4WD + 4WS Blitzer Beetle

[Frankster 2033]

Current under body clearance from ground to underside of main chassis is 45mm (1 3/4”).  Rear whee travel is 36mm (1 3/8”).  Chassis does not bottom out.  
 

Issue arises when the suspension bottoms out and the tires hit the hard body it gets worse when the 4 wheels are turned and there is no proper tire clearance. 

[Frankster 2033]

More photos of the wheel to wheel arch clearance from the side

[Frankster 2033]

Stance looks great.  
As you can see in the last photo, the rear wheel arches are quite wide and just rub the tires when It squats at full acceleration.  This does not factor in steering which makes the situation worse.

A few options for this problem:

Option A: increase spring rate and add bump stops.

Pro: retains stance.  Keeps body design intact

Con: limited wheel travel

 

Option B: raise the body from the chassis

Pro: keeps body design intact.  Retain full 45mm wheel travel

Con: gap between body and slim deck chassis.  Higher center of gravity 

 

Option C:  shave / cut fenders.  Keep at lower mounting point

Pro: retained stance and low center of gravity 

Con: loos the stock Blitzer Beetle look

 

In the end may try a mix of Option A & B and avoid cutting the shell

[Ziddan 947]

Personally id go with A. 

If the shafts on the shocks are 3mm you can re use the tubes that cover the motor axles in tamiya kit to limit travel in a very easy way and it cushions the stop as well.

[Frankster 2033]

Installed nose cone to the Blitzer Beetle.  Sanded away most of the excess flashing and sanded down with 800 grid wet/ dry sandpaper.  
 

Drying before primer goes on

[wolfdogstinkus 1893]

On 4/4/2022 at 2:05 PM, Frankster said:

 🤔

I took a day off work and here starts my 4WD  Blitzer Beetle build.

I like your attitude, great start, next step is to take the car into work and accidentally (on purpose)(I never had a car accident, I always did it on purpose) run over the bosses feet.  If you're the boss you should definitely aim for your least liked employee. I'm pretty sure that's still acceptable in the workplace, as long as all employees have equal opportunity to be run over??, The game begins..

[Frankster 2033]

20 hours ago, wolfdogstinkus said:

I like your attitude, great start, next step is to take the car into work and accidentally (on purpose)(I never had a car accident, I always did it on purpose) run over the bosses feet.  If you're the boss you should definitely aim for your least liked employee. I'm pretty sure that's still acceptable in the workplace, as long as all employees have equal opportunity to be run over??, The game begins..

Hahaha.  No sick day, used an annual leave day. Kids at school so I can focus on my RC project 🤗

[Frankster 2033]

Painted my 4WS 4WD Blitzer Beetle…. Flat black

Wheels painted Bright Silver and then added flat clear.  Missing chassis and rubber in this photo   Looks like a cool sled racer

Interesting to sure how much the flat clear dulls the shine. Left is Bright silver.  Right is Bright Silver with flat clear.

Letting paint cure before mounting on chassis

[wolfdogstinkus 1893]

On 9/11/2022 at 4:07 PM, Frankster said:

Hahaha.  No sick day, used an annual leave day. Kids at school so I can focus on my RC project 🤗

But you know that Tamiya is a disease, right??. So you're entitled to use sick days to build cars, it's the law  

[Frankster 2033]

Painted and body installed.  Need finishing touches such as driver, silver trim and headlights.  

Wheels painted and added 303 Aerospace protectant

[Frankster 2033]

[Frankster 2033]

About to paint the body trim when I see dust in the crevasses of the body.  Tried wiping it off and realized it is sealed.  I must have wiped down the body after spraying the black and sealed it with flat clear.  Unfortunately I did not use lint free paper towel (grown men can cry 😭)
 

It is not visible at some angles but it’s driving my OCD nuts.  This is suppose to be a basher too…

Trying to figure out if I leave it “as is” or lightly sand and repaint 🤯.   Need to sleep on it

[Frankster 2033]

In the end I lightly sanded the body and repainted it black again.  This time no flat clear coat as the under layer of flat clear coat made the body have a natural matte finish. 

Before painting, I was considering a white Herbie beetle like the movie.  In the end saw a black version from another TC member @Ram318’s Sand Scorcher as my inspiration. 
https://www.tamiyaclub.com/member.asp?id=18889

Here is my shell completed.

Decals from MCI Racing

[Frankster 2033]

Driver pained and installed, motor cooling fan installed, wiring cleaned up

[Frankster 2033]

Wild Willy close up

[Frankster 2033]

Completed car

[Frankster 2033]

I plan to take outdoor photos when it stops raining

[Frankster 2033]

Outstanding items:

1. Dust shield / cover for chassis

2. add front bumper protection.  Need to figure out how to connect to chassis before driving

 

[Ziddan 947]

On 10/18/2022 at 4:01 PM, Frankster said:

2. add front bumper protection.  Need to figure out how to connect to chassis before driving

I printed my front bumper out of TPU (a flexible filament) and it attaches via one of the screws on the bottom and sandwiches between the screws holding the stock bumper in plance.

If you want i can replace the bar with mounting holes to fit the bumper you have onto it and share the file.

I dont think it would be much use in PLA tho as the ears getting sandwiched would just break off due to being thin, the layer adhesion of TPU is a lot stronger than PLA and since its got flex it hasnt broken for me even though ive hit some stuff with it.

If TPU isnt available to you then at least this might give an idea of a possible way of mounting your bumper.

I love the black Herbie look

 

[Frankster 2033]

2 hours ago, Ziddan said:

I printed my front bumper out of TPU (a flexible filament) and it attaches via one of the screws on the bottom and sandwiches between the screws holding the stock bumper in plance.

If you want i can replace the bar with mounting holes to fit the bumper you have onto it and share the file.

I dont think it would be much use in PLA tho as the ears getting sandwiched would just break off due to being thin, the layer adhesion of TPU is a lot stronger than PLA and since its got flex it hasnt broken for me even though ive hit some stuff with it.

If TPU isnt available to you then at least this might give an idea of a possible way of mounting your bumper.

I love the black Herbie look

 

Thanks @Ziddan for all your help.  Too afraid to drive after all the months spent on this project. I am not sure if TPU is available and I am at the mercy of local printer helping me out.  The bumper I have is from another kids toy and quite sturdy. I am looking at  bent alum flat bar to connect to chassis and give some space.  The car is quite heavy as I have changed many parts from plastic to metal / alum.   I need to put it on a scale but a 3d printed bumper will not last. 
 

By the way love the idea using midnight pumpkin decals on beetle 👍

[Frankster 2033]

Better outdoor photos

[Frankster 2033]

[Frankster 2033]

On 10/20/2022 at 4:14 AM, Ziddan said:

I printed my front bumper out of TPU (a flexible filament) and it attaches via one of the screws on the bottom and sandwiches between the screws holding the stock bumper in plance.

If you want i can replace the bar with mounting holes to fit the bumper you have onto it and share the file.

I dont think it would be much use in PLA tho as the ears getting sandwiched would just break off due to being thin, the layer adhesion of TPU is a lot stronger than PLA and since its got flex it hasnt broken for me even though ive hit some stuff with it.

If TPU isnt available to you then at least this might give an idea of a possible way of mounting your bumper.

I love the black Herbie look

 

I will take you up on the offer.  Can you send me the cad file and I will try to print locally

[Ziddan 947]

Sure, tpu bumper edit.zip is pictured in the post you quoted.

If you want we can try to work out a remix for mounting the bumper you had on hand.

Out of interest, how much does getting stuff printed cost you? Like one of the shock towers for example?

tpu bumper edit.zip

[Frankster 2033]

6 hours ago, Ziddan said:

Sure, tpu bumper edit.zip is pictured in the post you quoted.

If you want we can try to work out a remix for mounting the bumper you had on hand.

Out of interest, how much does getting stuff printed cost you? Like one of the shock towers for example?

tpu bumper edit.zip 475.78 kB · 0 downloads

Thanks.  I was looking at the 2 vertical tabs in your design, are they strong enough?   I upgraded many items on my Beatle and it is heavy. I am not sure how the bumper would survive an impact.

The guy who helps me print is doing this as a side hobby and has a different full time job.  He charges me equivalent US$6.50 including local postage for 1 damper tower.  Not sure if that is reasonable as there is no cost benchmark.