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mongoose1983

RC project for 2018: Scorpion buggy

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Last year I helped a guy here building a re-release version of this legendary RC vehicle and sort of fell in love with it. I was extremely surprised by the overall quality of the vehicle so I started gathering some money so I could grab a nice original specimen to work and restore. Time came, and thanks to a good friend in Germany I could find this one. Thank you, @Challenger-RT :)

I got the car with the original box, although not in the nicest condition. I love it, and I am literally chuffed with it. The radio is a Graupner from the early 80's and there's a couple of nice extras.

7E7I5h7.jpg

The car is pretty much complete. There's many little things to work and tingle with but it is in good conditions as far as I can see, with the only exception that it is missing one of the rear spindle, so if anybody has one... :rolleyes:

I love the look of the car. The black tub doesn't leave much options when it comes to paint colors, mainly because I can only envision it in yellow, like the legendary Bob Rodine's buggy.

rsO0mC2.jpg

I will start working on it soon.

More later.

You all have a good week! :)

 

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Alright, I'm now getting all the dirt and grub off of the Scorpion parts. The rear wheels are so darn stuck on the spindles I can't seem to take them off easily. I'm digging the simplicity of the buggy, seemingly these guys took note of all the flaws of the Tamiya SRBs so they could design a car to beat them easily in competition. It's a great buggy, perhaps not as goodlooking as the the Sand Scorcher or Super Champ, but the Scorpion does have an important place in RC history and the development of electric RC dirt racing. I'm chuffed with it. :wub:

uug43r0.jpg

 

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Very nice. Maybe eventually you can find a set of the original Goodyear tyres for it, front and rear. Early issue Scorpions came had these, like on the box.

Failing that, the next ones were the same but said “Sand Super” on the sides. Both original types have less knobs than the remake version ones (plus they smell much nicer) :P

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6 minutes ago, Hibernaculum said:

Very nice. Maybe eventually you can find a set of the original Goodyear tyres for it, front and rear. Early issue Scorpions came had these, like on the box.

Failing that, the next ones were the same but said “Sand Super” on the sides. Both original types have less knobs than the remake version ones (plus they smell much nicer) :P

Mine's the German Graupner version. I wonder if this is the MKIII release of it? You see it comes stock with black tub and different wheels.

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Yes, those Graupner ones did come with the black tub...

I would class the Graupner as a the "Graupner/Kyosho" release of the model (i.e. a different release, in different box, under different branding). And therefore not a "mk" (variant) of the original release.  Often when things are sold under different branding, they are tweaked and changed in presentation of box, box internals, and actual kit parts, for that specific market. This is the case with many Grauper/Kyosho or Robbe/Kyosho releases.

As for the wheels... a quick nerdy history... ^_^

  • The white wheels (as seen on the box) never came in any kit of the Scorpion. Much to my dismay :wacko:
  • The earlier Kyosho Scorpions (and Cox/Kyosho Scorpions) has solid silver wheels. So technically, the closest you can get to "box photo" is to strip the silver chrome off those silver wheels, or paint them white. To my knowledge, no human has yet tried this. (someone correct me if I am wrong)
  • The latter Kyosho Scorpions had the wheels with holes.
  • Graupner/Kyosho Scorpions probably always came with the wheels with holes. (someone correct me if I am wrong).

There are also other aspects of the box photo Scorpion which cannot be reproduced with parts from any kit that was sold to the public, such as the shock collars I think, and the roll bar (which is a different shape).

Decals can be assembled, but the box photo car uses decals from a number of kits which Kyosho was producing at that time. The decals provided in the Scorpion kit are not complete (for the box photo car). I have done some crazy research into this. :blink:

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I had a nice afternoon working the buggy. Here's some pictures...

f7nGVGJ.jpg

Weather have not been good this week. I want to spray the roll black with black enamel. I'm sure that way is going to look better.

hYzEbtQ.jpg

Such a cool chassis to work on!

UYBAQqO.jpg

Underside:

IvcxpRr.jpg

GYwVEqT.jpg

Rear end looks:

YElffUh.jpg

Nice Sand Super tires:

pmItrNx.jpg

jdtl1Of.jpg

Steering and camber regulation is now ready. I just need to find replacement tires for it.

EhCX9e4.jpg

I'm now working on the tub (cleaning and readjusting the electronics in it, not that easy to reorganize in such small compartment). I can see the buggy will be running in not so long from now.

You all have a good Wednesday! :)

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Almost two years took me to resume my work on this fantastic buggy.

First of all I finally took the time to paint the bars. I also painted the Scorcher's bar as you can see. Results are very nice, fortunately.

https://i.imgur.com/uHyUgDm.jpg

I also grabbed some nerve to try my way with the tires' white lettering. I now love how they look.:wub:

https://i.imgur.com/LFMeZ7n.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2xkePIk.jpg

Then I proceeded to straighten the slight bent both rails came with. It was nothing serious, but I just wanted the car to be as perfect as possible. So I took the chance and now they're good.

https://i.imgur.com/8J0PaUi.jpg

When time came for the complete rebuild is when something NOT nice came to happen. The smaller bit of the right swing arm holder broke, the screw rolls inside of it, no way to fix it! It was already a bit screwed when I received it, now it's broken for good. I'm gutted :(

https://i.imgur.com/NfUwApc.jpg

I believe I'm going to open some Ad to locate a used replacement for this one.

I presume chances to find one are way too thin. without it I'll never be able to try this buggy, dang.

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Oh, and the looks of the thing by now...

Chassis sideview:

SUb7XjJ.jpg

With tub and bodyshell on:

1VSIE2O.jpg

EXBDXX6.jpg

Y'all stay safe and have a good Thursday! :)

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