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1992/1993 TRF 411X build from new parts

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Thanks, makes me happy that you enjoy the build so far :) Continuing now with the rest of the 411X unique parts, not that much left now.

Battery mounts; nothing really extraordinary. Unlike the Top Force, Tamiya actually thought about making some kind of mounting system and did these carbon plates. There were two lengths, one to go over the full 4 slots on the slimmer chassis plate, and one shorter which go over three slots. No posts for the pieces were done, at least not that I know about or received. I've seen several pictures where modified Top Force battery posts were used, where they simply took away the middle part and only used the posts. I only got the shorter plates unfortunately;

01_-_batteryplates.jpg

However, on the chassis plate which I currently have on my 411X, there are only slots for either battery tape or velcro straps. Since the only velcro straps I have available have nice, bright "TEAM YOKOMO" logos I rather wait until I find something more suitable.. ;) If anybody has a pair of old Pure-Tech or other period-correct velcro straps to sell, please PM me!

As you might see further on in the thread when I show you the pictures of the whole car from the top, the belt doesn't really clear the motor on the 411X. Because of this, a plastic motor spacer was supplied and must be used between the motor and the aluminium gearbox plate. A rather strange piece, nicely moulded and works fine, but I guess an aluminium spacer would have been better for cooling purposes. Could it be that an aluminium spacer did exist, but they did the moulding to prepare for an entry level kit? Speculations, speculations..

For reasons unknown, I have one moulded in blue and the rest in black (blue one placed upside down);

02_-_motor_spacer.jpg

Drive shafts. Another strange thing with the 411X is that, according to Daniel, Tamiya never did any 411X universal drive shafts for the blue steering knuckles - at least he only received dog bones. These are naturally longer than the ones found on the Manta Ray / Top Force series of cars. They are used with drive cups which looks a lot like the touring car items. The drive shafts on top with built-in one-way bearings are not manufactured by Tamiya, but were sometimes used on the front of the 411X. Probably manufactured by RW. In the bottom, there's a Top Force universal for comparison:

03_-_drive_shafts.jpg

Here you can also easily spot the difference between the Top Force steering knuckles and the slimmer ones used on the 411X.

04_-_knuckles.jpg

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With most of the stuff in the front of the car now complete and suspension mounted, I had to fake it a little with the front shocks. Tamiya did make "mini" versions of the sleeved dampers back in 1993, but they were never sold to the public and I simply haven't been able to track down a pair. If anybody would have a pair to sell or trade for whatever other TRF parts, let me know.. :)

But I rather have something on the car, so I took a pair of regular Hi-Cap minis and put on the top caps from the Sleeved dampers. I also added an outer, blue anodized ring from a pair of other shocks, and a rubber seal to make them look somewhat like the real thing:

05_-_front.jpg

On this shot, the small screw for adjusting the belt tension is clearly visible;

06_-_front2.jpg

Another thing to note is that, to my knowledge, Tamiya never made any kind of bumper for this car. On the UK team cars they often had a bent lexan piece mounted from the underside, curved up on the front gearbox which served as a bumper. Looked a bit weird but I guess it worked (pictured below is Ellis Stafford's car in April 1993 as a reference, scanned from Radio Race Car) :

TRF411X_1993_April_Ellis_Stafford.jpg

Since there was no kick-up on the chassis perhaps they just wanted a smooth transition to stop the car from digging in when landing nose down. Others I've seen had modified Yokomo, Astute or Dyna Storm bumpers on. Haven't decided what to put on it yet.

07_-_front3.jpg

The front end of the car looks very neat and tidy. Doesn't really feel like a prototype, apart from the wishbones and some other minor stuff.

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On to the rear of the car then!

08_-_rear1.jpg

Since there was never any official 411X body designed (most used the Parma Tomcat), there was no particular rear wing done either. So I put on the classic "Racing rear wing set A". I've always liked the shape of this one, and it was also extremely durable. Matches the body shell very well in my opinion. :) The small black cap protecting the slipper clutch screw comes from the Super Astute.

09_-_rear2.jpg

On the rear, standard Dyna Storm shocks are used. Here you can also clearly see the offset of the gearbox, and the need for the TRF211X bulkhead with pre-drilled extra holes to match the 411X. Unfortunately I ran out of short Tamiya titanium screws at this point, so had to use Yokomo stuff instead. Don't like the finish of their old titanium screws at all, I thought they were supposed to be at least somewhat shiny but these look horrible. But they will probably stay for a while, since there seem to be absolutely no Tamiya 53011's or 53012's available anywhere right now..

10_-_rear3.jpg

Some small stuff to fix in the rear, like finding screws for the suspension mounts which are a little shorter.

11_-_rear4.jpg

From this picture I think you can see more clearly how the belt goes where the motor was supposed to sit, hence the need for the spacer.

13_-_bottom1.jpg

Bottom of the rear end. Forgot to put on the front screws of the gearbox, will be taken care of ;) Note the suspension mounts and how the chassis is sticking out, suspension pin inside the block mounting points.

14_-_nicads.jpg

I might put in some period electronics when everything is done, haven't really made up my mind on this yet. In any case, pink feels very cool, classic early 90s. Should work in this car too :) PTI was my favorite battery matcher in this era, made some really good packs. Well matched and punchy.

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So, most of the TRF 411X is now assembled. Great fun, and a bit of a challenge when the only build manual you really have are old racing pictures..

12_-_top1.jpg

I would still prefer to put on the slimmer chassis in order to fit the underpan without hacking away any carbon, so perhaps I will try and have a replica made. The supplied Parma Tomcat body has been a little too generously scrubbed from the inside to prepare for painting - great if you actually want to paint it, but I won't..

15_-_side1.jpg

Anyway - I'm really happy to finally have the 411X in my possession. It was a pleasure to build, like any normal Tamiya kit. And it is a bit of a classic, since it really marks the end of Tamiya's off-road racing program in the early 90s. I would so much have liked to race this car myself back in 1993-1994. I never did, but at least I have built it now :)

15_-_top2.jpg

That's it for now!

Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed seeing the car coming together. Let me know if there is anything in particular you would like to see more of! I'll probably revisit this thread later once I do some more detail work on the car, like switching chassis plate or finding other missing stuff.

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A fascinating trip through history - thank you so much for sharing this build with us!

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Love the build, great work!

As a side note, that one-way dogbone end is most likely a PB part for the Mini Mustang or Maxima... you can pretty much tell by the surface rust! :blink:

Alex

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That's it for now!

Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed seeing the car coming together. Let me know if there is anything in particular you would like to see more of! I'll probably revisit this thread later once I do some more detail work on the car, like switching chassis plate or finding other missing stuff.

Bravo Pus, Bravo!!!!

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Love the build, great work!

As a side note, that one-way dogbone end is most likely a PB part for the Mini Mustang or Maxima... you can pretty much tell by the surface rust! :blink:

Alex

Cool. I just assumed it was an RW piece.. interesting, thanks! :)

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Shame on Tamiya that didn't produce this model.

Max

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Your spot on with the shortage of 53012 ,i need one more pack.

It took me almost a year to find a pack and that was in singapore!

how many screws do you want?

sven

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Too many, I guess ;) After this build is done, I will do a 211X. Then a 1991 TRF Astute, and then..

I guess I'll have to put on used screws or even non-titanium.. :/

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Nothing to report in terms of actual building, except having put on a very small, cut down YZ-10 bumper. Barely noticeable :)

I will have a copy made of the slimmer chassis so that I can use a ZXR underbody together with the Tomcat body without cutting down any of the wider chassis plates. It just feels wrong to start modifying those rare pieces. I'm currently awaiting a few carbon sheets and will then have it made. Fingers crossed that the carbon is identical to the old-school Tamiya carbon - it should be, but you never know..

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Some trivia regarding the mysterious motor spacer: It came on a parts tree for the 211X, dated June 1992. Plastic tree contained 211X/411X bulkhead, 211X steering arms, 411X front damper mount piece and one of the 411X front suspension mounts, plus the spacer itself. Below is the "003" part tree for the TRF211X;

211x-aparts.jpg

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Please more pictures of the model with the new little bumper.

Max

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And now it's also finally in my showroom. Time to put together my 211X, don't know if I'll document it in the same way though. Thanks for watching!

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And now it's also finally in my showroom. Time to put together my 211X, don't know if I'll document it in the same way though. Thanks for watching!

Please do a build thread for the 211x as well!

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And the 91 TRF Astute you mentioned in post #40. I'd like to know what that's all about.

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And the 91 TRF Astute you mentioned in post #40. I'd like to know what that's all about.

I happened to also get old but unused prototype TRF parts for the front end of a 1991 "TRF" works Astute. Front end has a really solid machined 30 degree kickup plate and custom machined suspension arms. Some other stuff is missing, but I think it will still be a cool car. It's basically what the team was using in 1991, before the 211X was ready in 1992.

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Well I can't wait to see that. It would settle some questions for me but I guess that's another thread when the time comes. Great work btw

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Please post images!!!

Max

I happened to also get old but unused prototype TRF parts for the front end of a 1991 "TRF" works Astute. Front end has a really solid machined 30 degree kickup plate and custom machined suspension arms. Some other stuff is missing, but I think it will still be a cool car. It's basically what the team was using in 1991, before the 211X was ready in 1992.

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