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EvilSpike

First RC Build Terra Scorcher

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Hello everyone, I'm new here!

When I was a nipper I had a QD Supre Sabre and always wanted to own the kit version. I wasn't really old enough to have built and looked after it but by the time I'd grown up enough and had some money I'd fallen out of love with RC cars. Over the years I've though about getting another one and always written the idea off because I'd got so little time. Now with this lockdown, and having a little boy I thought I'd revisit the idea.

On a motorbike forum I spend far too much time on someone bought a Grasshopper, which led to someone else buying a Neo Fighter which led to.... well, you get the idea. Anyway, I ended up with one of these:

TAM-47442_1

 

Open it up and there's actually a lot of stuff, more than I thought.

2020-04-29 22.31.55

It's quite a lot to do, and I can only snatch a few hours here and there between looking after the Mingbat™ and delivering pizzas (temporary job - I'm a contractor and all my work has dried up no needs must). The bolting together I'm quite happy with, but painting the lexan shell and driver I doubt I'll make a very good job of. I've bought some JIS screwdrivers but I could really have done with my vernier callipers for setting up the suspension and steering arms, unfortunately they're in the lockup that I can't get to now. Reading this forum gave us some helpful advice too and I've bought more grease, some stainless suspension pivots and watched a load of youtube nonsense and too. 

First thing to do is the front a rear gearboxes.

2020-04-29 22.49.04

 

2020-04-29 22.49.13

I'm impressed with how much is made of metal, and well everything fits together. The instructions really are worth reading twice before doing each step, but it's quite logical and I've only had to file down a few tiny things.

2020-04-30 00.03.42

 

2020-04-30 00.18.16

I've been pretty liberal with the grease as I don't want to have to be opening this up again, but as others have said, they could have put a bit more in with the kit.

2020-04-30 01.31.49


So that's the front and rear gearboxes build and the stock 540 motor bolted onto the alu mount with a 15 tooth gear in. Apparently it can take a juicier motor but I'm sure my little boy I will crash it into something sooner or later. I'm still waiting for the suspension pivots to arrive in the post and building the arms is the next thing on the list. Hopefully Mr Postman will bring them tomorrow.

The only problem I have so far is that I've got a few bits left over and although I'm 99.99% certain that I haven't missed anything out, I'm not certain that Tamiya do give you any spares. This is what remains in the "A" bag.

2020-05-01 13.34.22

So I've got a grub screw, an E-circlip, a self tapper and a washer. Should I be opening the 'boxes back up?

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Tamiya typically include a few spare screws and clips with their kits, to replace the ones that inevitably escape into the carpet during the build, never to be seen again. Build a few kits, and you'll get quite a stash of them. 

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Way to start strong!!!! Have no fear w the body. Tamiya includes window masks and protective film.

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I've just seen in that last picture, on the packet in white writing "Extra parts may be included. Use them as spares."

I am a gormster!

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Managed to snag an hour at lunchtime to put the CV joints together. All the parts are steel and again really nicely cast and machined, and they give you a little pot of anti-seize grease. I assume it's basically copper-slip?

2020-05-02 13.56.40


The axle is attached to the propshaft by a little cross joint retained with a tiny stainless shaft, secured by a grubscrew.

2020-05-02 14.36.19

Did I mention I'm really impressed?

Next thing to do will be the shock absorbers as I'm still waiting for the postman to deliver the suspension pivots. Might do some painting too?

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Amazing - what a great build 

if you have small Single bits left over then don’t worry

if you have pairs of things or something bigger than a self tapper then it’s likely you’ve missed something :)

 

JJ

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This build is getting me excited. Hopefully I can get my hand on one for my daughter. 

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I was wondering if they included modern type universals, thought they would, but didn't expect you would get 4!

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14 hours ago, burakol said:

This build is getting me excited. Hopefully I can get my hand on one for my daughter. 

Frome Model Centre still have one left, as does the Addlestone Model Centre. Pretty much everywhere else I've looked online have sold out. I don't know what the deal is with these kits, do Tamiya just make a run of say 1000, allocate a certain number to each area like the EU, USA, East Asia and then shift production to something else? I guess the question is, will any more be appearing in the UK again?

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So I made up the rear shocks last night with the aid of a few beers...

All the bits you need for a shock (excuse the badly laid out picture)

2020-05-02 23.22.09

The yellow C shaped bit of plastic is a preload spacer of which you get two different sizes, I'm going for the soft option to start with. If I need more adjustment later on then I guess it's simple to try various different weight of oil, or less easily reversible I could drill more holes into the piston too.
 

2020-05-02 22.46.30

Gently filling them with oil, then working the piston a bit to remove all the air bubbles.
 

2020-05-03 14.17.40

Et voila, two oil damped shock absorbers. Hopefully I'll get to do the front pair soon. I did also read about polishing the damper rods up, but they felt perfectly smooth under my fingers, and I don't have a drill here anyway. After building them they seem to run perfectly smoothly and don't get bound at all, even under repeated squeezes. Maybe they have changed the material or the coating?

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They look good. Only thing to consider if you find them leaking is getting some Tamiya red o rings. They are softer and better than the kit black ones. 

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Hi, that the kit come with all race bearings included? I thought i read somewhere that it lacked 2 or three bearings? Just asking so I can buy those extra if needed. Great build, btw! 

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Lacks 3 to replace the plastic and metal E1 parts, should be thrust bearings but ball bearings are just fine

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1 hour ago, taffer said:

Lacks 3 to replace the plastic and metal E1 parts, should be thrust bearings but ball bearings are just fine

Can I know what size it is? Thanks. 

NVM. Found it! Thanks! 3x 1150

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I wish I'd known that before building the 'boxes.

Do you think it's a 'must do' modification, or something I can do later on down the line?

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No it's not a must do,

Up until 2007 I never did it but I have since....

My 2005 tshot rere ran until 2014 without it done before I retired it to the shelf with no issues.

Now you know just do it if you ever rebuild or build another

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Right, a little more progress Monday night and Tuesday afternoon whilst Sam was asleep.

2020-05-04 13.57.19

Firstly, front shocks assembled. Thankfully the kit does come with the red O rings as @ThunderDragonCy advised to upgrade to if needed. The main piston rods at the front are polished/chromed as standard, rather than the darker finish on the rears.
 

2020-05-05 13.40.19

So I now have a complete set of dampers. Next up the upper suspension arms.
 

2020-05-05 13.56.52

Metal inserts and adjuster rods.
 

2020-05-05 14.24.45

I've made all four, and I've tried to make them all the same length, correct is 13.5mm, but unfortunately I don't have my vernier callipers here. I'm hoping to go and use a set over the weekend, and the main gear from the motor needs to be set 15mm out from the mount too, to correctly mesh with the primary gear in the rear gearbox.

The CV joints and drive shafts I made earlier are now needed
 

2020-05-05 16.28.18

The axles all run on bearings inside the hubs. The drive cups are inserted into the gearbox and get the last of the supplied grease, I'm very happy I bought more now!
 

2020-05-05 16.46.24

The lower arms attach to the hubs and the rear gearbox using pins that screw into the plastic. These have a tendency to open up the plastic and eventually fail. It's recommended that for the arm to gearbox pin is replaces with a set of stainless shafts retained by E circlips. This pack contains the right length ones to do the lower arms, but not the the upper arms. Next time I'm in GT's I'll take the spare ones and see if I can use the lathe to turn the spares down to the correct length and cut the groove for the E clip in the right place.

2020-05-05 18.46.14

Rear gearbox and arms assembled, just need the two coilovers, the rear guard and the motor with the pinion set correctly. On to the front 'box next!

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So, the rear 'box just needed the coilovers, ARB and rear guard added.

2020-05-06 21.53.27

No guard in this picture, but it's not all that big. I'd better not reverse into hard stuff...

2020-05-09 23.31.24

Out of everything it's the anti-roll bar that impresses me the most, not just that it's obviously functional, but that the tie rods that connect the ARB to the lower wishbones is adjustable. 

I managed to pop round to a friends on Friday and use his callipers to ensure all the lengths were correct. In this instance it's 20mm of threaded rod showing on each, but if I want to increase or reduce anti-roll it I can. I also measured and set to the correct length all four upper arms, the steering rods and the position of the primary drive gear on the motor so it meshes exactly with the gearbox input.

The front gearbox needs some hubs, CV joints and arms.

2020-05-07 14.15.44

Unfortunately I had to use two sets of the BB9 screw pins here, but as I said before I'll hopefully use a lathe to make some steel rods retained by E cir-clips to hold the hubs or else eventually they'll fail.

2020-05-07 14.29.15

CV joints into hubs, into steering pivots before connecting to the gearbox. Took me three goes before I learn the correct way of doing it. Should have just read the manual more thoroughly...

2020-05-07 14.42.06

Upper (adjustable) arms in first. I guess adjusting ride height is as simple as altering these four by the same number of turns then using one of the alternative preload collars included with the kit.

2020-05-07 15.03.21

All secure, just needing the ARB and coilovers.

2020-05-07 20.43.10

The front uses fixed length tie bards for the ARB, the two parts waiting to be attached are it's retainer.

2020-05-09 23.10.55

All finished (from the underside). The steering rods don't get installed until the front gearbox and steering servo is bolted into the chassis.

2020-05-09 23.10.23

I think to be honest, that's the complicated bit of the build over and done with. Just need time to paint the shell and bolt the 'boxes and electrics together.

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Now that the suspension was compete the next job was the installation of the radio gear into the chassis tub.

2020-05-10 22.32.00

Steering servo in first, with the electronic speed controller stuck to the top of it and the receiver on the bulkhead behind it. There is actually quite a bit of room in there once the battery and other bits are in, but the instructions say to cram everything right at the front. Compared to the battery the radio gear is mere grams so I don't know why it couldn't be moved around, except for the receiver having a place to hold the aerial.
 

2020-05-10 23.01.55

With the servo in I can attach the steering arms. The central one I can adjust to move both arms left or right meaning I don't have to have any trim on the control unit if I take the time to do it manually here. The other two arms I can adjust to gain the right toe-in or out as needed.
 

2020-05-11 07.46.12

Motor, battery and the front and rear gearboxes in.

2020-05-11 07.46.31

You can just see the driveshaft in the pictures underneath the large, white battery connector. It really is a flimsy bit of cheapo coat-hanger wire and once I get access to a lathe I'll make up a new one... It's a bit of a three handed job getting the driveshaft in, bolting in the front gearbox and not getting any of the anti-sieze grease all over the place but I think I managed it. I did however have a bit of beer spillage around this time resulting in a wet manual and a puddle of beer in the tub. I mopped all of it up with a wet cloth inside and dried out the manual overnight but it still vaguely smells of IPA...
 

2020-05-11 10.18.01

Making up the slightly Dymag looking wheels. I've not used any glue for the tyres, I suspect 4WD will stop them spinning on the wheels so much compared to the 2WD cars. If they are slipping I'll just use some hairspray that I've got in my race bike toolbox. The Mrs doesn't use the stuff so there's none in the flat. Another job that'll have to wait until we move house and I've got access to my tools.

2020-05-11 10.31.47

So, that's all the mechanical bits bolted together and it runs too. I'll not take it outside until I've got the dust cover and body on, there's no point in getting it filthy inside. I can then make sure it's running in a straight line using the steering adjuster then bolt the front bumper on.

Well that was fun! Just got to paint the body now 😕

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I've cut the wing, body and chassis cover out, and what a ball ache that was. I've not made a mess of it, but it's far from perfect unfortunately. Oh well, I'm not sure I'd want to spend £40 to buy all three again and have another go.

2020-05-13 09.33.47

I took it outside for a run yesterday but only drove around for a few seconds before a lot of wizzing from the motor but no forward motion. I brought it back inside and took the motor out and found the pinion had come lose from the shaft. I did my best to measure the 14.5mm offset it needs to be, added a bit of threadlock to the grub screw and tightened it up more securely this time. I left it overnight then after Sam's morning toddle waddle had another spin around the carpark...
 

Its quite quick! The bumper isn't attached in this video or the picture above as I used the run to adjust the primary steering arm so that the car runs straight. The bumper is now on and I notice I'd lost a flanged nut from the top of one of the front shocks. That's been replaced, again with a bit of threadlock. It's my last bolt in the kit though so I better not lose any more.

I need to tidy up the bodywork which I've gone and bought some files in Wilko and got the Dremel from the lockup. Then get washing, masking and painting. 

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It was all going so well...

The body got tidied up by using files and the Dremel. It was never going to be perfect but I was happy with it. It got given a good wash, then I made up the window and vent masks from masking tape. I'd watched a fair few Youtube videos on how to paint the body and I had bought the correct Tamiya PS4 blue can, plus some white too. The vent behind the cab is supposed to be painted silver, but I've got some heat reflective sliver foil I use on the inside of the bodywork of my motorbikes which I think would look quite neat, it's only about 2cm square, but it'll have to be done at a later date.

Anyway, I made the masks which i found quite fiddly, I thought that a lot of bodies came with the correct window masks, but for some reason not this one.

2020-05-13 17.09.58

These three were easyish, the two side ones I really struggled with!
 

2020-05-13 19.17.02

First very light coat of paint. I'd like to point out that I don't buy the Sun Scum newspaper, my Mrs picked it up at work for something to use as packing material when we moved, I don't read that rightwing toss...

2020-05-15 14.32.32

After about six coats of blue and two of matt white the body looked a bit like this. There's been a few bleed-overs where the paint has seeped under the mask but it's not bad for a first attempt. I used a cotton bud soaked in brake cleaner to tidy up the edges of the windows so it looks a bit better now. I also drilled the holes for the wind and the aerial, although for the latter I didn't have the correct sized bit so had to manually widen it a little.

Last thing to do was to take the mask off, moment of truth coming up...
 

2020-05-15 15.03.47

 

2020-05-15 15.04.01

I thought it looked stunning, the photos don't do it justice really as it had a deep luscious shine. Thought and had in the past tense, because I couldn't resist taking it to the rough carpark at the bottom of the street, and that didn't entirely go to plan...

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Beautiful machine. And it’s good luck to crash it the first time you run it...

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