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Unknown Driver

"Super Monster Beetle" - Why Not?

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Bored at work and thinking out loud...

Why did we never see an updated version of the Monster Beetle? The Blackfoot was followed by 4 iterations (Super, King, Extreme, and now the "III") but we never got to see the Beetle on any of those updated chassis. Even more obscure kits like the Mud Blaster got a 2nd lease on life with the WT-01 chassis..albeit with lame lexan bodies.

The MB was super popular and would have been an easy copy-pasta design through the 90s and 2000s...it just baffles me why they never did this.

Good thing I have a King Blackfoot chassis on the way and some spare parts kicking around... :D

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Please post photos! I got a king blackfoot chassis off ebay a while back with similar intentions. But mine is still sitting in the box.

I do agree - it does seem surprising. My only thought is maybe the MB became *so* iconic that they were afraid to fragment the market. The blackfoot series never had the same appeal to me personally. At least they made some concessions in the Re-release, though even that gearbox seems to need improvement. I'm surprised they didn't go the KBF route with that re-release.

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7 minutes ago, Unknown Driver said:

Bored at work and thinking out loud...

Why did we never see an updated version of the Monster Beetle? The Blackfoot was followed by 4 iterations (Super, King, Extreme, and now the "III") but we never got to see the Beetle on any of those updated chassis. Even more obscure kits like the Mud Blaster got a 2nd lease on life with the WT-01 chassis..albeit with lame lexan bodies.

The MB was super popular and would have been an easy copy-pasta design through the 90s and 2000s...it just baffles me why they never did this.

Good thing I have a King Blackfoot chassis on the way and some spare parts kicking around... :D

I am firmly in your camp. 
I also think there ought to be a 4wd Lunchbox 2/ Midnight Pumpkin 2 on either a modified GF01 or, better yet, a solid axle 1/12 scale like the old HPI WheelyKing 

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I'm somewhat shocked at the interest in this. I figured nobody would give a hoot. That said, here's a teaser at what's coming. As parts arrive I'll post pics for sure!

- Re-Re Monster Beetle Body Set
- King Blackfoot Chassis
- Arqoshot Rim Set
- Classic Monster Beetle Tires
- Yellow CVAs
- Vintage Motor & ESC
- MB Rear Body Mounts

And the best part of it all: CUSTOM "Super Monster Beetle" decals from MCI Racing.

Seriously, if you haven't checked out their "decal designer" - DO IT! It's life changing.

I know. I'm a shill. lol

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2 hours ago, Dakratfink said:

I am firmly in your camp. 
I also think there ought to be a 4wd Lunchbox 2/ Midnight Pumpkin 2 on either a modified GF01 or, better yet, a solid axle 1/12 scale like the old HPI WheelyKing 

I'd love a modern solid-axle Tamiya truck. The TXT driveline is relatively fragile but I'm still driving that dinosaur!

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3 minutes ago, Frog Jumper said:

I’m curious to see how you mod the front body mount…

I've been mulling that over. I think the options are: 2 new holes in the MB body OR use the gen 1 MB body mount and screw it to the KB shock tower. I'm leaning toward solution 2 because I'd rather avoid extra filling/sanding.

Everything in the back should line up like the original MB...though I'm not sure I have a path to include the rear skid plate / bumper / antennae holder...

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Well, brown Santa came through big this weekend. I now have literally everything I need to start project Super Monster Beetle EXCEPT the custom decal sheet, which I need to see in-person to determine what body-colors to buy. In the meantime I get to stare at a bench of goodies...:blink:

I also picked up 2 vintage Blackfoots, a Marui Thunderbird, and Bow-Tie Clodbuster to restore for my local hobby shop too, so I'm going to try alternating doing a build for them, and a build for me. So I think this car is on-deck to follow the Marui, which is mostly a cleanup effort.

Over the weekend I toyed with the notion of doing a youtube channel to chronicle some of the work I do...not sure I'm sold on it yet though. Would you guys want to see this build on video?

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4 hours ago, Dakratfink said:

Is that a WheelyKing chassis ? 

It's a SMT-10 chassis with full metal gearbox, driveshafts, steel gears and axles.

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Well, this is what happens when you have a quiet day uninterrupted in the basement. The *real* hard part is next (the body) but I can't move on that until I have the custom MCI decals. But - I will say this: the vintage electronics and yellow CVAs on the KB chassis look preeeeeetty good.

I wanted this build to reflect what Tamiya could very easily have done if they wanted to update the MB...so far so good!

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On 8/31/2021 at 4:20 PM, Unknown Driver said:

I've been mulling that over. I think the options are: 2 new holes in the MB body OR use the gen 1 MB body mount and screw it to the KB shock tower. I'm leaning toward solution 2 because I'd rather avoid extra filling/sanding.

Everything in the back should line up like the original MB...though I'm not sure I have a path to include the rear skid plate / bumper / antennae holder...

I am quite curios about this build so please keep us posted on it... Could there possibly be a way to use magnetic body posts instead of drilling out the body for the modified original posts perhaps?

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I'm pretty sure with 2 new holes in the shock tower I can mount the body without adding any holes to it. But we shall see 😁

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So the front  body mount has been resolved, and I finally settled on a color for the body (white). Unfortunately, 1 can of TS paint wasn't enough, so I'll have to do another coat after work today. In the meantime, here's a teaser at the decals, and I did get the driver figure painted.

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This is a cool project! Can’t help thinking it’s a King Monster Beetle though:P 

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As requested! The front body mount is from a Blackfoot - I initially tried a Monster Beetle mount but the King Blackfoot shock tower must be shorter because the body had a noticeable amount of 'rake' (nose down). Anyway - drilled 2 holes and it was good to go.

The body required about 3-4 coats of paint since it was a re-re body molded in red. After the first can I looked at it and all I could see (either in my imagination or in reality) was pink. Now it can sit for 48 hours before I start masking to do the trim and small details. I cannot WAIT to lay decals.

I did think about whether I wanted to call it the "King Beetle" - but that felt goofy to me, and Tamiya hasn't been overly consistent with naming conventions in that manner so I didn't worry about it. (Example: the Mud Blaster 2 isn't called the "Mud Blaster Xtreme").

Besides...if I get my hands on a Super Blackfoot chassis maybe I'll do another and call it the "Monster Beetle II" HAHA

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Last night was VERY productive. I present to everyone: "Reliable Remy" and the Super Monster Beetle!

The only 'whopsie' I noticed was that the decals I created didn't have left-side and right-side versions that would be mirror images of each other. As a result, the two sides aren't symmetrical. Oh well - live and learn!

It was a ton of fun coming up with a car uniquely "me" - try it if you haven't and break those box-art-boundaries. lol

I think I need to do a custom Blackfoot now...

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Looks good 👍, I’ve been after the same chassis for a similar conversion but keep being out bid on the flea bay.    I’ve managed to get hold of just the dark grey orv chassis so might build my version of a black edition frog instead.

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