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My fourth Tamiya Build - brushless Neo Fighter! Now DT03 Stadium Truck development project!!

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I blame you all. I hold you all entirely responsible for the addiction/obsession that has befallen me. Shame on you! 😆

Ok so four months in to the year and I'm now on my fourth Tamiya kit (fifth RC with the Traxxas Stampede assembly kit included!). That's normal though, right?! 

Truly it's all @Bunty's fault. He asked me what 2wd buggy to buy, and we mutually agreed the Racing Fighter was the one. But we couldn't find one in stock anywhere. We did however find a super cheap Neo Fighter in stock at Time Tunnel, and it included CVA oil shocks as a little brucey bonus. So, naturally, we bought two - one each, and set ourselves a little challenge to go brushless! Woo hoo!

I already have a brushless set up 'in stock' that I bought for future project, it's a Hobbywing ezrun combo (link here https://www.modelsport.co.uk/hobbywing-ezrun-combo-max10-3652sl-4000kv-brushless-motor/rc-car-products/420923) that I bought off recommendations on here. I've also bought a full rubber seal bearing kit, and the alu gearbox bridge set that @TurnipJF recommended on another thread.

It won't be box art, but just because I'll be using what paint I have available. It's the first time in a while that I hope it rains this weekend so I can start building instead of cutting the grass or being an otherwise responsible adult!! 🤣

A very exciting package arrived this evening...

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That sticker was slightly surprising - the ad made no mention of the torque tuned motor, so this was an extra added bonus! No ESC but clearly no probs for this build, and so chuffed the CVA shocks are included. Such a bargain!!

Any tips for the build before I get started?

 

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1 hour ago, TurnipJF said:

Steel pinion?

Check! That's the other thing I've already bought. Went for a 19t Tamiya steel pinion, again based on research on here. 

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Buy some of these sticky weights

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Strips-x-60g-Adhesive-Wheel-Balance-Weights-for-Motorcycle-Cars-and-Vans-/402641953748?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

Stash at least 50 grams around the front of the chassis. If you wait until thry arrive you can get a load in the cavities in the chassis halves before closing it up as step 1. I didn't and stuck them on the sides just behind the steering arms, in front of the servo mount and on top under the body shell. Really helps the handling. The other thing is stiffer rear springs. The DT03 is massively under sprung at the back. Get the Core RC CR188 2.6 springs and you are good. They're only a few quid. Other than that, you are good to go. 

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Hey, we have ourselves a build off! 🤣

As B said we ordered our kits at the same time.... his arrived a day earlier than mine though! 
 

I too have the steel pinion, and I’ll get a set of weights, I’ll check out those springs too. 
 

Im not going to run Lipo in mine but I have just received a brushless 13.5 turn  motor .

I started on mine today with my son, and 30 mins in we had only just got the rubber on the rims.... this may take a while! 

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You've made more progress than me dude! I managed to open the box, extract the instructions, sit down to read them, and then my boy woke up! It's gonna take me a little while I think. Super excited though, looks a fun build and I can't wait to run brushless for the first time 😁

I've ordered those springs now too @ThunderDragonCy - thanks very much for the tip! 

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16 hours ago, Bunty said:

I started on mine today with my son, and 30 mins in we had only just got the rubber on the rims.... this may take a while! 

I bought an Aqroshot to build with my daughter.  I have my kids for 5 hours a week.  Enjoy that blessed time you spend with your kid!  Especially if it takes longer than expected!

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Hey guys, 

 

( sorry b for hijacking your thread!)

just looking at my motor- it’s a track star 13.5t brushless and am going to run the tamiya tble-02. 
 

the motor just has A BC stamped on it with pegs next to each. And the speed control has blue, orange and yellow cables. 
do you just cut off the ends and solder them to the motor? If so in which order do they go? I can’t seem to find any info in the instructions!

 

Thanks all! 

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No problem dude, happy to make this a joint build thread! Ask away!

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On 4/13/2021 at 11:12 AM, Bunty said:

Hey guys, 

 

( sorry b for hijacking your thread!)

just looking at my motor- it’s a track star 13.5t brushless and am going to run the tamiya tble-02. 
 

the motor just has A BC stamped on it with pegs next to each. And the speed control has blue, orange and yellow cables. 
do you just cut off the ends and solder them to the motor? If so in which order do they go? I can’t seem to find any info in the instructions!

 

Thanks all! 

Yes, that is the idea. A=blue,  B=yellow, C=orange.

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Well I've been a bit quiet on this thread, mainly because, well, I've been cracking on!

This build is really fun! It's definitely at the beginner end of the spectrum, but for a basher buggy that means I'm less worried about breaking and repairing stuff. All the usual bits went together really well, I jammed loads of grease in the diff to try and give it more resistance/lock, but otherwise it's as close to the book as possible.

I didn't take too many photos along the way but here's what I got:

PXL_20210414_143359320_copy_2016x1512.thumb.jpg.4acaa59161be4b5fdb01abb686ef63e9.jpg

Chassis coming together nicely. Everything was smooth sailing with fitment, screws etc.

PXL_20210415_142706828_copy_1512x2016.thumb.jpg.c599adf8969c2e1454b451dd2f0a43c1.jpg

Got a tip just a the right time to shave a little out of the rear upper wishbones to give clearance on full droop. I actually took a bit more out than this, and it's just clears so happy with that 😁

PXL_20210415_190341093_copy_2016x1512.thumb.jpg.c746d753aaa77217e3dce9f8029b3efb.jpg

Very neat chassis build. All wires tucked away nicely, although forced to put the ESC there due to wire length and it distorts the body 🤔 Not much I can do about that I think.

Couple of cheeky tips I learned from my first build, a Mad Bull:

PXL_20210415_190349044_copy_1512x2016.thumb.jpg.a80a98aba243eae3ddb5fb9417d633d8.jpg

PXL_20210415_190352673_copy_1512x2016.thumb.jpg.2af546ad82f13e9cc204cc5185df5d2f.jpg

Rubber o-rings as spacers to take up the slack in the shocks! No more wobbly suspension for me 😄

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I went for a custom paint scheme on the shell, and given this is a full brushless basher, I thought I'd get experimental!

I went for a light coat of silver backed by green. It didn't turn out how I expected at all, but I quite like it!

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Needed less paint on the shell, the wing is closer to what I was looking for. 

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And here we go, all done! I'm really pleased I choose to paint the wheels too, although I now realise that an open wheeled buggy means you can see the inside... 🤦 Doh! Never mind, I'll know for the next one. 

PXL_20210415_193915076_copy_2016x1512.thumb.jpg.0ec6b1328e7faced67f92f03a36472b2.jpg

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Love it, and love that colour !

which o rings did you use for the suspension? Mine rattles about like mad! 

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26 minutes ago, Bunty said:

Love it, and love that colour !

which o rings did you use for the suspension? Mine rattles about like mad! 

I used some spares from a previous CVA kit I had left over. A bit of a brucey bonus!!

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2 hours ago, Frog Jumper said:

That’s a fine looking machine!

Terry

Thanks very much Terry, I really appreciate that!

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First run!! Oh my word this thing is bonkers fast!!! I have a large garden and full throttle is barely possible, and when I do get there, I just can't stop giggling!!! 😁

PXL_20210416_104340363.thumb.jpg.989c77531e0f05300309f1d6f18f33a7.jpg

Quick before photo in case it didn't return in one piece!

And a little video if it running. No full throttle here, possibly 75% tops...

https://youtu.be/G6f0n1xvkBI

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A photo out in the wild. I absolutely LOVE this buggy! My first experience of brushless and good grief it's addictive! PXL_20210416_153726136_copy_2016x1512.thumb.jpg.0c2d440d0240d6efd2e7629304de76ca.jpg

The speed is quite ridiculous. Soooo much faster than I was expecting. Borderline uncontrollable! It needs something I think, I put 30g weight in the nose but the advice from @ThunderDragonCy of 50g seems more likely. But that alone isn't going to change the crazy handling, it just seems to understeer everywhere. Part of that is the lift on throttle, but it's not as sharp as I would like. It also has grip roll, which at the speeds it's doing, is quite impressive!! Anything I can do here?

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