So, What Have You Done Today?

[Willy iine 17881]

57 minutes ago, moffman said:

I looked at that about 4 or 5 times thinking "I'm I missing something".......then oh yeah! 

What’s seen cannot be unseen..  

 

[Room335 664]

15 hours ago, Willy iine said:

Mine is the rere Fantom EXT so that might be why they are different.. ?  I don’t know these cars very well.. 

I finished the chassis and took it for a test drive.  The car drives fine, but the LeMans 240ESC/480 Gold combo is not as smooth as expected in the modulation.  I can achieve better results with the XR10JustStock/240S combo.   If I ever make another Fantom, I think I would go that route.  Anyway, I’m happy with the car.     

Now going to mount the body and take a few pictures.  Will post later in the gallery only thread.  Thanks for checking it out if interested.  

  

Ahh you have the EXT! I should have realized. Mine is original Fantom re-release, I guess there are more differences than I thought. Looking forward to those gallery pics!

[Willy iine 17881]

18 minutes ago, Room335 said:

Ahh you have the EXT! I should have realized. Mine is original Fantom re-release, I guess there are more differences than I thought. Looking forward to those gallery pics!

Ahhh.. so that's why.  Yeah I posted a few pictures, please check them out.  I'm out of attachment memory here on TC  so only posted three.. 

If you're on Instagram I have several more posted and has more of my daily updates in the stories..  #pretendrcshop

[Ziddan 930]

Today ive finished up my front mount to fit a Blackfoot shell (and some random front oil dampers) to an ORV chassi.

The base of it clips firmly over the upper tube  between the suspension stays and screws into h1 where the body post would normally screw in if this was built as a frog, its "wings" extending outside of the tube clamp has recesses that friction hold nuts.

The middle part bolts to the bottom, i made large clamping washers for this because if there are any knocks this would be the vulnerable point due to layer orientation when printing.

The top screws onto the middle, has some back/front slide adjustability and an easily changeable body post, seeing as that should be the weak point.

And here is the body on a frog chassi with brat wheels:

The wheels to arch space is 25-26mm back and front when uncompressed, when fully compressed, including when steering at full lock it should still be just shy of rubbing.

I drilled out the already-there-but-unused-holes in the suspension arm stays to accept 3mm bolts and used those as the lower attachment point for oil dampers, the tops attaching to the body mount i designed.
I left out the AW grease when building the suspension as i had these shocks (out of which ive removed the springs) laying about.

I might try removing the stock ORV springs and using the ones that go in these dampers as this feel quite stiff.

 

But other than that id say 'Job's a Good 'Un'

ADDITION: created a thread in TC designs for people to download the files if interested and updated my builds thread.

[Willy iine 17881]

@Room335  Quick question for you.. I want to get some alloys for the Fantom and was wondering which size tires I need to buy for both front and rear.  Would you please let me know?  TIA!  

[moffman 5351]

1 hour ago, Willy iine said:

What’s seen cannot be unseen..  

 

So very true! or what's seen properly after you've been to the opticians and got better glasses cannot be unseen (in my case)

[moffman 5351]

16 hours ago, Willy iine said:

Mine is the rere Fantom EXT so that might be why they are different.. ?  I don’t know these cars very well.. 

I finished the chassis and took it for a test drive.  The car drives fine, but the LeMans 240ESC/480 Gold combo is not as smooth as expected in the modulation.  I can achieve better results with the XR10JustStock/240S combo.   If I ever make another Fantom, I think I would go that route.  Anyway, I’m happy with the car.     

Now going to mount the body and take a few pictures.  Will post later in the gallery only thread.  Thanks for checking it out if interested.  

  

Mate this is looking fantastic and its really pushing my buy buttons! I'm like you I don't know anything about these little gems other than they are incredibly fast! But I do know that the difference primarily between the two is the EXT has suspension amongst a few other little tweaks! (Probably someone has already explained that to you?)

[Aerobert 1981]

Had an afternoon of unsuccessful attempts running one of my RC cars in the snow. Eventually we've got some snow here. Unfortunately it is very heavy snow and all cars, including the Rochobby Willys 1:6, a Wild Dagger on 3S got stuck in the snow and they didn't even make 50 m. Wasn't the fun I've had expected.  Now the batteries are back on the charger for storage charging. 

[Willy iine 17881]

2 hours ago, Aerobert said:

Had an afternoon of unsuccessful attempts running one of my RC cars in the snow. Eventually we've got some snow here. Unfortunately it is very heavy snow and all cars, including the Rochobby Willys 1:6, a Wild Dagger on 3S got stuck in the snow and they didn't even make 50 m. Wasn't the fun I've had expected.  Now the batteries are back on the charger for storage charging. 

When I was a kid a couple of us RC kids stomped around our parents’ yards to make a track with ramps and stuff.  We found that we had to pack the snow first before our Frog and Grasshoppers could drive on it.  We had a blast.. 

.. then fever for 3 days..   

.. then repeat.   

[Willy iine 17881]

2 hours ago, moffman said:

Mate this is looking fantastic and its really pushing my buy buttons! I'm like you I don't know anything about these little gems other than they are incredibly fast! But I do know that the difference primarily between the two is the EXT has suspension amongst a few other little tweaks! (Probably someone has already explained that to you?)

Thanks, you know it would help if I did some research before buying, but I usually don’t.     

I’ve been playing with the Fantom all morning and it is an absolute blast to drive!   I might get another one and run brushed set up as the LeMans ESC is not as smooth as I want it.  I think a LeMans 490 brushed would be sufficient speed for me.. 

 

[Aerobert 1981]

13 minutes ago, Willy iine said:

When I was a kid a couple of us RC kids stomped around our parents’ yards to make a track with ramps and stuff.  We found that we had to pack the snow first before our Frog and Grasshoppers could drive on it.  We had a blast.. 

.. then fever for 3 days..   

.. then repeat.   

I already had the lawn roller (don't know if it is right word) out, but it didn't work either and I wasn't in the mood to run up and down to pack the snow. So I stopped it there.

[Willy iine 17881]

14 minutes ago, Aerobert said:

I already had the lawn roller (don't know if it is right word) out, but it didn't work either and I wasn't in the mood to run up and down to pack the snow. So I stopped it there.

Yeah, I don't see myself stomping around on the yard either if today..  plus, the potential damage it can cause on the grass..

So maybe that was why my pops was so mad come Spring.  lol 

[alvinlwh 5268]

Meet up with fellow forum member @Wooders28, had my first run in a real track. The TA-02(Ra) did ok on a buggy track which surprised me.

Can you spot it in this holiday snap?

[moffman 5351]

1 hour ago, Willy iine said:

 

 the LeMans ESC is not as smooth as I want it.  

 

Oh that does suprise me because it's not exactly cheap and kyosho is always known for quality? 

[moffman 5351]

I wasn't going to start this until I'd finished all my other half built and unfinished buggies but I thought I'd get it started because with schumacher kits I'm always putting them off in my head especially the 4wd ones because they do at times try my patience and this was going fine until I did the steering and a small part from the steering pinged off.......two hours later I found it nowhere near where I thought it was! So that bit went on and I stopped building!

[Willy iine 17881]

16 minutes ago, moffman said:

Oh that does suprise me because it's not exactly cheap and kyosho is always known for quality? 

Yeah, I haven’t tried the XR10 JustStock with the gold LeMans, but I am pretty sure it is the ESC.  

I will be installing the same LeMans ESC in my Optima MID soon + a fresh 240S, so will keep you posted.  

 

Sorry to hear about your frustration with the Schumacher!   Some kits are like that for sure… 

[moffman 5351]

18 minutes ago, Willy iine said:

Yeah, I haven’t tried the XR10 JustStock with the gold LeMans, but I am pretty sure it is the ESC.  

I will be installing the same LeMans ESC in my Optima MID soon + a fresh 240S, so will keep you posted.  

 

Sorry to hear about your frustration with the Schumacher!   Some kits are like that for sure… 

Yeah schumacher kits always fight with you! But the finished buggy is always superb they just require a degree of fettling and a bit of "why don't it say that in the instructions?"

[Mark_McQ 422]

Been test painting wheels today.

[BuggyDad 3079]

10 hours ago, Beetlemankurt said:

A hairdryer helps bucketloads on those ones.....good luck!

Doesn't it just. The combination of heat and soapy water is pretty amazing. I'd say its essential on some of these. I will probably use it on every shell I do from now on. The addition of wet as well as heat makes a huge difference because of how you can safely work them against the shell behind, yet they have not yet properly stuck

So I have made (for me) good progress today.

And quality has exceeded my expectations. So far, everything lines up, and there are no big decals left. 

I also ran my XV-01, had a rubbish attempt at postal racing then broke a rear arm, lost a dogbone. 

[bavee 958]

Started work on The Frog decals:

Working on the kitchen table because we have two sick kids upstairs so we can react quickly if something is wrong. Lets see how much I can do tonight... No Guts No Glory!

[Sogogi 2409]

Put a pair of lunch box tires.. it is fun, though open diff made it hard to control under slippery surface. One thing that surprised me was motor temp was just slightly warm after full throttling around with these tires. I am happy with it.

time to get a pair of lunchbox front axle to mount front tires

[Sogogi 2409]

Double post

[Willy iine 17881]

1 hour ago, BuggyDad said:

Doesn't it just. The combination of heat and soapy water is pretty amazing. I'd say its essential on some of these. I will probably use it on every shell I do from now on. The addition of wet as well as heat makes a huge difference because of how you can safely work them against the shell behind, yet they have not yet properly stuck

So I have made (for me) good progress today.

And quality has exceeded my expectations. So far, everything lines up, and there are no big decals left. 

I also ran my XV-01, had a rubbish attempt at postal racing then broke a rear arm, lost a dogbone. 

Looks good.  I too will be making one later this Spring.     

 

For me, just driving the Fantom mostly today and taking a quick break driving my Sabre m-chassis.  Going to do one more pack (3x 12min run) on my Fantom before the day is over.   Upon swapping cars I realized how fast I was driving the Fantom.  

[Nikko85 2984]

Finished off another truck, this one my trusty brushless quick drive.

Actually I still need to make a wheelie bar somehow and find a way to attach it, but it's mainly done!

A few sponsors stickers

Home made mirror with shiny vinyl 

And a little trim and it's done.

Overall pretty happy with how it turned out. Making the 71 took a while to get the colour combo right bit looks good I think.

Can't wait to blast around the park when it is warmer.  The QD with a brushless is just brilliant.

[Wooders28 4545]

4 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

Meet up with fellow forum member @Wooders28, had my first run in a real track. The TA-02(Ra) did ok on a buggy track which surprised me.

Can you spot it in this holiday snap?

Good to meet you!

Glad you enjoyed running on the track, hopefully the weather gods are in your favour next time...🤞🌧

Enjoy your holiday.