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In another in my occasional but continuing series of Buggies That Would Look Awesome With A Grasshopper2 Shell, I give you the TRF Grasshopper2(01)! I had one of those "I wonder" moments this morning and dropped the trimmed down spare Mad Bull shell I had made up as a Grasshopper2 to fit my DT03 onto my DN01 chassis. As it's a spare, a little more trimming later and it's sitting quite nicely! It even picks up the original Mad Bull front mount on the DN01/TRF201 front spigot! It's not currently attached at the rear, but some Velcro on the shock tower would probably do it. It's very gappy so I think a black painted Desert Gator shell underneath as a chassis cover would sort it. The aerial even fit through the DT03 body post hole I drilled!

Can anyone let me know what is needed to convert a fighter buggy (or can I use a grasshopper 2?) to a Madbull other than the wheels and tires.

Does anyone have a set of Rear Hubs and Drive adaptors (dont need the tires or the fronts) that is surplus to requirements that they can sell to me at a bad price please?

As the speed run thread has started a new category for silver can cars, I thought I'd have a go at it with my Mad Bull. I've been wanting to mod the chassis for a while now to improve on the stock steering installation, and also want to be able to use LiPo battery packs. So the first thing to do was to remove the excess protrusions from the inside of the chassis and make a slot in the back of the bathtub: to allow fitment of the LiPo into the chassis: After that I made a new plate to install the steering servo. The plate allows the servo to be mounted lower so I can bin the stock steering connecting rod, which I replaced with a old 3 step speedo connecting rod. I also machined a slot into the back of the plate to retain the radio tray, which is going to sit behind it: This next pic shows the steering servo fitted, and the foam I fitted either side of the LiPo to hold it rigid in the chassis: This is new radio tray, which when secured also holds the battery in the chassis: It's held in at the front with slots machined into both plates: Made some brass 'body mounts' to screw into the chassis to hold the radio tray down: Radio tray fitted with body mounts. I can remove it by just pulling the 2 body pins. The next pic shows the radio tray populated, there's even room for the GPS speed meter: I can even read the GPS through the drivers window Not bad for a (long) days work, tried it out on the drive in the dark but it's been raining so nothing but wheelspin and white sparks coming out of the motor at full throttle. Need to wait for an opportunity now to run it and get a good speed measurement.

So, the Mad Bull. To me it's a 'new' car. Didn't see it back in the day. Having got back into the hobby recently, at first glance this car was basically invisible to me: I must have skipped over this on websites faster than a blink of the eye. Big tyres with a small, flatish body, ungainly looking. Not my cup of tea. But lately, it has become a rather more interesting prospect. Having recently acquired a Monster Beetle (which I am smitten with, looks, chunkiness, unique; the Monster Beetle is a massive departure for me, I was always of the fast, cool-looking buggy school - the big tyre "monster truck" thing never appealed). The Monster Beetle has led me to appreciate the more chunky type of buggy / trucks in Tamiya's line up. So, thanks to falling for the Monster Beetle, here I am now considering a Mad Bull. Looking into it, the Mad Bull seems to have an interesting lineage which has piqued my curiosity, given that my first ever Tamiya experience at the age of 12 was the one and only Hornet.(http://www.blackholesun.fr/en/35-en/my-models/off-road/buggy-truck/108-tamiya-58205-madbull-dt-01) The Mad Bull looks like a Grasshopper on steroids, a "Monster Grasshopper". Videos look like it's a lot of fun. I actually really like the combo of low slung centre of gravity and chunky no nonsense tyres, contrasting to the somewhat streamlined body. However, a lot of reviews also state it's a very entry level model, and relatively basic. Having looked at the design of this car in a lot more detail, it seems to have potential for a lot of hop-up improvements, however I can see few on the net. It's also interesting to see photos of the Mad Fighter shell on the Mad Bull. I like the quirky look of both. Anyway, long ramble to get to the question: what are your opinions of the Mad Bull? Would be interested to hear people's views and experiences. Thanks

Hi all, Something arrived today...surprisingly quick as I expected it to be snailed. Rubber capped ball race kit arrived on the same day, too. Progress may be a little slow as my son wants to assist in the build. Since he's 4 and a half, work may be confined to weekends but I'd like him to understand the process and I doubt it will take long to put together. More pics to follow...

hey guys - continuing to prune my collection and have several really neat things up on the bay at the moment. links and some pics... http://www.ebay.com/itm/330941634758 http://www.ebay.com/itm/330941642406 http://www.ebay.com/itm/330941649168 http://www.ebay.com/itm/330941656380