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matisse

Astutely Forward!!! - TD4 & TD2 builds

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It’s never too early to start a build thread right?

Since the first pics were released it’s been obvious that the TD4  was going to be typically over engineered but also is gonna provide a lot of room for modifying and tweaking, we’re gonna see a lot of different takes on this buggy over the next few months.

The recent blitz of videos from the production samples have answered a lot of the questions we had regards battery placement, shocks, motor cooling etc…..so now seems like a good time to start planning the build and making a few basic decisions.

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Easy things first, we’ll deal with the big choices later.

Electrics

Low profile servo needed, the Trackstar TS99-DX will do. Fast and strong enough, and Ti gears just because.

Motor and ESC will be a Speed Passion V3 10.5T, which I’m happy about having seen how little space there is for solder tabs, paired with a Perfoma P1 esc. Picked this due to the small footprint and lack of fan, figuring that it would be of benefit in the right confines of the chassis bathtub.

Bodywork

Pretty divisive I would say eh? I mean it’s no looker but at least it’s unique.  I’ve given this a lot of thought and decided on the following.

No fenders, enough already with the reasoning behind them, just no. 
High wing position as this will balance the looks a bit. I’ll use the stock wing to start with now that they’ve shown it’s a lot larger than the one on the display models.

No driver or cockpit and no SA decals 

Paint work will be my standard three colours with whatever decals I think look good. Will probably Smoke the cockpit. 
I’m undecided on the “Buttress” yet.

Wheels

Its a hard no to the neon yellow, so the real choice is Egress/Astute style or Dish wheels?

Tyres will be whatever is best for the local Astro track, probs Schumi Mini Pins or Mezzo

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I've got a set of VQS hi-cap shocks kicking around, reckon it will take them? The front CVAs do look short...

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Why not stain or paint the wheels, or would you keep them for a re-sell?

I like the look of it, but not those odd see through side panel bits, those would get a painting.

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1 hour ago, Howards said:

I've got a set of VQS hi-cap shocks kicking around, reckon it will take them? The front CVAs do look short...

I was thinking about this, they seem to spec DF03 dampers as the hop up according  to Tamiya USA, so I reckon the rears would be fine, but The fronts maybe too wide.

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30 minutes ago, Nikko85 said:

Why not stain or paint the wheels, or would you keep them for a re-sell?

I like the look of it, but not those odd see through side panel bits, those would get a painting.

I’d sell them and grab some new ones. Easier 

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9 minutes ago, matisse said:

they seem to spec DF03 damped as the hop up accruing to Tamiya USA

Which would mean the aeration dampers could work too. Can't help but think the stroke on the fronts would be too long, but maybe they fix it with some shorter fittings. 

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Perhaps for those looking to keep the 'stock' look but without the terrible off-colour wheels?

1564624992.jpg

54681 & 54682

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44 minutes ago, djmcnz said:

Perhaps for those looking to keep the 'stock' look but without the terrible off-colour wheels?

1564624992.jpg

54681 & 54682

spacer.png

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I feel vindicated, pics on the live stream yesterday of the body is MS colours with a large wing and no fenders make it look waaaaaaaay better. 

H/T to @BelknapCrater for the screenshots

 

BB4AC0C7-4C29-46BD-A360-A4D9DA0319EC.png

E39B4F5A-5C97-46DD-B737-08E28183216A.png

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If you are going with your signature white / gun metal / dark red colour scheme i have a set of those wheels in white from a Top Force that are going spare which might suit it (the white wheels looked pretty good on your Arquoshot)

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2 minutes ago, Superluminal said:

If you are going with your signature white / gun metal / dark red colour scheme i have a set of those wheels in white from a Top Force that are going spare which might suit it (the white wheels looked pretty good on your Arquoshot)

Nice, it’s either those or the JC Egress re-pops in white. 

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Which brings me on nicely to

Shocks
No way I’m sticking with the CVA’s, I mean they are good and all but good alloy shocks are always a great bang for your buck upgrade. 
Going by the Tamiya USA livestream they spec the DF03/TT02B shocks on the list, but that kinda means any Tamiya buggy shocks should fit.  
@Howards was wondering about the Hi-Caps and they would look great but the thought was that the  larger bore could be a problem on the fronts, until we saw the screen shot from the livestream. 
They are clearly the Big Bore TRF shocks on the rear and you’ve got to think that they have the fronts on there too. So Hi-Caps are a valid option I would say.
 

What to do……Wanna keep this Tamiya so aftermarket or other brands are out.  money isn’t endless so big bores are not an option for me as much as I’d like them. Had the Aeration shocks and I’m not sure I really thought they were worth the extra £.

I think the DF03 are the answer, I have some x-rings and tapered pistons in the spares box so that will be a nice upgrade to them.  The only thing I don’t like is all that blue, would the Caps etc from the CC01 shocks fit? Can you buy them separately?

 

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Tony seems to have a steady supply of Big Bores and you are worth it…

jus’ sayin’

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I might still try a TBG Turbo Optima body and keep the kit shell and wheels in the wrapper. I plan on trying the wing mount for the rear of the Optima shell, and trying the transverse battery tray. Then, re-arrange the electrics as needed.

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Shocks Update:

decided to go the DF03 route, and have also got a set of CC01 shocks on the way. Plan is to swap the caps/pre load rings over and then sell on the CC01 again, leaving me with what I hope will be a pretty badass looking set of shocks for an affordable price.

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Hop Ups

The usual release of a first wave of Hop Ups accompanies the TD4, plenty of flashy blue alloy if that’s your thing. As usual some of these will be of more use than others. 
I think two of the announced releases are essential, and i’ll probably add one more in the long run just because it will actually be useful. 
 

To start with then I’ll be getting:

Slipper Clutch - I mean this one is obvious and actually a bit annoying it’s not standard in the kit tbh.

CVD drive shafts - one set of these for the front is essential I think, to avoid any issues with dogbones popping out during cornering.  The rears might get a set in the long run. 
 

Then later I’ll probably grab the Alloy rear hinge pin brace, now if only it didn’t come in blue……

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17 hours ago, matisse said:

...

 

Then later I’ll probably grab the Alloy rear hinge pin brace, now if only it didn’t come in blue……

You can use oven cleaner to remove the blue :D

 

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5 minutes ago, BuggyGuy said:

You can use oven cleaner to remove the blue :D

 

heads off to buy oven cleaner...........

 

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Never to early to start collecting parts for the build right?

The start  of what may be the best dampers Tamiya never sold, more on this later, and a set of white wheels courtesy of @Superluminal

70FE7D79-01FC-4CBC-BEA2-F3EEAAE25899.md.

625602E4-6269-4175-AC63-94326933FA85.md.

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15 minutes ago, toyolien said:

Nice choice on wheels. Will this be a track car, or a fun car? Or both?

Both ideally

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So once again I took a wild leap at something that would have been amazing (imo) but it didn’t pay off.

My plan was to create the shocks I wanted for the TD4 seeing as Tamiya don’t make them. Having had the Aeration shocks  and not really getting on with them I hoped to combine the DF03 with the CC01 to create something that had the looks I wanted. Problem is that the top caps on the CC01 are smaller than the DF03.

5F09F2E5-3B44-4C40-A572-4A4920F26289.md.
 

6DE37310-EB8B-482B-BFAD-D102365EB479.md.
 

shame, as I think the gold caps with the black adjuster looks pretty great on the DF03 shock body.

ahh well, I’ll have to settle for building them with TRF seals, Xrings and Low Friction V parts.

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Seeing as I’m committed to ball diffs (never had an issue with them tbh) have ordered some one piece thrust bearings and some HCCA Diff balls.

 

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14 minutes ago, matisse said:

Seeing as I’m committed to ball diffs (never had an issue with them tbh) have ordered some one piece thrust bearings and some HCCA Diff balls.

 

I agree that ball diffs are worth the effort and once you've got the knack it's much easier than tuning a gear diff with oil. I'd default to a gear diff up front, ball diff down back and a slipper. I'd run the gear diff dry on a loose surface first to see how the chassis behaved. The slipper would probably be harder to get perfect than the ball diff.

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