Kyosho Optima Mid 60th Anniversary - Kit 30643

[silvertriple]

I had this kit for some time under my desk awaiting I take the time to build it. I have some ideas of printed parts in mind, and to make them, I need first build the car...

I also have next to it an Optima driver figure i'm likely to modify to put it in the cockpit of this buggy - Yes, I simply do not want a buggy without a driver :-)

The 60th annyversary kit are actually calling to build them, as there is no nice blisters, and everything is in bulk in the box, with bags of parts...

The build starts with the diffs. They are ball diffs and they are the same at the front and the rear...

And once the ball diff are done, it's already time to open Bag B, and prepare the rear gearbox...

And once the gearbox is assembled, it's time to open Bag C and  to work out the slipper clutch and the shock tower...

Then we move at the front for the diff box, and next we install the gearboxes on the main chassis plate...

And we have a third bag completed...

[silvertriple]

4th bag is opened, and the bottom belt cover join the chassis...

Then the work is focused on the front end...This edition has universals for the front, and turnbuckles (practical for settings but cumbersome to build)...

The we are doing the same at the rear, for which we need to open bag 5th... Note the settings for the toe-in on first picture (there is few possibilities, and it would be possible to add more with 3 printing, which I won't do, as the standard setup is usually perfect to my taste)...

Next is the steering mechanism... Again with turnbuckle and an adjustable spring setting for the servo saver (there is an option for metal parts I believe, but I never broke any of the servo savers of my Kyosho, and none of my legendary series have hop ups, so not sure it is worth the money, beside the blink of the aluminium parts...)

To be continued, with 6th bag... That's were I stopped yesterday evening...

[silvertriple]

Sixth bag... Steering mechanism is in place...

And then it's time to build the shocks... This gun metal is nice... And I remind about my shock gastket helper which makes it easier to push those shock gasket in place...

The steering servo is installed logically before the upper deck... And there is a hole in the chassis in order to be able to put the screw to fix the steering link pivot ball on the servo saver (something that could have been done on other models too)...

Next come the upper deck and the upper belt cover, for which the front is a bit difficult to deal with as there is no easy way to hold the bottom part while putting the screws...

I put a motor in there, the gear cover and the wing support...

I don't lke the way the battery is supposed to be fixed, and this car will run with hard packs so it is time to prepare something to put the battery in place with a smart way and with no possibility for the battery to move laterally... I won't put the ESC right away : first the battery need to be in place so we know which length we need for the cables and last, I need bullet connectors for the motor.
I'll also have to find a way to put a driver in this car... Not sure how I deal with this...

I trimmed the bodyshell (and even with finger cutter, it's complex) and the wing...

A this stage, I don't know if I will use this rims or the standard white Optima mid "Peugeot" rims, which I definitely prefer to those green rims. And as ususal I don't plan for box art. I'm not fixed yet, but I lean towards gun metal and white, and probably another color...

[CoolHands]

If you print some stuff design a piece that could go under the ESC would be the most useful. Because of the upward lip on the edge of the chassis it is really annoying as you can’t get the ESC flat so you have to try and make up the gap, and it doesn’t work too well with double sided foam.

yes I like the original style rims

 

[silvertriple]

4 hours ago, CoolHands said:

If you print some stuff design a piece that could go under the ESC would be the most useful. Because of the upward lip on the edge of the chassis it is really annoying as you can’t get the ESC flat so you have to try and make up the gap, and it doesn’t work too well with double sided foam.

yes I like the original style rims

 

Well, somehow, the ESC is a topic for me too : I have no plan to use the Kyosho Le Mans, as I'm going to run a 10.5T which is above the Kyosho Le Mans specs... I plan to use a SkyRC Toro TS120A : slightly bigger and with likely similar issue than what you experience... Stay tuned, I'll find a solution for this

And just for the sake of precision : the 60th anniversary edition carbon chassis don't have the lip. Could you please precise about your mid : the height of the lip, and does it have holes provision for the Le Mans ESC?

[CoolHands]

Oh yes, of course yours doesn’t have that problem. I’ll have a measure of mine tomorrow it’s about 2mm height I think. It has 2 unused holes in same position as on yours it seems. Which are not used to hold the esc but maybe they could be utilised to hold a thin plate which takes up the gap somehow.

 

[silvertriple]

To have clues about my wiring, I need to deal first with my battery support...

For this I started to draw the chassis section (before checking, I also thought the lip for the Mid standard chassis would go along the edge of the chassis at the place where there is the battery and it is not the case).

Then I designed supports for the battery. They include provision for M3x5.7 inserts for the screws at the end which are the one that are going to be removed often (just like I did on my Fantom battery support).

Those parts are fairly simple and I printed them right away in final mode without test print first (PETG should be enough for this application)...

This is working nicely with the bodyshell (I'll just have a to add some protection within the bodyshell in this area to avoid rubbing the paint.

One screw only is removed to place the battery, make it quite convenient...

The overall setup is as follow...

You may note the R and L on the parts are they are not symetrical to adapt to the battery. It would work as well with the second set of holes which is 7 millimeter behind the first set of holes (I check the design would be good as well for this).

There is a provision under the left side to channel the motor wires properly between the battery support and the chassis (and unlike the original setup, it doesn't require additional parts).

[silvertriple]

Thinking about the ESC, and the room needed, I'm considering putting it angled, to avoid it to be too far from the chassis center... I've designed two parts that should do it for both Optima Mid standard with the lip on the chassis and for the Optima Mid 60th...

I've launched a test print to verify how far I am from the top deck face...

 

[CoolHands]

The lipo support looks very good. Only way I could see to have it improved in any way would be if it didn’t require a screw to hold it closed, eg if that bar hinged down into a channel or something. Or maybe could use an o ring in some way to hold it closed (for easy change out in the field).

 

I can’t visualise the parts above you mention for the esc. I imagined a flat plate like below. It could be tapped  afterwards to M3 to allow countersink screws to hold it in place. And esc stuck to it as normal with double sided tape. I measured the lip height offset, bit hard to measure but seems to be 1.9mm. Chassis material seems to be 2.0mm

 

 

[silvertriple]

17 minutes ago, CoolHands said:

The lipo support looks very good. Only way I could see to have it improved in any way would be if it didn’t require a screw to hold it closed, eg if that bar hinged down into a channel or something. Or maybe could use an o ring in some way to hold it closed (for easy change out in the field).

 

I can’t visualise the parts above you mention for the esc. I imagined a flat plate like below. It could be tapped  afterwards to M3 to allow countersink screws to hold it in place. And esc stuck to it as normal with double sided tape. I measured the lip height offset, bit hard to measure but seems to be 1.9mm. Chassis material seems to be 2.0mm

 

 

A flat part would not make it for me : my ESC is a bit too large to get there, and the on-off button is a push button directly on the ESC. I have to get it angled do it do not protrudes more than the servo on the other side, and it will ease my cable management...

First test :

What you want to do is super easy to do without 3d printing : the spacement of the holes is 26mm : any 2mm sheet of plastic would do, with two holes of 2.3mm at 26mm center distance, with the addition of the two spacers OT 210BK-2... And if you want to model the part to print in 3D, you may use the manual page with the chassis flat picture as canvas and calibrate it with the 26mm holes center distance...

[silvertriple]

32 minutes ago, CoolHands said:

The lipo support looks very good. Only way I could see to have it improved in any way would be if it didn’t require a screw to hold it closed, eg if that bar hinged down into a channel or something. Or maybe could use an o ring in some way to hold it closed (for easy change out in the field).

This would be at the detriment of safety : I do not want to introduce a weak point in the design : the room left by the bodyshell don't allow for a slot. And an o-ring would be prone to fly, which is not a good idea on the field...

And having an allen key or a screwdriver to use on the field should not really be an issue...

[Andreas W]

I finally took me the time to read this thread.  Very inspirational for my coming build of the same model. I am gonna wait with it until the garage/mancave is finished next year. 

 

I like your clever solution for the battery mount. 

[silvertriple]

On 10/29/2024 at 10:49 AM, Andreas W said:

I finally took me the time to read this thread.  Very inspirational for my coming build of the same model. I am gonna wait with it until the garage/mancave is finished next year. 

 

I like your clever solution for the battery mount. 

I'll make the stl files available at some point... I'm still debatting with myself about the ESC position... I may do multiple versions. The fact is I have a RX with a gyro inside, and to make this work, the car need to be flat at ESC startup, which means the button needs to be easily accessible, without moving the car. My angled version should work but a flat part could be usefull for simple setup, and that is exactly what I'm printing right now...

[silvertriple]

The angled version will give easy access to the on/off button on my ESC (I made two version : one for cabon chassis and one for the standard mid chassis). 

The flat version maybe preferred by many. I'm awaiting the confirmation for the chassi lip on the standard chassis, but the flat version should not collide with the lip.

 

[silvertriple]

Battery support have been slightly modified to ease the cable passthru...

While at it, I also worked out some 25 mm hard pack version, Shorty version and as well one dedicated to Stick packs version.

I'm just doing a final check and I will make them available soon...

[BuggyDad]

Interested to know on which orientation you print these? On end seems sensible except I'd be a bit concerned with the screw holes into the deck and the force of the heavy battery pushing out laterally in an impact.

Another question if I may - is it the strap approach you don't like with the stock arrangement or fitting a shorty? Ive only used mine with a 25mm stick pack, for which it's OK, albeit can be a tight fit. In a way, the tight fit is a good thing I think.

Finally, your metal threaded inserts look like a useful thing for 3d prints generally. Except perhaps that there's less material around them. I assume you use them a lot? Do you glue them in? I assume you avoid a tight fit because again it'd stress the plastic?

[silvertriple]

1 minute ago, BuggyDad said:

Interested to know on which orientation you print these? On end seems sensible except I'd be a bit concerned with the screw holes into the deck and the force of the heavy battery pushing out laterally in an impact.

Another question if I may - is it the strap approach you don't like with the stock arrangement or fitting a shorty? Ive only used mine with a 25mm stick pack, for which it's OK, albeit can be a tight fit. In a way, the tight fit is a good thing I think.

Finally, your metal threaded inserts look like a useful thing for 3d prints generally. Except perhaps that there's less material around them. I assume you use them a lot? Do you glue them in? I assume you avoid a tight fit because again it'd stress the plastic?

I'm printing them on the external face, the top part will require support but it works perfectly this way (printing 100% infill, and PETG : you need both temperature resistance and a bit of flex, which are the reason of the material choice). Inserts are made specifically for this type of usage, and they are inserted with heat (you put the insert on the solder iron pane and push in (I generally center the insert first, then use the solder iron pane to push it). And you are right, there is a bit less material around them, but the contact surface with the part is bigger, and it is less damaged than when you tap a thread directly in the plastic : here the plastic is melted against the insert and it is not going to move...

Reason why I prefer this type of mount : it's more reliable than the straps. My own experience with the Kyosho re-release is that packs tends to move right or left easily, whatever tension you put in the strap, and that even with the stick pack were the contact surface is bigger. Further, when the weather is very bad, they get mud and it's a mess... 

[silvertriple]

Last checks are now done...

The files are available on makerworld : https://makerworld.com/en/models/748905
All versions are included with both versions of ESC supports. I made one plate per version (Hard pack 20mm, Hard pack 25mm, Shorty 25mm, Stick pack) and one plate with the two versions of ESC supports.

I'll add them on cults3D and other plateforms after some time.

[silvertriple]

A bit later...
I finally took the time to do the paintjob and almost finish this car...

The lexan wing is quite exposed, and I'm just realist on my capacities as a driver : it won't last long. I decided to do something about that with a TPU wing.

Just in case it is of use for you, I put the file on makerworld : https://makerworld.com/en/models/1342964-wing-for-kyosho-optima-mid-and-optima-mid-60th

And here is the TPU wing on the chassis with the bodyshell...

Last, I had to take care of electronics. The motor is a 10.5T and the ESC a 120A.

There is still a bit of work as I need to put some stickers on this car, but that will be for an evening during the week. The car will be ready for the Montluçonnaise event :-)

[silvertriple]

Sticker time!
As usual, I wanted a 9 rather than a 2. Other elements are basically from the kit stickers, but the 9 was designed using the plotter and 2 different vinyls...

And yes, I also used the white rims peugeot 205 design rather than the green rims peugeot Quasar design, because they suit the car better...

One thing I still have to do is an undertray to protect the chassis... I'll do this within the next few days...

[Andreas W]

A tasty color scheme, as usual . I also need some time to get used to the design of the kit rims. I never got used to them on the Ultima BITD, so they are maybe not for me. Luckily JC Racing makes Pepper Pots,  which I love, in many colors.

 

Did you build it with the ball diffs?

[silvertriple]

6 hours ago, Andreas W said:

A tasty color scheme, as usual . I also need some time to get used to the design of the kit rims. I never got used to them on the Ultima BITD, so they are maybe not for me. Luckily JC Racing makes Pepper Pots,  which I love, in many colors.

 

Did you build it with the ball diffs?

Yes, but I'm not sure about how I built them, and if I had the choice, I would have built them in gears version... I'm not a racer, and setting ball diffs adds variable and I'm not sure how much it is useful... We'll see when I can run the car... So far, my only car running a ball diff is the Fantom ext, and I don't see much difference where I run it compared to the fantom gears diff... 

[Kol__]

11 hours ago, silvertriple said:

Wow mate, she looks stunning! That dark blue with the custom decals just works so well. I too like those white standard Optima-Mid wheels, really changes the look! And haha at the Peugeot reference, I'd never thought of that before!😆

Have you gone with the Penguin undertray? And if you're going to go with the geared diffs, now is a good time, as the OT222 internals have finally just come back into stock at Banzai Hobby and PJ. Also, @toyolien recommends the shorter Optima belt (using a different setting on the tensioner of course) and for another £6 from Banzai, that seems a no-brainer👍👍

[silvertriple]

On 5/1/2025 at 9:53 PM, Kol__ said:

Wow mate, she looks stunning! That dark blue with the custom decals just works so well. I too like those white standard Optima-Mid wheels, really changes the look! And haha at the Peugeot reference, I'd never thought of that before!😆

Have you gone with the Penguin undertray? And if you're going to go with the geared diffs, now is a good time, as the OT222 internals have finally just come back into stock at Banzai Hobby and PJ. Also, @toyolien recommends the shorter Optima belt (using a different setting on the tensioner of course) and for another £6 from Banzai, that seems a no-brainer👍👍

I was thinking about doing a TPU 3D printed undertray... But I won't have the time to deal with it this week-end, so at the end, It will end with a very simple plain transparent vinyl sticked on the chassis... For the rest, I will first run the car in its current form before doing any change in the settings... For the belt, I'm not sure the 60th anniversary needs it : it looked fine in terms of tension, and it might have been sorted out directly by Kyosho as it is a different kit than the regular mid... And by the way, for the diff, I believe you don't need only the internals, you really need complete diffs...

[Kol__]

3D printed undertray sounds cool, didn't even know that was a possible😎

Re the belt, you may likely find it slips, like myself and @toyolien, and others I assume have. The drive train between the standard and 60th Mids are identical. The upgrades for the 60th are largely cosmetic. For the most recent run of my 60th Mid, I adjusted the belt tension setting from 8 to 9 and it seemed to help, but still some 'clacking' as it slips under heavy braking.

Yes, you are correct, you need to buy gear cases and other parts I can't remember for the gear diffs, as i bought them ages ago now. Drive cups too iirc. What I meant was that the OT222 internals have been out of stock for ages (unless you want to pay 4 times more in the UK) and now they're finally back in stock at the usual overseas haunts.

All just friendly advice, take it as you will bud👍