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gregdogghurst

Building unavailable kits from separately acquired parts

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Has anyone/Is it viable to build a no longer available kit purely from parts buying?

After a 20 year break from RC, at the start of lockdown i impulse bought a rere super astute kit. I found the build enjoyable but soon realised the older/rere stuff isn't for me. Then i stumbled across a DN-01 Zahhak in my local hobby shop, did some research discovered its relation to the TRF201 so went back and bought it for a deal. Now i basically have a 201 spec, a load of the original kit left over and a lighter bank balance. I should have found and purchased a 201 kit from the off !!

I feel like i missed the party for the Tamiya kits that interest me. However, what i have learned from this is i enjoy the learning/building/modding and parts hunting.

With project DN-01/TRF201 virtually finished i'm looking to acquire a DB-01RR but they're not available anywhere. So rather than buying a standard DB-01 kit and modding it to RR standard, is sourcing all the parts separately a cheaper/viable option?? Kits and parts seem to be getting more scarce by the day now....

Any thoughts/experience/DB-01RR kits much appreciated!

Also assuming this could be relevant to most kits.

Thanks Greg

 

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I built a super Blackfoot from NOS & I could put a different colour frame in and make it a bush devil too as I bought up anything I could find. 
 
 

most kits I build end up with the same again in hop ups on them, like your dn01. It’s half the fun for me

 

the most popular kits have already been rereleased in red white and blue, some of them twice! there will be some new old thing along that takes your fancy soon enough...

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Yes I've done it a few times! Always regretted it🙄 sourcing all the unique bits and pieces usually means it's just not cost affective. But that's just my

"I feel sorry for myself story"

😅

Sven 

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18 minutes ago, speedy_w_beans said:

You'll spend about 2x to build a kit from separate spare parts...

Yeh I’ve been doing quick maths and google. Way over and haven’t even got to BB shocks/out drives etc

Totally unrealistic

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I've done it lots of times but I couldn't buy one complete.

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It only makes sense if you've over indulged on other parts. Bought that set of TRF dampers and now have spare CVA shocks? Or perhaps sold an older chassis and took off the nice hop ups? 

I missed the boat on the Porsche GT2 TA02SW kits, so I've recently bought everything to build my own. 

No, I won't be adding it all up! :lol:

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I bought a load of M04 parts to build a couple as they were discontinued but I really liked the idea (note, the idea - I had never driven one) of the chassis format.

Got everything I needed apart from the essential sprue with the body posts.

I was new this back then...

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I did quite a few new-build-from-spare-parts projects around 10 ~ 14 years ago when vintage parts for some kits were very plentiful and not crazily expensive.

Dyna Blaster / Bush Devil / Super Blackfoot / Monster Beetle / Astute / Super Astute / Madcap / Saint Dragon / Sonic Fighter / Striker / Falcon / M01 / M02 / TA01 / TA02 / TA03 / TR-15T / TGX / TG10...+ a few more I've probably forgotten about.

Difficult enough to find the odd spare part to fix a vintage model in many cases these days.

 

 

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All of my early 3 speeds Toyota Hilux ( still need a few bits ) and Blazing Blazer ( will probably never be completed ) are from buying up individual bits.

All my SRB,s Mk1 Rough Rider is from bits, Sand Scorcher Mk2 is from bits.

 I think it makes more sense to buy something that is mostly complete to at least give you a platform. Financially at least.

But if you are happy to wait and have some money to chuck around then I think anything is possible.

It all ends up on eBay for sale at some point.

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1 hour ago, Badcrumble said:

I bought a load of M04 parts to build a couple as they were discontinued but I really liked the idea (note, the idea - I had never driven one) of the chassis format.

Got everything I needed apart from the essential sprue with the body posts.

I was new this back then...

E Parts!?

I remember being in the same position. The front body posts are the same on an M05/6 and MF01X, I only learned this weeks afterward!

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14 hours ago, J@mes said:

I built a super Blackfoot from NOS & I could put a different colour frame in and make it a bush devil too as I bought up anything I could find. 
 
 

most kits I build end up with the same again in hop ups on them, like your dn01. It’s half the fun for me

 

the most popular kits have already been rereleased in red white and blue, some of them twice! there will be some new old thing along that takes your fancy soon enough...

Lol!  So you’re the guy buying up all the Bushy D spare parts!  Haha haha!

Terry

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I think it makes financial sense in some cases. For example recently I really fancied a TA-02, but NIB examples were stupidly expensive for what you get, and most of the used ones I found were sheds that would have required most of their parts replacing anyway. By shopping around I managed to get all the parts I needed domestically, and it cost about the same as a mid-range TT-02.

However the TA-02 is a pretty basic car compared to a DB-01RR, so I doubt the same financial argument would apply.

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I managed to find the last DB-01RR kit in stock at tamiya store in HK. I begged but they are not able to post outside of china. Directions from tamiya HQ apparently...

So i pulled the trigger on chassis tub/diffs/motor mount/heatsink/susp mounts/belts and a few other bits 

Committed now :lol:

 

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Yes, but it usually works out rather expensive. Current sourcing and building a TB Evo 4. It would have been cheaper to buy a built Evo 4, strip it down fully and rebuild it.

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