Juhunio 6830 Posted January 21, 2021 I thought I would do a build thread for my Super Astute, as there hasn't been one for a while. Also, I've read loads of SA threads on here which have some cracking ideas for mods and hop ups and I thought it would be cool to try a load of them out and capture them all in one build. I've definitely done my research, hopefully I'm astute enough to have picked up the right tips and super enough to do them properly! Also, there are some properly smart folks out there who have built these who I'm hoping might contribute here and help me along the way So, here we go! 9 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted January 21, 2021 Here are the extras and upgrades I'll be working with There are quite a few metal bearings in the kit (1150s, 850s, 730s) that I'm changing to ball bearings. Some are probably overkill, but why not? All the adjustable arms will be swapped for turnbuckles, mostly for the hard turnbuckles. This might need a bit of trimming of adjusters to make them work, but we'll give it a go Rear dogbones will be swapped for Top Force Universals, which need a very specific bearing size (5x11x3) to fit Blitzer Beetle 'C' Parts (C1) replace the kit D1 parts allowing for a longer screw attachment and lock nuts instead of kit press nuts I'm going to try and avoid the kit press nuts where possible due to the (contested) potential for them to weaken the plastic they press into. I've got some 3mm lock nuts and 3mm round threaded nuts to try out Hi-cap dampers, Top Force for rear and then the Mini ones for the front so I can keep the kit front shock tower. I put this lot together myself about a year ago from parts sourced across the internet. Of course, they've now been released as a complete set (for the VQS I think?) Hi torque servo saver and alloy servo mounts And finally some blue wheels to finish it off which I think will go well with the box art. Sticking to box art for this one, it looks pretty iconic I think 9 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ruebiracer 1046 Posted January 21, 2021 Great build comin along, this will be cool to follow! Keen on your mod with the Topforce drive shafts! I recently searched 5x11x3 bearings, too. Did you find some shielded ones? and for a decent price? Would be cool, if you share your source! I only found some on Alibaba with moon shipping price. And I think I have also an nice application for them... Will follow your build,, kind regards Matthias 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Collin 1956 Posted January 21, 2021 Hop Ups looking gooood to me! This will be a really nice Super Astute at the end, I am pretty shure it will be. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted January 22, 2021 15 hours ago, ruebiracer said: I recently searched 5x11x3 bearings, too. Did you find some shielded ones? and for a decent price? Would be cool, if you share your source! I only found some on Alibaba with moon shipping price. Hi Matthias, hope all is good with you Yes, the bearings are metal shielded. I got them from an ebay seller, here is a link to the ebay UK store. Shipping is from Hong Kong so it's an international seller that hopefully you can find on your local ebay store too! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MR115ZZ-5x11x3-4-5mm-Miniature-Deep-Groove-Ball-Bearing-Double-Shielded-Or-Open/222980871017?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 His shipping to the UK was very cheap, so hope the same goes for you. It was quite a long lead time as I remember, but pretty low cost if you're happy to be patient Cheers, Matt 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted January 22, 2021 Tentative baby first steps, initially making a few dry runs on Steps 1 and 2 to work out which was the best option out of press nuts, lock nuts and round threaded nuts In the end, for attaching the front damper stay, I stuck with the press nuts. I needed the extra thread depth that comes from the thinner neck of the press nut embedding into the damper stay (as opposed to a nut that would just sit 'on' it). And it seemed like a comfortable fit into the FRP that wouldn't cause any stress 730 rubber shielded bearings for the suspension shafts instead of kit metal bearings, and I'm using hex screws wherever possible too with a little bit of light threadlock 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted January 22, 2021 When it came to attaching the bulk head to the chassis, the round threaded nuts worked really well in place of the press nuts but I did need to use slightly longer hex screws (14mm instead of 12mm, 10mm instead of 8mm) Again I used a wee bit of light threadlock, which the manual recommends even with the kit press nuts, so it's not an off-piste move 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ruebiracer 1046 Posted January 22, 2021 5 hours ago, Juhunio said: Hi Matthias, hope all is good with you Yes, the bearings are metal shielded. I got them from an ebay seller, here is a link to the ebay UK store. Shipping is from Hong Kong so it's an international seller that hopefully you can find on your local ebay store too! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MR115ZZ-5x11x3-4-5mm-Miniature-Deep-Groove-Ball-Bearing-Double-Shielded-Or-Open/222980871017?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 His shipping to the UK was very cheap, so hope the same goes for you. It was quite a long lead time as I remember, but pretty low cost if you're happy to be patient Cheers, Matt Thank you so much Matt for the link! I already placed an order, as you say could be early March, but that is o.k.! Better than paying 50€ for shipping of 4€ bearings on Alibaba. I´ll be patient for sure, and curious on the bearings. Have some testing to do with them. If it works, I´ll post on TC the application for sure... I´m fine and staying away from Corona hopefully, good luck for the next steps, already some cool solutions like the roundnuts! Kind regards, Matthias 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted January 22, 2021 26 minutes ago, ruebiracer said: Thank you so much Matt for the link! I already placed an order, as you say could be early March, but that is o.k.! Better than paying 50€ for shipping of 4€ bearings on Alibaba. I´ll be patient for sure, and curious on the bearings. Have some testing to do with them. If it works, I´ll post on TC the application for sure... You're welcome, looking forward to seeing what you do with them! Stay well 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted January 22, 2021 A little more progress this afternoon, interrupted by a couple of meetings (Work! Imagine!) Building up the front lower arms meant time to break out the turnbuckles. The 53940 set includes 4x 50mm and 2x 46mm turnbuckles, while the 2x 53942 sets each include 2x 42mm shafts. I'm going to use them like this: 2x 50mm will be perfect for the longer steering linkages (direct replacement for the kit 50mm shafts) 2x 42mm will be used for the front lower arms (direct replacement for the kit 42mm threaded shaft) 2x 42mm for the rear upper arms (replacing the kit 37.5 threaded shaft) threaded deeper into the adjusters to achieve the required length Here are the front upper arms, with the kit 6mm adjusters on one end and the grey 5mm adjusters that come with the 53940 on the other 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted January 22, 2021 3 is the magic number. Unless you need a 2! Turns out instead of 16x 2mm e-rings, Tamiya had given me 16x 3mm e-rings Due to being a ham-fisted clutz, I used to be quite brutal on e-rings before I got my technique down, so I bought a few spares. Which meant that, despite the efforts of the Friday afternoon packing shift, the build could CONTINUE! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted January 22, 2021 Attaching the front body mount meant another press-nut alternative, this time a 3mm lock nut worked a treat using a 12mm hex screw instead of the kit 10mm 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted January 25, 2021 Just a little more progress made on the Super Astute, getting the front upper arms installed along with the uprights. I used rubber shielded bearings for the suspension arms (possibly overkill, but whatever), but kept the kit bushings for the top of the upright holder Then built the steering with 850 ball bearings, keeping the kit 37.7mm threaded rod for the centre linkage but using the hard turnbuckles for the L/R links. Also used black YR 3mm lock nuts on the steering posts for added stealth factor 6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Collin 1956 Posted January 26, 2021 Looks all greart. Nice combination of parts. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted January 28, 2021 The next step / mod is attaching the rear suspension mounts, substituting the kit D1 parts (on the left) with the C1 parts from a Blitzer beetle (on the right). The Blitzer parts are a thicker plastic, meaning you can use a longer screw for a more secure fitting. It also means you can use a lock nut to secure it, rather than a press nut. In the end it allowed for a 14mm hex screw rather than the kit 8mm screw The Blitzer part does have that third screw hole which overhangs the edge of the mount, this needs to be trimmed flush to allow the lower arms to move freely Lower arms and reinforcing plate attached 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Jon 684 Posted January 31, 2021 You can leave the body mounts off during the build and just use Velcro on the undertray. The body cracks around the rear mounts. Very pretty so far. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted February 1, 2021 A little more progress made over the weekend. And then. Disaster struck But we'll get to that in a bit.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted February 1, 2021 Built the diff using 500k diff oil, nice and sticky but not overloaded. It's very satisfying, tight little mechanism Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted February 1, 2021 Then built up the gearbox and slipper / TTC. I'm either going to use a Tamiya TBLM-02S 10.5T brushless motor that I used in my Bigwig before switching back to the Bigwig GT Tuned motor, or a Super Stock BZ. Both require a FDR of IRO 9-11, and the best the kit 82T spur gear can achieve is 9.22 with a 23T pinion. I have an 85T spur left over from my DF03 build, which achieves 9.6. Not much, but a little more breathing space for either motor, so I'll give it a go I built the gearbox using 30mm steel hex screws from Accu, and more of the round nuts in place of press nuts 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted February 1, 2021 So yeah, this disaster I mentioned.... Step 14, sticking the diff into the gearbox and attaching the diff cover (A2) I did the dumbest, clumsiest thing possible. I failed to follow Tamiya Manuals rule 101....always check the screw length against the manual Wanna know what happens if you don't do that, and try and use a 12mm tapping screw instead of 10mm? Yup Even better, wanna know what happens if by this stage you haven't worked out the nature of your mistake, and that you're thinking it must just be a faulty screw and that maybe if you can get the other one in then the diff cover will be secure enough? Yup So, after all that, here's the underside view. Two screws sheared off inside the gearbox, with just one screw (10mm! Who'd have guessed??) holding the diff cover in place Obviously, first step was to swear a lot, call myself lots of names, make myself completely clear how incompetent and stupid I think I am. Second step was to take a deep breath, do a quick search online to pick up a replacement A Parts tree, it'll be here in a week or so yeah?!? Not. A. Chance. Seems this is one of those parts that just isn't readily available, spares support in general for the SA seems to be quite weak and no modelshop nor eBay seller has it in stock. You just can't get it I took a punt and emailed Neil at TimeTunnel to see what he could do, and he's just got back to me to say he can order it from the factory in Japan but it's gonna take up to 12 weeks for it to get here. Phew! So, the SA build is going to go on extended pause until the new gearbox turns up I am prepared to share my stupidity and doofusness with the community as a lesson to all who follow: Always check the screw lengths against the manual. This is my 12th kit build, and I've never made this mistake before and typically it had to be in a part that you can't just pick up in a week. Which leads us to lesson 2... Don't assume that all spares support are equal. More experienced hands will probably know this already, but this is my first experience of the issue and without the help of a brilliant model store I wouldn't be getting a replacement. You really do need to take care, which takes us to lesson 3... Always check the screw lengths against the manual We'll get back to this in 12 weeks or so..... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted February 1, 2021 19 hours ago, Big Jon said: You can leave the body mounts off during the build and just use Velcro on the undertray. The body cracks around the rear mounts. Very pretty so far. Thanks @Big Jon, I assume you mean these MC15 parts? Presumably you can leave them off during the build but they need to go in for running, so is the body cracking around them a long term usage issue and a known fault? Is there a fix, or is it just worth getting a spare body set (bearing in mind the spares supply issues mentioned above, I've just done a quick search and there are no spare bodies anywhere !) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Big Jon 684 Posted February 2, 2021 Yeah, those are the ones. You don't need those or the front mount, either. The Velcro does a fine job on my runner, and I use it a lot. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Collin 1956 Posted February 2, 2021 Cant you grab the broken screws? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted February 2, 2021 1 hour ago, Big Jon said: Yeah, those are the ones. You don't need those or the front mount, either. The Velcro does a fine job on my runner, and I use it a lot. Cool, I'll give that a go, cheers! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Juhunio 6830 Posted February 2, 2021 16 minutes ago, Collin said: Cant you grab the broken screws? Nope, they're well and truly embedded and ungrabbable Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
