The lock-down hop-up Dark Impact

[Juhunio 6830]

And that's going to be it for a while. The last hop up I've been searching for is the 3 Racing graphite front suspension brace, and I finally found one on ebay this morning

As it fits over the front suspension shafts, it's literally my next step so I'll have to wait for it to turn up. From Japan 

 

 

It was part of a bigger lot of DF03 parts, including TWO of the 3 Racing hardened rear diff joints (DF03-03/V2/HD), a 3 Racing graphite front shock tower (DF03-09/WO), a Tamiya heat sink bar set (53924), some Tamiya 3mm tungsten-carbide diff balls (53124) and various other bits and bobs. As I don't need those bits I will put them on here as trades for a reasonable price when they arrive, so keep your eyes peeled if you're on the lookout for them.

Back soon!

[Juhunio 6830]

Something i forgot to add and ask yesterday...

When attaching the rear arms, you need to use two e-clips at each end of the suspension shaft, but the two nearest the motor are absolutely impossible to attach in the sequence shown in the manual, there is just no room between the arm and the motor

I ended up taking the motor off to make room to get my pliers in to attach the e-clips, then put the motor back on

My e-clip method is to get it all lined up in the end of my long nosed pliers and squeeze.

Is there another method people use for very tight spots? Because looking at the instructions for the front arms (see previous post), it looks almost as tight in there too, and you can't just remove the motor this time!

[ChrisRx718 4470]

Tamiya E-Clip tool is your friend here.

Literally takes seconds but eases the frustrations you experienced. A worthwhile investment if you enjoy building lots of cars.

[mman2005 443]

3 hours ago, ChrisRx718 said:

Tamiya E-Clip tool is your friend here.

Literally takes seconds but eases the frustrations you experienced. A worthwhile investment if you enjoy building lots of cars.

Plus one here as well for the e-clip tool. Purchased it for this particular kit and it made it so much easier without them pinging everywhere 

[Collin 1956]

On 4/6/2020 at 4:47 PM, Juhunio said:

I then broke it in (as advised on someone else's build thread) using my battery drill, gently securing one of the diff joints in the drill chuck and then running it at low-medium speed. One minute holding the opposite cup, one holding the differential gear. It seemed to run really smoothly. Then took the sponges out and retightened the diff screw. Done! And hopefully, done right!

 

This sounds really good to me! Ill give it a try next time I renew a diff.

[Juhunio 6830]

17 hours ago, ChrisRx718 said:

Tamiya E-Clip tool is your friend here.

Literally takes seconds but eases the frustrations you experienced. A worthwhile investment if you enjoy building lots of cars.

Cool, I'll track one of them down, thanks

[Juhunio 6830]

Got a bit bored waiting for the last parts to arrive from Japan, so decided to crack on with the body shell(s). I've always had a livery scheme in mind for the Dark Impact, but based on a tip from @mman2005 about the Avante body also fitting the DF03 I got one of those too. Now with two shells to paint I decided to use another livery scheme I had planned for a Hot Shot, and use it on the Avante shell instead to create two themed liveries for my DF03 build.

So, here they are, my Lotus F1 Senna DF03 Tributes:

I'm really happy with the John Player Special Dark Impact, but man those gold keystripes are intricate! Now just waiting on a different sticker set to arrive which includes a couple of 'Senna' driver's name stickers and a couple of extra No 12s for the wing sides. 

I saw on someone else's DF03 build that they had cut out the 'false' air vents in the shell to create a bit more air cooling, and backed the holes with some fibre glass mesh. So I did the same here.

Also pretty happy with the Camel Avante, used a few more stickers on this one to hide a couple of painting sins!

I again cut out part of the 'fake' air vents to create real ones backed by some fibre glass mesh.

TBH I'm not that pleased with the wing, not a great finish and also don't particularly like the flat profile so might seek out another buggy wing, or just use the Dark Impact wing, and do it again at some point...

I built the shocks too, which were some weird aftermarket "Extra Speed" shocks for the Kyosho Optima. They were a bit of a weird build, with no instructions included so took a bit of figuring out. Especially that weird little spring pin bottom left of the picture... 

Eventually (and a lot of dripping shock oil later!) I worked out they sit in the base of the damper housing to hold in the o-rings and stop it leaking 

Then built up all four, using the size scale on the back of the 53926 DF03 damper box (I have a set of these on my Boomerang) to get them to the required size...

Not sure how well they'll perform, but they look nice! If they end up being total rubbish I'll just revert back to the kit dampers.

 

[mman2005 443]

Loving both of the shells. The John Player is tasty with the gold shocks. 

I personally like how different the avante is to the DI but I know what you mean about avante wing. The nice thing is if you wanted a different wing shape, it wouldn't be too much paint or work to make a second. 

At this point, I would certainly be battling with whether or not to run it. It looks great! 

[Big Jon 684]

The bodies are super hot! You're making one beautiful buggy, man.

[Juhunio 6830]

So, the 3 Racing suspension brace arrived today from Japan, along with all the other goodies in the lot. I don't need most of them, so they're all up on eBay now...

 

Two of the 3 Racing hardened rear diff joints...might keep one as a spare, so have listed one for now

A 3 Racing graphite front shock tower

Two sets of Tamiya Tungsten Carbide diff balls

What looks like a spare main shaft for the Slipper Clutch. It's sealed and says Op.925 on it, but I had no idea you could get just the shaft as a spare?

And does anyone have any idea what this is?? No product code on it, and all sorts of different gears in there

[Juhunio 6830]

I cracked on and built the front end, which meant breaking out the Yeah Racing front knuckle arms, Square RC C Hubs, Tamiya Universal Shafts and Tamiya Fluorine coated ball-head king pins that came as part of the Japan delivery

First, on with the 3 Racing suspension brace. The Tamiya e-clip tool worked a charm, so thanks to @ChrisRx718 for the recommendation

Then built up everything else...

It all looks great, so I thought I would stick the front wheels on to see how it all sits. And then I hit a problem....

[Juhunio 6830]

I have hit a problem, and I cannot work it out. I'm probably being a total numpty, but I could really use some expertise and experience. Because...

The front wheels won't fit!

The front knuckle is too tight up against the wheel rim. It won't fit inside the wheel rim, and the axle isn't long enough for the Hex hub to sit in the wheel with the knuckle outside the wheel rim. This is as far as I can get the wheel on, and while the axle just protrudes from the other side, the hex hub isn't centred in the wheel and won't sit into its intended position

I took a few photos to show the scenario, in the hope that someone will be able to see it and point straight at what I've done wrong!

HELP!!!!!

[TurnipJF 9192]

5 hours ago, Juhunio said:

I have hit a problem, and I cannot work it out. I'm probably being a total numpty, but I could really use some expertise and experience. Because...

The front wheels won't fit!

The front knuckle is too tight up against the wheel rim. It won't fit inside the wheel rim, and the axle isn't long enough for the Hex hub to sit in the wheel with the knuckle outside the wheel rim. This is as far as I can get the wheel on, and while the axle just protrudes from the other side, the hex hub isn't centred in the wheel and won't sit into its intended position

I took a few photos to show the scenario, in the hope that someone will be able to see it and point straight at what I've done wrong!

HELP!!!!!

Are you trying to fit the rear wheels to the front of the car by any chance? Because I see in your earlier photos that you have the fronts fitted to the rear...

[Juhunio 6830]

6 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

Are you trying to fit the rear wheels to the front of the car by any chance? Because I see in your earlier photos that you have the fronts fitted to the rear...

Oh my life, talk about not being able to see the wood for the trees!

Yes, that is exactly what I had done  They've been off the sprues for so long I didn't think to check. Do you know it's pure fluke that I even ended up with two fronts on the back, and not one of each?

Head hung in shame (again!). Thanks for the help 

[Superluminal 3750]

You legend!

[Juhunio 6830]

Having solved the highly technical wheel dilemma (ahem!), I put the full shell and wheels on just to see how it was all coming together 

[Juhunio 6830]

Then moved on to the electronics and steering rods. I'm using an Etronix low profile metal geared servo, Tamiya hi-torque servo saver and tarty blue servo horn, and an Absima receiver to go with existing transmitter

 

First job, selecting the right servo saver, bit of digging around and the Tamiya / Futaba part has 25 teeth, as does the Etronix servo, so that's the one!

Then assembling the saver springs, which isn't massively easy to get right first time but we got there

Here's the servo all built up

And finally here it is attached to the chassis. Compared to prior experience building a Bigwig and Hotshot, this feels so much more robust and thought through, like it has a proper integrated place in the chassis 

[Big Jon 684]

I'm loving this build! The JPS body looks so perfect on it, and the "full option" chassis is gorgeous.

[Juhunio 6830]

Final bits of the base build today...steering turnbuckle and tie rods

And then installing the electrics! Blimey,  it's tight in there isn't it?

Ended up installing the receiver in front of the servo and running the ESC wire behind the servo and rear body post

This freed up a bit of room on the other side to move the ESC forward, even it has to be mounted on its side

That bit of extra space at the back let me coil up the ESC battery lead to get some of it out of the way, with room for the ESC capacitor and switch in front of the ESC. This took 3 or 4 reconfigurations to get it so all the leads would fit in and allow the body shell to fit!!

[Juhunio 6830]

Here are the final build shots, with the two shells and wings attached

The John Player Special Dark Impact

And the Camel Lotus Avante II

 

It's been a great fun build, much more complicated than the BigWig / Boomerang, and not without mishap 

I gave it a gentle run up and down the garden and it works, goes in the direction you point it, which is all good! Next job is to spend some time properly setting up the diff and clutch before I take it out for a fast run

[Juhunio 6830]

Any other set-up tips or pointers from seasoned Dark Impact owners will be gratefully received, thanks!

[mman2005 443]

One thing I would love for this is a driver. Wish there was a reasonable option. Always wanted some for mine

[Juhunio 6830]

49 minutes ago, mman2005 said:

One thing I would love for this is a driver. Wish there was a reasonable option. Always wanted some for mine

Agreed, but seeing how there's barely room for a battery cable I think a driver might be a stretch!!

[mtbkym01 4008]

Fantastic build well done. I prefer the JPS over the Camel, I think the higher rear wing looks more proportional, but wouldn't say no to the Camel  

[mman2005 443]

@JuhunioForgot to ask, did you get the t bone racing bumpers from them directly? I noticed they are out of stock but hoping they get some in once everything is 'back to normal"