NeonScorcher

Started out yesterday with a regular black DX4s opening the case to repair the D/R wheel, where the axle had snapped. Ended up with this today.

The CR-01 has the most parts I ever had in any Tamiya kit. That one was a very interesting and long build for me.

You could go with a beetle. I used the body from Racer's Paradise and trimmed it to fit.

Hi djmcnz, I can recommend the Hobbywing Xerun Justock XR10. It doesn't go down to 4.5T (which would be quite unusual for a crawler anyway), but to 8.5T on 2S (rated 60A on up to 3s). It's for sensored motors, but you can also use sensorless motors with it. For crawling it offers a special profile you can load with the LCD programming box, where both directions work symmetrical. You then can break going forward and backward (or even auto-break). I haven't seen that in any other ESC yet. Probably other Hobbyking Xerun ESCs with higher rating also can use this profile. I have it in a Axial AX-10 with a 21.5T motor, operates very smooth, doesn't need the fan. I also run it in several other cars with different brands of motors, e.g. with a 13.5T Turnigy motor in an M-Chassis (also without the fan) and with a 10.5T Turnigy motor in a TT-02B (this one needs the fan due to limited airflow). I don't think it is water proof, though. And I haven't tried a LRP motor with one, still I don't think they wouldn't match. I find the Hobbywing ESCs very reliable, have been using those since when they were only available directly from China and still have three of those first ones, still working great. You can tell I'm a fan . Cheers.

@Fabia130vRS: I had a 10.5T in it, which was almost too much, 13.5 should work well. The gearing is quite limited. Like you mention space is tight which made me think of a slightly wider chassis. I was also thinking of using a 1/12th servo, there is not much weight to move at the front. Let us know how your 1/16th servo holds up once you drive it. A really interesting project - I will have to give it another try.

@yogi-bear: Thank you for offering the picture. Don't know if I will use it though - if I try again, that is - as I was thinking about a wider chassis in the front to be able to lay the servo down. I once had a F1 (maybe F101?) with that kind of layout. Will have to see if and when I get around to try this again. But still am very interested in such a modified chassis. Was about to sell my F103GT when I saw this post.

@Fabia130vRS: Thanks a lot for sharing your pictures. Looks very good what you did there, will be interesting how the wood handles. The idea to use the original chassis as a drilling template didn't occur to me - that might do the trick to get the holes lined up properly. I drew on paper, cut it out and glued it to the fibre plate. That and the cutting went quite well, I just botched the drilling. Maybe I'll try again after all. But like you I also thought about learning CAD, which might be used on other projects, too. Will have to look into that.

Has anyone yet created (or got their hands otherwise on) usable CAD files for a M-M chassis and upper deck? I tried making my own chassis from a fibre plate, and the drawing went just fine. But since I have no box culomn drill I used a hand held one, which resulted in holes that were slightly off (although I marked the right spots with a centre punch). So it got me a wheelbase of 226mm on one and 224mm on the other side - won't try to drive that . Did I say it wouldn't be too hard? Hmm... Unless I can have a chassis made professionally, I won't attempt it again. As I want to race it, it should at least run straight. I'll take care of erratic driving myself. Hence the question if anyone might have usable CAD files to send to fibre-lyte or such. @Fabia130vRS: Did you manage to make a chassis or have one made? If so, would you share your experience? Loking forward to your replies. Cheers, Jan

Ah, the secret ingredient - a F104 diff joint. That makes it clear, thanks a lot for your help and pictures!

Hi mailboxck, great conversion! I am a big fan of the minis, it would be great to have a GT version. Right now I have a dismantled F103GT before me. The shorter chassis won't be too hard. Also the shorter rear axle. But I can't imagine how to shorten the diff - the housing won't be a problem and can be sanded down (1st picture), but the adapter it sits on (2nd picture) would have to be shortened, too. Could you post some pictures what you did to achieve 1cm less length of the diff side? That would be most appreciated. Cheers, Jan

Brothers in off road racing Will be testing on the track some time soon. Test runs have been very promising. By the way, as the original front dampers had too little travel for my taste I mounted some slightly longer ones, also from Ansmann I had lying around. They work well.

Next some color, good visibility is a must . The tires are for an Ansmann ShortCourse Truck and fit well in terms of a desert buggy style look - I think. Feel free to comment . The body again came from Racer's Paradise. It is a rather nice classic Beetle, relieved of most of its fenders.

Coming along quite the way I had imagined.

As I already had a Neo Scorcher on TT-02B it was natural to think of using this chassis as a basis. The body mounts would have to be custom made, as the TT-02 onroad version doesn't allow for long dampers and the offroad version has only a single post in the front and back of the chassis. So I had to improvise: In the front I cut a part from resin that would attach with the damper bridge to the diff housing. In that I drilled some holes and filed them rectangular to fit some spare body posts I already had. In the back I used the damper bridge and also drilled holes and fit some body posts.

After finishing my DT-03 Bug-Truck, which is basically a DT-03T with a beetle shell and offroad tires, and after taking this picture with the Racing Fighter and the Neo Scorcher, I thought about giving the Bug a 4WD brother.