Wheel_Nut

I love the accents you made to the original colour scheme. The old models have lasting qualities that justify the purchase cost.

I'd be more likely to buy one if they created "look-alike" Falcon body style on a DT-02 chassis. There was the Neo Falcon (58401) - But the body style was too much Gundam style. (That is nothing to do with Psy, BTW).

Such a classy buggy. The first time I saw one (long ago), I was sure its worth $1000 because of all the metal parts.

The Avante came out well. Credit to Tamiya for creating a good looking design in the first place. Its a pity Tamiya gave up the idea of using FRP or CRP chassis, as it is always better than ABS bathtub. My favourite design from Mechanic_AH is the Lancia themed Super Storm Dragon. Really inspired work!

TA-04 is absolutely a thing of beauty. Now that Kyosho re-released the Optima mid, the TA-04 seems the most appropriate response from Tamiya if they were to consider a re-re.

I recall I came across this in one of my previous lives. It happens because the brushes wear on the leading edge, and the timing becomes retarded due to the wear pattern. If the motor was brand new, the speed would be the same in both directions.

The surprising thing about the Frog is how well it performs compared to other Tamiya buggies of the time. I don't really like anything about the design, but the handling is better than I expected.

The design looks good. This time the steering linkage looks so much better than the TD-4. It also solves the battery access problem. IMO, TD-2 >> TD-4! I'd be interested to know how good a mid-motor buggy is on a traditional dirt track.

The potential problem is dirt contamination. It will become abrasive, so its probably not very helpful to maintain the life of shock seals.

I'm hoping for a less compromised design than the TD-4. It shouldn't be too much to ask!

Answer = NO! Its just common sense.

I'm surprised no body mentioned this, but the main power loss with old motors is due to loss of spring tension when the brushes are worn down. Putting new brushes that have full length will create more tension on the spring and allow the motor to generate more torque. Cleaning the commutator is a good idea as well.

I doubt the problem is with RCMart. Even if something unexpected happens, they will eventually despatch everything and I found their customer service follow up is 100% if there are issues. The problems are due to demands on international shipping. Even getting parcels though customs these days will have a large backlog and could be stuck for weeks. Further delays to get air service. If you want to get something quickly, you probably need to pay for FedEx service.

Gear differential used on the Frog, Fast Attack, Wild one, Hotshot series. The bevel gears are too small and makes unwanted crunching noises. CC-01 steering is probably the winner, although the CC-02 bump steer also looks bad.

Independent front suspension would be easier. Many people have adapted the WT-01 gearbox into independent suspension, such as my Hornet from 1994. Maybe you could duplicate the same WT-01 gearbox at both ends, but with universal drive shafts at the front. Another idea I had is to use two TA-01/ Mantaray rear gearboxes, and make a dual motor truck, then all the drive shafts and uprights should be off-the-shelf. Even the 4WD Mantaray drive-train with a shortened drive shaft could be adapted, as a single brushless motor should really have enough torque when geared at 1:11.27.