MadAnt

I have good news and bad news, I'll start with the bad news. I'm probably not going to start stage 3 anytime soon or even this year at all. Why? Sometimes things just work too good to mess with. This truck has become one of my favorite runners in my RC fleet, it's like it needs almost nothing to make it better. The ballance of power and handling work so well together and even at its slow top speed it's very enjoyable. This enjoyable state is something I don't want to ruin, because I know the rabbit hole I'll fall into if I go modifying things, it becomes a game of fixing things to fix other things. That's why I'm just going to leave it alone... mostly, maybe I might change the tires and do other tiny upgrades in the future, but nothing drastic like what was planned lol. So, now for the good news! I picked up an incomplete WT-01 Blackfoot Xtreme and that is where I have started stage 3. I have already started a thread for it, which I'll link here. Yes, big power, long shocks and experimental parts, tuning and whatnot will be done to the WT-01 just to make it "better".

Looking good so far👍

The Hornet Evo has an updated/modified Hornet/Grasshopper chassis, but the part numbers for the Hornet/Grasshopper and Hornet Evo replacement chassis are all the same. I don't know if the replacement chassis are being updated and that is why the parts numbers are the same, or it could be an error that Tamiya has made. Time will tell when someone gets their hands on a new replacement chassis.

No painting this weekend, it rained, but I did get the front shocks fitted for now. I'm using the old shocks from my Hotshot II, I will have to order a couple sets of the re-re parts to achieve my vision. I have another set of white wheels, so when the weather is good and I have some time I can paint those too, but I'll see. The spring time allergies have not been kind to me this year, making me feel sick, like I have the flu. I want to do so much, but I keep feeling exhausted and sucks having a hard time breathing while coughing and hacking. At least I feel better when it rains.

That hub looks so cool! Great work!👍

I've been using silicone grease for plastic gears. It thins out on the gears making them spin easy while staying slippery. Crawler transmissions that go through water is a different story. Not worried about speed, so I've used tacky marine grease on the gears and gearbox seams and bearings. The grease helps with sealing the cracks so muddy water does not get in.

I've never heard of that, maybe if someone has has an insane brushless powerplant I can see that happening, but your gear does look fine in the picture.

If all the same size, it does not matter. It's the rest of the shock setup that matters, like what pistons and oil you are using, or maybe you want to run different springs in front than the rear.

RC4WD Dirt Grabbers maybe.

As my collection had grown over the years, some cars have become shelf queens. Also some are vintage and have been refurbished, so the good thing about re-release kits is that I don't need to harm the originals to have some fun. Some cars are just waiting to be used, so they sit on the shelf but are not for showing off. Also, I try to keep them clean, I don't like to track dirt everywhere, so sometimes I need to give some cars a good soapy scrubbing after a real messy run session. Here's the hornet evo getting dirty. Here it is clean again.

And then 3 minutes later, one of the brittle old polycarbonate control arms broke, putting an end to his enjoyment. Anyway lol, one topic. I'm a bit biased because I already own a vintage OG Hotshot II with Supershot and custom upgrades. I'm aware of the issues the Hotshot may have and that Hotshot II was an improvement, but some of the issues still existed. So, knowing this, if I were to buy one of the three new re-re Hotshots names, I'd pick the Hotshot II. As far as the other evolutions in the family go, I don't know. 3 shocks are better and stranger lol.

Rotate the upper shock C bracket or whatever it's called about 45° with the head of the screw facing out. I don't remember if I put any spacers in my rear shocks, but the external one is necessary to space the lower spring cup up for clearance with the control arm.

Looking good. There should be plenty of of plastic meat that can be filed off, I recommend just removing the minimum to get just enough clearance. Once the bellcrank can swing left and right without any resistance it should be ok. The issue was really easy to miss, because it would only show up when the bulkhead/arm mount was screwed down and had flexed.

Looking good. Print some long skinny posts that will fit both, then you just have to change the position of the body clips.

Two of my Hornets have and my Hotshot 2 have them, the braking actually seems too good.

Ahem.... lol. I might have to look into those soft jaw pliers, it would be nice to not chew up things. The Hornet EVO is an interesting kit, and some things that I and others have pointed out can be easily fixed during assembly. For just a fun runner, most of the stuff that's included in the kit should be enough to get a good chassis setup. I think you will enjoy it once you get the Hornet dialed in.

Kyosho might have something, maybe for the scorpion platform.

From what I have found, a leak can happen without a damaged or worn out O-ring, but instead with some debris between the surfaces. A square or X seal does a better job at keeping the contaminants out and preventing leaks.

Bit of an update: Decals have been ordered. I still need to find the perfect red shocks, everything is just too shiny, so some traxxas truck shocks will be the place holders for now. I might paint the body this weekend and see if I can change any settings with the speed controller. The braking is too strong and punch off the line seems dialed back a bit.

I've done it for more travel and it helps, but if you are fine with the limited travel for now, just use some bump stops on the shocks, you can always cut things up in the future if you desire. It should have a low voltage cutoff, all of mine do.

Thanks for the link. It seems they are more likely telling you to buy stuff because they are making money on it.

No. Not me.

I don't know who team chomages is, could you provide a link? Fixing the clearance for the steering at least with the stock plastic bellcrank is pretty easy and can be done with a file. The problem is also when the bulkhead flexes when screwed down, which will chang the amount of clearance between parts. Really Tamiya could easily fix the issue just by modifying the mold a tiny bit for the bulkhead/lower arm mount by having a notch to give just enough clearance, but who knows if that will ever get fixed.

Tamiya has had plenty of twin motor trucks over the years, but I think the Land Rover body would have been too short for any of those chassis. So I believe it must be something different.

The most or at least one of the most iconic vintage Tamiya platforms would be the Grasshopper/Hornet in my opinion. This is not because it was my first hobby grade electric, but because almost anyone I have meet who was involved in the hobby years before me could identify one. They were described as simplistic, but never uncool. It was the basher that did all the cool amazing things in the stories of former owners, but we really know it's was not real and their fuzzy memories exaggerated everything making those little buggies great by legend, and not by fact. The Hornet and Grasshopper was and still is the little buggy any generation can enjoy and it has earned it's place in history as a vintage RC icon. Long live the Hornet. Long live the Grasshopper.