Jump to content

JennyMo

Members
  • Content Count

    1818
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Community Reputation

3523 Excellent

About JennyMo

  • Rank
    Member

Profile Information

  • Location
    California

Recent Profile Visitors

14740 profile views
  1. Even more safety conscious - I thought I'd reinstate the window nets too: photo. driver's side... photo. Passenger side currently rolled back because of his casual arm-out stance... photo. Ok, technically the driver should have a steering wheel too I know... I'll see what I can do! Jx
  2. cont. Dutch Bros. In an inspired moment - not least that the driver & navigator are essentially twins, and that the bodywork colour scheme has more than a passing resemblance to the Dutch Bros. coffee company - I thought it fitting that since this is now a 'Dakar' style 4WD desert buggy, that the occupants should pay homage to these two loons: Tim & Tom Coronel - who are twins from the Netherlands who raced the Dakar a number of times in South America - initially as a two-man team in a pair of small single-seater buggies (which very rarely finished) and with a bit more sponsorship, as a duo in a much more powerful and capable/robust two-seater buggy... photo. Dutch [twin] brothers Tim & Tom Coronel, or is it Tom & Tim? who knows! Now I wasn't intending to overly detail these Tamiya driver figures, but factored some matching [painted] outfits together with some customised harnesses for added scale detail would be just the ticket: photo. The passenger needed some surgery to fit around the ESC mounted vertically on the inside of the cage. photo. dirty faces befitting a buggy with no windshield - not my most detailed face painting, but sufficient for this style of buggy I feel. photo. certainly once behind the wheel I feel that using a pair of painted 3D plastic figures is a lot more scale than your average 'Daft Punk' lexan Capra interior? So with that little job finally done, what does the 'Capra Boogie'* look like all together at last? *note. If you've ever seen an interview on Eurosport with Tim or Tom Coronel, one of their catchphrases in English with a heavy Dutch accent is: "We're doin' da Dakar in da Boogie" - plus, as you'll see in a moment (below), turns out this vehicle can dance! photo. Axial Capra cage with aluminium bodywork (painted) and SCX10 II width F9 style axles on custom links. photo. paint scheme is a nod to the Tamiya BBX Buggy - using SuperChamp decals and dark blue paint over the raw aluminium panels. photo. I also added a radiator and fan behind the cockpit for more detail. photo. skinny Mickey Thompson tyres are very soft and grippy... actually a bit too soft and grippy on tarmac - this is very much an off-road only buggy I feel. photo. F9 style alumnium axles and Tamiya Frog shocks with soft RC4WD springs - very plush and well damped... Note the personal licence plate - Dakar buggies have to be street legal you know! photo. custom aluminium rear quarter panels to match the main bodywork, fabricated spinner mount and metal spare wheel to add weight to the rear. photo. Axial accessory LED light bar the safest way to add lights to this rough-and-tumble 'basher' buggy. And to finish... having wizzed this around the garden and along the street earlier, it turns out that it's not inconsiderable mass (aluminium axles, wheels, links, skid-plate, transmission, body-panels) coupled with a hefty 550 motor and tall skinny tyres, means this does have a tendency to tuck and roll in lift-off oversteer corners... I'm not sure how long Tom's right arm is going to last hanging out of the window like that! Still, one thing I found hysterical is that if you roll it backwards a little before taking off, it will actually wheelie like a Wild Willy or Midnight Pumpkin - huge fun! Although you have to be careful, as more than once I had it standing right up on end (maybe I need to add a wheelie bar) and even flipping it right over! Toot toot for now! Jenny x
  3. cont. Happy with the way things were running mechanically now, it was time to focus on the interior and try and hide some of the mechanics and wiring currently filling the cabin... Unfortunately while Marty had no choice but to find another seat (since the traditional Axial transmission takes up much more space in the middle of the cabin), I realised that because the transmission is mounted quite far forward now, that there ought to be enough room to install one and maybe even a pair of half-height driver figures - giving at least the impression of a deeper interior than there actually is: photo. this is the top half of a Tamiya Bruiser '4x4' driver figure, with the optional open-face helmet head fitted. As you can see in the photo above, by using part of the original back panel I'd fabricated for Marty and his bucket seat - just cut 10mm shorter to compensate for the higher cabin floor of the flat skid-plate - there is enough room behind the transmission and above the motor to mount a flat 'floor' to which the torso of the driver figure/s can be attached. It's going to be cozy in there with two of them, but at the same time it ought to mask much of the gearbox and ESC (now mounted on the inside of the right hand side panel), and give the impression of a scale interior - particularly if I decide to fit window nets too. photo. I love this casual leaning out of the window look! With a bit a Dremeling of the passenger figure, I'm delighted they both fit side by side, even if it is a bit cozy in there - and I particularly like the way his right arm effectively hides the ESC, while still allowing access to access the on/off switch below the carbon fibre dash, and the battery connectors (which will be tucked out of sight when running of course). cont.
  4. A little update... Double the fun! While I was pleased with how well the IFS front end (and custom chassis plate) worked originally - and just how fun and fast it was too - ultimately I felt the weight of this buggy and particularly being nose-heavy once the battery was installed, meant that it was likely to be a liability if I ever tried to jump it at a track etc. - so felt this was the perfect excuse to mix it up a bit, and instead re-build this more as a KOH style 'Ultra 4' 4WD buggy instead... photo. let's see what we can do with this this little lot eh? However, I was still keen to try and retain as much of the higher speed performance I'd achieved already, so together with the 13T 5-slot 550 motor which would now be mated to a traditional Axail SCX10 style 3-gear transmission, I aimed to gear it as high as possible by using a 17T pinion and corresponding spur gear: photo. doh, I bought an SCX10 III gearbox version didn't I? - that is not going to fit (original on the left). Having realised I bought the wrong PCD Axial spur gear initially, I then got an Incision version which has a multitude of mounting holes to fit all manner of carriers (and was cheaper too!) - recommended! I also fitted a high-clearance aluminium skid plate which offers a direct mount for a traditional 3-gear transmission, and will also offer improved ground clearance on this lower-slung example: photo. These eBay skid-plates are great value (currently $17) and great quality too - as long as you don't mind waiting a couple of weeks for them to ship from China. photo. rear-end is similar to before - featuring an SCX10 II width live axle on custom length 4-links, and using Tamiya Frog shocks with RC4WD soft springs fitted. photo. on all-fours, and 4WD now too - matching F9 style front axle comes complete with on-axle servo mount, and is similarly located using custom 4-links and Tamiya Frog shocks. I must admit I also much prefer the stance of this new 4WD iteration compared to the overly wide IFS version previously (the rear axle width being dictated by the Tamiya DT-03 buggy front end of course), although from a high speed stability point of view, well we'll have to see... So in that regard, I suppose we'd better get this one wired up too and test it eh? photo. initial spaghetti - but at least everything works again! It's worth pointing out that while the overall finish of these eBay axles and 3-gear transmission (in a 'quality' satin anodised silver) offers a premium feel compared to a lot of Chinese manufacturer RC components, and indeed at a glance might even be confused with similar items from Vanquish Products for example - the reality is they did need a fair bit of fettling to get everything to run smoothly, once I'd actually started to put some motive force though the gearbox and transmission... Now it's not uncommon to have to add a little grease to the gears of course (and prudent to check before assembling the vehicle), but I found that the front axle particularly had a very course feeling to ring and pinion meshing - and sure enough, having split the cases found them to be devoid of grease and also having a series of burrs around the edge of the ring gear teeth... Nothing that a quick buzz with a Dremel couldn't eradicate of course, and a dollop of quality gear grease soon saw everything running smoothly as it should - but the underpinnings of this vehicle very much needed to be 'tuned' before it's first proper excursion. I have to say, it's still a sprightly little booger too - although due to it's not inconsiderable mass and tall grippy tyres, it unfortunately continues to turn turtle if you power-off oversteer on dry pavement... so this is definitely one more suited to the dirt! cont.
  5. I don't know if it works on the over-run/breaking, but have you tried a receiver with a built-in giro? Apparently the Flysky GT5 receivers (BS6) have that facility built in, so that if the rear end steps out, it counter-steers to help correct. Whether that is allowable in your race series I'm not sure of course, but it might be a consideration? Jx
  6. Great project! Is that turquoise blue on the body a tester for the final paint colour? - If so, I wholeheartedly approve! Jx
  7. Yes, user a ruler! - If you mean the kind which fit over the top of traditional body posts, measure how much they stick up above the top of the post, then use that measurement to gauge how high you want it to sit under the body shell (don't forget to allow for the thickness of the magnet you need to glue to the underside of the body of course). Count the holes in the existing posts to ensure you cut them at the same either either side/front-to-back, and if in doubt, don't cut too much off at a time - cut them down a bit, fit the magnets to the top, and see how thew body sits, then take a little more off as required.
  8. Forgotten update! (1/11/23) Yes I know this is an old thread - but I realise I'd forgotten to include some photos of what I consider is a pretty useful update which I made over two years ago now, and also took this opportunity to change the thread title [to reflect the new driver], not least as there is very little of my original 'Desmond' crawler left now of course - in fact only the chassis rails and skid plate as I recall! Following on from my bonnet mods to the ebaYJeep towards the end of 2021, I thought I might also do something similar to the Land Crusier so that I wouldn't have to remove the body each time to change the battery: photo. It still looks surprisingly 'standard', however... photo. ...the bonnet is now hinged it for easy access to the battery compartment (and other electronics) without having to remove the body each time! Having the battery (a shorty 2S Lipo hard-case in this instance) mounted up under the scuttle panel means it was feasible to cut out the original bonnet along the crease lines, and reattach it with some working hinges - suitably modified to try and ape the original moulded detail: photo. painstakingly shaped to match in with the tongue portion of the moulded tabs. I also took the opportunity to jiggy the various badges and decals around, and get some new 'personal' plates made up to reflect the new owner: Plus one for the front end too: Right, that is this thread brought right up to date - and I trust you'll appreciate these latest mods! Jenny x
  9. One other thing to consider, although it is a more expensive route potentially, is for any wheels which use the SLW wheel/hub pattern (ie. higher quality six-bolt wheels, such as those from Vanquish Products and some other 3rd party wheel manufacturers) is to use the dedicated 'freewheel' hub from Locked-Up RC... https://www.lockeduprc.com/SLW-Bearing-Adapter-Wheel-Hubs_p_864.html They are a proper two-bearing hub, which you then bolt the wheel to using the six bolts (like a real car/truck) - I've used these on a couple of 2WD/RWD builds, including the SRB Cage-Racer - which uses SRB front and rear suspension. Jx
  10. Following on from above - I had a noodle back in my showroom (here: https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=79178&id=25648) and it appears I used the uprights/steering knuckles from the shared TL-01, WR-02 and M Chassis part sprue, together with a pair of M-03 rear stub axles (which I imagine are the same parts as the M-02 front axles, since the M-02 is RWD and the M-03 was FWD)... As I say, as long as the uprights fit into the lower wishbones of the Blitzer Beetle, you should be able to make it all work using factory Tamiya parts, even if it does require the odd spacer or different length screw. Jx
  11. As I recall, you can use the front uprights and the stub axles from one of the RWD M-chassis cars (I did this years ago with a WR-02 chassis, which has freewheeling/bearing front wheels originally) - have a look at the build manuals (they are downloadable from Tamiya USA) and see if the uprights from an M-02 or the MF-01X for example (which I know uses the bearing supported stub axles and 12m hexes on the front) have long enough axles for the wheels you have. Knowing Tamiya, I suspect the front uprights are the same width as those on your Blitzer front suspension arms, so they ought to interchange. Jx
  12. I've only just seen this. Best wishes in the next life my friend. Jx
  13. Quick update: Following on from my 'almost finished' photos, I decided that adding spoiler was probably not as authentic or 'scale' as this buggy has ended up being, so have elected to fit a spare wheel on the rear instead - which also has the benefit of adding a little extra weight to the rear as I noticed it can skip a bit over bumps and jumps, being appreciably nose-heavy once the battery is installed under the hood. photo. spare front tyre (more narrow that the rears, and a similar overall diameter) - on a spare six-stud (to match) white 8-spoke wheel I had kicking around. The mount itself was easy to fab up with a strip of 2mm styrene (together with a return lip at the front to add some more rigidity) and an M4 bolt, nut and a short spacer - again, all parts from my spares stash: photo. Initially tacked in place with superglue, then the joint to the cage beefed up with Araldite 2-part epoxy - don't worry, I've since painted over the glue with flat black paint too. photo. the wheel is an RC4WD white 8-spoke, with scale hub nuts (to match those on the main wheels), and the spinner is a random plastic part from some plastic cage set (as I recall) I'd bought some time in the past... not it is possible to make a similar spinner by using the appropriate sized wing-nut, and grinding the wings down - then gluing/soldering on a short length of tube to each stub to create the handles - see my SRB Cage Racer for an example. photo. installed in a dedicated 'garage' in my display unit, I'm calling this one done for now! Overall I'm really pleased with how this build has turned out - initially I was just going to build a 'basher' as it's not a style vehicle I have in my collection, but inevitably as the project evolved, I couldn't help but start to add more and more scale detailing - the driver and interior particularly - although at the same time, I still consider this build (using an Axial Capra Cage and aluminium front suspension/rear axle combo) robust enough for some track and general rough and tumble running... Toot toot for now! Jenny x
  14. Yes, although having run it again recently, with the weight of the battery pack up front (under the windscreen area) it is rather nose heavy, and can cause the rear end to hop a bit - so I feel adding a spare wheel and tyre on the rear is probably a better option to help readdress the current weight imbalance... I shall experiment with both. Jx
×
×
  • Create New...