Hornet or Frog Sand Scorcher

[phiber_optik]

Keep bouncing what car to buy next around in my head, was an M07 and then I ventured away down the line of crawler and something slow and scale. Then of course the sand scorcher appeared on my radar, it’s always there but keeps raising its head.

But they are expensive lol, I’ve seen a few hornets and frogs made into very presentable sand scorcher look a likes.

Thinking one of these chassis, modified suspension and maybe some brat tyres… slow turn motor etc. 

Would this make a capable scale trail vehicle, just walk in the forest stuff that I can throw loads of details at.

[ADRay1000]

interesting idea, if you can slow either down enough. 

another thing I’ve seen is people putting a beetle body on a CC-02 or the Squash Van chassis, both options are all wheel drive. 

[phiber_optik]

55t turn motor was my initial thought, 5 polo is possible. And add a bit of extra weight to stop it bouncing about so much.

 

Id seen this sand scorcher that gave me the idea of a trail be hole and I’ve seen a few frogs and hornets converted to look a likes including a fro-sco variation on here. 

[ADRay1000]

I put one on my Frog last year. It has a Brat front body mount and I’ve yet to finish mounting the rear properly, too busy enjoying driving it.

[Losi XXT-CR]

6 hours ago, phiber_optik said:

Keep bouncing what car to buy next around in my head, was an M07 and then I ventured away down the line of crawler and something slow and scale. Then of course the sand scorcher appeared on my radar, it’s always there but keeps raising its head.

But they are expensive lol, I’ve seen a few hornets and frogs made into very presentable sand scorcher look a likes.

Thinking one of these chassis, modified suspension and maybe some brat tyres… slow turn motor etc. 

Would this make a capable scale trail vehicle, just walk in the forest stuff that I can throw loads of details at.

Trouble is, do you want a Sand Scorcher, aka an SRB chassis. Or just something that looks like it?

As for scale trail vehicle. Really depends how far you want to go, but going slow is all about gearing. Can't see any of these being low enough for this. I'd also suggest that a locked diff and probably 4wd make for better trail vehicles, as they will cover rough terrain better and not get stuck. Mods can also swallow a budget too, so be careful. You could end up spending as much or more modding, than what the real Sand Scorcher might have cost.

[MimoRC]

I tried to do something similar, but the call of a real sand scorcher was too much so I sold a few retro games console bits and used the money to fund a ReRe Sand Scorcher that I found on offer (£270)
Much happier now 

[Pizza Frog]

This is a Grasshopper that's been converted, the cost was minimal because the Grasshopper body and Stickers were sold and that covered the expense of the Scorcher body kit.  It has alloy wheels on it now;

 

[Mad Ax]

Modifying the Hornet or Grasshopper is definitely doable, but for going in a trail?  I'm not convinced - I don't think they'd have the ground clearance.

Where I trail-walk, the biggest problems are long grass in the fields, and twigs and roots in the wooded sections.  When the grass gets long in the summer I really need my class 2 rigs to avoid getting tangled, but if you can avoid going on grass and stick to proper paths then you can get away with smaller wheels.  I would worry that a Hornet / Grasshopper / SRB would constantly get twigs and things stuck in the arms and struggle to get anywhere.  I often have to stop to pull twigs out of my class 2s, so a buggy on small wheels is going to be worse.  But I don't know for sure, and I suppose it depends on where you're going to run it.

Gearing could be an issue, but it'll never have the traction or balance for hard climbing anyway, so an 80 turn truck motor should slow it right down and give you epic runtimes, too.

FWIW I'd actually consider going out with something like this just to see how much fun it is on a walk.  I've got an old SRB in resto right now and it would make an awesome ratty expedition car for those dry summer walks.

[MadAnt]

If you want something for the trails, a small crawler chassis that will work with the sand scorcher body is the way to go. I know you want cheap project, but you will need 4WD just to make it over some obstacles if you want to drive at a relaxing pace.

[kontemax]

Hornet EVO Sand Scorcher.

Max

[El Gecko]

7 hours ago, Mad Ax said:

Modifying the Hornet or Grasshopper is definitely doable, but for going in a trail?  I'm not convinced - I don't think they'd have the ground clearance.

Agreed, and I can speak from experience on this one. The diff case on the GH/Hornet is far too low to the ground with standard (even Brat) wheels, and it gets hung up way too easily on roots and sticks. Those chassis really only work on a relatively smooth, clear trail that's well packed down.

I'm partial to the ORV chassis, so in this case I would pick the Frog or Brat as a base for OP's project. My Brat does ok with just a locked diff, but it would be way better with Blackfoot/Monster Beetle gearing using the 10t(?) pinion. In combination with a high-turn motor and the smaller Brat wheels, it would be able to drive up much steeper grades at slower speeds.

And as for 2WD vs 4WD, if you're trying to go off-path or over some really challenging technical terrain, then yes go with 4WD (as others have said the CC01/02 chassis are good for the Scorcher body). But I will say from experience (and a lot of tweaking/tuning) that 2WD is not totally useless on the trails. The main thing is low gearing, and making sure the tires stay in contact with the ground using suspension tuning and additional weight. I drive my vintage 2WD Sledgehammer all over the trails around here, and it rarely gets hung up anymore.