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junkmunki

Subaru Brat to Super Champ conversion

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First off, a big thanks to Kev the Rev for selling  his NOS Subaru Brat body kit.

The reason for this thread, is that when i was looking at the build sheet, i spotted something i had never noticed before. I had always wondered what the cut lines in the moulding on the rear bed were for. I just assumed that maybe you cut the bed out to fit bigger motors or something, so i was somewhat surprised when i spotted the instruction to cut this area out if you wanted to fit the Brat shell on a Super Champ chassis.

Has anyone done this conversion, why would you want to, and does it look ok?

J

DSC_5651.JPG

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40 minutes ago, mtbkym01 said:

Is this a Hard Body?

Yes, this is the early 1980s release set. I had never seen it on the later manuals, that why i was surprised.

J

DSC_5653.JPG

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Wow, who would have thought?
Still I suppose if Tamiya thought an SRB type chassis was good enough for a Ford Ranger at the time, then why not a Brat?

A Clod would probably be stretching it a bit to far though. 

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6 hours ago, junkmunki said:

Has anyone done this conversion, why would you want to, and does it look ok?

The Subaru Brat kit came out in 1983, less than a year after the Super Champ was released. Everybody knows for some reason Tamiya used to release two body models for each chassis. So now you know why the Super Champ is one of the very few if not the only (correct me if I'm wrong) chassis to be released as a buggy and nothing else.

So far one of the biggest mysteries in Tamiya's history is why they opted for the ORV chassis in 1983, and also why on earth they would release a plastic chassis that is not based on a real vehicle, opening a string of releases that go directly against the company's raison d'etre.

As for your specific question, well I haven't fit the Subaru body on the SC chassis myself (could not bring myself to cut off that section of the rear bed), but it is sure the Brat looks much better over the Super Champ chassis than over the ORV's (the main reason being the front wheel stance is not as wide).

 

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Does the Mud blaster have the same cut out lines on the rear bed as the Brat body, I've ever had one to check, or was it just the early Brat that had this quirk?

I've decided to sacrifice an old Brat body to find out what it looks like. I will post the results once it's done.

J

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I’ve learnt something new today-

‘Everybody knows for some reason Tamiya used to release two body models for each chassis.‘

I am looking forward to seeing the Brat body on the SC chassis as well 👍

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2 hours ago, junkmunki said:

Does the Mud blaster have the same cut out lines on the rear bed as the Brat body

I'll check .

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The Fox is the only other buggy I can think off off the top of my head like that. One body, one chassis, no "siblings" or re-bodies. There's plenty to speculate about here.  Was the Brat originally intended for the Super Champ to begin with. With its release being as close to the SC's one could reason Tamiya got cold feet, feeling the SRB style chassis was too far out of date to try to get another year out of it. Maybe they just held it for the upcoming ORV instead. Maybe they simply wanted to get more people to buy the Brat body. By opening up the market to both the ORV chassis it came on (originally, as a spare part) as well as their other, next newest design, the SC (as an option part) they could spread the body investment cost around and make more profit. Whose to say? I'm just guessing.

I'm guessing (again), that by 1982, the writing was on the wall about the direction RC off road was going. The SRBs had been on the market long enough that companies knew what they were being used for. Aftermarket companies weren't making more tons of scale details for them to make them more realistic. They were making performance parts for them. Realism slowly faded as performance (and durability) took over. As a new market, no one initially knew which direction it would go until it did. I would imagine SRBs weren't cheap to produce compared to the ORV either. I'd even put forth that the Holiday Buggy and Sand Rover, while in the spirit of realism (more so than the ORV) were still a step away from realism in relationship to the SRBs. Totally theories on my part.

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The 'second body' idea is something that is still being done today by RC builders who transplant bodies from one model to anothers chassis as a hybrid . I guess Tamiya was an inspiration to do this all along .

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What do you know, somebody had done it a decade ago. 

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=75097&id=18516

I suppose 1983 was the year when Tamiya decided "plastic is the future!?" I've got mixed feeling about that.  But ultimately, I like ORV.  Rather than hiding the chassis like Quattro and Brat, I like the Frog with its exposed chassis.  

 

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Close but no cigar ;) , this is an SRB chassis not the Super Champ . The full cut out would need to be made for the SC damper fluid bottle

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10 hours ago, Saito2 said:

As a new market, no one initially knew which direction it would go until it did.

I think that's correct ;)

1 hour ago, Juggular said:

What do you know, somebody had done it a decade ago. 

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=75097&id=18516

I suppose 1983 was the year when Tamiya decided "plastic is the future!?" I've got mixed feeling about that.  But ultimately, I like ORV.  Rather than hiding the chassis like Quattro and Brat, I like the Frog with its exposed chassis. 

I think @GreenMan used the orig deeper Ford Ranger front wheels. The ones the Brat came out with might've been better looking.

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So would it be called a SuperuChamp, or a Super Brat? :blink:

j

 

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5 hours ago, junkmunki said:

So would it be called a SuperuChamp, or a Super Brat? :blink:

j

 

Put on a re-release, it could even be the Fighting Brat (2014) or the Subaru Buggy... But wait, the latter was the TL-01RA:

b_49352.jpg

I would be interested to see what a Subaru Brat shell on such a chassis would look like.

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I think the rear suspension movement looks odd with a Subaru Brat body fitted, possibly why the orv chassis was originally used instead.

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  spacer.png

Ok, i found a sacrificial Brat body to do the Superu Champ conversion with. A guy about an hour from me had it for sale. its built but unused, but more importantly, the hard plastic shell is untouched. I wasn't going to sacrifice a vintage one...

Watch this space for the results.

Oh, and while i was there, he asked if i knew anyone who would be interested in an unbuilt in box Grand Hauler kit. Well, it would have been rude not to buy it really...

J

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3 minutes ago, JennyMo said:

I am looking forward to you making this happen!

Jenny x

Its something i was curious about, and i sure wasnt about to cut apart one of my originals just to find it is a crappy conversion...:lol:

J

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2 hours ago, junkmunki said:

Its something i was curious about, and i sure wasnt about to cut apart one of my originals just to find it is a crappy conversion...:lol:

J

I know what you mean - it might be a little strange layout wise - although no more strange that the F150 body on the SRB chassis I'm sure?!

Looking forward to what you come up with - I see a Baja racer style paint job perhaps?

Jenny x

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22 minutes ago, JennyMo said:

Looking forward to what you come up with - I see a Baja racer style paint job perhaps?

I hadn't really got as far as thinking about a paint job, although i was thinking along the lines of seeing if i could transfer the original decal style off of the Champ onto the Subaru body.

J

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2 hours ago, kalsh said:

Old post on this

 

 

Having looked at it, no body has actually done the full conversion. There was one where they did it on an srb chassis, but none that i can find on the Champ.

J

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