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Found 5 results

  1. But Chris, isn't there a DT-03 already? That's been around for quite a while? Well, yes. But I've always been quite fond of the DT-02. I don't know exactly why - I never have been off-road racing for instance, I didn't even own one from years gone by. All of my favourite off-roaders have been 2WD buggies - the FAV, Grasshopper, Hornet and now the BB-01. Not because I'm into vintage stuff, I just prefer how they drive. I find 4WD buggies are pretty cool, but they aren't as entertaining to drive (in my limited experience). They're often heavier, more complex and for some reason they run really low to the ground. I've had better luck on cut grass with 2WD cars. So the DT-02, a simple, no-frills machine. I first built one of these way back when I worked at Time Tunnel Models, we needed to build a demonstrator. At the time the Desert Gator had just come out - 2005! I built one up for the shop display and I remember when it eventually 'retired' from the shelf. I wished I had bought it. In my opinion, the best looking 2WD "non-TRF" buggy Tamiya had made in a long time and it was incredibly attainable / cheap. Until the bodyshell got discontinued and the Sand Viper lived on. I don't understand that decision; but the 'Viper was much easier to cut out and sticker with its' flatter surfaces and straighter edges - perhaps seeing as this was an 'entry level' kit, the less practical bodyshell got retired. Who knows. So I'm reliving my Yoof a little bit, thanks to Team Blue Groove who make a replica body and wing set. MCi now make the decals; too. I had long given up hope of finding a Desert Gator body so had actually gone off down another rabbit hole - could you build a DT-02MS out of "Bits"? We all love a Bitsa Build after all. The answer was obviously "yes" (otherwise we wouldn't be here, would we?) thanks to a splurge on eBay and Plaza Japan. The dampers were quite hard to obtain; I actually sourced them from a Japanese auction in the end, but not before buying the replacement TT02B / DF03 variant. So I guess now I have to build another buggy to make use of those One big ol' stack of bits. It definitely would have been cheaper to start with a kit and work backwards, but I'm a complete idiot. I won't detail every step of this build because a) It's a very simple build process and b) You've all seen this a hundred times before (probably) Front Bulkhead completed. Going with the bearing-fit wheels for now on this, like a box-art. The aluminium uprights are not box art of course; in fact I have no idea where I came about them. Still, they look cool. No rusty drive-pins here. I'm actually amazed Tamiya branded this the "MS" with those hinge pins when they manufacture suspension shafts which fit almost perfectly into the inner and outer arm joints. These are from a TL-01 I think, so cheap-as-chips, too. Gearbox assembly next; proper Tamiya DF-02 Universal Drive Shafts and the Hop-Up Ball Differential kit, just as Tamiya intended. Keen-eyed viewers will spot that I have the wrong gearbox shafts; they're 50mm vs. the DT-02 / 03's 45mm shaft. I introduced these to the Dremel before subsequently finding the actual, 45mm Hop-Up part at the bottom of the box. Such is life. Remember kids, if you're cutting aluminium with a Dremel always de-burr your cuts. To check you've done this correctly you do what we all make the mistake of doing and run your finger across the cut end. Immediately discovering, much to your sense of pain, that you haven't de-burred it enough yet. Rear Gearbox all assembled with the MS kit motor heat-sink and a Super Stock BZ motor (23T). Ah yes, now I remember - you can't actually fit the heat sink to any of the tuned cans with an open end-bell. What an end-bell I am. Rear bulkhead assembled and attached to the gearbox. Again; the rusty screw pins replaced in favour of stainless suspension shafts. The rear outer joints needed 3mm of 'shimming' because they're an odd size. Also note that I've fitted little dust caps everywhere. And the rear upper tie-rods are the wrong type; the blue anodised 'Hardened' Turnbuckles need a 42mm in the back - I had used these in my recent BB-01 build. These will be temporary (hurry up Plaza Japan...) Found a Sport Tuned motor - big can, no open end-bell. I put this in instead, especially after finding the hardened steel pinion gear (I had originally built it up with the aluminium stock pinion - a terrible sin). Dampers all attached too. I need to source some white springs. I was going to pilfer these from my DF-02 build with its' Aeration dampers, but I've already nicked the tyres from that for my BB-01 so it was looking sorry for itself. I've ordered some TRF-501 springs (TRF-201 would probably be more suitable; but they're out of stock). The red springs are temporary. And fin. For now. Awaiting the "revised" DT-02MS decals from MCi, once they arrive I'll show you a side-by-side with how the first versions looked. Disappointing to say the least - glad that they have fixed them. I fitted a fancy carbon fibre battery strap, another deviation from box art. Also the biggest tart element has to be those wing washers in anodised blue. They look awesome, right? Paint and wheels next, then I'm going to set about creating a Desert Gator stable-mate...
  2. Good News!! another build thread! Another buggy, and this one takes it right back to the first car I bought when i re-found RC 15 odd years ago, The DT-02. That took the form of the Madcap 2.0, a tribute buggy. https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=71854&id=19798 For this build i want to set a few ground rules: Push the limit of the chassis - how good can it be? Go big or go home - nothing is too much for this build. Only Tamiya parts allowed - (bar bearings, electrics & one exception) That said, NO BLUE Minimal modifications - use off the shelf parts where possible A lot of the parts collecting has already happened, so this might well move pretty fast.......
  3. Hope the group mods don't mind me posting this, but after testing by me and a racer i know have decided I am confident enough in my DT02/3 3 deg toe in uprights to offer them for sale. I have opened a Shapeways store called CTE RC (https://www.shapeways.com/shops/cotic-rc) and have put them on there with a few of my other designs. There are fitting instructions on the part links on the store. No one else makes toe in uprights for these chassis which is why i did them. Hopefully some of you might find them useful, or fun, or just a nice colour (There are about 10 colour options). Here's a pic of Andy's cool DT02 and DT03 race cars and my DT03 truggy with them installed. There is a full installation and rundown over on by DT03 Build log The improvements I wanted was to reduce the size and make the uprights dedicated to the metal driveshafts. The kit uprights are bulky and bind on the wishbones. As you can see in this comparison, the new uprights allow about 10mm more suspension travel, which gives more roll capacity and more grip. No one else makes toe in uprights for these chassis which is why i did them. If you race you will find these a big step forward from the kit version. Andy (my tame racer) reports more rear end grip and stability and the ability to get on the throttle earlier out of corners. He was able to dial in more front end grip because the rear was better. Also reported it had a bigger impact on performance in the DT03 on astro than the DT02. Hopefully some of you might find them useful, or fun, or just a nice colour (There are about 10 colour options). If you would like to order they are available as individual left and right items. Left: https://www.shapeways.com/product/DHAWQ2DWJ/tamiya-dt02-3-rear-upright-3-deg-toe-in-lh?optionId=65301051 Right: https://www.shapeways.com/product/FPEB2TSM2/tamiya-dt02-3-rear-upright-3-deg-toe-in-rh?optionId=65300950 Cheers!
  4. bjorklo

    Astute Gator

    After seeing Beefmuffin's conversion of the DT-02 to a replica Astute, i just knew that i wanted one like that. This is the real deal where the inspiration comes from. in 2012 I sold my Desert Gator thinking that I will never need it, yeay right, i started to regret that a few weeks ago. I was searching the web for a new or used one, but shipping and possible customs tax it was going to be a bit expensive for me. Then I thought why don't I just search my inbox and find the guy I sold it to and ask if he still have it, and if he is willing to sell it. He did have it and he was willing to sell it to me for a good price. Here is a picture from when I had it And here is a picture of how it looks now The one thing I knew I had allready for the conversion was the Astute light weight front wheels, but I don't have tires. For rear I found a set of old Egress wheels and new tires. To find these I had to go trough my huge wheels and tires box, and of course i found them at the bottom The car is equiped with an old acoms reciver, V3 esc and Kyosho Mega 18x2 I must say that I'm very impressed with the speed in that motor, and will be keeping it. I might change the reciver and controller to a 2.4GHZ. I have made some orders for most of the parts i need for this project so just waiting for it to arrive
  5. Letting go of this NIB TT-Gear Desert Gator to fund other projects. This one was actually pretty hard to find when I was collecting up all the TT-Gear buggies! Only one harder to find was the TT-Gear Hotshot, which is basically a unicorn. BUT this one is a cool find if you're into TT-Gear, and would make a great runner. It was first in line for me if I decided to run one of my NIB Tamtechs. http://www.ebay.com/itm/331738054109
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