Tamiya DF03 Dark Impact Build

[Sandster]

I thought, as I have been a member on here for a few months now, it was about time I created a build thread.

All my current cars are based on road cars and I recently decided it was time to add a buggy to the collection.

I originally had my eye on a TT02b but decided that I wanted something with a bit more ground clearance to handle jumps better so started to look around to see what was out there. I wanted 4wd and oil shocks as standard and would add bearings myself if required.

I found a seller on ebay selling the DF03 Dark Impact for £120 delivered so I hit the buy it now button and the very next day it was delivered.

I wasted no time in getting stuck in so let the build begin.

Feels great opening a new box but I have to say that I was initially disappointed as not many parts were on show when I took the lid off.

Not too worry all the bits were hiding under the cardboard divider.

Step 1 was building the rear ball diff. This was quite time consuming as I had never built one before (my only other new build has been a lunchbox) and it was quite fiddly due to my sausage fingers but I got it done eventually. I am not sure if I have set the tightness correctly, I set it so it will slip if a lot of force it put into it. Is this right?

After that it was onto the rest of the rear gearbox which came together without any issues. I should mention at this point that the kit came with bearings so I didnt have to purchase them separately.

On went the motor mount, spur gear and finally the motor.

At this stage I decided I would complete the rear end before calling it night.

Putting in the c clips in the tight space was not fun.

The completed rear end.

You will notice that I have ditched the stock motor in favour of a 12T brushless motor I removed from another car.

That was it for day 1. This kit is MUCH more complicated that a lunchbox. I think I could have built 3 lunchboxes in the time it took me to get to this stage.

[XV Pilot]

A good start. Looking forward to seeing how it develops...

[kontemax]

1st tip: swap the rear diff two piece out drives with front ones.

Or buy some GPM one piece diff outdrives.

Or use it as per manual at your own risk.

Max

[super gripper]

3Racing one piece out drives are good, I have put lots of power through mine and they have been good for the money.

http://www.stellamodels.com.hk/df03-03v2hd-rear-diff-shaft-chassis-p-4355.html

http://www.stellamodels.com.hk/df03-08v2hd-front-diff-shaft-chassis-p-4356.html

A slipper clutch is a must on the car if you want your ball diffs to survive

http://www.stellamodels.com.hk/53925-slipper-clutch-p-2506.html

[Quandry]

Looks good mate! don't worry when you are finished this you will crave the more complex builds

[Sandster]

Day 2 and the build continued.

The postman came early and delivered me this.


The first thing to do was attach the rear gear box to the chassis. Perhaps the easiest step so far but it was great seeing it beginning to look like a car.

The tamiya screwdriver is a joy to use btw, it grips the screws much better than anything I had in the toolbox.

And on to the front diff and gearbox. I didn't take any more pics of this stage as it was similar to the rear.


Shock tower mounted to the front gearbox.


Steering components fitted to the chassis and I can already tell that this has far less slop than my other cars. Metal bushes are used here rather than bearings. I am not sure the reason behind this but at least they are not plastic.


Attach the front gearbox and main drive shaft to the chassis and add body posts.


Next was the drive cups, dog bones and suspension arms.

The c clips were just as annoying to fit on the front as they were on the rear.

It is really beginning to look great now.


Building the rear shocks was next. Pretty straight forward except the c clips again (I will defiantly invest in the correct tool for these next time I do a build).


And fitted to the chassis.


And repeat these steps for the front.



All that was left to do to complete the chassis was fit the steering arms, bumpers and wheels and tyres.


Here is is sitting next to my XV01 to get an idea of scale. The wheels seem huge compared to what I am used to and the ground clearance is 33mm.


The next step will be to fit the steering servo, esc and reciever then onto the body.

[Sandster]

Electronics installed. I had to shorten the wires between the esc and motor as I had been using these on the front engined XV01.

Body trimmed and painted. I absolutely hate trimming body shells. I used a combination of scissors and a craft knife. Would lexan scissors be a worthwhile investment?

I decided just to stick with the box art and paint it black. I did have a look through the showrooms and loved some of the colours others have used (especially the White one) but I have a long term plan of all my models matching the box art. I am very pleased with how the paint turned out. It is completely blemish free.

You will notice that the rear wing is missing. Well I made a rookie mistake and assumed I should be painting the side without the factory applied masking. After three coats of paint were on and dry I read the instructions that said to remove the masking before painting that side. I then spent an hour removing the paint and masking up the other side with masking tape before painting again.

It turned ok in the end (although not as good as the main body)

And that's where I have got to with the build. Hopefully I will get time later today to add the decals.

I have tested it around the living room and every thing works but I found that my lipo stick packs don't fit in the compartment. The wires get in the way of the door closing mechanism. I have seen pictures showing how you can trim the chassis to make them fit but I would rather not do that. Can anybody link me to a 2s hardcase lipo on hobbyking that would fit without modification?

[zakspeed]

Looks good and hope you enjoy it. I personally couldn't get on with mine. I ended up getting the XV01 as it's replacement (agree different cars but the XV01 is a great piece of kit)

[XV Pilot]

I know what you mean about hating the trimming of bodyshells. That is my least favourite part of the build too. Whereas a mistake in assembly can be rectified by taking things apart and putting them back together correctly, there is no room for error in shell cutting. One slip of the knife or scissors and the whole shell could be ruined. I always breathe a great sigh of relief when it is done!

And you aren't the only one to have made that mistake with the wing either. I did something similar with my first NIB buggy build. However in my case I didn't even realise there was any overspray film on the wing, and sprayed the paint onto the film!

[Sandster]

Finished!!

I am very pleased with how it turned out. I haven't run it yet but plan to run it in its stock form and may well upgrade the weak parts if and when they fail.

[Sandster]

I mentioned earlier that my stick pack lipo batteries didn't fit properly in the battery compartment. Well the battery physically fitted but the wires were in the way of the door locking mechanism. My plan was to buy a smaller battery but I since found that replacement chassis were only £12 for the DF03 and therefor I wasn't too worried about modifying the chassis a bit.

I get the dremmel tool out and enlarged the hole at the front of the the chassis so it was big enough for a deans connector to fit through. This allows the battery to fit without the cables being pinched by the door.

You can see the enlarged hole here.

And with the battery fitted.

[Sandster]

Quick question for the experts -

In the above pic you can see the instructions for building the rear diff. You are instructed to glue the metal diff plate (MK6) to the plastic diff plate housing (MK3). Well I hadn't done his when building the car but after reading the build review on oople where it recommends you do so I went back and did this.

Now for some reason there is no mention of using glue when doing the front diff. Is there a reason for this or should it be glued like the rear?

[wood5tock]

Nice build there mate, good man!

I would definitely invest in some lexan scissors both curved and straight make life soooooo much easier and less traumatic getting those nice rounded corners.

Other things you could consider (unless you already have em)

1. Body reamer

2. Scalpel

3. Tamiya masking tape various widths

4. 3M Fineline tape (automotive fine line masking tape)

5. A selection of large tweezers (ideal for positioning and applying decals)

6. Some light Wet 'or' Dry for the edges

[ChrisRx718]

I enjoyed building mine and I do remember glueing that part, though sadly I only ever ran mine once before having to down-size my collection and selling it on

So unfortunately I can't really advise what the reason behind it is!

Have fun with it, thry certainly feel like a quality buggy don't they?

[Wooders28]

Now you have modded the chassis this will fit! (makes the dark impact a bit lively though)

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/orion-rocket-sport-3s-3200mah-25c-11.1v-lipo-uni-plug-/rc-car-products/373639

I would recommend the slipper clutch (and hardened gear mod)if running brushless.

I went for tungsten carbide diff balls too.

Then just upgrade when you break stuff!

[Sandster]

Well I have upgraded the front dog bones to yeah racing universals after loosing a dog bone a couple of weeks ago.

I also just found the slipper clutch at a bargain price so have ordered one of them too.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tamiya-DF-03-SlipperClutch-Set-53925-/351092068505?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51beb7d099

[Dojo Dave]

See now if a bit torn between your df03 and Nobbi 's dt02. Nice work both of these are on my eBay watch list.... ******.... Decisions decisions.

[ChrisRx718]

DF03 is much more capable at basically everything Imo. It's much more complex as a result of it's 4wd, the price is also an indicator. I wish I never sold mine

[Dojo Dave]

Well this seems fairly cheap..

Look at this on eBay:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=331468468047

TAMIYA 1/10 DARK Impact 4WD Kit 58370 Model Building Automotive

Maybe my next project as I couldn't go to the $510 for the partially built 30 year new WW that was on the eBay channel.... It seems to be all I watch these days

[Dojo Dave]

Built mine love it....

[Sandster]

Great colour.

[Dojo Dave]

Great colour.

Thanks Sandster it's mirror chrome on The sides and Gunmetal gray ps-23 on top

[PaulDrinkall]

Any chance of a picture of the lipo? Is it a stick or "block" with banana pins?

[mman2005]

Hi all,

Has anyone fitted a servo saver to a dark impact? If so what would be suitable? I plan on running a sports tuned brushed motor. Will the black hi-torque one be suitable or will a kimbrough servo saver be more suitable? Any advice please would be greatly appreciated.

[TwistedxSlayer]

i can't think of a Tamiya model that doesn't come with a servo saver as standard ? Just a normal standard saver will do the job, the hi-torque one will transfer some of the shock back through to the servo, so I'd recommend a metal geared servo if your gonna use a hi-torque saver.