silvertriple

Super Hotshot Hornet Lunchboxes (Kamtec body shells) Turbo Scorpion

The Turbo Scorpion is not in the same court as the Javelin and Turbo Optima, so it is not really comparable. With the Javelin and Turbo Optima, you feel the traction on the front train: that is not present on the Turbo Scorpion, which is normal, as 2WD. That being said, with the Turbo Scorpion you can't pull the trigger fully while in curve (unless there is some help from the Gyro inside the RX :-) ), but it really works well for what it is. And for the Javelin and the Turbo Optima, the only real difference affecting the car behavior is the sway bars. (Shocks internal are strictly the same (only technical difference for the shocks are the color of the springs, and the way the preload is dealt with (collar, versus filleted collar), and the undertray doesn't impact the car behavior). And while I planed to mount a sway bar on the Javelin, I did not until now, because I wanted to understand what difference it makes... Now I know. The Turbo Optima turns flat and net. In the same conditions, with the Javelin, you have to decelerate before turning and re-accelerate. The Turbo Optima doesn't need as much brakes as the Javelin to do a proper turn. It is really much more efficient on this aspect. And I can tell it doesn't come from the wheels, as the Javelin was not really different with 2.2 inches wheels... Conclusion: the sway bar is making a huge difference, and if you have one thing to improve on the Javelin, it is to add a sway bar...

Finally, the Turbo Optima made its first run today in the garden. I could have done it one the track, but where I was, there was a tremplin in the middle track with no possible shortcut, and I was not ready to get the first run of the Turbo Optima there due to this (I did not really succeed to pass it smoothly with both the Turbo Scorpion and the Javelin, and my friend broke a 1/8 car on it). So it was the garden at the end of the day. At the end of the run it was a bit dirty I did manage to check the temp of the motor in the middle of the run and it was quite cold. I believe that I can add some tooth on the motor pinion (not even one but more than this, and by the way the statement is similar for the Javelin - the recommended gearing for 10.5T or 13.5T motor I found on internet seems to be overly conservative). Another statement : the sway bars present on the Turbo Optima are making a huge difference on curves on the garden slope. It is definitely easier to handle than the Javelin with no sway bar in those conditions...

It's fast, but unfortunately not very efficient for a lawnmower 😂

got some dirt on the Turbo Optima... (as well of the other cars, but I did not took pictures of the others, as it was on a track, while the Turbo Optima ran in the garden)

Indications are quite confusing. The TBLE04S is given for max 75A, but said limited to to 15.5T brushless motors. That is called being very conservative. Generally a 10.5T sensored motor is given for 63A max consumption as per the specs indicated by any of the manufacturer indicating their details specifications. I suspect playing with the timing, you may get higher than this... But I do believe it would remain in the range of what is acceptable for this ESC. And for waterproof, I really don't care: it's really easy to waterproof an ESC (there is sprays or product for that, and it is even possible it is already done but not indicated because Tamiya is over conversative on this as well).

My build space is the living room table... Mainly because my dedicated space is getting overused with additional work notes all other the place as since the Covid lockdowns it became my work place as well... I arranged my space with a box, the top of the box serves as building plate, and it is enough big to have the kit box placed on top. Inside the box, there is smaller boxes, with cluster parts, opened bags, tools and anything I would need during the build. Once the chassis is over, I have another work organisation for the paint job (which is again consisting in one movable box with all the required tools and elements I would need during the paintjob. Another comment: this organisation doesn't allow me to do parallel builds. As I only have one dedicated box for this (the one you see under the kit box on the picture). I have one box with a similar footprint and one metal plate as well dedicated to dirty jobs (unbuilding and cleaning) Other unfinished/in progress stuff (restoration awaiting for parts, for example) are awaiting in storage boxes (which they get stored in after the unbuilding... And basically, when I'm not working on building, all the boxes are stored in my space : the working box is on top, while the unbuilding box is somewhere on the side of my big desk. I just evacuated some empty kit boxes to storage to allow entry of new kits within the next months (yes, because there will be more kits incoming :-D) Edit : when building, there is often my son or my daughter around doing something else (sometimes my son is building as well a kit). And for the plate, that is the way my wife and me used to get our kids organized with legos so the do not loose parts...

Lunchbox, Hornet, grasshopper, etc... The rigid axle participate to the protection when you are running on the sand... And the big wheels on the Lunchbox makes it even better for this...

Beach, that is the field of choice to run a rigid axle car, at least sand doesn't go in the gearbox on the rigid axles chassis...

Cleaning, still cleaning, again cleaning... At least I start to see the end of that step :-D

Cleaning operations status: Galaxy RS Chassis, superstructure and roll cage cleaned Still left to do: - Galaxy RS shocks cleaning - wheels (all of them, almost, considering that when I'll need wheels, it is because i'll have progressed a lot - Motors (again, same reason as for the wheels) That's very encouraging as I can see the end of cleaning ops soon! I need to find proper joints for the shocks. I'm considering all of them dead. I need to identify the proper size (maybe Tamiya ones would fit) for inside the shocks and for the Marui Hunter shock closing joint... I will take some measurement later today for this...

It did took me approximatively 30 seconds to do a variant of my sway bar attachment for the connecting rod (the balls are 4.8mm, same as the sway bar attachement, making this easy to do). That said, I did not tested the parts, as I do not have the problem neither on the Javelin, neither on the Turbo Optima. Kyosho Optiima parts by silvertriple - Thingiverse It should work printed in PETG on the same direction as provided within the STL. That being said, I have no clue about how long it will last. I got my sway bar attachment printed in Nylon PA12 using MJF process via a online printing service, and that should be durable enough (but it is expensive - I got it printed only as I was doing other prints in the same order for my Marui Hunter; I would not order just this part as it would cost a fortune. This is the first time I designed a part that will be involved in the car's mechanics, so I won't take any responsibility if you break something with my designed part. Use at your own risk. Hope it helps.

For those with the problem with the part OT203.8, I will design a replacement printable part: I did print OTW102 replacement part for test (MJF PA12), and it works perfectly. I'll publish this part as soon as I have a chance to make it. In terms of design it is pretty much straight forward...

Finally tested the updated part for the front led with the Turbo Optima sway bar and it works... (It's published it on Thingiverse, in case you search for it: Kyosho Optima Javelin Lights Holder by silvertriple - Thingiverse) And while I was ordering my prints for the Marui Hunter, I also included replacement parts for the sway bar attachement (the design was pretty straight forward, it went untested to final print). I tested the parts and they work perfectly (they are on the picture with the other part. I will publish those parts at some point, but I want to complete this with a few other parts. I will also work out a steering link part as I saw some mentioning it breaks sometime. MJF PA12 print should work perfectly for this purpose... Edit : parts are here : Kyosho Optiima parts by silvertriple - Thingiverse