Completed my first build..

[The Jezzanator]

 

 

Hi Guys,

  Well, here it is, my Plasma Edge II. I enjoyed putting it together, beats watching re-runs of 'Wheeler Dealers' on Quest at the weekend. I'm quite pleased with the way it's turned out, the 'hop up' bling looks good I think. I'm still tweaking the tie-rods to try and get it running in a straight line.

  One question, the receiver antenna is a bit on the short side, roughly 105mm and I'm not sure where to route it as I'm reluctant to drill out the dimple in the windscreen to pass it through. Is there a sensible alternative.?

[Swarm]

For a fist build you did extremely well Jezz ,love all the bling and sleek design of the car ,keep up the good work

[Jonathon Gillham]

Nice build, i like the boxart. Mine are much rougher than yours.

 

As for the aerial, i have found that if you use the receiver box thats included the aerial can just stay inside the body and it is fine. I have removed the receiver box from one and had to use the extra aerial guide with the tube thing and drilled the hole. You could just use a really short tube though and let the aerial run along the inside of the body. I'm sure this isn't how it should be done but hey, been working fine for the last few months!

[The Jezzanator]

Thanks for the compliments guys .  The most tricky part was cutting out the graphics and placing them where they needed to be.

Thanks for the tip Jonathon, I'll have a go at heating up and bending the straw for the aerial and see if I can get the tip just under the roof line. I'll post up a few pics with the body off later

[Jonathon Gillham]

I meant just a short tube that stays inside the body but let the actual aerial wire run along the top on its own, rather than going to the effortof bending the tube. The wire is quite stiff, i've found if you raise it enough so its out of the way of the driveshaft and away from the esc (i assume heat is bad for it but no science to back that up) it stays clear, remains undamaged and the the signal is fine.

 

You're making me feel guilty now, for not doing a proper job!

[The Jezzanator]

Ok Jonathon, so this is what I came up with.. I'll have to wait until the weekend to see if it has a decent range or not.

Also, I need to do something about the shocks, they are very over damped, the rears take about half a second to decompress. I'll maybe use the Tamiya shock oil that came with the kit, if I can get them apart

[Jonathon Gillham]

Perfect, i doubt the range will be affected at all. Nice job on the wiring too, mine are a mess. I just wanted to drive them and have been intending to tidy them up since November...

[Prescient]

On 23/02/2017 at 10:12 PM, The Jezzanator said:

Also, I need to do something about the shocks, they are very over damped, the rears take about half a second to decompress. I'll maybe use the Tamiya shock oil that came with the kit, if I can get them apart

 

Are they decent Shocks or generic eBay alu ones. They look like generics but it's hard to be 100%. In which case they can be hard to improve.

Nothing really beats the tamiya CVA shocks until you start spending some hefty cash. Ok they look bland but work.

[The Jezzanator]

Hi Prescient, I got the shocks direct from a company called 'GPM Racing' in Hong Kong, they seem to do a good range of kits, models and parts.

Actually, I took the car out for its first proper run on the green stuff and the shocks don't seem too bad, not that I have anything to compare them to.

Now I have a new problem in that I've lost rear drive and on inspection it seems that the centre of the  large bevel gears in the diff which take the driveshaft couplings have rounded out causing loss of drive.. Not quite sure how I managed to do that but I did get the rear wheels well and truly caught up on a big twig/small branch and I had to go and free it because I couldn't manoeuvre my way out.. 

Think I may get steel gears now

[The Jezzanator]

On 25/02/2017 at 0:57 AM, Jonathon Gillham said:

Perfect, i doubt the range will be affected at all. Nice job on the wiring too, mine are a mess. I just wanted to drive them and have been intending to tidy them up since November...

Thanks Jonathon, I do wiring and mechanical stuff for my work so it's been fun to do something for myself for a change and having access to ss nuts and bolts, rubber sleeves and everything else needed is great.

[The Jezzanator]

Well, as suspected, the bevel gears were trashed. Big thanks to Mick Charles Models in Ewell for having what I needed. Now back in action I'll maybe get steel gears later.

[Prescient]

You are better off keeping a stock of the standard parts as they wear so other components don't have to. They are so cheap if you order on-line its a no brainier. 

However, that was very quick self destruction. Are you sure it was assembled correctly or that something wasn't binding in the diffs / drivetrain? It is possible the propeller shaft tolerances, if not tamiya hop-up, aren't quite right so there is more slack than can be accommodated. I haven't managed to achieve that on the bevel pinions running a 12T mod motor off road on a TT02.

[The Jezzanator]

Everything seemed to go together ok, nothing was forced so I'm surprised as well. There was a little slack at those points if I remember correctly but the new gears are working fine. 

Took it out this afternoon and got dirty with it, all good, great fun, even cleaned some rabbit poo out of the tub when I got home 

[The Jezzanator]

On 25/02/2017 at 6:35 AM, Prescient said:

Are they decent Shocks or generic eBay alu ones. They look like generics but it's hard to be 100%. In which case they can be hard to improve.

Nothing really beats the tamiya CVA shocks until you start spending some hefty cash. Ok they look bland but work.

Yesterday I drained the oil out of the GPM's ( very syrupy) and re filled with a silicone 20 lightweight oil, much faster response time. Not driven the Edge since, hopefully we will get a dry day this weekend

[Prescient]

Good result.

[StrokerBoy]

Argh !  Keep opening this thread only to realise it's not a Monster Truck, Wheelie, Crawler etc.  #hatebuggies 

[Prescient]

All Jezz needs to do is put some 2.2" rims on it with monster tyres and its all good.....

[The Jezzanator]

3 hours ago, Prescient said:

All Jezz needs to do is put some 2.2" rims on it with monster tyres and its all good.....

Hmmm, now there's an idea