Mark_C

As I mentioned its all one circuit board

My original monster beetle glass part came today. As many will know this has a rear window that the re-re's don't get due to cost saving by Tamiya. Whilst the part is complete with no cracks or splitsthe exposed sections of window were rather hazy with light scratches, here's that elusive rear window. A little effort with some brasso on the other corner side: Looking a whole lot better Front screen After: The body to put this in should turn up in a day or two.

Attack-R vs Flysky GT3B. Here is the GT3B. all controls are on the top next to the screen. All buttons and the screen are mounted to the same circuit board. Ideally you'd use the raised top section (this is a separate piece) as it has the perspex screen to protect the display and the holes for the buttons/dials. When offered up to the Attack-R its too long for the raised section. You could probably just about squeeze it in but I don't think it'd look good. Note the GT3B also wants 8 AAs, but swapping these out for a lipo pack is quite common.

My attack r turned up today, I've offered up the flysky gt3b screen and its too long as I suspected, so will look in to other options.

busted

Encouraged by this thread I've bought an Attack R transmitter for £4.20 and am now thinking about how I can achieve something similar. I have a bunch of cars with flysky receivers in them, so ideally I want to go that way. I do have a GT3B transmitter that could become a donor, but the screen is rather big and the circuit is all one piece, at about 15cm long and needing 8 batteries its doing to be a squeeze. One way of doing it could be to 3d print a whole new back half to the casing and ensure its deep enough to have the circuit board/display behind the sticks and pointing backward. I could look for a different flysky donor that still works with the receivers. I've also got a spare spectrum receiver, finally I have one of those cheap carson setups that I could just transfer to the futaba, but thats a pretty limited option as it will only do one receiver etc. Interested to see your Attack R conversion when you do it. I will post whatever I end up doing too.

I bought a original monster beetle from ebay recently, it hasn't been a shelf queen and there are obvious signs of use, the diff is fine - I had the gearbox apart to fit bearings. Given the cost of the MIP unit I'd build it as-is, it only takes a few minutes to have the gearbox out if you wanted to fit it later.

It is tonystamiyaparts975 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/tonystamiyaparts975 Edit: I think this is the parts bag you need? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tamiya-51076-DF-02-B-Parts-Upright-TT02B-DF02-Rising-Storm-Gravel-Hound-NIP/392003313169

According to the LRP website they are shipping goods again, so either someone bought them or they found an investor. http://www.lrp.cc/index.html

Thanks, the rims have a fair bit of gravel rash anyway, so may replace them.

Grass and gravel I guess. Its hard to show in photos but the tyres just seem too big, they just don't fit on the rims that well. I just found them (or similar) on ebay: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-x-5-Spoke-Green-Wheels-Full-Spike-Tyres-1-10th-4WD-Buggy-Car-RC-PRE-GLUED/302343572230?hash=item466514cb06:g:gIYAAOSwjk9ZOQ~E so 42mm and 34mm if I stick with those wheels I guess.

Thanks, I see that kit on ebay for about £12 all in, might go that way. Any idea on tyre widths for 2.2" wheels ? are they all the same ?

So grease and ESCs turned up. The sharp eyed amongst you will have noticed the lower arm on the DF-02 in my last post is on back to front, probably because I was messing around spacing them out and trying to get the U clip back in. So I pulled the whole lot off and re-assembled and this time arms, washers and clip all went together first time! result! If you recall, the DF-02 had gash dampers, so I bought the DT-03 ho up kit (also listed for the DF-02) and the result was... well, awful. The front springs were so weak there was no rebound whatsoever and the back was also way too soft. On the back I ended up using all the spring spacers I could lay my hands on and used the innermost lower mount: On the front rather more drastic action was needed. The original front dampers were the fake type that are filled with goo and have no piston inside, they had the original rear springs on them, so I reinstalled those springs: Looks a bit naff, but I at least have some suspension now. Pretty sure this car was original an RTR s it had a Tamiya servo. I added a flysky fs-gr3c receiver and etronix ESC and the car runs.. Not sure the motor is that great - I actually had it smoking when I first got the car going, but seems to have settled down. I know the previous owner just threw the motor in it to sell, I had to fit bullet connectors to it, so pretty sure its just whatever he had laying around. The car has 2.2" wheels on it, the tyres were partially glued (not very well) and inside it had foams that were sopping wet. Hot water released the glue but the tyres seem a bit big for the wheels and the "sidewall" is very soft, in the second picture below I pulled the tyre off by just pushing a little with my thumb. You can mount the tyre with two fingers by just pushing the wheel in to the tyre - they are very loose and unsurprisingly come off pretty quickly if you drive the car on grass, gravel or tarmac. Not sure if I should get new tyres or wheels or both ? Are 2.2" tyres standard widths ? All a bit new to me.. The Monster Beetle is also up and running, the tyres slip inside the wheels terribly, so they need gluing, I think I will try the elastic band trick first. Anyone got an original or re-re body they want rid of ? the green clashes with the red chassis a bit! Same receiver & esc as the DF-02. I avoided the Hobbywing 1060 that I've used before because they are a bit stingy on the wire lengths, which meant it'd be quite a stretch in the MB for the motor, the switch would have to go somewhere off and they don't provide mounting holes in the switch either. Shame, because I think the 1060 is a great little ESC. The Etronix has a mountable switch and the wires are much longer but the ESC itself is quite big. Anyway, here it is:

I couldn't PM Pintopower, but in his unboxing video he was wondering what the ESC was, I just fitted this to a car: I bought this branded as an Etronix Probe Plus 2.0 ( https://www.modelsport.co.uk/etronix-probe-plus-2-0-brushed-wp-electronic-speed-controller/rc-car-products/397047 ) to get a car running and realised it looked pretty much the same when I opened it. Instructions that came with it https://i.imgur.com/pvdcot4.jpg

I have a different cheapo chinese esc that came in a car I bought - it works but I can't even find out a motor turn limit for it, let alone if there is a way to set the neutral position etc. I wouldn't buy one from choice. I would assume you'll need to run a separate lipo alarm on that one ? even if it has one I'm not sure I would trust it... I've got both a Hobbywing 1060 and an older 1040. They are pretty good little escs but take a good look at the car its going in, they're a bit stingy with the wire lengths, especially the on/off switch. They actually don't work well in some of my cars because I can't mount the switch somewhere accessible because the wire is too short. Motor wires are better, but still a bit on the short side. I actually avoided buying the Hobbywing for the last couple of escs because the cars it was going in meant that the motor wires wouldn't reach and I couldn't put the switch anywhere sensible. I'd pay a quid or two extra if they added a couple of inches to the wires and put a proper mountable switch (i.e. has screw holes) on. Last time I bought a couple of these instead: https://www.modelsport.co.uk/etronix-probe-plus-2-0-brushed-wp-electronic-speed-controller/rc-car-products/397047 I've installed them but not run yet. The wires are much longer and has a mountable switch, 14T (vs 12T for the HW1060) is good enough but the unit itself is a fair bit bigger than the 1060.

I like this - just pulled a flysky FS-GT3B apart, but I think the circuit board might be a bit big, its 14cm long so I'm not sure if it will work as a donor.

Replaced the missing screw in the Blitzer bumper and installed the bearings. DF-02 and Monster Beetle built up as far as I can go as I'm waiting for grease for gearboxes. DF-02 arms all got shimmed with washers to take up the horrendous amount of play. Trying to line up the arms, washers and take the tension off the U clip took a certain amount of swearing before it worked.. Grease, CVAs (for the DF-02) and escs will hopefully turn up tomorrow, then I have all I need to make these two run.

Searched for bits I wanted to buy, awkward to find grease as the Tamiya stuff (of any kind..) doesn't seem to be sold here any more. Eventually found some replacement for both ceramic and moly. I did spend ages looking at cycle greases etc to see if I could get anything locally but it was unclear if they were/are safe for plastics so just gave up. Then looked at brushless setups for the DF-02, was considering a GoolRC setup, but got put off by reports here and elsewhere of failures and difficulty with setup, also every ebay seller is shipping from China (despite what their location claims) and have poor feedback ratings. I think its just a case of scraping the barrel a bit too much. I did look at a few others, where are more like £50-60 upwards instead for £30 or under for the GoolRC. Decided to just get a cheap ESC and run the silver can that it came with. I was going to get two more Hobbywing 1060s, but after a quick mock up of the Monster Beetle chassis and my existing 1060 it became apparent that the leads aren't long enough, also the switch won't mount nicely because its too small - I wish they put normal sized switch on them and the leads a little longer - I have a 1040 too in a CW-01 and the leads are too short in that too. Had a look around at mtroniks which have alukewarm reception, so ended up with an etronix - switch will mount ok, just have ot wait and see on the lead lengths. I'm waiting on 7 (!) separate packages next week, then I can get on and build up these cars. I guess thats just an indication of how the hobby is now - no local shops, all the stuff has to come via mail order.

Its not much work really, only nuts and bolts. I was aware I can run nimh + brushless but it seems kind of pointless to not fully exploit the power of the motor. Not sure I can be bothered with the upkeep of lipos though.I'll have look at the trackstar/skyrc stuff.

Over the past couple of days, all newly acquired: This: Ended up like: On the whole, its in pretty good condition, I think its the first time it's been apart. Everything has been washed/cleaned/degreased awaiting reassembly. Not sure on the motor, it looks a bit old and doesn't have any connectors on. I may just replace it. Recommendations for a budget brushless setup please ? (needs an ESC anyway). The one issue it has is the shocks. as you may notice, the rears have been replaced. One felt distinctly dodgy, sure enough: Shaft is bent, shock is holding no oil. Also, the eyelets are too big for the mounting bolt, leaving both ends of the shock banging around on the mount: The front looks like the little CVAs, except they aren't. The shaft is just a screw and the body is full of some goop or other. So I'm going to replace them all with the CVAs - unless someone has a good aftermarket shock suggestion? Onwards to the Monster Beetle. It has also been stripped down, a few broken bits: Bits are on order. Meanwhile, its sat in its box. Other than the above, nothing majorly wrong, the gearbox was very tight but I think was just gummed up with old grease. It came without a body, which its pretty expensive when you add up all the various bits. For now, this car will run the spare green body that came with the Blitzer Beetle, as seen below. Spare shell (top) that will live on the Monster Beetle for now: Finally, the Blitzer Beetle. This thing is pretty much new. It has a unbranded cheapo ESC but seems to work fine. I have noticed however that the steering seemed weak, so I stripped the servo out and found that is was extremely weak and had restricted movement - its a real cheap item. When powered up the motor inside seems to be running just when powered up, it vibrates and you can audibly hear the motor sort of running. So I binned it and replaced with a Futaba that was running the MSC in the Monster Beetle, its like night and day! Other than that I've dusted it off, there is very little wear. I need to get one of the long screws that secure the bumper as one is missing. Whoever built this did a good job, after seeing the mess someone made of the Lunchbox I have (and rebuilt) its nice to see. The only thing I did do was to stick the driver back in with contact adhesive, it was using double sided tape that didn't stick well and actually stopped it sitting on the locating boss properly. Bearing kits on the way for both Beetles and 8 1150s for the hubs of the Plasma Edge (it already has bearings in the gearboxes). Once I have these, I'll rebuild them. So, I have a few questions so I can make some more progress... Grease - this lot needs rebuilding. DF-02 has metal on metal, the others have both plastic and metal. I know its ceramic or plastics and moly grease for metal, but can I use this new (to me) cera-grease for everything ? I see people talking about cycle chain waxes and spray greases, but not sure which one and for which purpose. I'm not stuck on using Tamiya stuff so if anyone can point to UK supply or whatever is a good option I'd be grateful. Shocks - Anyone have a recommendation for the DF-02 other than the CVAs ? Also for the DF-02 can anyone suggest a budget brushless combo ? Still not sure if I want to go that way as lipo batteries seem a pain in the backside, but I'll take a look.

Decided I wanted something else to fiddle with, so the fleet has doubled in size with: DF-02 Plasma Edge Blitzer Beetle & spare shell Monster Beetle The Plasma Edge is now completely disassembled and all parts cleaned. It needs all shocks, esc and probably a motor. The Blitzer is practically new and doesn't really need anything. The Monster Beetle is going to use the spare shell from the Blitzer for now. It needs a rear suspension arm which is cracked at the screw mount, also the very front crossmember that the bumper screws in to is broken. Its now stripped awaiting cleaning and parts to re-assemble. On order are the two parts for the Monster Beetle, bearing sets for both Beetles and 8 1150s for the Plasma Edge (this has bearings in the gearboxes, but brass bushes in the hubs). I need to order x2 ESCs, x1 motor and the shocks for the Plasma Edge. I will eventually get a new shell for the Monster Beetle, but by the time you add all the bits up its about as expensive as I paid for the whole car.

Thanks guys, I may go the 50519/20 route and get some thicker oil too.

Rebuilding a Plasma Edge, it needs complete new shocks all round for a few reasons and I found the 54567 CVA kit, which is really meant for DF-03 but Tamiya list it for the DF-02 too. I'm a bit confused, looking at the picture: Bottom right corner appears to have the usual set of pistons that allow you to tune the shocks, but the shafts to their left appear to have a built in piston.. so does this mean the kit is a fixed setup and the pistons (on the right) are of no use ? I ask because I know the DF-02 is considered underdampened, so wanted to go for the one hole pistons to create a stiffer setup, the only other real option is to buy all the bits for the stock setup which will work out quite expensive. Alternatively do I look at aftermarket shocks (any suggestions?) - I'm a bit wary of ending up with cheap stuff The car is only for bashing, so doesn't need to be anything remarkable.

Good point about the brushless support, I'm a bit old school - so far I've stuck with brushed motors (and nimh) but having the ability to upgrade later may be useful.

I haven't seen much in the way of price rises in the UK, rules are different of course, but all they'd need to do is raise the wholesale price, retailers would have to pass on the increase.