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EvilSpike

First RC Build Terra Scorcher

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The car park at the bottom of the road is mainly gravel and broken concrete. I took the car there for it's first run around, in hindsight it may have been too rough for the buggy, I'm not certain what kind of surface a buggy should be run on, I'm assuming that a monster truck like 'Nessas Lunchbox can be given much more of a beating.

2020-05-16 17.26.54


Ten minuted of razzing around doing amazing oversteery powerslides, general whizzery and one accidental flip then something went ping and the car started dragging it's bottom on the floor like a Labrador with worms.  The bolt that connects the rear left shock absorber to the lower wishbone had come out, the 3mm flanged nut had come off due to the vibration and me not threadlocking it. Or for that matter, and other bolts on the chassis. I don't really understand why I didn't, every bolt on my motorbikes bikes is either given a drop of threadlock or lockwired and I haven't done that at all with this car. I'm currently feeling rather stupid...

2020-05-15 17.00.57

It's not just a bolt and nut though, there was a spacer and a bushing too that was part of the suspension system. Luckily I found the plastic spacer, being blue it was relatively obvious against the gravel but the metal bushing, bolt and nut were AWOL. The bolt and nut are easy enough to replace, but the bushing (a 4-6mm brass item) is only for a couple of models other than this one (FAV & Wild One) and an hour of searching online Friday evening only led to tamico.de and whilst the parts were €7.49, delivery was €16!

Actually, to be honest, charging £6.70 for two small bushes is pretty much taking the ******* too, but it's a sellers market and I'm sure Tamiya made one big batch and the tooling time has to be paid for one way or another. I'm sure I could make some on the lathe but I don't have access to one at the moment. These are the parts:

2020-05-15 23.28.03

It's BB17 that is the awkward one, and D3 the blue plastic spacer that I managed to find before we left the carpark. At the time I spent five minutes with the Mrs looking for the bits, but we had my 2 year old son with us and he needed to go home for his tea so we toddled back up to the house. Plus the gravel of the carpark is made up of lose granite chippings, many bits are sparkly so they catch your eye when you think you've seen something metal, but it's just another chipping glittering in the sun.

Also shipping from Germany is going to be towards the end of next week. Why didn't I threadlock these things?

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You shouldn’t need to threadlock - the nuts have grooves on the edge that pushes up to the plastic and creates its own lock 

I would just order the bag the parts come in - always the best way - even if from another model 

JJ

 

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Ok so my original parts bag (9405467 / 19405467) is non existent - does the refs have a part number for the bag?

JJ

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24 minutes ago, Duvetdo said:

Making me want one even more!

That noise - superb!!

this is as far as mines been since I rebuilt it (but before I redid the shell and decals)


JJ

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1 hour ago, Problemchild said:

That noise - superb!!

this is as far as mines been since I rebuilt it (but before I redid the shell and decals)


JJ

Lovely bit of Air as accompaniment!

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13 hours ago, Problemchild said:

You shouldn’t need to threadlock - the nuts have grooves on the edge that pushes up to the plastic and creates its own lock 

I would just order the bag the parts come in - always the best way - even if from another model

Cheers JJ, I realise the nut ought to bite securely enough into the plastic to hold itself, but either I didn't tighten them up enough or the groves can't bite hard enough into the plastic. Either way, I'll be using threadlock on them when I get a chance. The actual parts I was after are:

TA-19804526    4x6mm bushing
TA-19805897    3mm flange nut
TA-19804163    3x27mm screw (bolt)

And were part of bag B (Part No. 19403797) of which there is one for sale on fleabay.co.uk for £50. I'm assuming that there are people who buy these kits and just break them for parts? They seem to be selling the body for about £40, wheels and tyres for £50 and each of the bags for the same. I guess they only need to sell a few bits to be ahead, but it seems just a logical result of a scarcity of parts for a decent price direct from Tamiya or the importers?

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Exactly what they do 

I’ve bought a whole kit before just to get a shell and some tyres 

JJ

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It was Friday when I took the car out and broke it, after looking online for replacement parts on Friday night and realising I'd be having an expensive and long wait to be going again I figured I might as well go and have a better, more methodical search for the bits. I thought it would be unlikely as I'd be trying to find parts measured in millimetres in amongst the gravel chipping, but it would annoy me if I didn't at least try.

I worked out the general oval of where I'd been driving the car around and started at the end closer to where I first noticed the car was damaged. I put my hat down at one end and about ten metres away my wallet and keys. I then waked slowly between the two and scanned the ground underneath me about a metre wide, when I got to the hat or keys I'd move them over a little and slowly walk back. A couple who were walking on the pavement by the road stopped and the chap (called Carl) asked what I was looking for. I told him about the tiny bushing and he offered to come and help. Carl started walking at 90 degrees to me and we were chatting about random things whilst his wife made a phone call and sipped a coffee. After about five minutes of this my eye fell on something that had a straighter edge than you'd expect to see in amongst the gravel. It wasn't one of the numerous cigarette butts that cretins have thrown on the floor over the years but the 27x3mm bolt!

Carl came over to look at it when I shouted and glee, and as he stopped a couple of metres from me, pointed at the ground near his feet and said "is that the bushing too?". Yes Carl you magnificent person, yes it is! :)

2020-05-18 12.25.24

So that was everything but the errant 3mm flange nut found. I did search a little more for the nut but gave up on it not long afterwards, I had hoped that the kit would have a few spares but it seems only one extra was included in the bag and I've already used it when another fell off just outside the flat. Threadlock man, use it! I've ordered a bag of ten nuts from a uk ebay seller for £3.25, hopefully they'll be here tomorrow.

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It’s a shame that they haven’t released the spares :(

worth dropping Tony’s tamiya parts an email 

JJ

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So lookng at the damage from rolling it, I've scratched the wing and put a wee gouge in it. I tried a bit of G4 rubbing compiund which has made it better but the rest of the lexan a bit cloudy. Not much I can do about it, plus it'll get worse as it ends up in various hedges, drains etc... However, the wing seems to be rubbing on the body itself and scratching it through vibration. It's almost like the wing could do with some spacers to lift it a few mill.

I've had a look through the manual and no spacers are shown when installing it. The support for the wing is only ABS plastic, would warming it gently with a hair dryer and lifting it upwards be the way forwards, or knock up a couple of spacers out of a left over sprue piece be a better idea?

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Also, the wheels have taken a bit of a beating, they're stone chipped in quite a few places. Nothing structural, but at this rate they'll look pretty scrappy soon. If I want a larger option of wheels to buy people have mentions 12mm hex adaptor kits. Do these change the pin and three lug hub plates to something that will do for most aftermarket wheels? How wide should i get the adapters please, they seem to come in varied lengths? Is there much variation between wheels, tread patters and tyre compounds as to what to go for and to avoid? I'm not racing (yet) just need something to knock around with.

Althpugh anything that look like Ronal Turbo or OZ Rally Comp wheels will get bought instantly...

Thanks in advance for any advice or links (as that's what i'm fishing for :) )...

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yep any of the generic 12mm hex's will work, from memory I used 5mm thick ones on my original TS, then you will be able to use any 12mm hex aftermarket (0 offset) wheel you like, which also will open up your tyres choices (particularly if using a 2.2 wheel).

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4pcs-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12mm-RC-Car-Wheel-Hex-Drive-Hub-Adaptor-1-10-4WD-SCX10/133272952304?hash=item1f07afddf0:m:mnCWOMH7fJ3yBRHUh61tQCQ

Edited by mtbkym01
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On 5/18/2020 at 1:09 PM, EvilSpike said:

It was Friday when I took the car out and broke it, after looking online for replacement parts on Friday night and realising I'd be having an expensive and long wait to be going again I figured I might as well go and have a better, more methodical search for the bits. I thought it would be unlikely as I'd be trying to find parts measured in millimetres in amongst the gravel chipping, but it would annoy me if I didn't at least try.

I worked out the general oval of where I'd been driving the car around and started at the end closer to where I first noticed the car was damaged. I put my hat down at one end and about ten metres away my wallet and keys. I then waked slowly between the two and scanned the ground underneath me about a metre wide, when I got to the hat or keys I'd move them over a little and slowly walk back. A couple who were walking on the pavement by the road stopped and the chap (called Carl) asked what I was looking for. I told him about the tiny bushing and he offered to come and help. Carl started walking at 90 degrees to me and we were chatting about random things whilst his wife made a phone call and sipped a coffee. After about five minutes of this my eye fell on something that had a straighter edge than you'd expect to see in amongst the gravel. It wasn't one of the numerous cigarette butts that cretins have thrown on the floor over the years but the 27x3mm bolt!

Carl came over to look at it when I shouted and glee, and as he stopped a couple of metres from me, pointed at the ground near his feet and said "is that the bushing too?". Yes Carl you magnificent person, yes it is! :)

2020-05-18 12.25.24

So that was everything but the errant 3mm flange nut found. I did search a little more for the nut but gave up on it not long afterwards, I had hoped that the kit would have a few spares but it seems only one extra was included in the bag and I've already used it when another fell off just outside the flat. Threadlock man, use it! I've ordered a bag of ten nuts from a uk ebay seller for £3.25, hopefully they'll be here tomorrow.

I've always found the Clodbuster screw bags A and B as a cost effective source of machine screws, self tappers and flange nuts.

Replacing the serrated nuts with flanged nyloc nuts will also prevent the need for thread lock (I've heard that this can damage/weaken some types of plastic?)

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Always ask here first for spares!, For example I have a few of the brass spacers ...

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On 5/20/2020 at 10:44 AM, DGunn1 said:

I've always found the Clodbuster screw bags A and B as a cost effective source of machine screws, self tappers and flange nuts

That's an exceptionally good idea, rather than searching for individual bits continually, thank you!
 

On 5/20/2020 at 8:10 PM, DGunn1 said:

Believe these are the damper bushings aswell https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152864843411

At least they were for the fire dragon, presumably they have not changed for the terra scorcher rere?

That's what I lost indeed, thank you! Hopefuly I won't lose any more but I'm aware of what may inevitably happen...

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On 5/20/2020 at 8:33 PM, taffer said:

Always ask here first for spares!, For example I have a few of the brass spacers ...

That's grand, thank you and really good advice, I'd much rather buy stuff off a a forumite rather than fleabay and the speculators+ebay fees...

I have quite a few bits that came n the sprues from the TS build that I obviously have no need for. Is there a way I can give them to to the owners of other models that would benefit from them?

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That is a generous thought. There is a "Pay it forward" thread in the Trades section. Probably the best place for them. 

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I'll photograph everything I've got left over and pop it up for grabs, there's no point in me hoarding it.

One thing I want to do is bop some different wheels on it. On the bike forum that prompted me to get the Terra we've decided next time we're together for a bike trackday we'll all bring the RC cars and have a race one lunchtime. The trash talk has started and gauntlets have been thrown left, right and centre. It'll be in a carpark so I'll need to get some tyres that'll work on asphalt. I've found these Fastrax Arrow wheel and tyres which I guess will be much better than the OEM pin-spike tyres on a hard surface.

What I really want though is the JC Racing Pepper Pots... Apparently they are 2.2" diameter wheels, so I should be able to get a wide range of tyres to fit. Ah, we'll see, it'll be a while until we can sort out a trackday.

Anyway, for now in order to stop so much damage happening to the underside of the body and the battery I've put in the larger preload spacers into the shocks, the car now sits much further up on it's travel, it was before using about 50% of it's travel as sag. If it handles like **** and oversteers everywhere I'll put it back, they only clip in and out.

2020-05-20 00.21.43

These are the collars for the rear, it's quite a difference!

 

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So I managed to get some time in the evenings when I wasn't out delivering pizzas to do attach the stickers to the body. I genuinely found this be to be by far the hardest part of the build. Between cutting the things out and aligning them (despite using the cut a small bit of the backing paper off and then aligning method) it still seemed to take ages to get right, and I managed to mess up the two big decals. I didn't leave myself enough room for the "Pro-Cup Racing Team" stickers. Either way, I have used most of the decals to make it look somewhat like it ought to do. As standard it comes with the number "7" and I race as 728 so I've emailed a vinyl cut company to make me three 728's in the same colour and font so I've left a space for that.

Also, I've not managed to paint the dust cover/driver plastics. The arms, hands and steering wheel need a few colours and only tiny amounts, so I'll wait until the shops open and buy paint pots from my local model shop so I can do those with a brush.  The drivers helmet is made of more usual ABS plastic instead of lexan though, so I've sent it to a friend to airbrush it, he's someone who does commissioned pieces on Warhammer figures so is really, really good. I've sent him a design, we'll see how good it comes back but I suspect it'll be amazing.

Anyway, this is how it looked this morning:

2020-05-28 15.24.05

 

2020-05-28 15.28.45

 

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Now it was looking all nice and shiny, so I might as well as go and use it...

Whilst doing deliveries around town I had heard about a park with an astro turf pitch and a BMX track. It's tucked away on an estate on the edge of town so after doing the weekly shop I took a wonder over there. I was rather pleased I did as the astro turf was great for whizzing around. It's subsided a lot so is undulating in a few places which have collected dirt and rainwater over the years and now has grass growing in it, so perfect for small jumps.


Filming and driving accurately isn't the easiest thing to do. I managed to hit one of the jumps quite consistently and get some decent air. About a third of the time the car would end up flipping one way or the other though, so the shiny body is now a bit dented and scratched.

I was driving round at mostly full throttle for a good fifteen minutes and didn't notice any slowing down from the motor, so the 5000mAh battery has enough juice to last me for my entire attention span/available time. The car understeers everywhere which is something I might be able to dial out with different tyres and changing the setup, more camber on the front maybe, possibly retuning to the shorter preload collars. It might also just be something that 4WD cars do, more research needed I guess.

I've gone a bit mad with buying wheels for it, some Fire Dragon wheels arrived today, they're exactly the same as these but black which I found going cheap on fleabay. I've also bought some Kyosho pepper pot wheels which are 2.2" diameter and seems to be the standard size for cars these days. The rears are wider than the fronts too, whereas the standard wheels are the same front and rear. It won't help the understeer problem but they look as cool as penguin widdle. Thirdly I've bought a cheap Absima wheel set with onroad tyres, they'll be better on the paddock asphalt for wherever the PB rc race takes place.

And because everyone else has, I've bought a faster motor. Only a Tamiya Sport Tuned (23T) motor, but I don't want to kill the 'boxes so it'll do for now...

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Despite thread locking all the accessible nuts onto the bolts, I found that the right rear shock top mount bolt had come loose after fifteen minutes of razzing around on the Astroturf. I was very lucky that the nut hadn't entirely come off, however there were only a few threads left to go. I'd have lost the brass bushing with absolutely no chance of locating it at all had it completely unwound.

When cleaning the car off at home (just giving it a hoovering) I noticed that a lot of dirt had stuck to the top of the right rear shock too, it had obviously been leaking a little through the top diaphragm seal. Taking it off and after a good spray down with brake cleaner it seems I must have cross threaded it when I originally installed the cap and diaphragm, or the shock and vibration of running and crashing a fair few times meant it's been jolted off. The former is more likely but I'll keep an eye on it. Either way, I removed the cap and diaphragm, refilled it with oil as it had lost about a fifth of it's capacity and reassembled it. The two bolts got anther lick of threadlock and the car is on the side awaiting another day.

I'm still waiting for the hex adaptors to arrive despite ordering them over a week ago. It'll be interesting seeing how it goes on tarmac with road tyres on. Hopefully my friend will be waving his airbrushes at the drivers head in short order and I'll be able to pop him/her into the car.

I'm also wondering if I made the right choice with the 23T Sport Tuned motor, should I have gone for a different one with more power? Possibly even a brushless?

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