jonathanuk

Thank you! I should try to take some more detail shots.

Thanks, I spent quite a lot of time getting the body and driver just how I wanted them, it was worth the effort. They are the Tamiya hop-up option part 53155 Low Friction Aluminium Damper Set. Not sure that they are off any model specifically, just off-road and rally cars.

Took it out for a spin in the snow today, man this thing does not like the snow!! It's not that it beached, although driving into a snow drift did have that effect, it was the rear wheel drive that just spun up too easily and dug itself a hole, which then beached the body really quickly. I haven't tried it on sand yet, paradoxically, but I imagine it handles the sand much better.

Here is the new rear suspension, it really makes a big difference on my model as the rear no longer sags, it sits at full stretch and has a nice amount of bounce to it. I left the torsion bars in (they didn't do much anyway). Also in this picture is the velcro which holds my custom built driver platform in place... I removed the bracket which would have held him to the side of the body and glued in a flat bottom inside the driver, drilled a hole and screwed him to the platform. I did the same with his head (it is screwed to his body). I think the platform works brilliantly to cover up the radio box. I'd like to build a rear parcel shelf too at some stage. Here's the new suspension with the body on, hardly noticeable: A few additional modifications which are not obvious include brass rod inserted into the wing mirrors - yes, the moment I flipped it they snapped off (as I thought they might), I drilled a small hole at both sides and inserted about 10mm of brass rod, it has enough grip to hold the wingmirrors in place without glue, they haven't come off since. I have also performed a similar operation on the exhaust, which I managed to accidentally snap off while I was fitting the rear shocks. It now has a thick brass rod going down the middle. Things left to do on it include white text on the tyres, some sort of dashboard (got half-way with this then got fed up with all the plastic card work!), put some decals on, and I would like to fit a better ESC if there's one suitable. Thank you to all who answered my questions on these forums that led me to the rear shocks! I can now at least enjoy my Sand Scorcher the way it was meant to be, and not stuck in a repair bay.

The new rear wheels are a hex fit, I sourced a company that manufactured a hex to pin adaptor which fits the Sand Scorcher perfectly but sadly not these particular wheels. I had to cut off several millimetres from one end of the adaptors (they are just soft aluminium so easy to work with) to enable the wheels to go far enough on to screw the nut on good and proper. The white wheels are from RC4WD, Stamped Steel 1.55 Stock White Beadlock Wheel. They come as a set of four, so I have two spare as I only fit them to the rear. The tyres are also from RC4WD, Dirt Grabber 1.55 All Terrain Tires (US spelling on their website), they come as a pair. The hex adaptors are from Radshape Sheet Metal Ltd, actually located in Birmingham (UK). They manufacture a number of RC parts, including specifically for the Sand Scorcher. Here are the wheel adaptors on their website: Radshape Hex wheel adaptors I also purchased the metal front and rear bumper / cage from RC4WD, and a set of their wheels - Billet Beadlock Wheels Tamiya Sand Scorcher, Frog, Grass Hopper. The wheels were a bit awkward to get the tyres on to (as were the plastic kit wheels), and one of the wheels was actually damaged in the packet but they were happy to send me a replacement so all was good. I also had to increase the bore of the wheels as they were just a bit too tight on the Sand Scorcher axels. To achieve this I wrapped some sandpaper around a small screwdriver and pushed the wheel around on the floor, using the screwdriver shaft as the axel. Worked a treat. More...

Finished modifications to the bodywork, now ready to be painted: I sprayed the interior and inner wheel arches with a dark matt grey (some paint I had left over from a Tiger Tank I had previously). I then masked off all of these painted areas and the windows. I used Tamiya light grey primer as the undercoat for the outside of the body: The top coat is Camel Yellow TS-34, to make it really look yellow over the not-so-light grey primer I had to use two tins (several thin coats). My first effort at painting a rigid body, it wasn't perfect but not really bad either. I painted on the rubber window seals and other details using Humbrol enamels: Here we are with new Stamped Steel 1.55 Stock White wheels and 1.55 Dirt Grabber tyres on the back, Buggy Champ wheels and tyres on the front: In this picture you can see how the rear suspension is sadly sagging, this gets cured later with the addition of some proper shocks (more on that later). In order to fit the front Buggy Champ wheels I had to make a washer out of some plastic card (as I didn't have any slim washers handy), they are just to fill a space as the wheels are obviously slightly narrower than the Sand Scorcher ones, so would wobble a bit without the spacer/washer.

I purchased the 2010 Sand Scorcher last year as a big boy's toy, if I'm honest I probably enjoy the building as much as the using (which I don't do nearly as much as I'd like). I had problems with the dampers so purchased an alternative set from a seller on eBay, this seems to have improved the situation but the rear still sagged and I couldn't see how to make it better; after much searching and eventually joining the Tamiya Club forums I finally managed to source a set of good shocks that fit and are just the job thanks to advice from other members. Here are some photos from start to finish. The body modifications were inspired by a large build thread I saw on a forum (I forget which now), the colour from a real life Baja buggy I saw photos of on the internet and liked the look of, the wheels and chrome bumpers were just a whimsy because I much preferred them to the plastic. My inspiration for the look and feel: Making the inner wheel arches: Front wheel arch close-up: I used plastic sheet from a model shop to make the wheel arches, they are pretty much exactly like on a real car except perhaps deeper into the body to accommodate suspension and other bits. More to follow.

Yes, I still have the torsion bars connected up. It's the torsion that's the problem, I just want to replace it with springs on the dampers, it looks like I have a good candidate in the Tamiya 53155 part though.

Unfortunately nowhere near 55mm though, I've looked on RC4WD for shocks before.

Excellent! Just what I was after - something I can purchase that does the job! Thank you. I don't really care about scale looks, I just want to play with the thing down at the beach. Besides, the shocks will be hidden away under the rear arches and behind the wheels, nobody will see them. Question is... red or blue? My Scorcher is Camel Yellow, so perhaps blue? I've painted the inner wheel arches dark grey so blue would hopefully blend in even better back there.

I think these are the ones I have on at the moment, they are very well made and excellent dampers, they just don't provide any spring.

I think so. I tried putting the brass section in the other way up but it didn't fit, and was nigh impossible to seat without it flipping back over (pointing downwards).

Firstly, I apologise as I know this topic must have been covered a lot on these forums, but I've just spent the last ten minutes trawling search results and found nothing, so here it is again... Please could somebody advise me on the best shocks that I can fit to the rear of the 2010 re-release edition of the Sand Scorcher? Springs on the inside or outside, doesn't matter to me, just as long as there's minimal work required to get them fitted and working. I've already fitted a replacement set of dampers to all four wheels (I couldn't use the originals, they leaked even just sitting on the shelf), to be honest I'd be quite happy to purchase a set of pre-made shocks if it means they will work first time. The front seems fine, but if that suspension will be improved by a set for the front then I may do that too. I have been advised that 1/16 shocks can be a good fit for the Sand Scorcher (55mm on the rear), but knowing which ones fit best is something I haven't got the money to find out. Thank you for any and all advice on this subject! When I have my Sand Scorcher working properly I'll be uploading photos, I've done quite a nice job of fitting inner wheel arches (using online photos of someone else's efforts for reference) and a simple interior shelf to cover the radio box. Just sad that I haven't been able to use it properly yet, the rear suspension just sags and bottoms-out, it has no spring to it at all.