Thunder downunder

Man that is a sick looking truck. The shell, wheels and Arrma wheelie bar look brilliant together. What chassis and shocks is it on?

I’ve had titanium parts and screws in elite level road racing and MTB bicycles as far back as the 1980’s. Very rarely snapped or stripped anything high grade titanium or steel. Have broken my fair share of carbon fibre, plastic, aluminium, lower grade steel components and screws, through crashes, wear and tear, etc. Perhaps the materials used by the hobby industry is mediocre quality, as bicycle parts by nature have to be rather strong… I find Tamiya steel & screws to be good enough but their aluminum and plastic is nothing to write home about. Haven’t forked out for any of their high end kitsets with carbon, titanium screws, etc, yet.

Cheers! Once I’d seen other posts here about that body-chassis combo, jumped straight onto RCJaz to place an order - great price and international delivery in one week. Built and bought a few model and RC cars so far this year, but DT-02 Buggy Champ takes the cake!

DT-02 Buggy Champ retro body upgrade completed. Rob Mitchell’s expression looks a bit nervous about the quick 2s and Sport Tuned power plant, but at least he’s got bearings and oil shocks to keep it running smooth.

Another DT-02 Buggy Champ! Stage one complete. Took a bit of Dremel work but the 2009 re-re body shell indeed fits really well. Custom mounted body posts to either side of chassis tub as I couldn’t figure out a simple way to make the old metal clip system work. Just a bit of tidy up to do then paint and find a suitable retro looking wheel set. Really fun modification so a big thank you to the RC’ers who’ve done this mod previously and posted about it.

Nice! Looking forward to the challenge of turning the Sandviper into a 70’s race buggy. As soon as I started the DT-02 chassis it became apparent I should have gone for a kitset with scale detailing, doh... In any case, the Sandviper is a total hoot to drive and not surprised it’s one of Tamiya’s most popular budget bashers.

Cheers and yes I really dig Chonmage’s videos!

Shell and sticker mods yesterday still weren’t doing it for me, so caved and ordered a Buggy Champ body kit for the Sandviper. Can’t wait.

My next buggy will be a BBX as it is modern classic and must have. Have just ordered a Buggy Champ kit to ‘retrofi’ a DT-02 as it will be a hoot to run them side by side!

Inspired work on that body! Jun Watanabe is an icon - in my group of favourites along with a few designer mates here in NZ who have a similar aesthetic. Running Sandviper stock is a total blast. As an 80’s kid I don’t dig the body shape and the build was very fast. Might retrofit a buggy champ shell to keep it as a runner and build something like a Wild One .

Bit of tinkering with the DT-02. Couldn’t stand the window stickers as I prefer the old school open cockpit buggy style, so just cut ‘em out. Added a few 1/10 sponsor stickers from a Traxxas packet. Looks pretty cool for a runner - just debating whether to make side mesh windows and fit a driver figure…. I pref scale RC’s and keep finding myself looking at Buggy Champs, BBX’s and the various Blockhead buggy editions, so might just dive in to scratch that itch before I destroy the aesthetics of the DT-02 haha.

DDF350 is excellent value - they’ve definitely shaken the tree! Feels like a midrange handset but cheaper than a lot of base model handsets and they have a ton of features. Mine is paired to two Tamiya’s (one with the x6dc(g) receiver w/ gyro). Menu’s are pretty intuitive if you just tinker around and getting decent battery life out of the AA’s in my handset. 10 channels is overkill for most but pretty cool too. I have a TLU-01 light unit still to fit to one of my TT-02’s, but might as well sell it seeing as I can just plug lights directly into the receiver…

Hear ya mate, but as others have mentioned it’s not the topic of this particular forum thread aye? With so much going on out in the world, hobbies, groups and forums are (like the arts) supposed to be a place to get away from the grind and have a blast sharing something in common. 🤔👍

Awesome looking buggy. Yea the chunky DT-02 motor housing design is a bit OTT and they do warm up quickly. Perhaps a touch of ‘drillium’ might look the part and help dissipate heat… 🤔

Great looking Viper! Best value for money buggy kit ever looks even meaner with those hop ups 👍