A Frog Goes Racing.

[toyolien 1003]

I'm a new member here, but not new to RC. I've always had a few Tamiya vehicles and as this seems to be a really friendly place I thought it was about time I joined.

 

I started with a Boomerang back in 1988, then a Midnight Pumpkin the following year, and since then I've always had some sort of RC's. The last few years I've been into building scale Crawler trucks, and having just finished a Toyota Hilux I suddenly developed the bug for a spot of racing again. I raced 10th 2wd from 1990 to 2000 ish so naturally looked at modern 2wd buggies. But, apart from being expensive I just didn't like the look of them. Then I noticed that my local club do some rounds of vintage racing. So, instead of just buying an RC10 Worlds, I opted for a Frog to make it a bit more of a challenge! Always fancied one as a kid, but never got round to racing one.

 

The plan with this one was to bring it up to date where I could without taking anything away from the look, character and feel of the buggy. I decided to use the MIP ball diff, 3Racing rear shocks, Holiday Buggy wheels and a 17.5t brushless motor.

 

Apologies for the long first post, so on to some pics.

 

I started prepping the driver by filling in the join and the screw hole in the back of his head.

 

 

The lovely MIP ball diff

 

 

I then spent a fair amount of time shimming all the gears to remove any side to side play/wobble. It now spins beautifully.

 

 

The Hobbywing 17.5t motor wire pointed out from the chassis. I wasn't happy with this, so decided to switch them round so all the motor wire were covered by the body.

 

 

Next up was to put the servo in the centre. I just re-drilled some new holes.

 

 

Also added a piece of lexan on the base of the chassis so I could get the ESC as low down as possible.

 

 

It's a tight fit, but everything is squeezed in ok.

 

 

And it's finally a roller.

 

 

Next up will hopefully be to paint the body. Thanks for taking a look.

 

 

 

 

[ALEXKYRIAK 952]

I love the ‘scale’ of this build thread! Awesome, looking forward to the finished car. 

[StueyS 24]

Your Frog looks great, I have done the centre servo mod and the MIP ball diff. Do you have a link to the rear shocks you have used please?

[Juggular 3432]

21 hours ago, toyolien said:

Apologies for the long first post, so on to some pics.

I think we can all agree that this kind of "long first post" is an asset to TC.  Please post more!  

[Frog Jumper 947]

I approve!

Terry

 

[toyolien 1003]

16 hours ago, ALEXKYRIAK said:

I love the ‘scale’ of this build thread! Awesome, looking forward to the finished car. 

Thank you, I'm looking forward to driving this. A lot...

3 hours ago, StueyS said:

Your Frog looks great, I have done the centre servo mod and the MIP ball diff. Do you have a link to the rear shocks you have used please?

Thanks. How is the MIP diff working out?

The shocks came in a pack of four, but I only used the 2x 70mm's. The 90mm's will just go in the spares bin for now. The 3racing part number is: #DT02-01/V2/LB. The springs seemed a little too stiff, so I put some of these on: Gmade Shock Spring 15x46mm Soft Green 2pcs For Gmade RSD 90mm Shock #GM0020069.

2 hours ago, Juggular said:

I think we can all agree that this kind of "long first post" is an asset to TC.  Please post more!  

Thanks for the kind words. This community does seem very friendly and I love that.

2 hours ago, Frog Jumper said:

I approve!

Terry

 

Thank you.

[toyolien 1003]

Had a little time tonight to start masking up the body ready for paint. Normally I'm not a particularly patient person when it comes to painting, but the last few builds I've done I've forced myself to take my time, and it definitely pays off.

 

While I was filling in the join of the driver I also did the lights. They've not turned out too bad.

 

 

All masked up ready for the black, hopefully tomorrow night.

 

Still not 100% decided on the colour. If this was to be a shelf queen, then I'd probably opt for box art, but I think the Frog was born for the track, so It'll have something fresh. Any thoughts?

 

 

More coming soon...

[LeftyAl 144]

I do a bit of 1/10 scale sprint car backyard racing with my BIL. All of my cars have orange as the dominant coiour to help keep an eye on it.... especially when it leaves the track.

For my 2WD buggy shells, I tend to go with any of the flouro colours.

I used PS8 for my 2nd Frog body and I think it was a bit darker once sprayed than what the lid colour indicates.

[ThunderDragonCy 4518]

7 hours ago, toyolien said:

Still not 100% decided on the colour. If this was to be a shelf queen, then I'd probably opt for box art, but I think the Frog was born for the track, so It'll have something fresh. Any thoughts?

 

More coming soon...

Never go box art. Lots of others already have. This chassis is something different to stock, so I say go different with the colours. IMHO.

[Re-Bugged 3814]

9 hours ago, toyolien said:

 

Hmmm, I do like orange, but most Frogs are green aren't they? Just my 5 cents worth thats all.

Great thread to by the way buddy.

[ALEXKYRIAK 952]

10 hours ago, toyolien said:

 

 

Biggest paint cans I’ve ever seen, man. 

[toyolien 1003]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Well, after deliberating for some time I decided to go with my original plan and paint the body green. It was what I intended to do from the start, but almost got swayed when I had a look through the unopened paint cans I have. So here we are.

 

 

I'll leave it a few days to dry properly before I add the decals and details. The first vintage race I've entered is at the end of the month so I think I've got plenty of time to finish up. My transponder arrived this morning, so I'll need to add that in to the chassis somewhere.

Although, next on the list is to put a Frog gearbox in my Wild One for my dad to use in the vintage race too. So, that'll probably be the next build thread.

[toyolien 1003]

While the paint is drying properly, I decided to start the next little job I have in mind. As this is going to be a racer I wasn't too happy with the 2 steel antennas. But, I wanted to keep the look of the buggy, so I thought a while and came up with this.

 

I got a couple of 2mm stainless steel mountain bike spokes and put a bend in.

 

 

Then a second bend.

 

 

Then cut the pieces of where I'd measured them to be.

 

 

They perfectly screw right into a regular antenna tube. Easy to replace the antennas if they get damaged.

 

 

And here they are in place.

 

 

Next job planned is the decals.

 

[LeftyAl 144]

I like the white wing. I went with PS8 for my wing, but the white looks heaps better.

Nice mod for the antennas too.

[toyolien 1003]

On ‎6‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 1:43 AM, LeftyAl said:

I like the white wing. I went with PS8 for my wing, but the white looks heaps better.

Nice mod for the antennas too.

Thanks. I fancied a contrasting wing. It's not turned out too bad.

[toyolien 1003]

Finally finished the wiring. Added my transponder, fitted the on/off switch and soldered on the battery wires. It was a very tight fit, but everything is in place.

 

 

And, also managed to finish off the details on the body. I've not gone to town on the paint job as this will primarily be just a track car, but i'm pretty happy with the finished result.

 

 

Hopefully next up will be some pics from the track. Stay tuned...

 

[ThunderDragonCy 4518]

That looks great. Really intereated to see how you get the handling sorted.

[Grotty Otty 707]

Great build with all the scale touches. The bent spoke for the antenna mount is genius. This makes me want to get a Frog! 

[LeftyAl 144]

Just re-read this thread. Am taking some notes of how you placed the ESC and your wiring job in general. All very neat and secure.

[toyolien 1003]

19 hours ago, LeftyAl said:

Just re-read this thread. Am taking some notes of how you placed the ESC and your wiring job in general. All very neat and secure.

Thank you. The wiring did require a little patience, and figuring out where to put everything, but it's all in now.

[Frog Jumper 947]

8 hours ago, toyolien said:

Thank you. The wiring did require a little patience, and figuring out where to put everything, but it's all in now.

I thought about putting my own ESC down in the old 4xAA battery slot...  But I decided that it would get too much water and dust, and put it on my aluminum ESC plate...  

Here's my own Frog upgrade thread...

And some pix of The Jumper as it is today...  I have a Re-Re body that I drive with, but its unpainted...

https://jpegbay.com/gallery/007037275-.html#1

I'm not hi-jacking your thread to toot my own horn...  But I hope my own tooting might give you some ideas???

BTW, I love your paint job!  I might have to copy it for my own Jumper!

Terry

 

[Ernie^s BadAss Airplane Co 19]

Do you have a mini Transmitter to sit on the Work Bench along with the Mini Grasshopper?  Great Shop, btw.

[toyolien 1003]

16 minutes ago, Ernie^s BadAss Airplane Co said:

Do you have a mini Transmitter to sit on the Work Bench along with the Mini Grasshopper?  Great Shop, btw.

Haha, thanks, no not yet. I have seen some on Shapeways, but shipping is always too expensive!

[Ernie^s BadAss Airplane Co 19]

Make one.....a block of wood, a couple nails, some black paint, a pin for antenna.

 

[Ernie^s BadAss Airplane Co 19]

By the way, the Mona Lisa, sitting on the shop floor, is awesome, and ironic.  LOL