Juhunio's Super Duper Astute. Er.

[Re-Bugged 10146]

I think you can definitely say it turned out Super Duper in the end, very nice indeed 👍🏻

[Big Jon 684]

Having put a bunch of miles on my SA, the flexible chassis sure does make it easy to drive on rough surfaces. It'd probably be fairly unpredictable on smoother high traction surfaces or with big horsepower, though. Mine does better on my dirt and roots "test track" than my RC10 CE, which would have been a SA contemporary. 

Has anyone run a Super Astute on indoor carpet off-road yet?

[Nicadraus 6198]

On 5/19/2021 at 4:15 PM, Juhunio said:

 

 

That is the most beautiful SA I've seen. Properly done!

[Juhunio 6830]

12 hours ago, ruebiracer said:

Great result on the body, I´m with @Collin, it´s so well and cool thought out! Like the lame flake black! Like an Autoscooter we drove as kids.

And in the same way, it´s also modern with the sleek silver/black tweak of the original decals!

Could be a special Tamiya edition, like it very much!

 

Thanks Matthias! A modern take on an 80s vibe was my target, so the feedback means a lot 😊

[Juhunio 6830]

6 hours ago, Nicadraus said:

That is the most beautiful SA I've seen. Properly done!

Thanks a million 👍

[Juhunio 6830]

On 5/31/2021 at 8:45 AM, Collin said:

Tasty : ) Best built I have seen for long time.

Again about the chassis and flex. I have a custom built here,  kind of a  Dyna Storm, 2.5mm base chassis plate. its completely built but I removed the upper deck, now its more like the SuperAstute. But its so much flexing, you can bend it in all directions.

How does this work on the SA or would it make sense to make a carbon upper deck to give it more stiffness?

I suppose there is a little bit of twist there when manipulated by hand, but bearing in mind I’m a rare / occasional casual runner at best I’m not gonna worry about it! 

[Andara 4]

Thanks so much for this amazing guide. I have been lining up parts the last month and tomorrow my Super Astute Kit finally arrives. Will shamelessly steal most of the ideas in here :-) Mai difference will be that I want to go for an Astute look so different wheels, red Astute Box art for the shell, etc. Really thankfull you put together this detailed guide and overview! Dankeschön!

[Juhunio 6830]

4 hours ago, Andara said:

Thanks so much for this amazing guide. I have been lining up parts the last month and tomorrow my Super Astute Kit finally arrives. Will shamelessly steal most of the ideas in here :-) Mai difference will be that I want to go for an Astute look so different wheels, red Astute Box art for the shell, etc. Really thankfull you put together this detailed guide and overview! Dankeschön!

You're welcome, thanks for the cool feedback. 

As an addendum, here are a couple of reflective 'after the event' key SA build tips:

1. Body posts; you don't need them, leave them off. As @Big Jon points out earlier in the thread, the main shell is attached to the undercowl using a really strong velcro strip anyway so the posts are redundant and just make it even harder to get the shell on and off. You can effectively ignore part E6 in Step 7, and parts MC15 in Step 18
2. Threadlock; when attaching the bulkhead in Step 3, the manual states to put a little bit of threadlock on the 3x8mm and 3x12mm screws. Don't put it on the 3x8mm screws (MA6) at the front, because later on in Step 38 you have to remove those screws to attach the undercowl. So leave the threadlock off in Step 3 and add it in Step 38
3. Sponge sheet; in Step 18 it says to attach a bit of sponge sheet to the underside of the chassis sub section, which earlier in the thread I said was neat how it slotted in with the other bits of foam sheet you apply earlier on. But when I came to fit a 4600mah NIMH battery, it wouldn't fit. I had to take that bit of sponge out to get the battery in and it's a nice snug fit without it. I think you can leave that but of sponge out. 

Good luck with your build, enjoy 

[Andara 4]

Thanks for the added tips and all the passion you brought to this build.

Started my build yesterday, already hate the threadlock on the small nuts. Makes them almost impossible to remove . On the E-Rings I have the same and I blieve they are are as intended. Was impossible for me to fit smaller E-Rings on the front axle

Was surprised to see you are using the stock ball connectors and ball heads. With all the bling I would have assumed an upgrade here :-)

 

[Collin 1956]

1 hour ago, Andara said:

Was surprised to see you are using the stock ball connectors and ball heads. With all the bling I would have assumed an upgrade here :-)

Cant see any stock parts. DF02 shafts and lo friction ballends.

[Juhunio 6830]

3 hours ago, Andara said:

On the E-Rings I have the same and I blieve they are are as intended. Was impossible for me to fit smaller E-Rings on the front axle

Yeah, the opening is 2mm just the overall size is bigger. I replaced all of them with 'standard' 2mm e-rings. I actually ended up with so many spare parts that, with a little bit of internet scouring, I have been able to put together a whole new kit standard SA. I tried using these 'bigger' e-rings on that but again couldn't get them to work so used 'standard' ones again 

3 hours ago, Andara said:

Was surprised to see you are using the stock ball connectors and ball heads. With all the bling I would have assumed an upgrade here :-)

As per @Collin's comment, the only stock connectors are the 6mm adjusters on the front upper arms, all others are the grey low friction adjusters.

I'm not that pushed on the blue aluminium ball connectors for the sake of it, I actually prefer the black(ish) ones when they come with a kit. If you end up with the brass ones I always replace them either with black or, if I'm out of them, blue. 

[Juhunio 6830]

I’ve had the SA out for a few runs recently, and OMG it is a gorgeous thing to drive. Quick, smooth, steering like an angry ferret…I love it 😍 

I then switched to a wheel-based transmitter rather than stick, and on the first run I confused forwards with backwards and went head first into a kerb 😳

Thankfully it was square on, and I didn’t break the bulkhead. But the impact did rip the four mounting screws out of the round nuts I had used to attach the bulkhead to the chassis.

The threads are toast and need replacing, but we’re away in rural Ireland for a few weeks so I had to wait a couple of weeks for some press nuts to arrive from Tamico, which have now turned up 😁 I’ve quick-fixed it now with the press nuts, and then when we’re back home I’m gonna order the ORB bulkhead parts which take a lock nut. Must shorten those adjusters on the servo link too…

I don’t know how well the press nuts would have held up in such an impact but the round nuts just popped straight off, so I think I’m now recommending against them despite using them throughout the build. I’m definitely recommending against crashing head on into a kerb 🙄

It’s also possible that a better fixing (eg press nuts or lock nuts) would have meant the bulkhead snapping as it would have borne more of the brunt of the impact, where the round nuts popping off acted as a stress-release. Who knows 🤷🏻‍♂️ 

[Collin 1956]

Heads up! One step further to a very reliable SA.

I really like the goal to modify a model until it reached a certain level of strength, which allowes it to use it normaly and not like riding a raw egg. : )

[Juhunio 6830]

One other point...while i had the undercowl off I opened the gearbox to check the diff, and it was covered in diff oil. This despite using the 1,000,000 silicone diff oil!! It's thick and sticky like molasses, but clearly not thick enough. It does seem odd to have an oil-filled diff without a gasket.

Would be interested to hear what other SA owners have done to solve the leaky diff situation...

Green slime around the diff seal and screw holes? Just forget oil and go straight to putty? But would that make the diff too stiff?

Edit…belatedly tagging in @Jonathon Gillham @Thommo @Big Jon for thoughts on diff oil 😃

[Big Jon 684]

Mine's just got a bunch of AW grease in it. It would have been nice if it had been sealed, or even a nice ball diff. Still, it drives just fine, although it'd drive better a little stiffer. 

Million weight leaks out a lot faster than you'd think. I made that mistake on my MF-01X.

[Jonathon Gillham 4606]

I just used the AW grease too, seems ok.  I would have thought 1m would be too heavy, its close to a locked diff which would be too much for a 2wd unless you're on a really high grip surface.  

My modern 2wd buggies use ball diffs, so does my F1 which is the other 2wd of mine which sees a bit of track use.  I think I tighten them to probably the equivalent of 5k diff oil, but thats just a guess.  They definitely have easy diff action compared to my touring car which had 1m in front and that acted almost like a spool, ie turn one front wheel and the other turns the same way, and it turned the whole drivetrain even with a motor in.

[Thommo 1217]

 

When it stops leaking out, you've got the right amount on the gears    

I like the gasket idea.... Love your work !