Aqroshot DT03-T 'Monster Racer'

[Nitomor 2122]

Good afternoon

I purchased this Aqroshot after feeling inspired by a recent post on the Monster Racer/Nissan King Cab. Seeing as I love to tinker with Tamiya's and in particular raiding the Tamiya parts bin and making Frakenstein creations this caught my eye in an attempt to recreate a modern twist on the Monster racer. What drew my attention was many of the similarities to the Monster Racer, in particular; The relatively enclosed chassis, the motor hanging out behind the wheels, similar wheelbase (approx 10mm longer) and features that I particularly like, such as direct steering and a symmetrical layout. 

I have no idea how this will turn out or even if the plan will work. The WT01 has always been a favourite basher of mine, I'd like to recreate the robustness of the WT01 with something a little more precise and well balanced.

So to the build...Box art...

Layout...

Features...

Some suggested Hop Ups... (note that this kit already comes with the Torque tuned motor and CVA's) I have bearings and the ball diff to go in also.

Remainder pics of build to follow pending approval...

[Nitomor 2122]

Thank you mods...

First up, the unceremonious opening of the box, as has become typical of Tamiya of late, these space saving boxes seem to be the norm, it's a pity but I guess it keeps the costs down on the lesser kits...

Wife's make up table wasn't really meant for this but I can get away (just) with new build kits

I love the look of the DT03 chassis...long and sleek bathtub configuration...it looks like some sort of sleek sci-fi spachship! The first 5 steps were mildly frustrating, I had all my usual tools prepared to start and in the first handful of steps I needed to go and get some scissors, flat head screwdriver and radio gear all of which are normally required much later into the build...pleasingly, the screw bags and steps are synchronised unlike the Grasshopper where the screw bag bears no relevance to the manual steps!

I've opted to go with a mini 6ch Futaba receiver that goes with my Futaba 10J Air transmitter, the rx's are £25 a pop and work perfectly with cars. For the moment I'll be running the stock ESC and I'm just running the entry level Futaba servo to see how it fares and because I have it left over from another build that required something beefier.

Front lower suspension arms used the U pin similar to the WT01 and the front wheels are bearing type as you can see below. The chassis tub is very rigid, I'm not sure how robust it will be in an impact but time will tell, between the shell and wishbones hopefully impacts will be mostly absorbed.

The stock geared diff...using plastic/metal combo output shafts, same as the wheel side and driveshafts...

However I was ditching this in favour of a ball diff, originally bought for my WT01 but it doesn't fit in that so it will now be used here!! It is 5mm narrower than the stock item, to reduce friction apparently. It's a lovely bit of kit, except it introduced a new issue for me, it doesn't work with the plastic drive shaft and requires regular metal dog bones. The side of the box says to use with the stratospherically priced universal shafts for this kit @ £40 odd. I looked at some spare WT01 axles which are the same length as the plastic rear wheel axles, so I wonder if I can use them paired with £10 shorter dog bones off a stock DT02!?!

Still, I could still press on, I've put bearings in the gearbox (metal shielded) and rubber shielded on the outdrives which is my norm now;

Rear end built up... (didn't get any inner gbox pics because my fingers were covered in grease)...

I've fitted the plastic driveshafts for the moment even though they don't engage just to prevent me from losing anything! Once again, rubber shielded bearing to the wheel axles...note also the waterproof esc switch cover which is a nice touch, somewhat lost if I end up fitting a different esc later!

I've just managed to cram the receiver into the receiver box that comes with the chassis...it's not waterproof but should protect it somewhat. Might put some foam lining on the inside of it to afford some more protection.

I've just built the CVA's just need to fill with oil this evening then I can fit the shock towers and get the thing suspended!

[Terz1 752]

Looking forward to this . As I was writing you made a lot of progress with the build too.

Have you seen the posts regarding the tyres on the aqroshot? One member wanted some tarmac tyres to save the standard ones which wear really fast on his stadium blitzer and I noticed the blitzer beetle and this use the same rims so suggested the tyres on the aqroshot to him. Some said that they don't provide very much grip though. Are you thinking of changing them for a more off road focused tyre? Someone mentioned the proline m2 gladiator 2 and proline m2 dirt hawg 2. They do increase the diameter of the wheel but I know how you like your monsterised trucks and buggies.

[Nitomor 2122]

Lol, yeah, did that last night only typed it up today

Oh yes, fully expecting to change tyres possibly wheels too, I'm sure I'll find a home for these too. My Lunchbox is running Blitzer rims on HPI Yokohama Geolandars, while my Fighter Buggy RX is running Blitzer rims with WT01 spikes on the rear. I'll have a bit of a play when it's running and see what I like and don't. I even have some Bush Devil (same as monster racer) rims on my Jun Hornet!

Ultimately, if I end up running brushless I'll need to move up to beadlocks pretty quickly I expect. I have a brushless setup in my Lunchbox which is totally wasted in that, this would be a far better home but I'll wait to see how competent this is first.

 

[Nobbi1977 1793]

I have two sets of universals I think. One tamiya and one 3racing I think

Could do you a better than eBay price if I can dig them out.

[briscaF1 71]

Looking good! Interesting to see such varied designs within the Tamiya family and I'll keep an eye on this as a DT-03 (or 02) is probably what I'll buy for myself for a spot of head 2 head bashing with 'F1 junior.'

[Nitomor 2122]

Thanks chaps,

Nobbi, argh! I should have waited, I went and ordered a load of parts earlier this afternoon from Fusion hobbies. The Tamiya items weren't cheap but I got all the bits I wanted from the one place with free postage and 10% discount so only ended up about a fiver more than different ebay vendors. Basically I have the turnbuckle arms, universal shafts, hard/soft spring set and some bits for the WT01 en route. That's now pretty much every hop up bar the heavy duty servo saver but I'm sure that will follow later.

CVA's fitted tonight...

Followed by wheels and tyres. Front rims are narrower but tyres are the same all round...

Birds eye view...

Worms eye view;

Side view

The experimenting has now begun, with Brat shell...looks pretty good I think!!

Not a bad modern day Brat take eh? (I did actually get it sitting more central than that!)

With bigger tyres?...

Unfortunately that's a fail, can't really turn the steering!!

 Ignore the wheel colour but I reckon this will be the sweet spot...just need to decide on the right wheels and tyres - this setup allows full steering!

Or with beefier rears!

That's all for now. A Monster Racer shell is hopefully inbound in the next couple of weeks, now I think I'll need to wait a bit to recover from the expense, more of which is no doubt to come!

Cheers

Nito

[jupitertwo 1485]

I've not been a fan of the Aqroshot, but that Brat shell looks excellent. Following this build with interest now 😁

Do you think it could cope with sand paddles at the rear?

[Nitomor 2122]

Thanks, I could never get over the awful front shock tower on the DT03 buggies, but in T guise it is unseen  I'm very interested to see how this goes when done!

Yes, I believe it can cope fine with paddles, no steering at the rear so there is plenty of clearance there but I guess it will also largely depend on the offset of wheel used, the WT wheels with Bruiser tyres in the last shot have a very shallow offset so let the wheels project out more.

 

[Blista 1606]

That Subaru shell looks great on there, even on the stock Aqroshot wheels.

I was looking at picking up an XV01, but now I might have to hold on to my money and see how this project goes.

[briscaF1 71]

Looks great with the Brat shell. I can't say I'm a fan of the boxart shell but that looks nice.

Are there any other shells that fit ? 

[Nitomor 2122]

Thanks, it does look pretty good in Brat guise I must admit.

The wheelbase is 287mm, most car type shells will be circa 260mm. Any touring car type shell ought to fit (I'll try and have more of a play tonight, you just need to play around with the mountings, shells with holes undrilled would be best because Tamiya shells have various pimples marked out for hole drilling. For example that Brat shell has the ability to have the holes further forward on the rear deck which would suit this setup better. The Amarok shell is 280mm wheelbase, I'll give that a try this evening. Tamiya could really do with more 280mm wheelbase shells, the WT01 is 281mm so this DT03 is slightly longer still. 

The shell looks better raised up I think as it masks the wheelbase issue better.

 

[StrokerBoy 772]

10 hours ago, Nitomor said:

looks pretty good I think!!

Certainly does !  I like the look of the Aqroshot chassis/wheels but hate the shell.  And I'll have a spare lexan Brat shell when I get round to building my re-re Brat.

[Terz1 752]

I have to say the subaru shell looks really good on there despite the differences in wheelbase. I think the amarok shell will look even better as it's wheelbase is much closer. I know your goal is to have the monster hilux body which will be amazing!

Regarding the wheels. I think the front look spot on, how about stadium blitzer tyres and wheels on the rear? I think the propotions would be spot on. I know some say that the original blitzer tyres wear quite fast but another member said they are fantastic on grass and from your vids I think that's your favourite running area. The projects coming along great.

[Terz1 752]

4 hours ago, StrokerBoy said:

Certainly does !  I like the look of the Aqroshot chassis/wheels but hate the shell.  And I'll have a spare lexan Brat shell when I get round to building my re-re Brat.

 

Does the re-re brat have a lexan shell? That's disappointing I thought it was the hard shell with driver, roll cage and front bumper. I was thinking I'll take that off your hands but I've already got a lexan brat/mudblaster shell.

[Nitomor 2122]

Thanks again guys,

Stroker boy, sounds like a plan brewing

Which fronts do you like Terz, the Monster Racer rib tyres or the regular Aqroshot ones? I think the Hilux body is only a 250-260mm wheelbase but the arches look quite large so I'm sure it'll look ok. I haven't decided on wheels yet but they will be 2.2 as both the MR and Blitzer wheels and WT for that matter all are. For tyres I was considering some;

Proline Edge Ribs

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/pro-line-m3-edge-truck-front-2.2inch/rc-car-products/23553

and off roady rears like the trenchers or something...

http://www.modelsport.co.uk/pro-line-trencher-t-2.2-all-terrain-truck-tyres/rc-car-products/395738

Or Proline Badlands...

Or Dirt Hawgs

 

We run offroad a lot, grass is at home, but we go to gravel and concrete bmx tracks and an old colliery with black coal chunks and general mud and mess!! The pin spikes are good on grass and off road but they wear quick on gravel/concrete.

 

[StrokerBoy 772]

58 minutes ago, Terz1 said:

Does the re-re brat have a lexan shell? That's disappointing I thought it was the hard shell with driver, roll cage and front bumper.

It has one of each.  I'll be using the proper hard shell for the Brat.  The lexan one would have been redundant but might now eventually end up on an Aqroshot.

[Terz1 752]

@Nitomor I liked the monster racer ribbed tyres on the front but those proline edge ribs would be a good substitute. As for the rears they all look fantastic. Give me a choice of two things and I can never decide. Which ever you choose from those not doubt they'll perform and look fantastic.

@StrokerBoy That's interesting. Didn't know it had both types of shell. I've got an untouched mudblaster 2 lexan shell in a box. I'm waiting for a cheap second hand wt01 rolling chassis to turn up on ebay so I can do it original mudblaster liveried wt01.

[Nitomor 2122]

I have a spare lexan Brat shell that I bought from Ebay for a 'too good to pass up' £15! We should have a party lol!!

Bring a Brat! (I'm not talking about kids kingdom)

[Nobbi1977 1793]

Looks great with that shell. Must finish my other DT-03

[Nitomor 2122]

Cheers Nobbi,

I had a bit more of a play tonight, here is the Brat shell now sitting properly on its front mounts, the rear would take a small amount of work to get right but nothing too taxing.

Next up was to try some Blitzer rims with slightly larger HPI Yoko geolandars, full lock is a bit of a struggle woth these, the offset also sits the wheel closer than the Monster Racer rims and the tyre diameter is slightly larger than the ribs.

The Amarok shell doesn't really work, the wheelbase is good but it's too wide, the wheels won't steer without touching quite a lot...

With a bit of light trimming a rally car shell could work quite well with stock Aqroshot tyres. I'll measure the width and diameter of the tyres tomorrow too.

I tried flipping the rear arms tonight to reduce the wheelbase, the good news is that physically the lower rear arms will flip and reduce the wheelbase (I didn't measure by how much but a few mm, it puts the shocks at a bit of an awkward angle but this could potentially be overcome, with the turnbuckles it might just work out and assuming the universal shafts could take the angle of outdrive to axle this might be an option which I'll revisit once those parts have pitched up!

And that's about all for now, can't go any further until the rear universal shafts arrive which should be in the next week or so all being well.

I discovered today that you can fit anti roll bars front and rear and carbon shock towers f&r with more adjustability than stock. I think I'll wait until I've driven it before spending any more, tempting as it is. I'll try and weigh it tomorrow to get an idea of how it compares to the WT01.

Cheers

Nito

[StrokerBoy 772]

12 hours ago, Nitomor said:

With a bit of light trimming a rally car shell could work quite well with stock Aqroshot tyres. I'll measure the width and diameter of the tyres tomorrow too.

I like this.  It hints at the original Lancia Rally with its cartoonish stance.  Have you got an 037 shell lying around anywhere ?...

[Nitomor 2122]

Thanks, unfortunately not, though I did consider one a while back on ebay that was complete with decals and the lot but I'd never have been able to run it! Ideally the above shell could be dropped further but it would need the back of the front bumper trimmed a bit to allow the wheels to steer without obstruction.

I think the above bridges the gap nicely between the monster truck and rally car, an in betweener that is effective on and off road. I'm looking forward to trying it at the local haunts.

[Blista 1606]

13 hours ago, Nitomor said:

The Amarok shell doesn't really work, the wheelbase is good but it's too wide, the wheels won't steer without touching quite a lot...

The wheelbase on the Amarok looks good.  Would it fit better if the mud flaps were trimmed off and the front was trimmed like on the WT01N version?

Could you also throw up a couple of photos from the front and back?

[Nitomor 2122]

Yes it would clear completely if I were to trim those off, I haven't decided what I'm doing with that shell yet but I think I will need to trim it regardless because it needs it for the WT01N anyway. Should have trimmed it before paint but I was trying to salvage as much body as poss at the time as I fancied the wider arches but with hindsight it would look cleaner without them.

I'll try to get more pics tonight.