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mr crispy

NIB Blackfoot 3 build thread and mods

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Been a while since I built a new kit straight out of the box and since I turned 39 this week I treated myself to a Blackfoot 3. Ive always liked that beefy big truck look of the original BF but I wanted a more modern chassis, I also like how the BF3 chassis can easily be configured to run as 4x4 or even 4 wheel steering so that was the one for me. I have a few cunning plans for this chassis but I will build it as standard first (with bearings and steel pinion of course) to get a feel for it before the mods take place.

Picked this new kit up from ebay for under £125 posted from a UK seller radicooluk. They offer a lot of new Tamiya kits at bargin prices because they dont include the ESC. As this BF3 wouldve come with the frankly stupid TEU104 that only has 50% power in reverse and isnt lipo compatable, I was more than happy to ditch it and save the money.

(please excuse the fuzzy photos, had to use my phone camera :wacko:)

The beast arrived a little late for my actual birthday but that new box smell was worth the wait...

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...hmm, WOW thats a big box! It also included the "bonus parts" bag of 8 metal shielded bearings which was a nice suprise as they were not mentioned in the listing. As it happens the prebuilt gearbox takes 8x 1150 bearings so I cracked that open and swapped them out for the plastic bushes. I did replace the two bearings at the diff with rubber sealed jobbies from the spares box. Bitter experience has taught me dirt and muck can find its way in around the drive cups so I wanted them to have that extra protection. Ive left the soft pinion for now as it wont be run hard and I wasnt sure of the pinion size i'd need, thats the next thing to order. After a few hours of steady clipping, lubing and screwing (no tittering at the back <_< ) I had the front and rear assemblies built up.

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And from there I couldnt resist skipping ahead a few steps and piecing the rest of the chassis together.

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Those friction shocks will have to go soon, not built any that also have the tubing on the outside to limit the travel. As it is they only have apx 7mm of movement on the shock maximum. I guess with the long arms thats quite an improvment out at the wheel. With a little help from my pit crew this morning I had the electrics fitted and tested around the living room.

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From there is was a simple matter of body mounts and setting the ride height. Ive gone for 1 hole lower than the manual recommends both front and back as I dont wont it sitting too high, I'll have to see if the body catches on proper off road runs and adjust.

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Dry fitted the main parts of the bodyshell together this evening to check its all going as planned and not catching the wheels yet. I'll strip it down for painting later.

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Next to my King Blackfoot (disguised as the Monster Beetle... shhhh dont tell anyone :ph34r:) the BF3 is a little more imposing. The wheel base is about 1 inch longer and wider.

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A big difference between the two chassis is the BF3 has almost no bump steer as standard. Anyone thats driven a KBF will understand how refreshing that is. I cant wait to get these two running side by side for a comparison.

Thats as far as Ive got for now. Came together real quick and no hitches or build probs with the manual. Not too sure where to head with the paint on this. I had been thinking to do a Fall Guy job having loved the show back in the 80's. But seeing the reference pics I dont like the brown & gold scheme. It looked much cooler through my rose tinted glasses. I also dont fancy having to pay round £9 for a whole sheet of Fall Guy decals when I only need one on the bonnet! Whats that all about? Does anyone know if the original BF decals will for the BF3 body? I prefer those to the kit supplied ones.

Mods I intend to do are swap the suspension arms for TL01 shorter arms and reduce the width, try to get it looking more like an 80's monster truck than a wide toy. Ive already test fitted an arm from a TL01 I have at home and the dogbones fit perfectly. It brings the standard wheels in under the bodyshell by 1/3rd. Below the rear left arms has been replaced with TL01 parts. The right arm is the standard kit part.

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I also want to fit another steering servo and go 4 wheel steering. And I plan to get another gearbox along the way and go 4wd too. Will probably fit 35T motors in both to help tame it, improve torque and hoprfully make it less likely to rollover what with the shorter arms. Id also like to fit some LED's but im not sure what to do with the rectangular front lights yet, have to give that some thought.

Then, I may also make another custom bodyshell for the chassis as it will eventually be 4x4x4. Something sci-fi based from a little film I was obsessed with in my teens. Anyone want to have a guess at what that may be?

Nic

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Nice truck! :) I'm curious how you'll paint and decorate it up eventually. Just in case you wouldn't need the supplied BFIII decal sheet anymore, I'd be interested in it. I've got a (little tatty) original F-150 Blackfoot body that will be restored and then in the need for some decals.

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I'll keep you in mind GregM, I'm not sure where I'm going with the paint just yet but if I don't need the kit decals I'll give you first dibs.

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Thanks. :) NIP BFIII decals alone cost a little fortune compared to other recent spare decal sheets.

It's great to see there are so many interchangeable parts between the WT-01/TL-01/M-chassis platform. These seem to be a good base for customization, aren't they? I found the TL-01 arms also pretty versatile on other chassis types like the DT-02, where they could be used to shorten the track as well.

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Ok, sorry for the delay. It appears my lap top is in a major sulk and won't allow me to play... It's so female! So this is coming from my phone. Let me apologise in advance for the many typo's :D I'll keep the updates short as my phone tends to get bored easily and forget everything I just spent 5 mins typing!!!

Anyway, I got the TL01 arms fitted all round. The dog bones fit just right in the rear arms. I have added a 2nd O ring so it now has them in both the diff and wheel axle drive cups, but the standard long arms needed that anyway. With the shorter arms the shocks were now too long but only needed to be reduced by 5mm. This was done simply by swapping the long shock end over for a smaller one. Below you'll see the long shock on the right and the 5mm smaller shock on the left, both fitted to TL01 front arms

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Proper dampers are on the way but I wanted to confirm what length best suited the truck. It seem 62mm eye to eye is just right. I do think the camber is a bit off, wheels appear to be angled outwards slightly so I intend to replace the upper arms with adjustable tie rods. I also had to make up my own steering rods from 3M threaded bar as the short VLB one I first fitted was just a little too long. It works out that with standard TL01 front arms you need steering rods 40mm long, and with standard Tamiya rod ends you need a gap of 25mm between them when fitted. Now there is a llittle more bump steer on full compression than it had with the longer arms, but nothing like the KBF!

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So now it looks like this.

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Pretty much what I hoped for. It's surprisingly stable in this configuration, but I'm yet to give it a proper out door run. Since taking these pics I have added a 2mm washer between each hex hub and the wheel. It's the max you can space them out and still catch the axle threads with the nylock wheel nuts. It's probably unnoticeable but I know its there and should help stability a tiny fraction.

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I've had to raise the front body mounts by 1 hole above the standard setting to stop the wheels catching the body on full lock when compressed. Its a bit of a hassle as the body is slightly "front high" now when viewed from the side. Well you have to go looking for it but it bugs me. Problem is the rear mounts are already maxed out as standard so I need to mod them to balance the front. Not difficult, just need to cut them and fix in a bit of tubing but its a pain.

Did a simple mod to the battery holders this morning. I noticed they're made to look like foot steps and have plenty of space behind the standard hole for securing with a body clip (just like TL01/M03 chassis). I realised if I added a 2nd hole to both holders then I would have enough space to hold an 8.4v Nimh pack and can easily swap between this and a 7.2v pack in seconds without needing any tools. It just needed drilling out with a 5mm bit and a small ridge of plastic removing from the right edge in the pic.

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Now I can get a bit more oomph and take more airsoft batteries out with me next trip at no extra cost :D

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Borrowed some 2.2 Proline Flatiron tyres from my 1/6 Willis to see how they'd look for my sci-fi project later.

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Not bad I think. Being a little smaller in diameter than the spiked tyres they also won't catch the body as much so I might run with these anyway. I also confirmed that I will add a little weight to the wheels as the Flatiron wheels are weighted and really help prevent the truck rolling over!

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While I was at it I tried out my old 80's Jeep body that use to live on my Scout.

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Looks pretty good, maybe revise the mounts and push the body backwards a little. It's good to know I have a 2nd body that I can fit quickly and will take a bit of rough n tumble without destroying my brand new Blackfoot shell.

Bring on the jumps! :D

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Ah man!

I'm trying my hardest to buy one of these when i can afford it, but now after looking at this you might be to blame for me going into my overdraft!

Still think these models need slightly wider tyres, it doesn't look quite like a "monster truck" to me....

10/10!

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Good job on the narrow track modification. What does it look like with Wild Willy2 wheels? They are slightly smaller in diameter, but wider.

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I'll give that a go Greg and post up the results.

I was thinking the same Maximus, but have come to like it as it is. You can get another 10mm+ each side and I almost did it until I hit a hurdle. I had intended to use TL01 rear arms all round. They're about 10mm longer than the fronts as they have a more simple arrangement and don't need to allow for the C hub and steering assembly. But the TL01 dogbones are all the same length so they made the front arms shorter to accommodate this and keep the front and rear wheels aligned.

So putting the C hub and steering on the rear arms will increase the track but about 10mm each side, which sounds great, until you realise you will then have to find 4 new dogbones and work out what length they need to be. If they aren't a ready made item, you'll either have to make them or adapt them.

When I put the rear steering on I'm going to replace the TL01 rear arms with another set of front arms (well I actually had a pair of M03 rear arms in my spares which are the same length). Confused yet? I am and I'm typing it :)

Another alternative would be to swap the wheel axle drive cups for WW2 rears and use their longer 10mm hex hubs. Or find some axle wideners, but that often involves widening the hole in the wheel.

Wheels with a greater offset maybe easier. Come to think of it the MB front wheels I have on my KBF/MB combo are wider... I'll give them a try too and let you know.

Nic

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No one interested in the sci-if project? :( Let's see if I can tempt you in with a little something I started working on years ago, long before I'd discovered the joys of Crawler tyres :D

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Nic

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Tried out some options today as I keep changing my mind over the track width, one day it looks fine as it is and another I think it could be a little wider. Think I have too many options available.

Anyway a few requests first. As the more astute members may have realised you can't fit Monster Beetle wheels on the BF3 without a bit of work. MB front wheels are the bearings/bushings type and the rears are the old Skool Grasshopper fitting. The BF3 is 12mm hexes all round with freewheeling hubs on the front. It also looked like the offset on the front wheels are about the same so no point in trying to swap.

You can fit WW2 rear wheels on the BF3 as the hexes are compatible.

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Width is good but they look a little small from the side IMO. This highlights the difference between the two wheels.

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If you just don't want the pins it might be better to sand them off, spinning the wheel in a drill and holding it against sand paper should do the trick. They will wear like that running on Tarmac eventually. The smaller diameter is better for body clearance though.

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Crawler tyres would be your best bet and the 12mm hexes will be a god send if you go that way! I have some Maverick Scout wheels n tyres I can try. Haven't fitted them yet as I know they'll catch the bodyshell but I'll post up the results.

Front bumper needs replacing with the narrow arms and I want something more truck like anyway. So as I had my Willy out I tried his...

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I like that a lot. Not only does it look good but all the plastic parts come on a single sprue! WW2 F parts! Thats never happened to me before, I almost fell off my chair when i realised. And the unused bits will go onto another WIP project I have.

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I tried out the steering hub on the rear TL01 arms. Confirmed they will need longer dogbones of around 52mm but happily these are readily available on eBay (search 52mm drive shaft). I'll order a pair and see how they work. Width wise it does move the wheel out a further 10-12mm and it looks good. Inner tyre wall is now almost in line with the bodyshell. That's going to help with stability.

Below the rear left hand wheel has been widened.

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Hardly noticeable on just one side but with both done it'll increase the track by over 20mm. I also had a quick taste of what it'll look like with 4 wheel steering.

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Oooooh that looks goooood! :D

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The WW2 front bumper just fits perfect - leave it on! :)

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Greg: I couldn't have Willy go without. So I'm buying another set of F parts :D Gotta have shiny bits for new boy!

Wolfdogstinkus: Sorry mate but it'll be 4x4x4. I did have plans for a 6 wheeler project but it actually would've been 4wd with a couple of falsies in the middle ;)

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Sorry, but can you stop uploading pictures of this thing?

It looks so menacing! Needs a ridiculous brushless and lipo set-up.

I think you may have cost me £125 tonight :unsure:

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Sorry about that Maximus, you might want to look away now :D

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That's the other custom bumper I made from a cut down TL01 part with some 12mm alum U channel fixed on the front. Took it off my 4x4 Willy project. Not really detailed enough for the front but I think I'll make another for the rear bumper on the BF3.

As it happens that 4x4 Willy project is built on a shortened TL01... I just can't get enough of them. The F parts I just ordered for Willy's front bumper also have the WW2 chassis rails which will be going on the Willy project. I had thought I'd have to make them from plasticard! Also ordered a pair of the 52mm dogbones to see how they fit in the rear drive cups. If all goes well ill get a 2nd set for when I go 4x4.

I managed to give it a run around the garden yesterday. Decking was too wet to grip although I did have fun wheelspinning and donuts. After a but of effort I managed to roll it on its side on the soft grass. No damage done and it was intentional to see how far I could push it. Also thought it'd be good to try this before painting. As it was I had to get it upto full speed and then do a full lock turn so its more stable than it looks. Of course I'm sure I'll get caught out on some bumps once its finished.

Still umming and ahhing over the colour scheme. I either want to paint it black or very dark blue. The kit decals look too modern for the 80's era body styling to me. I have found a few repro sets of the original BF decals on eBay. The usual red side panels looks nice but I'm also tempted with a set that are similar but have blue side panels... hard to decide without seeing it on the truck.

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Have you seen my 4x4x4 Blackfoot with the HAWAIIAN TROPIC decals ? IMO it looks good and is very 80's . They might be just right for this mate .I also love the TL01 chassis . Its so adaptable . 2 wd , 4 wd or 4x4x4 .Huge wheels or Narrow track conversion . Scale looks as you have done here - or all the way to a insane 4x4x4 Monster Quad bike :lol: . So easy to change its entire looks with just a body/ wheel swop . It seems to me that the only limit is your imagination .

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I loved your Hawaiian Tropic monster bromvw, looked spot on mate. I didn't want to copy you too closely though. We've already got similar tastes what with the tanks, boats and our 1/6 Jeep projects... people will start to talk! ;)

We'll have to start a TL01 appreciation thread and encourage people to post up their TL based projects.

I have taken the plunge and settled on a body colour. I was in Halfords paint aisle, gloss black in hand when I thought "I'll just see if they have any really dark colours that're almost black, but not quite". Something a little bit different when I saw it glinting on the bottom rack! Land Rover Epsom Green pearlescent spray paint! From a distance it looks black but close up it has a slight metal flake effect that catches the light. Think of a very dark British racing green and you've got it. I might even try it with some of the kit decals. I'll keep you posted.

Nic

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