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Threadit: This began as a TA04 build, which quickly became a TA04-SS kit rebuild followed by a TA04-TRF bits-a-build. Essentially building a super-hopped-up TA04 without a base kit, just all parts sourced from the web and spares. I then realised that this is a thing I do. Looking for parts for one build, getting over excited and buying so many hop ups and parts that the original kit has so many left overs, you can almost build a second car. With just a few more parts. I love the research, I love the list building, I love the quest to search these parts down. I love working out how it will all fit together. And I love building them. I realised that in various boxes around the place (primarily hidden in the loft ) I have nearly all parts needed to build: TA04-TRF (Mercedes AGM CLK-DTM Mercedes AMG-GT3 Audi V8 Touring) Build complete / body to finish TA04-R (Mercedes CLK GTR Original Teile Audi R8 LMS) Build complete / body to finish TA04-R/TRF (Ford Mondeo BTTC) TA02-SW (Porsche 911 GT2) Complete TA02-W (Nissan 300ZX IMSA) TB Evo III (Mercedes 190E Skyline GT-R R32) Build complete / body to finish FF03-RR (Peugeot 306 Maxi Alfa 155 V6TI) Build complete / body to finish TT02 Type S (Audi R8 Nissan R390 GT1) So rather than do a build thread for each, I thought I'd edit this thread (Threadit! Geddit?) and turn it into a bits-a-build project thread My name's Juhunio, and I'm a bits-a-build addict. So, back over to the original thread....the threadit kicks in on page 3 starting with a TA02-SW 911 GT2 Then continues here with the TA04-R ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This thread begins with a body shell. An AMG CLK-DTM 2002 shell, to be precise It's a beautiful thing, and I had planned to put it on an Evo3 build that's somewhere in the works. But it came pre-drilled with body post holes for posts mounted on the front damper mount, not the bumper So I needed another chassis for it. I already have a couple of TT02s, and really enjoyed the experience of building the more retro TB-02, so thought I would go back in time once again.... A bit of research showed that the TA-04 had body posts in the right place, and also had a bit of a quirk in the two-belt drive system. I've got a TA-05 and TA-07, so the TA-04 sounded like an interesting bet I found a built but mint condition TA-04SS Audi TT-R DTM, which came with an unpainted body shell and TRF dampers So I figured this would do the trick! Swap the rear arms to those from an S or R to achieve the 257mm wheelbase, and I would have an interesting build and a home for the AMG shell But then I started investigating TA-04 hop ups and, well.....

Hey all. I have a 257mm Alfa Romeo Giulia body i picked up from L&L. I was planning on getting a TT02S kit for it but there is no stock anywhere. Having looked the TT02D kit only looks good value with a sports tuned motor, oils shocks and bearings. I do fancy trying drift, but it would be on tarmac or around the family room :-). I could always drop some road tyres on the thing and its a slightly hopped up TT-02 right?

Simple (multi-part) question really: Is THIS part absolutely necessary (on the rear) for a fully functional TT02? How about a TT02 Type-S? If yes, what alternate parts can I use that are less bulky? : I ask because it's one of the few parts remaining for me to have a complete TT02 just from unused bits.

This kit hasn't been as straight forward as I expected, so I figured I should put it all together in a build thread. I bought a standard 58645 Subaru WRX STI NBR Challenge kit during 2017. As soon as Tamiya advertised this kit I knew I'd own one. I'm not particularly into Subarus but the detail on this kit is great. If only it came with light buckets. When the kit arrived I have to say that while I really like the body, I wasn't that keen on the TT02 chassis. At least in stock form. A local club races a TT02 class, which allow for some basic mods but is largely stock, so I sold the chassis for something else. At which point I bought another TT02. If that seems counter-intuitive, then you're probably right, but there was some reasoning behind it. I wanted another XV01 as an on-road chassis to go with my rally XV01, but the XV01 chassis body-mounts don't suit low bodies and it would cost a fair bit to get it how I wanted. I looked at the TB04, TA05, TA06, and TA07 but ultimately they're overkill or getting harder to find parts for. I decided on either a 47326 TT02R or a 58600 TT02 Type S. I honestly could have gone either way but the TT02R has the upgrades you really need right out of the box (like ball bearings, the aluminium driveshaft and joints, and motor mount). The TT02S has a lot of nice parts too and when one came up for sale near me I almost crumbled and bought it as well. Sanity prevailed, and I just have a TT02R... for now. The TT02R chassis is an easy build. In the above photo it was mostly finished except for shocks and electronics, plus the wheels and tyres are from the WRX kit. A few things to note: 1) The steering comes with the adjustable turnbuckles but is otherwise the same as a basic TT02. 2) The rear 3 degree uprights are nice, but you can't use them for the wide rear necessary on the Porsche 911 RSR. I wish I had known that beforehand, but it wouldn't cost much to pick up some standard TT02 parts to convert it. You can't do that on the TT02S without losing the better suspension arms. 3) You can still use the shorter body-shells, unlike the TT02S. 4) The TT02R is a "limited edition" kit, but I'm not sure this means anything. When building the kit I didn't pay enough attention and bungled one screw in the rear bumper. They should both be like the one on the left. I had to unscrew the bumper, take off the bumper then remove the screw on the right before reinstalling it correctly. I just wasn't paying attention, this kit is a breeze to put together. The WRX body on the other hand isn't as straight forward. Having a lot of detail is nice but it does mean it requires a bit of effort. The wheel arches have a small raised section in front of them. You need to trim around these and also mask them as they will be painted black. There's also the front splitter which will also be painted black and is going to take a beating being stuck right out front. The rear end is awkward. There's a lot of angles there and it is a little tricky to both trim and mask as well. You can see in the stock photo below that it's not a typical rear bumper. Here it is sitting on the TT02R chassis. I've test fitted the electronics and a stock 540 motor. I'm undecided on what I'll put in there permanently, but I might get a Sport-Tuned for this and the TT02 aluminium heatsink. I had a spare TBLE-02S ESC and the servo is just a Futaba S3003. I'll need to decide on a receiver too, but because of the design of the TT02 chassis I will have to mount it to the top of the servo. With the electronics so close together there's a bird's nest of wiring that will need tidying. Back to the body shell, I washed it and lightly scuffed it with a 3M scourer, avoiding the windows. It took a bit of effort to get the masking right. I used the 87178 3mm masking tape for curves along the edges of the roof to try and get a smooth edge. The roof needs to be painted separately from the PS16 Metallic Blue on the rest of the body. The instructions say to use PS48 Semi-Gloss Silver Anodized Aluminium. I'd probably recommend you just use PS41 Bright Silver. The Bright Silver is both cheaper and easier to use, and should still suit it. Front and back I also used the curved tape for the longer edges. I tried using it around the grille but I actually found it easier to use basic masking tape and then trim it with a knife. You can see the small leading edge on the front wheel arches and how I masked them off in the photo below. Because it's such a small bit I initially masked over it then trimmed it with a knife. It's a little unusual that the lower front grille doesn't need painting in black but the areas beside it do. Again, just mask and then trim to fit. For the rest of it I masked a couple of layers upwards, and then I get some cling-film and tape that to the masking. It saves having to mask the whole body and works great if you make sure not to leave any gaps where paint can get under. Being summer, I wanted to get a bunch of painting done so I added another body. As you can see, this isn't another WRX. It's a 51376 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. This was going to be a rally body for my XV01 but between ordering it and it arriving I had a change of mind. It was hugely different to the WRX when trimming and masking. It was really simple. The hardest part is the front grille as it is slightly indented and has a couple of sharp curves. I managed to do it with a single bit of the curved masking tape and then fill the rest. After adding the stock kit window and light masks (the lights are a touch fiddly) I also masked off the bonnet, roof, and boot. Same technique with the two types of tape. The bonnet ends in a tight curve towards the windscreen which meant the tape kept lifting, but everything was otherwise fine. I should also mention that I will typically get a cotton-bud, dip it in the Tamiya body cleaner, then wipe over the clear body before painting at each step. That way any stray finger prints when masking are removed. Being the darkest colour, the first step of painting the WRX is the PS5 Black. I usually paint one very light coat, then two thicker. I actually left a fair bit of time between masking and painting so the tape lifted a little at the edges in a couple of spots. I tidied it up with body cleaner but just behind the front arches there's a little in a hard 90 degree corner which I had to leave. I could've tried getting to it but I'd probably end up accidentally getting some body cleaner on the wrong spot. I expect the decals to cover it anyway. Next step was the PS16 Metallic Blue. Now it is starting to look like the WRX I want. The blue is quite transparent even after a few coats. I then backed it with PS41 Bright Silver. The instructions don't mention this, but it helps makes the blue opaque. Just two coats were needed for this. I am painting the Evo X at the same time and here it is with the PS45 Translucent Purple. I've never used a translucent paint before so it's a bit of a learning experience with this body. I did the one light then two thicker coats and got coverage is fairly good. It came out looking a touch thinner in some areas but you'd end up dumping the whole can in the body trying to even it up. I trusted I did a decent job and moved on. Back to the WRX. After the blue and silver had cured I peeled the roof masking off and, in the below photo, you can see the lines came out nice and smooth. I really recommend the masking tape for curves for this kind of stuff. I added the PS48 Aluminium to the roof. I've had mixed results with this paint so I'm not sure if this is going to work out how I want. I painted a bumper on my Bronco using this and it came out a little bit disappointing. It didn't really look too metallic. So this time I've gone for more coats. One light coat and then three thicker coats. In the photo below you can see how it paints quite clear so you're never really sure how it will come out. It looks dull and slightly opaque. Hopefully when I back it with black, which is necessary, it'll get that anodized metal look. One thing you can see, if you look at the roof towards the windscreen, is that the light scuff marks from the scourer didn't disappear when I painted the PS48. It normally disappears when painting every other colour, but I never thought beforehand that because PS48 is so reflective it could affect it. Fingers crossed it won't show up later on. Backing the purple on the Evo X was one of those moments you start thinking "I might need to clean out the whole body if this doesn't work" but it actually came out how I wanted. I backed the purple with PS23 Gunmetal so I'd get a metallic effect but a darker colour than a silver. I am looking forward to peeling off the plastic to see just how the final colour looks. Before that can happen I still have to paint the rest of the body. I'm going with black for the grille, the masked off bonnet, roof, boot and the lower rear bumper. Why so dark? Since the TT02 is quite versatile, this is going to be my drifter body. I've ordered a set of wheels and tyres which I hope will suit. The Evo X has been really nice to work with so far. It comes with light buckets and a rear spoiler, but I won't be fitting the spoiler. I'm not sure about going to the effort of putting in LEDs but I'll see how much I like drifting when it is up and running. All this painting has got me wondering if I could squeeze in one more body before autumn kicks in, and I have a very complicated idea for a Mazda Demio.