J@mes 2326 Posted August 18, 2019 My 1st 1:24 scale RC model is this ‘Star Unit Comical Wheelie Series’ version of the LB which I had to get as soon as I saw it. Also ordered hop ups: 54900 bearings 54860 370 Sport Tuned 54898 Upper arm connectors 54831 T3-01 Rear wide wheels x2 54830 T3-01 Rear wide semi slick tires x2 The T30-1 wheels & tyres are a gamble as I don’t know if they’ll fit. The chromed wheels are deeper by 6mm and taller by 4mm. The matching tires are lower profile and 10mm shorter than the kit ones. There’s a set of pin spike tires available which have a matching set of wheels available on a different code. It is not clear why the 2 types of tires require different wheels. The wheels on this kit are screwed on with a machine screw & the hop up wheels have a 2.6mm dia. Where the kit is 3mm so I’ll have to drill them out, if they fit. After having a look at the content if the boxes I got on with cutting out the shell. The arches are pre cut and the shell painted, nice! Once cut out I sanded the edges with 400 grit wet & dry paper and removed the protective film ready for stickers. This shell is going to be box art. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfdogstinkus 1876 Posted August 18, 2019 I just finished the bottom deck, not got servo's yet, have to wait now. Nice little build though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J@mes 2326 Posted August 18, 2019 2 hours ago, wolfdogstinkus said: I just finished the bottom deck, not got servo's yet, have to wait now. Nice little build though. I started on the body 1st. Stickers finished tonight. It took ages! I saw someone on YouTube say they built the whole thing in 1.5 hours, it took me 3 hours to do the stickers! 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfdogstinkus 1876 Posted August 19, 2019 I cut out the body first, not done stickers yet. Might start the stickers tonight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J@mes 2326 Posted August 20, 2019 Kit laid out: Manual section 1 to 3 - assembling the gearbox. First up is the light grey A parts, A9 is loose in the bag, plus 2x G parts which have the bushings and press on pinion as well as all the gears. This is an option heavy model. I counted 7 mentioned in this manual (springs twice). 1st one is bearings: There’s a little tube of grease supplied, of course. 2nd option is an 18T pinion which requires an adapter to fit the motor (a high torque servo saver is also suggested at this point). The Sport Tuned 370 motor comes with the required adapter but isn’t mentioned as a hop up. The motor screws in to A3 which in turn screws in to A2 & I had to rotate the gears either side until it meshed & dropped in to place. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grotty Otty 868 Posted August 21, 2019 @J@mes This is cooler than I thought, think I'll have to get one 😁 at least it could share the absurdly expensive LiFe battery I got for the Dancing Rider! Hope those wheels fit they're great. Just a quick question, did come with a Tble-02 or are putting in a different speedo? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfdogstinkus 1876 Posted August 21, 2019 No speedo in uk kit, also missing a cool AA battery pack that is only in Japanese kits. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfdogstinkus 1876 Posted August 21, 2019 It is an interesting little kit. Looking forward to hop up CVDs. That's the only bit I didn't like. The driveshafts feel like a weak point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J@mes 2326 Posted August 21, 2019 Hi @Grotty Otty thanks, this thread is at your request! The dancing rider is growing on me since starting the lunchbox mini. As @wolfdogstinkus already said no speedo in the box. I am going to use a quicrun 1625 purely because it is a fair bit lighter than the TBLE02. I took the aa battery thing outta my kart at ordering for numerous reasons, got me the Arrowmax lipo which is designed to fit & will hopefully not blow up/ catch fire/ murder me in my sleep 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J@mes 2326 Posted August 21, 2019 Tamiya kit free tool fans get 3 hex wrenches in this one. On to sections 4 to 14 of this 42 stage process. Next up are the axles, C16 with a half a dog bone secured by a grub screw. Then C8 and C15 attached by flexing the plastics to pop the joints together. There’s a lot of play & like this a powerful motor might cause issues, hopefully the Sport Tuned won’t. Hubs attach to a harness with the smallest springs I’ve seen on an RC kit in my limited experience. Theres a hop up option to build the diff with reinforced gears. 2 required making it a serious investment. I used the kit parts. C1 came off the sprue really nicely without requiring further trimming by just twisting round & round between thumb & forefinger. The back section is much the same and the whole thing assembled at this point looks like a robot chicken according to Mrs J@mes 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grotty Otty 868 Posted August 22, 2019 I wouldn't worry about the driveshafts. Looking at your manual they assemble like mini Schumacher Cat ones only with a plastic four sided joint instead of alloy. The Cat's are surprisingly strong. Looks like a really novel build so far, looking forward to seeing the completion.. As long as the lipo hasn't blown up/caught fire or murdered you in your sleep 😁!. *adds quicrun 1625 to basket. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J@mes 2326 Posted August 22, 2019 Cheers! Good to know. I missed out the really exciting bit amongst all those photos of the manual, building the diffs. They’re good fun. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J@mes 2326 Posted August 22, 2019 Sections 15 to 24. This is the best bit so far. Screw bag B gets opened & the wheelie bar gets built. If if you are going to build one of these & you want to add the upper arm connectors immediately then it saves taking the tie-rods off if you do it between steps 19 & 20 as the tie-rod length is different to the manual, less toe-in with the connectors. manual states 1mm gaps on tie-rods all round. Connectors instructions specify gaps of 2.2mm rear & 4mm front. I don’t know why there is no mention of the connector hop up as an option in the manual. I acquired some thread-lock via a relative who was sent it as a mispick on an Amazon order. The seller didn’t want it back, result! There was need of it for the counter sunk screw in to ball connector nut in section 18 on the steering linkage, the only metal on metal in the build so far. & here’s an action shot with the blue thread-lock already applied to the connector. Section 22 to 25 is the AA battery case and electronics set up so I’ll jump to section 26 next. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Problemchild 2149 Posted August 24, 2019 I’d love to get one of these for my 9yr old but ouch it’s expensive - more expensive than a full size (1:10)one JJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J@mes 2326 Posted August 26, 2019 Yeah that’s true, adding the various hop ups, electronics and a battery triples the kit price. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J@mes 2326 Posted August 26, 2019 Sections 25 to 38 is the home straight & requires bag C opened. 1st is setting up the electronics with some soldering to get XT60 connectors on the ESC and the Lipo. The electronics arrived The servo centred & horn added then fitted to the assembled A parts that hold the battery, took some tinkering to get the steering rod to line up straight with the linkage. The ESC gets stuck on the servo & the receiver on the top deck. The wire to the on/off switch for the Quicrun 1625 is too short to fit as per the manual (at the back under the battery) so I stuck it to a body mount with servo tape. finally on to the wheels... I should’ve done more research before buying. The T3-01 hop up wheels use a 10mm hex that comes with that kit. I think the best solution is to 3D print some hex adapters but for now the 2.6mm centre hole has been threaded my a 15mm machine screw via a 6M nut in the back and in to the axle. Not ideal but it works. And here she is, finished! 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J@mes 2326 Posted August 26, 2019 Having driven about and tried the kit wheels and the chrome ones I will make a few changes. For starters the lipo battery is clearly a lot heavier than the AA or LiFE options & the back of the car drops compressing the rear springs about 40% some stiffer springs are needed! Next is the receiver has a red led that illuminates on throttle which looks rubbish as can be seen in the body. A bit of tape will soon fix that. The other thing is the hub adapters, had a go on Tinkercad & I think I can knock something up but it’s a learning curve. In summary I thoroughly enjoyed this kit and playing with it. The family like it and it doesn’t take up as much space as a 1/10! 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TwistedxSlayer 1290 Posted August 26, 2019 Looks cool. I wouldn't buy one personally but I have enjoyed this thread so far. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Problemchild 2149 Posted August 26, 2019 I love it lots the lunchbox has always been my fave since I had one of the mini tamiya “kits” back in the 90s the back end is fab too - very comical hornet JJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grotty Otty 868 Posted August 27, 2019 Great build thread @J@mes. I think the wheel mod is well worth it, looks better than the original. Looking forward to pay day so I can get one ordered 😁 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfdogstinkus 1876 Posted August 29, 2019 It's worth noting that the standard 4x AA battery cradle fits in this. I did buy a mini 2s lipo but think the kids will be better with the 4xAA batteries. Just ordered rechargable ones from hobbyking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J@mes 2326 Posted August 30, 2019 I think the AA battery option is ideal for this, it doesn’t need 2S Lipo power to be fun, Tamiya know what they’re doing. I’ve over done it, just like my LB I saw somewhere someone modified an old RX 4xAA battery holder to fit which most of us will have a few old ones going spare... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfdogstinkus 1876 Posted August 30, 2019 That's the one I meant, an old receiver pack will fit in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Problemchild 2149 Posted August 31, 2019 **** it - I seem to have ordered one of these i was only buying some paint and some servos from modelsport and I seemingly added £60 with of lunchbox to get free delivery!! JJ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
J@mes 2326 Posted September 4, 2019 On 8/31/2019 at 3:06 PM, Problemchild said: **** it - I seem to have ordered one of these i was only buying some paint and some servos from modelsport and I seemingly added £60 with of lunchbox to get free delivery!! JJ Enjoy! I need a new build project now Share this post Link to post Share on other sites