Custom Astute Chassis by BEZERK RC

[impynyc 56]

First time custom RC project.  Started life as modern sand scorcher project based on a rere astute. Then turned into a custom astute project. JC racing suspension arms, alloy components and BBX gearbox.

In theory this was a good idea, the BBX gearbox is durable and can handle modern brushless power.  Slipper clutch is available, aftermarket metal gears and choice of ball or gear diffs.

Never owed or built an astute.  Still haven't run this car yet. This was a pile of spare parts for different projects.  

I made a CAD file of the stock astute chassis to keep the wheelbase and factory mounting holes.  Wade Skelton (on YouTube) assisted me with my poor CAD skills and was able to refine my drawing to a 3D drawing to be printed on my 3D printer.

After a few attempts the chassis was correct I then sent the design files to Send cut Send to be porotyped in 2.5mm aluminum. Excellent company for making custom parts from your designs.  For less than 25 dollars shipped I had a custom aluminum chassis. 

BUT send cut send did not have 2.5mm carbon plate and did not countersink holes for this material. Plus, one chassis was 175 dollars.  This was not cost effective.  

While searching BEZERK RC website for another project I noticed they have a custom carbon part service. I inquired got a fast response and uploaded my files all for the price of a stock astute chassis.  Paul at BEZERK RC was fantastic.

The project is coming along.

[impynyc 56]

[impynyc 56]

[impynyc 56]

My pictures are too large to upload. I will modify. An repost. 

[impynyc 56]

[impynyc 56]

[impynyc 56]

[RustyHunter 74]

Very cool chassis, and that's interesting to know Bezerk RC is a good option for cutting carbon fiber parts. I'd run into the same thing with SendCutSend, excellent for prototyping and cutting aluminum parts, but a bit overly expensive for any other materials, although I did get a shock tower cut out by them.

[BuggyDad 5396]

Dang! This is almost exactly my intended winter project! My aim was to create essentially an Astute but without any rare parts. It would be faithful to the Astute in terms of geometry but combine repro and homemade parts with some modern parts and perhaps a couple of resilience mods of my own. I have the BBX gearbox in stock already, a runner Madcap for some measurements and the means to cut the carbon fibre parts myself, but I have not yet done the CAD work:

 

I've also got an aluminium front bulkhead and couple of other bits incoming. But with the impending re-rerelease of the SA I may well buy one of those as well and make it a more gradual project.

Anyway, enough about me. Lovely idea and project you have here. Have you run it yet? It looks ready to go? I guess those are also JCR wheels? If not have a look at theirs - i have some and they are decent running wheels. 

[BloodClod 366]

Awesome build. I'm toying with the idea of an Astute build and yours has many great ideas implemented.

I wanted to ask you and guys like @BuggyDad as well who have been using BBX gearboxes in your builds - are you guys buying the parts individually for these projects - if so are they costly when all the bits are totalled up?

[BuggyDad 5396]

1 hour ago, BloodClod said:

I wanted to ask you and guys like @BuggyDad as well who have been using BBX gearboxes in your builds - are you guys buying the parts individually for these projects - if so are they costly when all the bits are totalled up?

Getting a BBX gearbox together did add up to quite a lot for me so there are probably cheaper donor gearboxes, but I had a BBX already so I could be sure it would suit the job in hand dimensionally, it's considered tough and I had some confidence in its future manufacture, so those factors were worth a bit. I sourced the parts from a combination of Tamico and the likes of Plaza Japan as and when I was ordering other stuff. 

It's what I have running in my homemade buggy. 

[mtbkym01 4173]

Can 100% vouch for  Bezerk RC. Finally, us in Aus have access to something that is very useful in the RC world. Paul drew up and now makes parts for the Yokomo MX-4 after a few discussions with him for my project

[impynyc 56]

Thanks for the complements.  This project is almost done.  I did get it bench running. 

I attached the 2D AUTO CAD files that were sent to Bezerk.  One file has the shorty RC10 style battery mount only. Use at you own risk.  LOL  

My astute project is 85% aftermarket. There are 3 or 4 stock astute parts on the entire car.  The remaining parts can be replaced with aftermarket parts as well.

If you shop around you can find sellers on ebay that have broken down BBX kits and are selling the parts at a reasonable price. 

 

Tamiya Asute 2018 chassis v7 ( no side mount holes) SCS.dwg Tamiya Asute 2018 chassis v7 SCS.dwg

[Marchie 92]

This is awesome, thanks for sharing the files.

Another vote for Bezerk RC, they made an Avante shock tower for me - reasonable price and very responsive.

What thickness did you get the chassis in?

[impynyc 56]

The chassis was made in the 2.5mm like the  stock configuration.   I was thinking 3mm but 2.5 was stiff and strong enough