Aqroshot DT03-T 'Monster Racer'

[Nitomor 2122]

Thanks, approx £205 plus the £70 odd of the kit so £275 in all excl servo/receiver.

That said, as a modern day monster racer it's now quite convincing and mirrors much of the MR chassis, motor out back, fully adjustable geometry, ball diff, anti roll bars, a light peppering of carbon, with the added bonus of better grip tyres, beadlocks and better battery protection

[Prescient 671]

How does it drive?

[Nitomor 2122]

Can't comment really yet, only been around the kitchen!!

Still some more decalling to do but that's it for tonight...

Some tidying up to do around the windows yet but that should just be some touching in around the frames/detailing...

[InsaneJim69 1584]

Ok your taking the mic now with all this teasing Looks great so far though. Can't wait to see an outdoor running vid once its all finished.

James

[Wez-li 1790]

3 hours ago, Nitomor said:

Thanks, approx £205 plus the £70 odd of the kit so £275 in all excl servo/receiver.

That said, as a modern day monster racer it's now quite convincing and mirrors much of the MR chassis, motor out back, fully adjustable geometry, ball diff, anti roll bars, a light peppering of carbon, with the added bonus of better grip tyres, beadlocks and better battery protection

Great work mate!

If I'd built this, then Tamiya would've announced a Monster Racer re-re for £99.99 before I switched the radio on 

[Nitomor 2122]

Lol, they probably still will rere it. That said, if the stock MR gbox is as weak as they say, regardless of how good the rest of the truck is it's still inherently flawed. Hopefully this will be a good alternative. It's not been cheap but at least I've been able to build/add to it bit by bit which spreads the cost. It's not until you add it all up that it hits home how much it was lol!

Jim I can't wait to test it, been waiting ages for bits to complete it!!! 

[Terz1 745]

Looking fantastic. To me it's mostly about the build and you've put some great additions onto this kit. It should be a great handling monster truggy with the bonus of it being more robust than the kit that inspired you to build it. 

Really looking forward to the shell being stickered up and to see a running video.

[Nitomor 2122]

Thanks Terz, I've really enjoyed the build and collecting all the bits together, they must think I'm a big child at work as these little packages keep arriving from near and far!!

I certainly hope that it lives up to expectations and can hold a candle to the revered MR chassis.

just to summarise the spec for my own sanity....

DT03T with stock cva's/torque tuned motor plus;

• Full Bearings
• Tamiya Ball Diff
• Tamiya Universal shafts
• Tamiya turnbuckle set
• Tamiya Anti roll bar set
• Tamiya carbon damper mount front
• Tamiya carbon damper mount rear
• Tamiya hop up spring set
• Tamiya Hi torque servo saver
• Tamiya CR01 beadlock wheels with Proline Holeshot T rear
• Tamiya CR01 beadlock wheels with Proline Edge front
• Tamiya Monster Racer shell
• Junfac 13mm axle widener rear
• Gpm bearing to hex adapters front

Waiting on the Gpm bearing/hex converter and need to fit the new damper mounts, servo saver, arb's. After that a 19T pinion and brushless will finish it off. I may rob a metal geared servo out of another model too to add a touch of weight to the front and then  I'm there

[Daveyb 40]

Great effort with this. Can't wait to see it running. Loving the body shell!!! 

[Jason1145 3986]

That's great to add the list of parts for the build awesome stuff, if you don't like it after running I'll buy it off ya

[InsaneJim69 1584]

3 hours ago, Jason1145 said:

That's great to add the list of parts for the build awesome stuff, if you don't like it after running I'll buy it off ya

Oi, get in line

James

[Nitomor 2122]

Cheers gents, you can bid for the little pieces after it gets smashed to bits on its first top speed run

conveniently these arrived today...

they're designed for the regular DT03 with shorter axles so I had to use an 850 bushing and 2 1150 bushes on each axle to space it out...as it happens these wheels wouldn't have worked on a stock axle because of the deep offset, the wheel would have hit the steering ball/arms.

Got some more decals done, still some more to go until it's done...but that's mainly a few sponsor decals!

Well chuffed with the front grill...

More tomorrow evening

 

 

[Nitomor 2122]

[Terz1 745]

 Looks the business! Definitely one of my favourite tamiya shells. You've got to be pleased with how it turned out. Great project.

[Blista 1519]

This has turned out better than I could have imagined.  Someone needs to get these photos in the hands of a Tamiya executive.  A truck that looks like that but costs around the same as a DT03 could kick start stadium truck racing again.

[pastimesteve 49]

Looks fantastic! You did a great job with the paint and decals. My only thought ... is there any way to slam the body down some more? Regardless, I agree with Blista, someone needs to pass this idea along to the Tamiya marketing folks.

[Nitomor 2122]

Thanks for the compliments. 

Yes I'm very pleased with it, I have a few bits of paint touch ups to do yet, around the windows and maybe black sharpie some window frames.

The tyres/wheels look a little on the small side to me, even though there is probably less than 1mm between the Tamiya ribs and Prolines! I'd also like to find a way to close in the arches/chassis a bit more. Maybe with a chopped up coke bottle!

I tried some different wheel combos, i think it looks great with the WT 130mm spikes on the rear but could do with a little more tyre on the front. That said, I reckon these tyres are really going to grip!!

Playing with tyres, 130mm pin spikes rear...making the difference from Stadium to Monster...

Red Blitzer wheels front with HPI geolandars front, 130mm rears...

the MR fronts...with Proline rears...

Prolines all round, approx 102mm iirc...

Might try 130mm all round tomorrow to see if they clear on the front!!

 

[Nitomor 2122]

Hi Steve,

yes it can be slammed right down...here's one I took yesterday before finishing the decals, I had it down lower...

When going lower though it exagerrates the longer wheelbase of the DT03...

[Prescient 671]

Looks great, I want one.

Are you going to get/make the rear black side panels for it?

[Nitomor 2122]

Thank you, yes that's on the to do list.

[InsaneJim69 1584]

That looks just brilliant.   Now go get it running and a vid up

James

[Nitomor 2122]

Cheers Jim.

This evening I fitted the carbon strut towers and anti roll bars...

Front:

I went with the soft arb option front and rear...

The towers also came with balls for the dampers to mount on instead of step screws.

Hi torque servo saver and mg servo to fit tomorrow all being well, then hopefully a little shakedown run 

Brushless may need to wait until xmas!

 

 

 

 

[chevelle 997]

Great work buddy, The body has come up brilliantly  I know what you mean with tyre sizes being important, on one of my 1/8 SCT I recently upgrade the rim's (very happy with them) but tyres I have for them are only 100mm, the originals are 115mm . I have some 120's on the way 

[Nitomor 2122]

Cheers Chevelle,

nice looking wheels, that truck looks lovely and capable

I've finished my shell now, all the touching up bits I wanted to do...window trims sharpied on and front black arch decal extended as I've left the front bumper longer than a stock Monster Racer when cutting the shell...

It has been a difficult shell but I'm very pleased with the result. All I need to do now is buy some of the side number placards around the rad area...

The chrome work has come out superb, it's the second time I've used this chrome on lexan, with the first time being the Hornet roll bar, I think I have the knack of it now...

No more pics now for a while...I don't want to run it in the garden at the moment, it's so muddy, I took my just built Brat WT01-N out yesterday and its caked in mud now 

[Terz1 745]

You've got to be pleased with how this turned out. I've just said the same thing to Jason though. You've messed it up by making it too nice!  You've done a great paint job and those decals and little details with the sharpie really set it all off. Beautiful looking shell. What chrome paint did you use nito? I'll definitely use some for any chrome detailing I do on my lexan shells in future.

Now go and buy another shell for bashing. This shell is now for when it's on display on your shelf