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Old 2014.02.06, 03:00 AM   #1
herman
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rcphk - mini-z & dnano track hong kong

1/11

hi folks it's me again... this time i was quite fortunate to drop by RCPHK a private mini z track in hk located in a very top secret location (don't tell anybody it's along kwun tong rd... 404 kwun tong road, kwun tong, kowloon, h.k. to be exact) if anybody asks you didn't hear it from me hehehe tell them you saw it on their site...here

mtr stops from yau ma tei to kwun tong just takes about 25-30 min and vice versa... yau ma tei is quite special because of kwong wah st (kws), it is personally known to me as hong kong's “r/c heaven” click here for more info on r/c heaven

mtr map


kwun tong sign


one thing you notice as you get off the uber efficient mtr (hong kong's mass transit railway system) is the big apm mall (i was told that it stands for am pm, thus apm closes late – thus you can bring along people with you who aren't actually interested in mini-z... just leave them at the mall.... lol)


-kwun tong station


-head for exit a2 towards kwun tong road

Last edited by mleemor60; 2015.09.22 at 04:29 PM.
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Old 2014.02.06, 03:02 AM   #2
herman
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2/11

after reading and seeing the track on the internet from ishikawa hiroshi san (one of kyosho's bigwigs) and kyoshosan (a famous kyosho blogger), i thought it would be petty cool to visit this place, so i emailed them and left messages on the tracks f*** ***k page (rcphk) in the hope that i would be one of the privileged few to be invited to this very private track...

i got a response from rcphk via f******k from someone named kevin, it seemed that i was very much welcome to visit the track... muwhahahahaha (my version of an evil laugh)... kevin gave me directions and told me that the track was open on wed and saturday... muwhahahahaha (evil laugh again)...

kevin told me when you reach kwun tong road, head towards the direction of the cars, the building is next to a japanese restaurant... 404 kwun tong st. (thank God for numbers)



this looks like the place... selwyn factory building directory... rcphk isn't actually listed, so i added the name of the track on the pic... (kevin said it's unit E)

Last edited by mleemor60; 2015.07.25 at 08:38 AM.
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Old 2014.02.06, 03:02 AM   #3
herman
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3/11

if you see this door, you must be at the right place... we found it!!! (mwhahahahahahahaha - evil laugh)


my nephew and i got to the place located in kwun tong via mtr (hong kong's uber efficient subway rail transport system)... somebody opened the door for us and i asked for kevin... he led me to kevin, and i introduced myself... kevin then mentioned, now you know the track owner... i was a bit puzzled, until he pointed to the guy who opened the door for us... the guy was no less than the owner, and his name was pilar (a name i will never forget... my mom's name is pilar)...

yep that's me again... (in my official racing outfit... wonder how many will get that one lol) with pilar and kevin


my nephew – martin, pilar and kevin


there were about 5-6 guys on the track, and they seemed like a jolly bunch... the track looked quite considerable and i dont know if it was intentional or not, being rcphk... they use rcp tiles (they had more tiles in the corner if needed)... and the track can easily switch to carpet if needed since it lies quietly underneath the rcp tiles...


Last edited by herman; 2014.02.06 at 04:03 AM.
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Old 2014.02.06, 03:03 AM   #4
herman
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4/11

cars on the track looked very fast... kevin and i started talking and i later found out why... they promote xpower parts, and pretty recently xpower came out with a chassis kit, called mrx... powered by lipo batteries... it's a direct substitute so all you need is the mr03 board, the rear end and front end and you're set... kyoshosan posted a “how to tutorial” video link from xpowerrc here

foams and lipo






another thing that i noticed was that they use the rough side of the rcp tile....and they (strictly) use foams tires!!! (no rubber on this track) i guess that would be sweet... the other two tracks in h.k. (rcmms and ct) are still in operation kevin said... the two tracks use carpet for their track surface, and strictly mandate a rubber only rule for tires...

kevin goes on to mention that since rcphk is a private track, most members just want to arrive and drive... and not spend too much time working on their car... i believe with foams (with the little experience i've had with them in my f1 car, and gpm foams on my mr01 way, waaay back, man i feel old...) you have more than 50% of your set up done for you (just my opinion)...

some of the pit areas


Last edited by mleemor60; 2015.09.22 at 04:32 PM.
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Old 2014.02.06, 03:03 AM   #5
herman
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5/11

kevin also mentions that there are other benefits of using foams... consistency - with rubber tires, tire degredation becomes a factor after running through a couple sets of batteries, so during a race, you might have to alter your driving style, or you might have to switch to a freshly broken in set of rubber tires between heats; on the other hand, with foams, kevin said... they can last you anywhere from 20-30 sets of batteries before changing to a new set of foams...

and as a result... the other benefit is...economics – because foams last longer, in the long run they turn out cheaper... so it is quite logical why the other two tracks still use rubber tires... commercially, i guess they provide a more steady stream of income vs foams...






Last edited by herman; 2014.02.06 at 04:13 AM.
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Old 2014.02.06, 03:04 AM   #6
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6/11

more pit shots...





Last edited by herman; 2014.02.06 at 03:26 AM.
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Old 2014.02.06, 03:05 AM   #7
herman
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7/11

apart from racing, track owner pilar and some other racers, have another hobby within the hobby... car detailing... and they are really fantastic

a spider themed r8

black raybrig


a nissan 350, a pink epson, a sc430, a couple of clk's & some porsche themed vw's


a couple of sc430 - work in process


and for those gt fans...

Last edited by herman; 2014.02.06 at 04:15 AM.
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Old 2014.02.06, 03:05 AM   #8
herman
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8/11

I also learned that hiro san (ishikawa hiroshi - one of the bigwigs at kyosho) drops by the track once in a while...

saw this car on ishikawa hiroshi san's f******k page → click here



and it was great seeing the actual car at the track.... i asked him if it was the same one.... hmm wondering if that is hiro san's signature

Last edited by mleemor60; 2014.02.06 at 05:42 AM.
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Old 2014.02.06, 03:06 AM   #9
herman
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9/11

even with all this going on, kevin mentions that he believes the hobby is shrinking... he cited that some hobby shops along kws (kwong wah st.) have closed down, and some have moved (due to the outrageous rental rates) kinda sad to hear... i haven't gotten the chance to see for myself (got to the hobby shops late... again aurgh!!!) and as usual only one shop was open - hobby hobby... lucky me... at least the owner lucas still remembers me... (I bought my first 2.4ghz mr02 from this shop... it was the last purchase of the day... and the last 2.4ghz mr02 in stock... lucky me eh? - here's the story behind it)

i did notice that the location where harmony was (one of the bigger shops I've been to, located further down kws) had no harmony sign on it, and was being advertised as for rent... noticed some other shops that were along that strip were like that as well... sad, sad, sad... didn't get the chance to go back in the afternoon to see what actual hobby shops are still open... oh well... hopefully the next time i go back...

Last edited by herman; 2014.02.06 at 04:22 AM.
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Old 2014.02.06, 03:07 AM   #10
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10/11

it was however quite refreshing talking to kevin and pilar... seeing and experiencing their passion as they engage this hobby... kevin started in the bigger scales and went through 1/10 1/8... and everything changed when he got into dnano (they also run dnanos on the track) and eventually mini-z...

comparing it to 1/12 scale, kevin noted that there is nothing that comes as close as giving you a complete racing experience at a fraction of the cost of bigger scales... even at a much smaller scale, the racing experience is in no way diminished...the racing is quite comparable and more affordable... it is more appealing - indoors vs. outdoors, and you spend lesser time working on your car...

kevin and i share the same exact sentiments... but for me there's an added novelty and attraction of collecting autoscale bodies.. and for the modelers at heart, there's an an additional appeal to paint and detail the white bodies into your own creation... where the only boundaries are your imagination...

kevin and his dnano collection


before i knew it, it was getting pretty late... so it was time for us to go... we said our good bye's and promised to come back someday... hopefully sooner than later...

thank you very much for inviting us kevin and pilar... and more power to rcphk...

vid clip (click picture to view video)

Last edited by herman; 2014.02.06 at 04:23 AM.
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Old 2014.02.06, 03:07 AM   #11
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11/11

post script...

i emailed kevin and asked him how the track started and how he got into mini-z...

It is actually quite a long and interesting story how RCPHK track started, but simply put, RCPHK started with an idea by a group of 10 racers who met and knew each other back in the old dNaNo track. With the closure of the dnano track and other factors, RCPHK opened sometime in Apr/May 2012, initially the track was supported financially by Pillar, but after a while sponsorship came in through X-power and some support from Kyosho.

The original plan was to have a track that was open to the public, however we were quite surprised that the track quickly attracted enough members to fill up all the desks that they had to delay the idea of officially opening it up to the public. Currently there are about 25 members, mostly with fixed desks and monthly fees, and the track can only accept non-members racing on Wed/Sat by appointment only.

Our idea has never changed that while we can enjoy mini RC racing ourselves, we would like to promote it as it's a better hobby compared to computer/mobile games for kids/adults/families.

Re: my own RC journey, I started with Mini-Z MR01 but never went to a track. It's 1/8 Nitro that I started getting serious that I got almost the best of everything on the market that time. I then moved to 1/10 Electric as batteries get higher amps and lasted longer. After about 2 years of "fixing" cars, I started to realize that it's the racing part that I enjoy rather than preping the car. I stopped for about 2 years without RC at all. I bumped into dNano one day when I wandered around KWS and was quickly attracted by its small size and speed. It was until the closure of the dNano track that I went back to Mini-Z until now. Recently, I'm quite indulged in VirtualRC as well. In case you don't know, it's www.vrcworld.com, online RC racing simulator. It's fun to play with. Join to try out if you have not. It's free to start up with.

Love to share more with you next time. Let me know if you may drop by Hong Kong in your next trip to China.

Kevin


post post script...

here's the article about that kyosho hong kong dnano shop - click me...


and here's a picture of what it is now... hobby kitchen...





post post post script...
kevin is also a member on these forums... he goes by the username rcdna...

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Old 2014.02.06, 03:08 AM   #12
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reserved just in case

thanks
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Old 2014.02.06, 09:15 AM   #13
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Another awesome story! Thanks for sharing with us Herman! I loved the custom painted Mini-Zs!
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Old 2014.02.06, 09:38 AM   #14
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Great read, love your posts on your mini-z travels Herman. Looks like a nice place for sure.
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Old 2014.02.06, 10:26 AM   #15
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Awesome pics and write-up!
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