foz75

Wow, that looks really good, and not too complicated either! What exactly does the chipping fluid do? And does the TS paint damage the lexan in anyway? Is it easy enough to remove or paint over if required? I've only ever used it on ABS bodies

Thanks, I've already seen JennyMo's builds, and if I can get results only half as good as those, I'll be happy! Waterproof wouldn't be an absolute necessity, but would be very good, just in case... I'm fascinated by the many many beetle bug crawler builds on the internet in general. My long term plan, after too many hours of research and youtubing, is something like an MST CMX with a sand scorcher body.

I'm not sure this is either the correct section or even forum for this so please move as necessary! I've seen a lot of builds, usually of the "scale" type, that have some amazing, realistic and detailed paint and finishing, and I'd like to try something similar myself but have no idea where to start. Can anyone give any hints, tips, help, etc? I'm not sure yet if lexan or ABS body shell, but assume it will easier with ABS? Where's the best place to learn about model painting ? Thanks!

Looks good, mine is still unfinished... Which gold wheels, and where from? Am leaning towards box art but with gold wheels too...

I like these! The dark red one and the blue one especially (which colour is that exactly?) My Fox will be blue though, so I'd like something different for this... I quite like metallic orange, but I just did blitzer beetle in that colour, so maybe shouldn't repeat? Need to look at painting all the red parts a different colour too... There aren't many body colours that combine well with a black and red chassis

I'm really enjoying my Hotshot build so far, but am still undecided on the paint... box art red is always good, but does anyone have a pic or suggestion for another colour? Google has a few - purple, green, white, black... none of them really convinces me - is red really the best way to go?

Well that's what I thought about the e-clip, but once the whole rear end is put together, I can't see the outdrive falling out The rear diff is tighter than the front, but also the two sides of the gearbox don't fit together 100% with both e-clips in place, it will tighten up so there are no gaps, but then the diff doesn't work... will keep investigating - next step is to use aftermarket bearings instead of the kit bearings, maybe they're just a little thinner and will let everything work. If not, I think I will build without the e-clip and see how it goes. Either way if I have to strip it all down again it's annoying, but at least without the e-clip nothing is binding or locking the gears together and they all turn freely

OK, I've had the gearbox apart, checked the bearings, and really given them a good knock as hard as I dare to make sure they're seated. There's a very slight improvement, but the diff is still nowhere near as free as it should be. The front is fine. I could file a tiny amount from the bevel wheel axle "stub" which should fix it. So my next question is, does it really matter if the outdrive e-clip is installed or not? The ones in my blitzer beetle are just pushed in. They are not as loose as the ones on the hotshot, but are not held in by any sort of clip, etc. i can only see it being a problem if a dogbone pops out while driving?

the bevel gears are definitely in the right way, they can't be put in the wrong way round. Will check that the bearings are seated properly (again!)

I hope this is the right section to post this, please move if not I started my hotshot build last night. Rear gearbox is now built and motor attached. But I had to leave out the right hand side e-clip from the outdrive. With this in, the two sides of the case would not close correctly, and when I tried tightening them down, the diff would bind and act like it was locked. Without the e-clip, the case closes correctly, everything turns smoothly, and the diff works correctly. The only catch is that the right outdrive is not held into the gearbox and can fall out I'm assuming this won't be a problem when everything is built, as the dogbone will keep it in place? Can anyone confirm, before I get further into the build?

They're here, mine arrived this week

I'm not too worried about the triangluar hubs themselves as I plan on changing to hex adaptors and using other wheels at some point. It's the other red parts - front and read vertical arms, suspension parts, etc) that I'd like in a different colour. There are two D aprts sprues included though, so I can experiment

That's what google was saying, so looks like painting is the only option. Not sure I will do it yet, I fancy something slightly different to box art, but with the red parts other options are limited as the colours seem to clash. thanks!

Are there any alternatives in black to the red hot shot parts trees? Some parts can probably be painted, others maybe not, so I was wondering if there are any others that fit. Lots of google searching makes me think there aren't, but there seems to be a lot more knowledge on here than on google so I thought I'd ask!

those look very nice, what are they?