Mad Bull (first Tamiya build)

[Scouser 83]

That's a great looking car that has resulted from the thread started in the general chat forum. I have really enjoyed your build and the rewards are days in the park with your son. Awesome stuff mate, it doesn't get much better than that.

[briscaF1 71]

Thanks, chaps. Like you say, it's been fun to get where we are and I really am thinking about getting a slightly more challenging car for myself (like this one isn't ;))

I'm really glad I took peoples advice and went for the MB and then the different motor. The car is wayward and  requires a lot of input to keep it on the straight and narrow (which makes it fun) plus with those tyres it can go places I never imagined.

We had some real fun today for sure in between helping my nephew out racing his 1:1 car at a local dirt track. The result is in the photo Needs a spot of a clean. Tonight I've re-waterproofed the RX after a few trips through puddles convinced me that it needed properly sealing

[briscaF1 71]

Shell finished (lacquered and stickered).

Tried some home-made graphics printed onto clear sticky back that is suitable for the inkjet...they aren't very well defined but certainly OK on the light blue background and he's very pleased to have his name and a number on it + the small Claas harvester logo on the port side.

I'm fairly pleased with the result - it's a bit rough but the next one will be better from what I have learned on this one.

Thanks for all the help and advice so far...will just need to get the steering mod sorted (and possibly some CVAs) and I'll call it a day on this model.

 

 

[briscaF1 71]

Just an update on this.

We've had the Bull for a little while now and it's been run no more than 20 times, I'd say. Still, all of those 20 times were good fun and the kids are getting pretty proficient at driving it now.

I was getting a bit fed up of the handling with the pogo sticks and the wayward steering (the steering arm was really loose as it had worn a larger hole in the steering bell crank) so I've followed a few upgrades from this amazing forum:

1. Tamiya 54567 CVA dampers.
2. Turnbuckle kit 56330 steering arm modification.
3. Heat shrink (lubed with silicone grease) on lower, inboard track control arms.

Had a few problems with the dampers being too weak (springs) and did think about swapping the springs from the pogo sticks but, in the end, just fitted all of the adjustment clips to shorten the throw and tighten them up.

Otherwise, the steering is really positive now and the car is far easier to control...but I'm not sure it hasn't lost some of its 'charm' in now being more predictable!

The suspension is really nice and the car doesn't bounce around anywhere near as much.

Anyway, took it out for a blast on a loose surface car park tonight and the kids loved doing donuts and just thrashing it about.

Thanks to everyone here who posts all their hints and tips.

 

 

 

 

[wolfdogstinkus 1893]

Next hop up would be the anti gravity device.

 

[briscaF1 71]

1 minute ago, wolfdogstinkus said:

Next hop up would be the anti gravity device.

 

Seen ours do that a couple of times. Enough to require Evostik on the shell to keep the "A pillars" intact, anyway ;-)

[TurnipJF 9192]

The shell is pretty much the only weak point on the Mad Bull. Fortunately they are cheap and readily available. It isn't hard to have one for display and one for running.