TRF211X Runner "Red Player Vs. Green Player"

[Collin 1912]

Hi TC friends.

long time since my last The Builds topic. The last two years I was very busy with "the Project X" which is only waiting for the serial production of aluminum and titanium parts. So the stress is over and I felt a bit empty. No just kidding. It war a huge project and still things to do but we are down the hill. Now its time to play again and I decided to build a runner for my partne in crime and me. Its obviously based on a TRF211X chassis. The goal is to keep it as original as possible but as rigide as I wat it to be.

In short words, leave the chassis as it is and use best parts available. Boras aluminum parts, Dennis POM Super Astute arms, Tamiya slipper clutch and TD2 ball diff. Aluminum, kickup and motorguard replaced with Kydex parts. The rest are only bits and pieces.

Here is what I just threw on my floor, lets start this project now : )

[Collin 1912]

It was a phantastic day regarding RC. First I started to have a closer look to the parts I bought. I did knew from the glorious Ralph Lee TRF211x replica that SA delrin arms need to be modified a bit. Its about 1 and a bit mm at the rear and front to fit the bulkheads. Also I figured out the aluminum suspension blocks are a bit too tight to the edge of the chassis plate. After an hour with my little lathe everything fitted so smooth and I could immediatly trow bits and parts together. No words for the pleasue of doing such a nice built after two years of excessiv CAD and developing a prototype. Also pre-series of aluminum parts for the Project X came today which made me a next level happiere, since parts where almost perfect. I promisse to post some pics about that project soon, but its a bit too early yet.

Back to the TRF211X Runners, I think the pics speak for themself, enjoy ; )

 

Missing 3D prints should be delivered this week so I can do the drivetrain and steering mechanism. Meanwhile I can do the DF-03 slipper clutch mod. This will be done soon. Time to think about rims and shocks : )

Greetings.
Tom

 

[ruebiracer 941]

Great Tom! Have fun building these 2 hot Protos! Looks awesome right now, another level up from quality, when I look at the cool motor plate!

Keen on the DF03 mod, hope you got all the parts. Was´t easy the last years to get clutch parts from DF03...

 

Greets,

Matthias

[Collin 1912]

5 minutes ago, ruebiracer said:

Keen on the DF03 mod, hope you got all the parts. Was´t easy the last years to get clutch parts from DF03...

Greets,

Matthias

Well... I think I know why they where hard to get here at our local dealer. Someone I know bought a lot of them

[TwistedxSlayer 1287]

This is ace.

 

Following.

[Collin 1912]

Built will continue soon, still waiting for 3d prints.

[Collin 1912]

Hi Guys,

I missed some steps, but here it goes further. Its so funny to make every thing twice, a bit like been drunk but with better result

Still some steps to do, such as motorguard upper mount. Going to try some carbon rods instead of brass hex. Collected some pars of TRF 22.2 dampers, made a long and short damper stay for the front so you can swap between long and short front shocks.

Body & wing is pre cut but need some cosmetics at the end. Electronics need all black wires (except + will be red) and have to find a nice BL motor, I think 10.5 would be a good calibre.

And you know what? This par is my best built so far. All this nice black aluminum parts and black delrin makes it look stealth, it still has so much the esprit of the original TRF211X but it will be a bullit at the end, a fine vintage runner.

It was a goood day today, hope for you too

 

[fila1445 19]

you are using modified trf201 gearbox if i'm not mistaken?

They look awesome now i need to build one in some near future

[Collin 1912]

4 hours ago, fila1445 said:

you are using modified trf201 gearbox if i'm not mistaken?

They look awesome now i need to build one in some near future

Hi. It is the original gearbox modified (3D print). Made them for TA-06 / TD-02 ball diff and M-07 gear diff.

[Collin 1912]

Did some progress on the twins. Made some custom battery mount clips, the original ones and hard--case LiPo did not fit together. Problem solved now. TLR 22 damper mounted and I really like them. Front ones will receive a lower spring cup, a few mm will bring the front a bit down. Also I will try the puter bottom mounts. Drivetrain runnes smooth, Kydex motor guards mounted and the top mount will be made out of CF-rod. The brass hex one is looking unique somehow but its really heavy. Lets see how m3 threats wll work with cf material.

Tomorrow will be dedicated to electronics. Too bad, SRT servos coming with very short cables now, 8cm instead of ~12cm. In the worst case I have to take some extensions I got, cuting the blugs and soldering directly to the servo... But have to check the TX unit position befor, maybe I am lucky with it.

Enjoy this pics my friends.

 

[Collin 1912]

Some news! Did the electrics yeasterday evening. Now I am not shure about several things. Your idears are very welcome.

1) ESC/battery. The ESC sits very close to the edge and we all know the chassis is not sealed, its open at the bottom side. I saw this on many 90s runners but it is not ideal. Now if I use shorty LiPo I could hide the ESC between it and the gearbox, it would be a perfect fit but on/off switch can not be reached without removing body. Also it will force me to use shorys. Putting the ESC on the upper deck right in front of the shocktower is no option for me, I want to keep weight/gravity low.

2) Gearing. Always when it comes to gearing I have a bit of a knod in my brain (psssst, dont tell it anyone ). I need to do some notes and will post my idears and limitation soon.

3) Wingmount: For now it is the classic wire mount but I wanted to make something printed with TPU rubber. Bodyworks is usually the last step, so lets keep thoughts steaming for now.

 

Soon more about gearing : )

[Collin 1912]

Okay. Regarding the range of pinions possible on this motorplate I made this sheet. Now the very naive question, using a 120A ESC and this Ares Pro 10,5T SkyRC motor, where would you go? 

Also you can see pinions with large size such as 35T up. Shure spur gear size is going down but is there anything to mention because of size/weigth on the motor shaft?

[wtcc5 3947]

Regarding the esc location, I don't see a better position for it or another position, where it could fit other than next to the battery. My first choice would have been to put it on the topdeck right in front of the shocktower to keep it away from the dirt. If you rule that out, then only a smaller esc seems to fullfill your demand if you don't want to move the battery or use a shorty. Why don't you like to use shorty LiPos? If you use Brushless, a shorty is a fitting energy source. For NiMh a brushed motor and a tiny LRP brushed esc will be another fitting combination (and both would solve your esc "problem") 

[ThunderDragonCy 7071]

@Collin For 10.5 brushless you want FDR around 8. I run just under 7 on 13.5 in Ultra G and it's spot on. You need a lower gear for the higher power motor. 

[Collin 1912]

@wtcc5 Hehe somehow I mostly want everything at once, but true, I should face the fact I will use my shorty LiPos. The older longer ones does not even slip into the battery tray because of its shape.

15 hours ago, wtcc5 said:

Regarding the esc location, I don't see a better position for it or another position, where it could fit other than next to the battery.

 This confuses me a bit, "next" is nearly everywhere on this chassis Does anything speak about the position between battery and gearbox, where I put the blue ESC case for demostration? It would need a solution to keep distance between ESC and battery, some foam maybe. I dont see any heat problems since this 120A ESC never got hotter then warm under normal conditions.

 

11 hours ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

@Collin For 10.5 brushless you want FDR around 8. I run just under 7 on 13.5 in Ultra G and it's spot on. You need a lower gear for the higher power motor. 

This is what I always get wrong, thinking a powerfull motor can pull a long ration. But it seems like this BL motors work on rev, not on power, can we say so?

Thanks guys : )

[ThunderDragonCy 7071]

15 minutes ago, Collin said:

@wtcc5 Hehe somehow I mostly want everything at once, but true, I should face the fact I will use my shorty LiPos. The older longer ones does not even slip into the battery tray because of its shape.

 This confuses me a bit, "next" is nearly everywhere on this chassis Does anything speak about the position between battery and gearbox, where I put the blue ESC case for demostration? It would need a solution to keep distance between ESC and battery, some foam maybe. I dont see any heat problems since this 120A ESC never got hotter then warm under normal conditions.

 

This is what I always get wrong, thinking a powerfull motor can pull a long ration. But it seems like this BL motors work on rev, not on power, can we say so?

Thanks guys : )

They can certainly pull a longer ratio than equivalent brushed motor, but I think at some point you simply don't have enough space on the track to rev them out if you over gear them so it's better to have good punch coming out of the corners. 

[Collin 1912]

Made some cosmetics on electric, LiPo sits nice inbetween foam block and tray. ESC is hidde, probably it will find its final position above on upper deck, as @wtcc5 mentioned befor.

 

[Collin 1912]

Time for some bodywork Now the big question, which colour fits best? My first idear was "Red Player Vs. Green Player". But somehow I´d also have "Spy Vs. Spy" in my mind, this would fit perfect to the black/white decal sets. But black is always a bit lala when you go to the track. Flashy pink rims help to spot the point of interest but our eyes become a bit tired since we are not teenagers anymore. But lets wait what my mate says about.

Meanwhile I am waiting on the last parts such as gearcovers, offset spring-cups for the front damper, airscoops from industry print quality, bodyclips (yes I ran out of ) and carbon rods for the upper motorguard mount. Also I need a second 22T pinion, I am simply not prepaired enough for this double feature builts. Last but not least, glueing tyres. Do you guys use foam inserts on this spike tires as well? They look much tougher to me then Pro-Lines for example where I always put foams inside.

Enjoy some pics...

[Collin 1912]

Done! Not only this pair, also I am exausted. Will lean back and put my focus on the track this summer. It was a very productive time the last two years and when I look forward there is already a list with another few projects on.

About the designe, my rc buddy in crime did a great design, quiet simple but you all know where it is going to,... forward!

[ruebiracer 941]

2 marvellous machines Tom, Congrats!

[Boone227 24]

Hey Tom what rear hubs are you using on this project? Are they original DS ones or did you 3D print a modified set?

These look great BTW!! I have really enjoyed your posts!!

Cheers

[Collin 1912]

1 hour ago, Boone227 said:

Hey Tom what rear hubs are you using on this project? Are they original DS ones or did you 3D print a modified set?

These look great BTW!! I have really enjoyed your posts!!

Cheers

Thanks for your kind words. I already had the rear hubs drawen in 3D CAD and modified them to work with Top Force/Manta Ray CVDs. Best of two worlds, looking absolutely original but are more reliale and easier to maintain.

[Collin 1912]

Finally "Green Player" is on the way to North-Germany. I took some photos befor they got divorced.

 

More details on my website gallery:
https://wrenchdog.org/trf211x-runner-red-player-vs-green-player/

Enjoy : )