Percymon

RC Xpress facebook pages suggest July 16 release date - seems they are in final throws of packaging design and testing

I've not bought bodies from BSP myself but others have reported, a few years ago, to be pretty brittle. I dare say they have lots of different suppliers. the printed bodies I've bought for bashers from ebay or here.. http://thebuildrc.com/cars.html?cat=70 have all proven to be fairly resilient - can't complain at the prices , heck it costs almost £10 to get a can of spray paint though the post these days.

You probably need 20 to 30g of stick on wheel weights, dependent upon the type , size and weight of battery you use. If you have a shorty lipo then you have the advantage of being able to move it fore / aft in the battery compartment to adjust weight balance.

Well I ordered 2, at under £8 each it was worth a punt as you say

perhaps overall too big overall but the TLR 8 bodyshell has a wide cab section; the nitro version even has a cut out on the side of the cab (sadly on the wrong side !)

Too good to be true ? two eBay sellers, one named cn18k the other cn20k, one with location Hong Kong and the other China. Could well all be genuine but.... ?????

The castke software allows you to programme a throttle curve that can be gentle or agressive in progression, it can also be plotted so that full throttle isn't 100% output. 4300/4600kV would give you nice speed

The Pajero Rally also looks good as a 'street / green laner' version too (I'm still not decided on the wheels ) Junfac front bumper btw

A cab forward design like this Durango shell may work.. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161806456865 may need a couple of small square cut outs for the top of the shocks but you may be in luck. Would need a different body post arrangement, perhaps a simple single short post epoxy bonded to the shock rower would work ? (Eg manta ray, DF-02 rising storm type)0 Not checked the dimensions of the dex210 shell though. the buggy has a ca 280mm wheelbase, and the rear section of the chassis is ca 150mm at widest point.

Also bear in mind that nitomors thread is for the re-release version of the Bruiser, not the original 25-30 year old version. I assumed from the thread title you have the original version !

Firstly welcome - and congratulations on your Bruiser, you've certainly jumped in at the deep end lol! Having just completed a Hilux rejuvenation I hopefully can point you in some direction.. First and most importantly get yourself a printed or downloaded copy of the correct manual - www.tamiyausa.com have them to download, just search for Bruiser, select the correct model and then click on the manual tab/button Or follow this link http://www.tamiyausa.com/pdf/manuals/58048ml.pdf 1.slop - assuming this is within the wheel hub area, there are three components involved - the hub shafts themselves, the brass bushing / bearing in the cast metal hub and the casting itself. If it is still using the original brass bushing and its had some use then the bushings could be excessively worn, plus maybe some wear on the shaft itself if its been run in dirty conditions. Bushings are available, either the knurled out rim originals of later plain ones (still used in many current models), or you could upgrade to metal sealed of rubber sealed ball bearings - '1150' is the Tamiya sizing. Another area of slop is the connection between the hub assembly and the main axle housing, the cast in kingpin pivot points aren't exactly a tight fit with the hub assembly so some slop is to be expected - if you study youtube videos of the various 3speed tucks you will see they do tend to jiggle about a fair bit ! 2. Sound wise there are a lot of gears in the transmission so there will be some transmission noise - i'd be more worried if you thought it was too quiet as that might indicate someone previously used thick grease which adds drag for the motor and electronics. Provided there is no clunking then you should be OK, but of course we have no knowledge on prior use. The motor may be tired / worn too, so thats another area to consider. If you have the motor off its a good idea to check the white plastic spur gear - the first one inside the transmission case. Until you are more familiar I wouldn't recommend stripping the transmission down, but there is a guide on the BruiserBuilder website that will either put you off altogether, or assist if you do decide to dabble ! 3. Shifting - sounds as though the shifting mechanism doesn't have sufficient through or torque to reach the correct end point - could be a poorly set up servo (servo arm not set at neutral point), too little arc on the servo saver arm (often by putting the linkage to one of the inner holes on the arm, rather than an outer one with greater travel) poorly set up linkage rod (is is 67mm from the kink in the rod to the face of the rod end connector ?) or poorly set selector arm on the end of the transmission. Are the trim sliders/levers on the transmitter central or significantly offset from zero trim point ? 4. Servos - everyone will have a personal choice, but 30 years ago there wasn't the selection there is today - a lot of trucks ran around on basic or mid range Acoms / Futaba servos. I put three new Allturn (available from modelsport) servos into my Hilux (on the basis I wanted to run it occassionally, so new was better for me than a period correct display piece). If you wanted to put a better servo in one location then for the Bruiser the steering is the most needy - especially if you want to be able to turn the wheels when stationary , more so on soft ground or a lawn are with high contact area. Shift servo and the speed controller only normally need standard basic servos. 5. Transmitter - personal choice, but if you want the use all three speeds then you need a minimum of a 3 channel set up with 3 position capability on the third channel - some modern TXs only have on/off on the 3rd channel. Next thought is wheel transmitter or stick ? For me it had to be an old Acoms stick transmitter (so i have the vintage experience at the control end as well as the visual delight watching the truck trundle around); if you have children then this might not be the best ergonomic solution for them; in fact you want to reduce the risk of an incorrect gear shift as much as possible ! Hope this is of some use in resolving some of your teething issues.

Keep at it Martyn, another great project you have on the go

Looks like a good starting point and you have chosen some nice items. I assume you are modifying the wheelbase to fit the HPI shell, which if I recall correctly, is 225mm wheelbase ?

This Savox is waterproof and not too bad on torque, but probably needs the external BEC to get the best from it.. http://www.modelsport.co.uk/savox-waterproof-hv-digital-servo/rc-car-products/377020 No experience of this waterproof Etronix one, but not a bad price and its metal splined and metal geared http://www.modelsport.co.uk/etronix-es092-digital-std-waterproof-metal-geared-servo/rc-car-products/378613 There is also the Traxxas 2075 , but they ca £35-40 a piece in the UK

How many of us are now scouring ebay and the charity/thrift shops for suitable bodies to get copied ? Excellent work, can't wait to see the video of the first use

Now sold @svebnb - compared to buying it all new, then yes a bargain - of course they are never worth as a whole, the sum of their parts

Replied Paul , but sold pending payment now - I'll keep you in reserve just in case it falls through

Sold subject to payment

Not sure how the prices compare Paul, but might be worth looking at fusionhobbies.com, especially as you get 5%/10% discount for Tamiyaclub forum/subscription As the Rock Socker is the cheapest CR-01 kit, its often not that much of a saving buying from the Far East; so don't rule out UK stockist with free shipping. I've replied via PM re my experiences with Banzai stainless hex head screws are a personal choice - some like them, others prefer the Tamiya screws for a more subdued look. bjorklo is spot on with the 1:1 car wheel weights too - if you buy the stick on 10g/5g/10g/5g strips from ebay they are a nice fit around the inside of the wheel centre (inside the tyre).. I'd recommend this for crawling duties, but the Rock Socker has a bit more of a speedy stadium truck about it - if thats your desire then probably wise to keep the weights to a minimum or none at all.

Too many models, and this one has sat gathering dust for too long. Enjoyed the build process, and all the hop-ups that went into it, but it has never been powered up since it was built Tamiya 58587 DT-03 Neo Fighter 2WD Buggy New built, full ball raced Carbon fibre front and rear shock tower hop-ups Tamiya alloy gearbox bottom bracing plate, servo mount and battery retainer hop-ups Rear stabiliser bar hop-up Rear universal driveshaft hop up Kit supplied TBLE ESC (brushed and brushless capable) New Sport Tuned motor installed New Bluebird metal geared steering servo fitted Non box art paint scheme designed to tie in with the TRF shocks TRF201 rear wing (kit supplied wing also available, painted in same colour scheme as the body shell) Fitted with a lightly used, but fully rebuilt with new seals etc, set of TRF HL shocks - probably worth £30 alone Unused original decal sheet included Original build manual included - think I have the box too but would have to have a search for it Never been run, so will need a bit of set-up of ESC and servo trim etc. Over £120 put into this build with motor, hop-ups and shocks payment by paypal gift, or buyer pays fees.

Time for another new built, unused shelfer to leave the stable. 58601 Tractor Kumamon Version Fun wheelie action WR-02G This is a R/C model assembly kit of a tractor with a very special driver - the popular Japanese mascot character Kumamon! Tamiya's ever popular WR-02 wheelie machine, this time in tractor guise. New built, never run - its pretty much stock bar bearings and CVA shocks Body painted Tamiya PS-22 Racing Green , nice contrast to the red wheels and tractors are not black ! Minimal decals applied - remaining decals included Kumamon driver figure still in it's box Original build manual and kit box Kit supplied silver can 540 motor Hop-up oil filled CVA shocks fitted Acoms steering servo fitted Ball bearings fitted Hobbywing Quicrun 1060 ESC - lipo compatible, easy to set up No receiver included - Hobbyking item in photos will be removed at sale Never even been powered up ! Bought for a bit of fun, but doesn't really fit with the rest of my models Would make a great summer runner for kids (large and small ! )in the back garden / park

Today, the only post to arrive was the Skoda Fabia WRC bodyset for my next MF-01X build.

Paul is spot on, the kit is pretty well sorted out of the box. Yes you can bling them up with loads of hop-ups but to be honest its more a personal thing than a necessary performance upgrade. It's easy to get carried away, especially if you start looking at the more favourable prices at Banzaihobby lol! I built my first with a lot of hop-ups (not quite to Paul's level, although he was a baaaaad influence lol! ), then decided to build a second, more stock chassis since I had so many parts unused Zip/cable tie mod keeps the cantilevers taught. Servo beds more for bling than function, ditto the battery retainers and carbon trays. The alloy shocks look quite nice but not worth the money, even at Banzai prices. I used quite a lot of alloy upgrades from KMRacing , not sure whether they are still around or support the CR-01 any longer, but they were good fit and quality..

Dependent upon the age of your son, you might want to just put bearings in the gearbox as a first stage, and leave the plastic bushings for the wheels/hubs. As the plastic bushings are not as efficient in terms of friction they will marginally slow the buggy down. They'll also tolerate muddy puddles and the odd flower bed, dependent upon his driving skills. Swapping the easy to get to bushings at a later date will give a little more speed, slightly longer run time from a battery charge - an easy upgrade so keep him interested / engaged in the maintenance upgrade cycle - even if he's 5 yrs old he can help swap bushings. You might also want to think about a slower motor , or restricting the throttle lever travel if he's very young

A piece meal evening.. built up some Manta Ray wheels from the spares box - found some NIP rims and had some cheap Seben Racing tyres and foams that are a tight fit but are perfectly good for most dirt running. stripped the cut n shut TL-01, the chassis sections off to Mr Crispy tomorrow added roof lights and interior to my 959 shell, painted the window rubber trim lines >> getting near the finish line now !