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Juhunio

Brushless Boomerang Re:Re Bigwig Shock Conversion Build

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Having skulked around taking so much advice and so many tips from these forums, thought it was time to contribute!

This will be my second ever Tamiya kit build. My first was a Bigwig re:re a couple of months ago, which was very much by the book. This, a Boomerang re:re, is going to go off piste a bit! Now I've bitten the bullet and put this out there, I'm really hoping I don't make a total hash of it!

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Have decided to make this a fun challenge by converting it to full shocks all round using the lessons learned from my Bigwig build, with a list of other upgrades as follows:

  • Hobbywing EZRUN Combo MAX10 3652SL ESC and 4000KV Brushless Motor
  • Jazrider Black Aluminium Front Upright Knuckle Arm for Tamiya TA01/DF01
  • Carbon fibre rear shock tower (eBay seller)
  • RW Racing RW3200 32DP 15T Steel Pinion
  • Tamiya 54628 08 Module Steel Pinion Gear (17T)
  • Tamiya 54002 Bearing Set
  • Tamiya 53791 DF-02 Assembly Universal Shafts (all round)
  • Tamiya 53569 Clamp Type Aluminium Wheel Hubs
  • Tamiya 53926 DF03 Damper Set
  • Tamiya 9004402 Bigwig F Parts 
  • Tamiya 10005257 Bigwig C Parts
  • Tamiya 9808130 Steel Propeller Joints
  • Tamiya 54501 Aluminium Propeller Shaft
  • Tamiya 9805124 Stabiliser Stays (EDIT - not needed in the end, as you need the Boomerang upper arms for the ball connector for the stabiliser arm, but the front shocks don't fit around the Boomerang upper arms, so needed to use the Bigwig upper arms which meant no ball connector, so no stabiliser arm)
  • Tamiya 53642 Aluminium 5mm Ball Connectors
  • Tamiya 54155 3mm Aluminium Lock Nuts
  • Tamiya 54642 4mm Flange Lock Nuts (black / blue)
  • Tamiya 50583 3x15mm Tapping Screws
  • Tamiya 9805755 3x22mm screw pins (for the lower front arms, to attach the front shocks)
  • JC Racing Products Kyosho Optima Pepper Pot Wheels (Blue)
  • Absima 2440019 / 2440018 Blue Body Clips (small / medium)

 

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Here's the rear gearbox built and motor attached. Started with the 15T RW Racing steel pinion to see how the Boomerang handles the motor, with the option of moving up to the Tamiya 17T at a later date if possible!

Having found the first build (Bigwig Re:Re) quite nerve racking, I really enjoyed this second go at these gearboxes. They're really satisfying, particularly when you finish and it all moves easy and freely.

Not sure about the thin shaft (part BA11) that runs between the two gearbox joints front and back, which you have to fiddle with to leave enough exposed on one side to bridge the gap to the other. Would seem to make more sense to just have it as an attached part of one of the gearbox joints so it would easily thread across to the other?

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And the front gearbox, before calling it a night. Like the rear gearbox this incorporated the full bearings and the one piece prop joint. Looking forward to getting on with the rear suspension tomorrow, which will include the carbon shock tower, aluminium ball connectors and DF02 universal shafts :D

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Decided to loosen off the front gearbox and attach part B8, just in case I decide to ditch the stabiliser bar altogether and need another option for securing the front of the shell to the chassis!

EDIT - and glad I did too, because in the end I needed to use the upper and lower front Bigwig arms for the front shocks to fit, which meant there was nowhere to connect the ball connector you need to attach the stabiliser bar, which meant no stabiliser bar

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Today's been all about building the front and rear suspension, got myself nicely set up first thing

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Here are the upper arms attached along with the carbon rear shock tower. Because you lose the plastic of part C9 for the self tapping screws to bite into, I used a 3x8mm screw, an M3 plastic washer and one of the 3mm aluminium locking nuts to secure the carbon tower

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Then went on to build the rear universal shafts and attach them and the lower arms and rear knuckles. They were a pleasure to build and a lot easier / less fiddly to attach to the suspension. The knuckles have been spray painted black (along with a few other bits) to get rid of the bright blue. Some parts (A-tree) took black liquid Rit dye no problem but the 'harder' parts (C) had to be primed and sprayed

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Then on to the front suspension, which meant breaking out the Bigwig F-part lower arms, the Jazrider aluminium uprights and another set of Universal shafts

EDIT - in the end I needed to use the Bigwig upper arms too, as the geometry of the Boomerang upper arms meant the shocks wouldn't fit, see later pics!

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And the last wee bit for today, the first part of the chassis assembly including the black-dyed battery cage. Tomorrow's going to be fun...shocks, servo and steering!

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All set up for the new steps, first of which was to attach the steering servo and steering rods

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Then on to the DF03 shock set. I absolutely love building Tamiya shocks, I find it soooo therapeutic. Decided to go with a heavier shock oil than came with the DF03 set, what with this being more like the Bigwig set up but with a shorter shock, so thought a heavier oil might help offset the shorter cylinder

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Time to attach the rear shocks, and because of the carbon shock tower you lose the spacing that comes with the kit plastic part, which is c12mm. To build this back in, I used a plastic M3 spacer from ebay and a Tamiya aluminium spacer, finished off with a Tamiya aluminium lock nut

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Then it was time to attach the front shocks.

My original intention was to keep the Boomerang stabiliser bar, so while using the Bigwig lower arms to enable attaching dual front shocks, I had kept the Boomerang upper arms to enable attaching the ball connector needed to attach the stabiliser arm. In the end, the geometry of the Boomerang upper arms meant the front shocks wouldn't fit, so had to disconnect the Boomerang upper arms (unscrewing all those tiny screws from the top of the uprights!!!) and attach the Bigwig upper arms instead, dispensing with the stabiliser arm but enabling the front dual shocks. 

Also realised at this point that I had also bought some 9805755 3x22mm screw pins to attach the front shocks to the lower arms, which also came into play at this stage

The Bigwig shock mounts have also been primed and painted black. Very pleased with how it's all coming together

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And as a last treat for the weekend, decided to skip installing the electronics and move straight to attaching the wheels 😁

This meant breaking out the clamp style wheel hubs, which were very cool to affix and proved a good fit for the blue pepper pot wheels and black / blue Tamiya wheel nuts, though the nuts don't screw on to the axle far enough for the axle to fill the thread of the nut. There doesn't seem to be enough axle clearing the wheel for the nut to fully thread on to. Not sure if that will be an issue or not, time will tell. Anyway, think it looks pretty awesome so far, and looking forward to attaching the ESC and receiver and giving it a prototype run test over the next few days

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That is looking great. I built a similar front end on a Boomerang this year and i needed 80mm front shocks, so i would suggest having a look at putting the long eyelets on the bottom of the front shocks and seeing what the ride height looks like. 

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So today I cut out the main shell to get a sense of fit before I secured the electronics. Used the reamer to create a hole in the front of the shell to attach it to the body mount on the top of the front gearbox (good old part B8!). 

Then affixed the electronics. The Hobbywing combo comes with a square push button switch rather than the rectangular flick switch allowed for by the kit instructions, so it wouldn't fit in the designated place. I've stuck it to the outer chassis for now using super strong 3M tape, fingers crossed it's secure enough!

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15 hours ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

That is looking great. I built a similar front end on a Boomerang this year and i needed 80mm front shocks, so i would suggest having a look at putting the long eyelets on the bottom of the front shocks and seeing what the ride height looks like. 

Thanks for the kind feedback, and the tip! I've got all sorts of fine tuning to do to the suspension and steering once it's built so will factor this in. Not sure what the original designed ride height of the Boomerang is with the original monoshock? I'm aiming for the same ride height as the kit-built Bigwig 

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Painted the driver today too...he might want to get that left eye seen to :blink:

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Driver and 'roll cage' are in!

As is the dust cover, which with a bit of trimming managed to make work with the driver and 'cage' (rather than either / or as per the manual)

Just shell painting and stickers left now!

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7 hours ago, Juhunio said:

Thanks for the kind feedback, and the tip! I've got all sorts of fine tuning to do to the suspension and steering once it's built so will factor this in. Not sure what the original designed ride height of the Boomerang is with the original monoshock? I'm aiming for the same ride height as the kit-built Bigwig 

If you want same as the big wig, you will need the long eyelets on the bottom to get the shocks 80mm long. Simple swap though. 

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Just painting the body and adding livery and finishing touches now

Managed to pick one of these CRP suspension supports up off eBay...

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A full day painting and decorating today, and it's finished! I'm chuffed to bits with how it all came together

The livery is inspired by a trip to the Williams F1 factory earlier this year with my dad. Williams were always 'our' team when we used to go and watch the Grand Prix back in the mid-late 80s, and though they've been behind the pack for a few years now they still hold a special place. In the foyer they had the Martini liveried car from a few years back, with its pearl white and black paint scheme. I thought it was completely gorgeous, so decided to pay tribute to it with this Boomerang build using replica Tamiya decals from MCI racing

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I've put a few more pics up in my showroom if you're interested!

 

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I also set up the ESC today, but have decided against a test drive. One of the wheels came off under testing (thankfully on a pit stand)!!

This underlined my concern that the 6mm hex hubs are too thick - the wheel lock nut doesn't fully bind to the axle, and I think I need a shallower hub eg 4mm to allow the nut to create a stronger connection to the axle. I've ordered some off ebay (Tamiya 53570) but they'll be a few weeks coming from Hong Kong so it's time for patience....

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