officepizzaparty

looks so good, you're making me want to do a 2wd kyosho!

Not a particularly exciting update, but I made a few updates to the car since the original post. Added the Tamiya turnbuckle set and I am so unimpressed by it. They're nearly unusable, the adjustment hex rounded off on most of the turnbuckles using the included tool. I also managed to bend the long right-side tie rod because they're about as soft as the included threaded rod. Oh well, live and learn. Changed to hard rear springs, this has moderately improved the on-power understeer Installed some proline 2.2 hot lap tires, super soft in front. I think they look awesome, and makes the car look like something out of the video game Re-Volt. They might be perfect for this car, I fear they will wear quickly but I honestly don't run the buggy very often. Changed the livery as it felt a bit plain and poorly placed, I am much happier with the new sticker placement (see photo). Changed the servo from a full-size high-torque unit to a low profile high speed Savox. The original one was so slow, exacerbating the dt02 understeer. The lowpro servo also provides space for me to add weight if I choose to. I would prefer not to as I want to keep this buggy lightweight used a stock rear camber link as a shock tower brace (see photo) in front. It was too long so I simply bent it, and I think it looks pretty slick for being $free.99. Added pivot balls to the top of the shocks to reduce slop. Took it to a local skatepark and was reminded that I have terrible driving skills, did not make it through one 3000mah pack before breaking the rear shock tower on a corner-first landing. Yeowch! I was surprised by the toughness of the chassis as I crashed A LOT beforehand. I ordered some new C-Parts and intend to make a rear brace to avoid this in the future. I am super surprised and happy with the power coming from the sport-tuned motor and 2s lipo, I think it is perfect for this platform. I also think keeping the battery and servo lightweight positively contributes to the feel and character of this buggy. So I ordered some associated pivot balls but the screw hole was <3mm. Will probably try to find different ones because sloppy suspension just doesn't feel right in the hands even if it drives totally fine. So the one deviation I made from the stock setup was mounting the shocks on the outer hole rather than the inner hole, moving to the inner hole seems to have remedied this issue. That's a whole lot of text for perhaps the most boring build on this forum, but I like to read and hope you do too. Here are some pictures. I enjoy the photography aspect of all my hobbies as much as the hobbies themselves! Showing the updated livery/tires/shock tower brace. I really really like these turbo scorpion wheels, it is a shame that they're out of stock everywhere. I would buy more sets Early morning skatepark, before exploding the rear shock tower:

Hello all! This is a quick thread about a Frog I bought for cheap. It is getting rebuilt (not quite restored by some standards) to sit on my TV stand. Maybe run it one day if the appropriate transmitter falls into my lap. Here's the car, how I bought it for $70 off of marketplace. Mostly because it came with a cool motor and was in good condition: I placed an order for some parts, and began the disassembly process. Nothing was broken other than the battery stays/antenna holders on each side. Kinda grimey but nothing horrible. I originally wanted to make this a runner, so I was a bit more concerned about the binding/rock hard suspension. After browsing, I found Mini-T springs were similar in size so I ordered a set. I had tried these out before taking apart the car, and the hardest of the bunch seem too soft. I tried with the valved pistons and 7.5wt and it seems sluggish to return to ride height even without a battery, so I'm not sure I'd recommend this setup. However I am keeping them on with no valves/60 wt. Not great but I am sticking with it for now, and its way better than the bent and binding stock springs. I also used a 12mm front bearing adapter as a lower spring cup. Rear end taken apart, cleaned, greased, and put back together: One of my favorite parts of the car, I think the skidplate really pulls the "frog" appearance together. Front disassembled, cleaned, and mostly reassembled. Waiting on some softer front springs before finishing. This shot shows the rs-540sd Will probably start working on the body and wheels tomorrow. He loves to supervise:

That frog evo thread so awesome - I've decided to just do a quick cleanup/restore of this unit. It's kind of funny, I have always considered the Frog to be a bit ugly until I owned this myself. It looks much cooler in person! The suspension is far too stiff (binding?) so I ordered some parts to maybe remedy that without affecting the stock appearance of the car. I also ordered a body and sticker set, it will not be painted in box art. The one part I am having a tough time finding are the battery stays/ flag mounts since mine are cracked at the mounting points.

cool! this should be a great build, plus I have ae111 throttles in my 1:1

"finished" the body shell today. I am really happy with the overall theme but would redo the sticker application if given the chance, lots of errors. The instant skateboards logo had the 2005 feel i was shooting for, and i loveee the 3.99 sticker on the roof. The chassis is waiting for a handful of hop ups, but I think I got the shocks set up about right in the meantime. Electronics are about as basic as they can get, servo will be swapped for a smaller low profile version soon, camber links replaced with steel turnbuckles, dogbones replaced with CVDs, shoulder bolts replaced with ball studs, etc. pre-film removal and stickering:

met up with a stranger and bought this frog today: as the thread title suggests, I'm not sure what to do with it. under the very, uh, stylish body it is mint and looks like it was hardly ran. there is no rust, there are no scratches of any kind on the outside of the body or under the car. The motor is neat and not one I have seen in browsing the forums, but the rest of the electronics seem unremarkable. Also please link me to some cool frogs! The more custom, the better

Finished the chassis last night, built mostly to box spec with only a couple hop ups, hinge pins in the front c-hubs and a sport-tuned motor. I also used single-hole pistons in the shocks, which might have been a mistake in the front. The only cuts I've made to the chassis so far were to the ribs at the front of the battery box to fit a standard battery. I was disappointed with a few things in the kit, notably: Tons of slop in the shock eyelets, allowing 5mm of vertical movement before the suspension starts to work. Looks like 5mm ball studs would fix this? The right-side tie rod hits the upper servo plate before the shock is fully compressed (see photo). I am surprised I cant find any mention of this in all of my browsing. I plan to flip the steering knuckles from side to side to reduce bump steer as has been mentioned on here a few times, I believe this will remedy the interference with the servo plate. They sent me a defective Sport Tuned! It is completely locked up and will only unlock with some wiggling and eventually gets stuck again. Looks like I will be using the box stock silver can as Tamiya intended for now! I still haven't figured out exactly what I am doing for a paint scheme but it's getting close. Right now I already have CVDs/tuning Springs/Wheels/Tires on hand, with more hop-ups on the way from RCMart (sealed bearings, turnbuckles, steel pinion). I also ordered some 12mm hex adapters for the front, I don't have high expectations for them though. This evening I am going to do my first round of soldering, swap the steering knuckles, and swap in the stock silver can. If I have time I would also like to start masking the body for paint. I also noticed the body rattles around on the posts a lot, which I will have to fix with some foam or something. Drove the optima this morning before logging into work - better than coffee! I think I am going to take this motor/esc out of the car though, as it is very heavy/large and needs to be mounted on the top plate of the chassis. This makes the car feel top-heavy and it traction rolls more than I think it should.

looks soo good with that simple livery

hello all! new here, and new to tamiya. I may as well be new to R/C as a whole, as it has been ~13 years since I last raced. I loved r/c as a kid, my first job was at my local hobby shop. once I was able to afford a 1:1 car the focus turned to that and the toys got shelved. recently I've found myself magnetically drawn to r/c again, with huge inspiration from outfits like Blockhead Motors and Club380. I've never cared much for shaving tenths off lap times, and frankly I think a lot of modern r/c cars are ugly and unfun. this is why i love the philosophy behind the 380 series racing that seems to be gaining popularity in Japan: make a cool looking car and have fun driving it. I built a rere optima last month, which was fun but I put too fast of a motor in it seeing as kyosho is about to re-discontinue the chassis. I wanted to build a non-box art car so I had the brutal task of choosing a chassis, and the dt02 sand viper seemed perfect for me. in my mind the 2wd race buggies of y2k are the quintessential rc car with their spikey tires, suspension on display, and swooping body lines painted in bright colors. even when I was most involved in the hobby 15 years ago I preferred the 90s cars to what was available at the time. the dt02's versatility is also very appealing to me as I plan to have multiple iterations of this car, eventually to a 380-powered baja machine. the first iteration will be a simple lightweight race buggy that I can bring along on bike rides. according to my tracking numbers, parts should start arriving tomorrow, just basic hop ups. until then I will wait excitedly (: bonus picture of my 1:1