Scorpion Pinebeach Raceway 380 Motor Build

[toyolien]

I've always loved the look of single seater style buggies, and when I became aware of the 380 motor 'craze' in Japan (and hopefully the UK too) I thought the Scorpion would be the perfect buggy to build. So, here we are. A nice build for some romantic driving....

I'm using a few option parts, but not going too crazy due to the relatively low speed.

 

The box art is not quite on Tamiya's level, but iconic nonetheless.

 

The Ro Mans 380s motor by Pinebeach Raceway. It's going to be rapid... not!

 

First option part are these heat treated anodised main chassis rails.

 

I've got a set of shocks from the Turbo Scorpion and as they are slightly longer than the Scorpion you need the shock towers also. Carbon of course.

 

 

Next up is the servo saver. I'm replacing the kit plastic part for this beauty.

 

 

Progress so far.

 

The Pinebeach Raceway motor mount to fit the 380 motor to the Scorpion gearbox.

 

The rear carbon shock mount for the longer Turbo Scorpion dampers.

 

Gearbox assembled. It comes pre-assembled but I took it all apart and built it back up using my own grease etc.

 

 

 

Next option part. Universal drive shafts.

 

I thought I'd taken pics of the shock build, but apparently not. Here they are completed.

 

And, the rear roll bar installed.

 

On to the front suspension assembly. These cast parts are lovely.

 

Titanium turnbuckles. As the buggy uses trailing arms these are the steering links and front arm braces.

 

 

Starting to look like a buggy now.

 

 

 

Optional short style plastic front bumper.

 

 

Onto the tub and the electrics. Not 100% decided on a body colour yet, but it won't be box art. I will, however, try to tie it in to the yellow tub.

 

 

 

 

The rear tyres are soft so I've opted for these firm inserts.

 

And, I've replaced the hard plastic feeling front tyres for these.

 

I don't usually bother with tyre painting, but as this buggy will be relatively slower than my others, and less likely to get beaten up, I thought I'd make the effort.

 

Here's where I'm up to as of today.

 

 

 

The body will be next once the weather improves. I'm hoping to get this ready for the Tamiya Junkies March meet up.

 

Thanks for taking a look.

[donfilippo]

Looking great as all your builds! The Scorpion is such a beautiful buggy.  

[JimBear]

The Kyosho Legendary series are really nice. It will be interesting to see how you get along with the Haircut motor, and what colours you choose for the body.

 

[Re-Bugged]

Very nice 👌🏻

The cast suspension parts polish up a treat and stay that way for much longer than the SRB pot metal bits.

The back wall of the garage is also looking great, it’s a kind of spot the difference from the last one when a new Toyolien build pops up. 

[Andreas W]

It's looking superb, as always. I'm curious to see how you like it with the little motor. 

 

Did you put oil in the diff or just grease? I had just AW in mine uptil now. Out of what I had the backbone feeling said 3000, but ended up with 1000 (which I thought would be to drastic to begin with). I expect little wheelspin with this motor,  so wanted to trade for more maneurability in curves. With a 540 motor it has felt too understeery on loose surface- it's natural habitat. 

[MadAtComputer]

Awesome build! I've been having a ton of fun with a vintage grasshopper with a 380 that I have been fixing up.

[njmlondon]

I was literally driving home from the school run this morning thinking about this exact build! I am currently putting together a Turbo Scorpion project with the brushless Kyosho 240 going in the rear, but all of the 380 chat has got me thinking of getting into "healthy" and "romantic" driving, and what better than the standard Scorpion for that. Great work, great images, looking forward to seeing more and hearing how romantic the driving is.

 

[toyolien]

On 2/23/2025 at 7:20 PM, donfilippo said:

Looking great as all your builds! The Scorpion is such a beautiful buggy.  

Thank you. Can't believe it's taken me this long to get a Scorpion...

 

On 2/24/2025 at 12:28 AM, JimBear said:

The Kyosho Legendary series are really nice. It will be interesting to see how you get along with the Haircut motor, and what colours you choose for the body.

 

I'm keen to try the 380 motors. Should be some nice romantic driving.

 

On 2/24/2025 at 2:04 AM, Re-Bugged said:

Very nice 👌🏻

The cast suspension parts polish up a treat and stay that way for much longer than the SRB pot metal bits.

The back wall of the garage is also looking great, it’s a kind of spot the difference from the last one when a new Toyolien build pops up. 

Thank you. Maybe I should do a proper spot the difference. Now there's a thought...

 

On 2/24/2025 at 9:49 AM, Andreas W said:

It's looking superb, as always. I'm curious to see how you like it with the little motor. 

 

Did you put oil in the diff or just grease? I had just AW in mine uptil now. Out of what I had the backbone feeling said 3000, but ended up with 1000 (which I thought would be to drastic to begin with). I expect little wheelspin with this motor,  so wanted to trade for more maneurability in curves. With a 540 motor it has felt too understeery on loose surface- it's natural habitat. 

Thanks. As this will be quite a slow buggy, I just used Tamiya AW grease in the diff. I'm sure it'll be just fine.

 

On 2/24/2025 at 10:57 AM, MadAtComputer said:

Awesome build! I've been having a ton of fun with a vintage grasshopper with a 380 that I have been fixing up.

Thank you. I have a Grasshopper that my Mom bought for my Birthday about three years ago. I think it will also get the 380 treatment.

 

On 2/24/2025 at 12:14 PM, njmlondon said:

I was literally driving home from the school run this morning thinking about this exact build! I am currently putting together a Turbo Scorpion project with the brushless Kyosho 240 going in the rear, but all of the 380 chat has got me thinking of getting into "healthy" and "romantic" driving, and what better than the standard Scorpion for that. Great work, great images, looking forward to seeing more and hearing how romantic the driving is.

 

Thanks very much. I'd like to see you Turbo Scorpion build also. I did but the longer rear plates for mine but have not fitted them yet. I do like the look of the original Turbo Scorpion with the small wheels and longer wheel base. Might be something I do in the future.

[toyolien]

I finally found a little time over the last week to get the Scorpion finished. I didn't really know where I was going with the body so I just kinda ended up with this. I always end up rushing the painting and being impatient. But, now that it's done I kinda like it. Ignore the terribly painted driver figure. I hate doing eyes!

 

And so that wraps up this build. First run will probably be at April's Tamiya Junkies meet I suspect.

[GToddC5]

Absolutely lovely! I'll get one someday

[Andreas W]

Gorgeous little thing. Hope you enjoy it. Iran mine yesterday and it was a pleasure. 

[JimBear]

Sweet thing, indeed! The colours work great. Love the "no rc no life" sticker.

[njmlondon]

Really lovely project. I bet you can’t wait to get her running. I hope to be close behind you.

[toyolien]

On 3/19/2025 at 1:04 AM, GToddC5 said:

Absolutely lovely! I'll get one someday

Thank you. It's a great kit.

On 3/19/2025 at 5:21 AM, Andreas W said:

Gorgeous little thing. Hope you enjoy it. Iran mine yesterday and it was a pleasure. 

Thanks. I ran it at the first UK 380 meeting, and it was lovely. Definitely one of my favourites.

On 3/19/2025 at 7:30 AM, JimBear said:

Sweet thing, indeed! The colours work great. Love the "no rc no life" sticker.

Thank you. Like most of my builds, the paint job is usually a last minute thing. It's turned out quite nice...

On 3/19/2025 at 7:31 AM, njmlondon said:

Really lovely project. I bet you can’t wait to get her running. I hope to be close behind you.

Thank you. Following your build now also. 

[toyolien]

After using this at the 380 meeting I decided that it didn't really need all the option parts at the speed it travels. So, I've put it almost back to kit spec so that I can use the option parts on a Beetle build, which will have a little faster motor. And, I also build up the HG shocks for the Scorpion. The Turbo Scorpion shock I had on it before worked great, but I didn't like the clamp on spring retainers. They keep moving!

And, here's the beginnings of the Beetle. I wasn't going to do another build thread as it pretty much the same as the Scorpion. But, I will post up a few pics once I've finished it.

 

[toyolien]

I attended the 2nd round of the UK 380 series last yesterday. It's such a great concept that provides some relaxing and fun racing. Rich Lowe managed to video one of my races with the Scorpion. It was against a Grasshopper a couple of DT-02's and a couple of Foxes. 

 

[ThunderDragonCy]

Fantastic. Surprised how fast they are. Congrats on the win.

[Krustybus]

Really looking forward to seeing your Beetle build :-) 

Love the Scorpion too, 380 racing looks fun!

[njmlondon]

They look amazing together. The suspension on the scorpion is just perfect, so smooth compared to the grasshopper!

I do hope that they manage to bring 380 racing to the South, the races are all a bit far away for me to sneak off from my weekend chores and full-time child taxi service that I now seem to run.

[Grumpy pants]

The 380’s were quicker than I anticipated watching YT racing clip and it looks like it was a lot of fun 👍

The Kyosho Beetle is one of my favourite RC’s, I’m looking forward to seeing yours progress.

What does the HG stand for with your shocks? 

 

[njmlondon]

I saw your Scorpion destroying some Wild Ones and Foxes on the 380 page on FB. Looks fantastic fun!

That Beatle will shift with that lovely Gold motor in the back and all of that totally unnecessary carbon!

[toyolien]

On 6/2/2025 at 7:56 AM, ThunderDragonCy said:

Fantastic. Surprised how fast they are. Congrats on the win.

Thank you. After a DNF in one round of qualifying I ended up in the B final. But managed to win that and get a bump up to the A. And after three legs of finals I ended up 2nd, which I was pleased with.

On 6/2/2025 at 8:12 AM, Krustybus said:

Really looking forward to seeing your Beetle build :-) 

Love the Scorpion too, 380 racing looks fun!

I'll post some pics of it once it's done. Thank youl

On 6/2/2025 at 11:16 AM, njmlondon said:

They look amazing together. The suspension on the scorpion is just perfect, so smooth compared to the grasshopper!

I do hope that they manage to bring 380 racing to the South, the races are all a bit far away for me to sneak off from my weekend chores and full-time child taxi service that I now seem to run.

I hope the 380 series becomes more popular. It's such a great format. Relaxing (apart from when you're on your roof and you remember there are no marshals!) And, because the speeds a lower than modern racers, set up doesn't really matter that much. There's no need for changing diff oil, or tyre inserts, or camber links etc. Just build it as per the manual and off you go. It's great.

On 6/2/2025 at 12:44 PM, Grumpy pants said:

The 380’s were quicker than I anticipated watching YT racing clip and it looks like it was a lot of fun 👍

The Kyosho Beetle is one of my favourite RC’s, I’m looking forward to seeing yours progress.

What does the HG stand for with your shocks? 

 

The speed isn't too bad. It's not 'rapid' or 'snails pace' It's just kinda ''romantic' I guess. HG in Japanese is Haka Gaga which means 'buttery smooth'.

(not really I made that up, no idea what it stands for)

15 hours ago, njmlondon said:

I saw your Scorpion destroying some Wild Ones and Foxes on the 380 page on FB. Looks fantastic fun!

That Beatle will shift with that lovely Gold motor in the back and all of that totally unnecessary carbon!

The Scorpion is a great handling buggy for it's age. However, the Foxes looked fantastic going round the track.

I'm actually going to put that 13.5t motor back in my Optima Mid. I've got the 15.5t version to go in the Beetle I think. Should be a better match.

[njmlondon]

1 hour ago, toyolien said:

HG in Japanese is Haka Gaga which means 'buttery smooth'.

(not really I made that up, not idea what it stands for)

You actually had me there. You shouldn't have fessed up! I had to look it up... apparently it is "Batā no yō ni namerakana"... I prefer Haka Gaga.

[JimBear]

12 hours ago, toyolien said:

HG in Japanese is Haka Gaga which means 'buttery smooth'.

That's another for the dictionary, alongside Sukoyaka, Healthy Racing and Haircut Motors.

[Torhaantje]

Japanese humor....I love it!