DT-03 Racing Fighter

[BuggyDad 4477]

5 hours ago, skom25 said:

Build finished. Only few minor things to improve left.

I made second wing, little wider. I also bought Neo Fighter front tires.

Not too much stickers on body. I prefer that kind of look.

Impressive work on the paint there. Any particular tricks? I like how it matches the walls - is it your favourite colour by any chance? If you're going to be running it much I found those front tyres to contribute to the lack of front end grip we seem to chase with these, but they do look kind of "right". 

[skom25 1255]

Trick is simple. Just put paper sheet on chassis ( where you want transition) and spray colour. Remove paper and spray coat of second colour. Little bit of overspray will make that smooth transition.

I did mistake because I have not applied windows masks. I wanted that part of body to be black. Unfortunately when I painted Corsa Grey wind caused too much overspray and you can see effect...

In terms of colour, well... I do not like that colour. On PC screen it looked like Grey with tiny amount of Green. Even can cap looked quite ok. In reality it is like Mint. Shame on Tamiya, that they did not have just Grey colour in their chart...

Tires:

Well, I just read the same opinion about stock Racing Fighter tires so I decided to buy Neo Fighter. Well... 😁

I have not decided yet but maybe I will buy Neo Fighter body. Problem is that all cables and electronics are done to fit Racing Fighter and looking on Neo Fighter, probably it will be an issue because of limited space. I think that Racing Fighter is much taller.

[skom25 1255]

I took few pictures more.

Overspray is clearly visible on windows.

I made also vent holes in windshield and on the sides. I read a lot about overheating of ESC. I was not sure about that idea, mainly because of dirt which can go inside. After I fitted body it was clear that gap between side panels and chassis is so big, that those three holes will not make any difference.

[BuggyDad 4477]

5 hours ago, skom25 said:

I have not decided yet but maybe I will buy Neo Fighter body. Problem is that all cables and electronics are done to fit Racing Fighter and looking on Neo Fighter, probably it will be an issue because of limited space. I think that Racing Fighter is much taller.

I think they'll be similar enough that you can flex and zip tie the cabling around a bit to take the Neo Fighter body. Although yes I guess it will be a bit tighter in there. 

[skom25 1255]

First ride. Well...

[BuggyDad 4477]

Oh that's bad luck. 

You might get away with an M3 screw right through that with a ball nut, especially if you can sleeve around the cracked cylindrical section. I have also filed that piece off before. I'm not sure why it's there really. Yeah, that's an option - maybe file it back, bolt through and use good sized washers to spread the load?

But in any case you should get some spares in. Even if you can patch it up it'll break at some point. I find the carbon ones stronger, and not too expensive if part of a bigger Plaza Japan order. Shock towers (and the parts they fix to) are the most common breaks on these and go quite easily. 

[skom25 1255]

Fixed.

Ball joints on top and bottom. I removed cracked part so ball joints are in correct position. Unfortunately there is small crack on shock mount.

Probably it will be fine, because there is still a lot of "meat" but maybe I will replace it during bigger service.

I also moved mounts  ( front and rear) to position which gives more ride height.

[skom25 1255]

Second ride finished. This time without issues but with two small crashes. Higher suspension definitely improved steering.

I have one problem: rocks in battery tray.

After first ride I was not able to remove battery. There were so many rocks and gravel. Before second ride I put some foam to cover gap between battery and chassis. It is better but still some rocks which scratchech battery.

Any advice on this?

 

[BuggyDad 4477]

37 minutes ago, skom25 said:

Second ride finished. This time without issues but with two small crashes. Higher suspension definitely improved steering.

I have one problem: rocks in battery tray.

After first ride I was not able to remove battery. There were so many rocks and gravel. Before second ride I put some foam to cover gap between battery and chassis. It is better but still some rocks which scratchech battery.

Any advice on this?

 

I haven't really had this, not to a problematic degree anyway. Perhaps the tighter fitting sides of the Neo Fighter body make the difference? 

[skom25 1255]

Probably. Racing Fighter has huuuuge side panels.

Is it safe to put some vinyl foil on NiMh battery? I do not want wrap everything, just both end which are raised.

[skom25 1255]

I ordered spare chassis with shock towers etc. I wanted to buy carbon but I do not see reason to do it. One carbon tower costs the same as whole chassis with rest of the parts. Probably I will replace rear tower because I have impression that crack is little wider than before.

Maybe I will buy front carbon tower if it will be available in LHS. Chassis is from amazon and prices are high there ( almost 100% more compared to LHS). I paid more but I do not want to stay with broken tower if anything will happen.

Third run:

Today 40 minutes on gravel. Foam covered battery tray quite nice and there were not to many rocks inside. Maybe I will think about some velcro attached cover.

First impression was that engine was not too powerfull but after some time I have feeling that is enough. RWD on loose surface is quite tricky to control.

BTW: 

After three runs model looks, ekhm, tired. How it is possible that I saw so many builds with further updates and models looked as new. Probably owners ran them on asphalt etc, but what is reason to buy Offroad car and run it on asphalt?

[alvinlwh 5895]

51 minutes ago, skom25 said:

One carbon tower costs the same as whole chassis with rest of the parts.

Try this.

https://www.asiatees.com/display?id=97676

[skom25 1255]

Hmm, I will use PLN:

Rear carbon tower: 56 PLN

Front carbon tower: 49 PLN

Chassis: 49 PLN

Part you mentioned: 67 PLN

Prices from my LHS. I just have to wait. I paid 79 PLN for chassis on Amazon.

1 Pound = 5.29 PLN

[alvinlwh 5895]

16 minutes ago, skom25 said:

Hmm, I will use PLN:

Rear carbon tower: 56 PLN

Front carbon tower: 49 PLN

Chassis: 49 PLN

Part you mentioned: 67 PLN

Prices from my LHS. I just have to wait. I paid 79 PLN for chassis on Amazon.

1 Pound = 5.29 PLN

Ok looks like you get much cheaper parts over there, forget about buying Far Eastern parts.

[BuggyDad 4477]

Bear in mind also that the carbon ones should be stronger. You might find you go through multiple plastic ones for each carbon one. I've got a lot of snapped plastic ones in my box of things I should've thrown away! Don't think I've snapped a carbon one, although I've mostly only run them with the braces. 

[alvinlwh 5895]

Funny you ran into this problem and in another thread was asking about better chassis and then someone else was reporting that their VQS (3 times more expensive) was broken when their DT-02 did not.

[skom25 1255]

18 minutes ago, BuggyDad said:

Bear in mind also that the carbon ones should be stronger. You might find you go through multiple plastic ones for each carbon one. I've got a lot of snapped plastic ones in my box of things I should've thrown away! Don't think I've snapped a carbon one, although I've mostly only run them with the braces. 

Good to know. I will se what will be available in LHS. It is very hard to get any information about delivery from them... They order parts every month but what will be delivered, who knows...

[skom25 1255]

I knew that at some point I will break something but I was little dissapointed that it happened after first run... Especially that I broke rear tower, when all issues I have seen were related to front 😁

[BuggyDad 4477]

22 minutes ago, skom25 said:

I knew that at some point I will break something but I was little dissapointed that it happened after first run... Especially that I broke rear tower, when all issues I have seen were related to front 😁

They're as strong/weak as each other. Just depends which one hits the ground first! 

[alvinlwh 5895]

6 hours ago, skom25 said:

After three runs model looks, ekhm, tired. How it is possible that I saw so many builds with further updates and models looked as new. Probably owners ran them on asphalt etc, but what is reason to buy Offroad car and run it on asphalt?

Off-road buggy does not necessary means "off-road". I recently met up with fellow member @Wooders28 at his club track and that track is made out of astro turf or old carpets.

I actually find that my rally build deals with mixed off-road conditions better than my buggies.

[BuggyDad 4477]

I guess we also photograph them when they're in their best shape, or just try to get the best angle, or whatever.

Body shell wise, our 2 DTs have looked tired since their very early days, but the shells have continued to be functionally essentially as good as new, just scratched. I think it's quite a tough shape (not so much the wings though). I did add some plasterboard tape and shoe goo to mine from the start though - I think that makes quite a big difference to lifespan if you're a basher like me and I would recommend it.

On reflection I reckon if I gave the chassis a really good clean mine would look kind of OK. Lots of scratches to shell, small chips to the wheels and scratches all over the underside of the chassis but the paint is good and they're only surface sratches. But I don't tend to do that, I just get the muck off rather than trying to end up with clean surfaces where it doesn't really matter. 

So yeah essentially I think it depends where you run it and how you treat it. Rolls on gravel or hard surfaces are bound to scratch it up very visibly and it won't look like the ones that are driven only gently or only on soft surfaces. But for me, the DT-03 isn't one to keep nice for appearance's sake, it's one to have fun running and not worry about. 

On that note, I'll hopefully get mine running again this week. I'll try not to crash it too much but I'll definitely give it the full beans.... 

[skom25 1255]

I covered few places with aluminium tape. Unfortunately after each run I found new places with worn paint. Small points but it really hurts...

I found also one or two places with cracked paint and one with cracked lexan. Probably effects of rollovers 🤪

I wanted to have it in Tip Top visual condition but after first runs I see that it is not posiible to have fun Off Road and not scratch parts. Well, at least it looks like properly used Off Road RC 😁

Probably I did some mistakes with body fitting. It moves more than it should.

Good news are that I have so many spare parts that probably I will be able to rebuild whole chassis, gearbox and suspension. Of course I do not have gerbox internals etc but all what can just break. Maybe I will buy Neo Fighter body and prepare it properly during summer. I think clear coat as finish inside will help a lot.

I did three rollovers and crashed not so hard two or three times. I think during bashing Off road on gravel/ hardpack it is something that cannot be avoided. 

I think about TT-02B as asphalt model with low risk of damage but I am not sure if I am ready to maintain two models.

[BuggyDad 4477]

54 minutes ago, skom25 said:

I think about TT-02B as asphalt model with low risk of damage but I am not sure if I am ready to maintain two models.

You only need to fix what you've just driven. Generally if I have a day with some rc in it it's just one model. Sometimes one languishes as a non-runner for months. 

Although last Friday I drove four, broke two and wore out the tyres on another.... But that is highly unusual. 

And I only got my first (adult) one 1.5 years ago. I'm a newbie, but the cars have been racking up. 

By the way, you've inspired me to get my DT-03 back on the road. I just got it ready to go so hopefully it'll get a little spin tomorrow. 

[droidy 91]

5 hours ago, skom25 said:

not scratch parts

Yeah I think it's not possible. Even onroad you'll grip roll into your shiny sports car body or send it into the gutter.

A few scrapes and scratches and patches and fixes are quite charming if you keep everything neat, polished and clean (not perfectly clean). I settled on a small cheap garden blower, nice long bristle paint brush and squirt of dry lube into the mechanism after each run.

[skom25 1255]

I want to try different oil in rear shocks. Can I just pour out old and use new without removing all parts?

Additional questions:

1. Do anyone know dimensions of CVA shocks orings? I will buy better and replace during rebuild in future.

2. Can I use e.g 9805917 instead of stock shafts?