TRX4 sport (not) build

[Busdriver]

1 hour ago, Badcrumble said:

I looked the kit up and made *gulp* noise when I saw the price but there is a lot of bang for your buck. Glad you're enjoying it, I reckon it will be a great performer out in the wilds.

True it was a bit of a year end treat. Having said that if you strip out the cost of a 5 channel Radio, 5 servos, full bearings and oil filled shocks it sounds better value. It’s hard to find a Tamiya model to compare it to. Cheaper and more capable than any 3 speed!!!

[Tamiyastef]

Some pictures of my Sport axles build with the diff protector plates from Yeah Racing.

Rear axle and front axle. No diffs to lock so much easier.

Also got the Yeah racing protection plate for the center gear box and the Traxxas inner fenders. Got myself a LCG battery tray and underdrive gear for the rear.

This was the set up just for testing and here you can see the bomber interior and first LED light set. I'm changing that to the Dombo RC system with the lights plug directly in the receiver.

This is where this build stopped for me 2 years ago! Still have to sort some details out (have them 3D printed) and waiting for the receiver with build in light system to arrive. Paint and custom decals to do. Will post a picture of the finished car, probably somewhere during 2023... 

[Busdriver]

Glad to see someone else has built one of these. Mine is now mostly finished, I just have a few cosmetic details to do.  This is the unpainted body sitting on the chassis. As I started with the builders kit and not the sport kit I had to narrow the inner fenders and use the sport body mounts. Fortunately I’d bought the mounts before I started. I also bought the laser cut body as it has all the holes for lights, expedition rack, mirrors and snorkel already cut. I gave it a few coats of Core RC racing green ( as inspired by @Nicadraus’s lovely green MST)backed with black and the fender flares and bonnet were painted on the outside with Core RC metallic graphite. The wheels are Injora beadlocks and the tyres are Proline Hyrax G8’s   I just have some details to finish like painting some of the accessories as they look very plasticky as well as build a rudimentary cab. Will take some better photos outside once all the details are done. 

Edited January 2, 2023 by Busdriver

[Nikko85]

This does look like a great kit, I wonder if Tamiya would/could release something like this?

Tow bar with the 5 mm ball mount looks epic.

 

[Busdriver]

13 minutes ago, Nikko85 said:

This does look like a great kit, I wonder if Tamiya would/could release something like this?

Tow bar with the 5 mm ball mount looks epic.

 

Yes it is a great kit. I’m sure they could if they wanted to. It’s actually a very straightforward kit and just works. No Tamiya quirkiness or over engineering!!!

The tow bar is just a cheapy of eBay. I’ve actually changed the hitch to a pin type. Will do some better pictures once it’s all finished!!!!

[BuggyDad]

5 hours ago, Nikko85 said:

This does look like a great kit, I wonder if Tamiya would/could release something like this?

 

4 hours ago, Busdriver said:

Yes it is a great kit. I’m sure they could if they wanted to. It’s actually a very straightforward kit and just works. No Tamiya quirkiness or over engineering!!!

Think I can see why they don't. The 1/10 ladder chassis crawler market has quite a lot of (quality) competition and people can already modify with different manufacturers' parts in ways that I don't think you can quite so readily with buggies and the like, eg, M4 rod and ball ends make up your suspension linkages, vs the proprietary nature of wishbones.

[Busdriver]

Now I think it really is finished, though I need some bits and bobs for the roof rack. I really wanted a driver but couldn’t find one I like. Then I realised Willy’s body is actually quite scale, it’s his head is out of proportion, so I put a multipurpose head on a Willy body and this is what you get!!



The cabin is basically a sheet of ally laminated with plastic with a transmission tunnel built up with some checker plate on top. The seats are the backs from my GMade Gom as is the dash board which is fixed to the body with sticky pads. The cabin floor is bolted to the battery holder which still functions perfectly. I gave also painted some details on the rack as they looked very plasticky. All in all it’s turned out ok. The proof of the pudding  will be tomorrow in the wet muddy woods!!!

[Tamiyastef]

Wow! Looking really nice already. I'm not the fastest ever, I can't rush myself but still I'm always surprised to see how fast you guys can finish a project. 

I have always several different projects going on together and always fear loosing interest once they're completely finished so they all get stalled (in some cases even over a year) and then another project gets started...

Seeing threads like this makes me want to finish my similar project. So thank you for that. 👌

[BuggyDad]

Lovely cabin, seats, wheel and dash. And checker plate. Evokes a great sort of modded truck feel and adds a heap of personality. 

Probably unlikely I'll do it, and if I do I'll never get to your quality, but my work-in-progress crawler body could really do with a driver. 

On 1/2/2023 at 4:47 PM, Busdriver said:

 

These orange things ^^ - are they floats off Baywatch? 😉

(Edit: I know what they are really!) 

[Busdriver]

15 hours ago, Tamiyastef said:

Wow! Looking really nice already. I'm not the fastest ever, I can't rush myself but still I'm always surprised to see how fast you guys can finish a project. 

I have always several different projects going on together and always fear loosing interest once they're completely finished so they all get stalled (in some cases even over a year) and then another project gets started...

Seeing threads like this makes me want to finish my similar project. So thank you for that. 👌

I’m trying only to do one modelling project at a time wether it be static or RC . That way there seems more chance that I’ll actually finish it. Static models tend to be finished when they’re finished but RC can still develop as you use them. None of mine are really shelf queens though a couple haven’t turned a wheel yet!!!

[Busdriver]

Truly christened. Had its first roll!!! Is difficult to see the steepness of some of these shots but they were steep and muddy!!!  This thing is really capable. As I was on my own I had nothing to compare it with but I would say that it bettered the CC01 and 2 both with locked diffs and crawler motors in high gear with just the front diff locked. In full low mode it did climbs I’ve never managed. I also forgot I was in trail mode not crawler mode so only 50% drag brake and pause to reverse. I think Axial should give up the Capra name!!! Will try and compare it with my deadbolt in the not too distant future!!!

[BuggyDad]

👍👍

You're giving me the kick I need to get mine finished off and outside. 

What motor and battery have you got in yours? 2S or 3S?

[Busdriver]

1 minute ago, BuggyDad said:

👍👍

You're giving me the kick I need to get mine finished off and outside. 

What motor and battery have you got in yours? 2S or 3S?

I’m using 2s lipo but it can take 3s and the motor is a 550 Titan that was supplied with the kit?

[Tamiyastef]

I have a Titan motor for my sport kit also. The sport kit doesn't come with a motor but I thought it was a good starting point combined with the 1080 ESC. 

Always nice to see pictures of rc cars being used as intended. 

Seems like a pretty nice spot for crawling/trailing.

[BuggyDad]

I guess that's quite similar to my brushed Injora motor and 1080 ESC. I'll be interested to try 3S sometime.

Your ground looks drier than ours! 

[Busdriver]

3 hours ago, Tamiyastef said:

I have a Titan motor for my sport kit also. The sport kit doesn't come with a motor but I thought it was a good starting point combined with the 1080 ESC. 

Always nice to see pictures of rc cars being used as intended. 

Seems like a pretty nice spot for crawling/trailing.

I live 50 yds from some woods with quite a few trails. I really don’t make the best of it sometimes!!!!

[Busdriver]

The 1080 esc is probably better than than the Traxxas one. It can be programmed from a card. It has a seriously good drag brake. My CC01/2 both have them. The one thing I don’t think it would support for mine is the cruise control. This is a game changer fro travelling between bits of crawling ground along the trails.

[BuggyDad]

Cruise control? Blimey. 

Presume it locks in a power level rather than measuring speed? Although I guess a brushless esc could do that. 

Is it controlled by an additional channel? 

[Busdriver]

7 minutes ago, BuggyDad said:

Cruise control? Blimey. 

Presume it locks in a power level rather than measuring speed? Although I guess a brushless esc could do that. 

Is it controlled by an additional channel? 

I’m not entirely sure how it works but it’s quite efficient. Once you reach the speed you want you press the set button on the transmitter and off you go . You can accelerate and decelerate using the trigger but if you stop it disengages and you start again. However the set button is also a rotary control so you can increase or decrease the set on the go. It’s really quite cool. Add to that the locking diffs and the 2 speed box and it’s quite a bit of kit!!!

[BuggyDad]

1 minute ago, Busdriver said:

I’m not entirely sure how it works but it’s quite efficient. Once you reach the speed you want you press the set button on the transmitter and off you go . You can accelerate and decelerate using the trigger but if you stop it disengages and you start again. However the set button is also a rotary control so you can increase or decrease the set on the go. It’s really quite cool. Add to that the locking diffs and the 2 speed box and it’s quite a bit of kit!!!

It's a proprietary transmitter then? Sounds like it's in the transmitter and just sets throttle position, or they've made the whole suite of radio gear and ESC work together.

A different question if I may - your checker plate looks excellent - what product is it and do you recommend? I think it might go well on the outside of a body I'm doing.

[Busdriver]

47 minutes ago, BuggyDad said:

It's a proprietary transmitter then? Sounds like it's in the transmitter and just sets throttle position, or they've made the whole suite of radio gear and ESC work together.

A different question if I may - your checker plate looks excellent - what product is it and do you recommend? I think it might go well on the outside of a body I'm doing.

Yes the builders kit of the TRX4 comes with Traxxas branded 5 channel radio, all the servos, receiver etc etc. the only thing you don’t get is a body. 
I’ve had the checker plate for ever. It’s basically thin embossed plasticard. There are numerous kinds on EBay and Amazon. What kind of body are you doing? Is it polycarbonate as that is notoriously difficult to stick anything to!!! Especially polystyrene. If memory serves me correctly the checker was 1/24 scale is why the detail is so small. 

[Fish Slice]

So does the sport body fit the non-Sport assembly chassis?

I always end up tempted by one of the two kits because I really want a CC-02, but by the time I price that with some Hop-Up parts you are close to sport kit money. Then I think, oh but the other kit has electrics too for not much more, but then get into the body dilemma.

It's a slightly baffling range, it appeared that if you want to do something like the Defender from a kit it needs other bits and bobs that put it way above the RTR cost.  And I don't want RTR.

[sosidge]

58 minutes ago, Fish Slice said:

So does the sport body fit the non-Sport assembly chassis?

I always end up tempted by one of the two kits because I really want a CC-02, but by the time I price that with some Hop-Up parts you are close to sport kit money. Then I think, oh but the other kit has electrics too for not much more, but then get into the body dilemma.

It's a slightly baffling range, it appeared that if you want to do something like the Defender from a kit it needs other bits and bobs that put it way above the RTR cost.  And I don't want RTR.

The premium kit with electrics is 324mm wheelbase, intended for the defender body mostly, so you need to make a few changes to get the sport body to fit. 

The sport kit is cheaper and obviously it all fits together out of the box.

The market for crawlers is not a kit market, Traxxas released the kits a while ago but they are not big sellers, their new releases are all RTRs. Honestly it's a lot easier to buy the RTR and go from there.

A TRX4 will absolutely destroy a CC chassis on the rocks and trails. As will any of the similar scale crawlers from Axial/Element etc.

[Fish Slice]

39 minutes ago, sosidge said:

The premium kit with electrics is 324mm wheelbase, intended for the defender body mostly, so you need to make a few changes to get the sport body to fit. 

The sport kit is cheaper and obviously it all fits together out of the box.

The market for crawlers is not a kit market, Traxxas released the kits a while ago but they are not big sellers, their new releases are all RTRs. Honestly it's a lot easier to buy the RTR and go from there.

A TRX4 will absolutely destroy a CC chassis on the rocks and trails. As will any of the similar scale crawlers from Axial/Element etc.

Thanks for the info. Interestingly, Modelsport list the (expensive) kit with a wheel base of 312mm on their site, and Traxxas told me for a Defender body (324mm) I would need wheelbase extension (8057) to fit it. 🤷‍♂️

I totally expect either Tamiya CC is not close in capability (and CR-01 to some degree too), but as popular as RTR may, it sadly just doesn't interest me in the slightest. It's a shame Vanquish aren't a reasonably priced option here.

[BuggyDad]

20 minutes ago, Fish Slice said:

Thanks for the info. Interestingly, Modelsport list the (expensive) kit with a wheel base of 312mm on their site, and Traxxas told me for a Defender body (324mm) I would need wheelbase extension (8057) to fit it. 🤷‍♂️

I totally expect either Tamiya CC is not close in capability (and CR-01 to some degree too), but as popular as RTR may, it sadly just doesn't interest me in the slightest. It's a shame Vanquish aren't a reasonably priced option here.

Vanquish did have an incredibly good kit deal on before Christmas. 

That particular deal is not there now and I don't know whether their other deals are value for money but I think I concluded you could get it shipped OK.