said or done during your visits to our shop. i have my opinions and i’m often very blunt when expressing them. my views are unusual and i’m sure the way i run my shop and manage my business may rub some people the wrong way. i don’t know everything but i’m constantly learning and growing. my role at the shop has evolved and with other projects in the works, i’ll be less of a presence on a social level but always available when needed. i hope this will give visitors more of an opportunity to share & enjoy with one another without my influencing the atmosphere as i have in the past.
nanotrax is also the exclusive worldwide distributor for X-Power R/C products and that has become a key part of our daily operations. after closing the 2nd floor due to lack of interest, we moved order fulfillment into the space and have streamlined processing as a result. i look forward to the constant growth and evolution of that element of our operations as we move into the new year. if you’re a shop owner and wish to carry X-Power R/C products online or at your local shops, please contact us by sending an e-mail to sales@xpowerrc.com.
we’ve had some racing recently and that’s breathing life back into the shop. we welcomed another ‘Brian’ along with his cute little daughter, Selina into the family. Dahm and Brian C have come up with some extreme mods that have raised the bar for speed and handling in dNano, be sure to check out some of Brian’s posts @ dnanoclub for what he’s up to! we’ve had a few visitors, check out photos in the gallery. i’ll have our online shop updated with all the latest stuff from X-Power and a clearance sale on all PN Racing items within the next few days. until next time, keep the miniature racing scene alive wherever you are!
its a shame i’m so horrible with names because we’ve had a load of new visitors and made so many new friends but i can’t keep up with all of them! not only have we had a steady flow of old friends, we’re getting new ones from our feature on XTV, produced by Pattaya Channel. they’ve yet to release it on YouTube but when they have, i’ll load it here @nanotrax. check out the gallery to see whose been in and what we’ve been up to. i’ve been busy with multiple projects and admittedly lazy with race reporting but believe me, we’ve had a few and its been fun in small groups. check out our new fan page on Facebook and if you’re looking for the latest parts for dNano and Auto Scale Collection items for Mini Z, stop by our online shop. that’s the short of it for now, i’ll catch ya in a few days when i have more to report. thanks for your continued support!
the McLaren Racing Shell came and went recently… a testament to how rare items for dNano get snatched up quickly by dedicated fans. if there’s anyone who knows about dedicated, its the nanotrax crew and we’ve pushed for important replacement parts (main frame -plastics only with ic tag- set) that you can find now available @ our dnano and mini z online shop. there are also new dnano optional parts on their way into stock + the latest optional parts for Mini Z AWD. currently, we’re weathering the storm of the current economic atmosphere and we expect to be here for years to come, providing a special little something in an infamous city called Pattaya.
on sunday, we held the last race on the disastrous ‘WTF’ layout which i believe drove everyone away from play at the shop. it was difficult and certainly, that word and ‘fun’ just don’t seem to fit together for most people. as a matter of fact, we held only 2 races and ran in only one direction before removing and installing a new one. Hugh was rather direct, frank, honest…. even rude with his vocal melee on the layout but… he was right. it had to go and now, i’m sure he and everyone else will find fun again with ‘Blur’ on F1R. i call it that because the lanes are wide and action will be ridiculously fast. Gary surprised us with a rare visit and Calvin re-joined us on sunday so i suspect we’ll have some interesting racing to say the least during the next 5+ weeks before he leaves us again. i’ll get around to posting the race report over @dnanoclub soon so visit there to check that out and share your thoughts and experiences with dnano and club racing in your area.
in a brutal economy, one has to do what’s necessary to survive. for that reason, you’ll notice our shop hours have changed with our closing 2 days a week to reduce expenses, thereby extending the potential life of nanotrax. as soon as we made this decision, new people start arriving for a visit… weird. like yesterday, i planned to enjoy a free day away from the shop but as soon as i open the front door, a distant visitor from Egypt greeted me with an excited look in his eyes and being someone who loves R/C, this meant i had no choice but to open the shop for him on our ‘closed’ day. Hossam is an airplane pilot and he went out of his way to come from Bangkok on a short break to visit us @ Nanotrax. he walked away with a dream to start something similar in his own country and i wish him luck, success and thanks for visiting with appreciation for what we’ve done here. Joom is also on a mission to assist in our survival by expanding her menu selections which we’re hoping to make available to Pattaya thru Waiter On Wheels, a delivery service in the area. check out the gallery for some her best creations and stop by the shop to enjoy them in person.
so after four months of high speed insanity on ‘Funnel’, it was time to do my thing once again on F1R, our showroom dnano racing circuit. i’m always interested in mini r/c but racing on the same layout can get boring so -if you haven’t noticed- i conduct this ritual every 3-4 months depending on my mood and motivation. normally, i come up with an idea and sketch it on paper but it rarely comes out as envisioned but it normally works out to an interesting challenge and a unique work of functional art. i’m not sure what to call this one, so please give me your suggestions on the thread i’ve opened @ dnanoclub. if you’re in the area, stop by to check it out but i’d say on a dnano circuit difficulty scale of 1 to 10, this ranks a clear 8+ and we’ll all be retuning our cars for the challenge!
it’s one thing to do the build, it’s another to do the report. after respectable sales and consistent interest in the ‘Drift Spec AWD‘ i piloted in our latest YouTube video, i decided i’d take the special, limited edition Kyosho Alice Motors Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X AWD Chassis and build a special ‘Drift’ version i call the Alice Motors Drift Spec 2. it has more bling than the original Drift Spec and it includes a limited edition Champagne Perfex 2.4GhZ KT-18 Transmitter. i took photos of each step in the build and break it all down in the gallery below. for questions or comments, send all e-mail to qon@nanotrax.net
lately, its really all about the various faces that walk through the door and almost none of them familiar. i’m not sure where all our members went but after Songkran, the shop got quiet and has stayed that way since. i’ve had to re-evaluate our presence in Pattaya and some have suggested a move to Bangkok. the tourist crowd here is here for… let’s say ‘something else’, the locals have limited discretionary income and ex-pats like myself are often distracted with many concerns that eclipse their desire to kick it at a boutique mini R/C shop. nonetheless, i still enjoy the shop and i’ll enjoy it while it lasts… life in Pattaya isn’t exactly normal and an usual place like Nanotrax should probably be in a more ‘normal’ place to attract necessary support but we have some time before a decision must be made about ‘the situation’.
we have visitors from Bangkok and some closer to home who visit occasionally to buy parts and marvel at the biggest tiny R/C shop in the world. they’ve graciously given permission to post their pics on my blog and i don’t want to disappoint them so i’ve posted them just below. Joom’s had much more time to do nails for the ladies who visit, you’ll note its her work – not mine – in those photos. the most notable recent visitor is Greg Degani, 2002 IFMAR Off-Road Buggy World Champion and winner of a recent race meet @ Pattaya RC Powerboat, the location of the 2010 Worlds. he did a few laps with my McLaren (by X-Power) dNano and recorded some nice times considering it was his first run in micro R/C. speaking of the McLaren, we received disappointing news that the current run is the last so if you haven’t ordered one yet, only Yellow remains available and it arrives on Tuesday. the good news is many other items including Mini Z Auto Scale Collection items and optional parts for Mini Z AWD are still available so stop by our online shop for the latest info.
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yesterday was the last of week long celebration of the Thai new year… it doesn’t actually last a week, but in a place like Pattaya, the party is always bigger and the final day of Songkran in Pattaya is truly a sight to see and an experience one will never forget nor see anywhere else in the world. it’s one of many things that has endeared me to this country, its culture and its people and after 8 years, i still enjoy to see it even if i don’t actively play. i’ve added many of the interesting sites in a gallery with over 70 images and you can CLICK HERE to view them all. what’s the surprise? at the end of a day where we didn’t plan to open the shop, Pop and his crew showed up and took ‘The Scooby’ for a few rounds on our drift circuit. Pop has extensive experience with R/C and immediately decided to get his own Drift Spec Mini Z AWD with a Nissan Skyline R34 shell. i spent the morning building it and it was ready to run circles around the slick surface inside the lounge. they all had to rush back to Bangkok but i’m happy we were able to help them all leave Pattaya with a smile and i hope they look forward to coming back as much as i look forward to seeing them again.
Darren and Darren from the UK (old members who pop their heads in every few months), Duncan from Australia, and Ben from nowhere stopped by for chatting, drinks and some of Joom’s marvelous cooking. Ben found us on Pattaya Addicts and decided it was the perfect hobby for him so we’re excited to welcome our 3rd new member of the year in what could be considered a bit of a slow season for nanotrax. in my last post i was complaining about the lack of traffic, now its like things have flipped and we’re running around like headless chickens trying to care of all the customers! its a good problem and i hope it continues… not to mention, we had a great time watching the most recent F1 Grand Prix and i hope we continue to get more fans in for the broadcast during the season.
sorry i’ve been a bit busy and haven’t had time to do blog updating but there’s good reason: a new love has entered my life and its the Mini Z AWD-DWS and now ‘Drifting’ is 2nd only to dNano and my wife. where my wife stands depends on the mood she’s in… or i’m in but… she knows and accepts this. i’ve also been making efforts to bring all dnano owners & fans together by creating a forum i mentioned in my last post @ dNanoClub.com. register now, participate and earn a chance to win 15% Off Forever @ Nanotrax Online Shop and a Race Spec dNano. get more details on the forum and as always if you need to contact me for just about anything except marital advice, e-mail to qon@nanotrax.net – later!
the thing about art is that it rarely turns how you expect it to, but it always turns out as it should. i drew a couple of layouts i had in mind for the latest circuit layout on F1R but in the middle of making it, i decided to improvise and ended up with what i call ‘Funnel’. its one of the first layouts that will almost certainly require braking and precision due to its high speed straights, corners and hair pin turn smack dab in the middle. this was a 2-day project that started with the first attempt at making the surface virtually seamless. Brian came up with the idea to use a clear silicone sealant to close the gaps and fill the dimples in the flooring. we tested the solution and it worked well so Brian picked up a few items and graciously donated to the cause. check out the gallery for a step-by-step of the construction of ‘Funnel’, now available for high speed racing only @ nanotrax!
