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silvertriple

Kyosho Turbo Optima - Legendary series - 30619

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This morning, I finally started the Turbo Optima build.

The Turbo Optima was one of my teenager dreams, same as the Javelin. I ordered the Turbo Optima a few months back when it came back in the inventory. And few days later, I also ordered the Javelin, just because I wanted to build the Javelin first before the Turbo Optima. I knew the Turbo Optima was intended for my 50's birthday, and I could not crack the blisters before September. The Javelin was a way to wait for this...
The key difference with the Javelin on the chassis side are (beside the Gold finish of the metal parts) : the shocks, the sway bars, the under tray, and the wheels set. While I've put a 13.5T motor and a 60A ESC in the Javelin, the Turbo Optima will benefit of a 10.5T motor and a 120A ESC. The ESC allows for much less than a 10.5T (I could eventually go down to 6.5T), but then I would need specific batteries for the Turbo Optima, which is something I did not opt for at this stage. That being said, I may change ideal later...

First, as usual, the box
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And again a nice presentation inside...
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Started to get the parts out of the boxes first, and then just put the wheels on the side, after having assembled them to gain a little bit of room in the big box...
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Then I laid down all the parts bag on the work area. one key difference here with the Javelin: all the plastic part trees are black while on the Javelin, there was some red parts for the shocks.
opxoems.jpg

Metal parts bag A
As usual, I open the bag, take all the parts of it and sort them. Trying to be methodic as much as possible avoid asking myself lot of questions while doing the assembly
2aCtWdG.jpg

The start, is the same as the Javelin, you build the front and rear diffs halves
z6Zoxt5.jpg

And then you assemble the scecond halves (you have to choose here between the chain and the belt, same as the Javelin at one single exception : the chain is not present in the kit, it is an option while it was present in the Javelin kit). This car is going to be a brushless one, so the belt again
QBMPoc8.jpg

And diffs are done...
UFWQscR.jpg

Next is the rear diff box...
JbOusfe.jpg

You have to insert the shaft temporarily to position the final gear
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Once this is assembled, the shaft is back in the tray, and the part bag A is over
Lq5Yx4K.jpg

Metal parts bag B
Again laid down the parts. Gold bling appears on the tray...
IhzDwCR.jpg

First is to assemble the front diff box around the belt...
YFRClkS.jpg

Then you add the belt trays (the image is blur, sorry for that. For the small story, this looks easy but it's not, because until more steps are done, that is not fixed, as the the Optima chassis allows for some play in order to work out chain/belt tension)...
QbjSldB.jpg

Next is to prepare the assembly, with the motor guard, and the motor plate...
yqZFJDe.jpg

And they get all together at next step. Two differences with the Javelin here: no wing mount (I may change this later) and the undertray present on the Turbo Optima but in option on the Javelin and the Optima.
uB4ZZ72.jpg

And this is the end of the bag B... That's all for today, and I will start bag C once the envy will come :-D

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I'll be watching this build thread closely. I have an Optima in my cart, so this helps me out a lot. What a beautiful looking machine. This post should be in the Builds though!

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3 minutes ago, cambragol said:

I'll be watching this build thread closely. I have an Optima in my cart, so this helps me out a lot. What a beautiful looking machine. This post should be in the Builds though!

You may also have a look at the Javelin thread to complete your knowledge :-)

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1 hour ago, cambragol said:

I'll be watching this build thread closely. I have an Optima in my cart, so this helps me out a lot. What a beautiful looking machine. This post should be in the Builds though!

Beautiful machine until you have to tear it down and get back to the gearboxes lol

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9 minutes ago, Rb4276 said:

Beautiful machine until you have to tear it down and get back to the gearboxes lol

Well... I have a Javelin as well, it is the same chassis. That being said, the re-release from Kyosho are far more solid and reliable than their original counterparts: lot of things have been reinforced and rethought to adapt it to modern technologies. And when you mount the diffs of an Optima re-re while the previous kit you built was a re-released Super Hotshot, you know which one you'll have to unmount the gearbox first, and it is not the Kyosho. Basically, the only thing you may have to work on on a Optima chassis might be the spur gear, which is really easily accessible...

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51 minutes ago, silvertriple said:

Well... I have a Javelin as well, it is the same chassis. That being said, the re-release from Kyosho are far more solid and reliable than their original counterparts: lot of things have been reinforced and rethought to adapt it to modern technologies. And when you mount the diffs of an Optima re-re while the previous kit you built was a re-released Super Hotshot, you know which one you'll have to unmount the gearbox first, and it is not the Kyosho. Basically, the only thing you may have to work on on a Optima chassis might be the spur gear, which is really easily accessible...

And make sure you have threadlock on the spur gear screw, ive eaten 2 or 3 spurs with a 4300kv motor

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33 minutes ago, Rb4276 said:

And make sure you have threadlock on the spur gear screw, ive eaten 2 or 3 spurs with a 4300kv motor

Are you talking about the screw at the end of the spur gear axle, next to the motor in the diagram below?

JI4YNhL.jpg

The instruction manual doesn't mention that. And the spur gear is mounted on ball bearing,  in theory, it should not be needed. That being said, with a 4300kv motor, were you using the standard spur gear delivered within the kit or the brushless blue one (option OTW126, currently unavailable)?

As matter of fact, I would not be surprised black one dies fast with a brushless motor. I've ordered 2 OTW126 but they are backordered currently...

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Initially, I was thinking: “that’s over for today”… But after the lunch, envy came back!

Metal parts bag C
As usual I started by laying down all the parts of the bag
5wThbF2.jpg


The first thing is to prepare the Front under guard and to put it in place on the chassis. That finally seals the front and the rear side. One thing to note, I had difficulty to tighten the screws going in the front of the U shaped part which is used for the Turbo Optima to maintain the sway bar. I had the same difficulty with the Javelin. I start to think the best way is probably to put the U shaped part in place after the front under guard. The bridge is also added at that step.  This will be us later to fix the radio plate in its center.
u9Rmx9i.jpg

Next Is as with the Javelin the steering mechanism and the servo saver. I did not mount the servo horn and tie rod at this stage, although I could have, but for this, I would have to opened another metal parts bag (I did not). One thing is that I noticed there is a hole within the under tray to allow this. Let’s do it Kyosho way (I’m very much confident I can do it more easily than what I did last time)…
ex67l2d.jpg

Next step is the side plates, and the front upper links attachments…
tRshDxO.jpg

And comes the Slipper clutch
xbzmuFu.jpg


The nylon nut needs to be tighten to the face of the shaft
KaQdCZh.jpg

And to finish the bag C, we build the front and rear upper links
2cvvd6T.jpg


Bag C is over, time for a drink

Pats Metal Bag D
It starts by the rear shock tower, and upper links are fixed at the same time.
CDjr0r1.jpg
mtP30b6.jpg


The front shock tower is mounted at the same step
xOm9xQr.jpg

At the next step, the wishbones are joining the chassis. A difference with the Javelin, as there is a ball on each one to attach the sway bars
3e7XoB8.jpg
JphfxSe.jpg

Front hub carriers are next…
62uM3ij.jpg

And the bag D finishes with the front hub carriers, and the dog bones join the chassis. One small difference again with the Javelin. On the Turbo Optima, there is some O-rings to insert in the out diffs (I don’t remember having done this with the Javelin, and I checked, it is not in the manual for the Javelin)…
jJhyFRx.jpg

The operations are over for today as I need to free the table to avoid any contestation from my domestic dragon :-D
 

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6 hours ago, Rb4276 said:

Beautiful machine until you have to tear it down and get back to the gearboxes lol

That comment... Makes me thinking I may have forgot to put grease on the final pinion... Going to experiment that now :-D

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50 minutes ago, silvertriple said:

That comment... Makes me thinking I may have forgot to put grease on the final pinion... Going to experiment that now :-D

It took me 35 minutes to get back into the same state as before, but with grease on the final gear.

Did not part out everything. Just what was needed. It would happen on the front side, it would be the same, eventually with less time to get in the same state...

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11 hours ago, silvertriple said:

Are you talking about the screw at the end of the spur gear axle, next to the motor in the diagram below?

JI4YNhL.jpg

The instruction manual doesn't mention that. And the spur gear is mounted on ball bearing,  in theory, it should not be needed. That being said, with a 4300kv motor, were you using the standard spur gear delivered within the kit or the brushless blue one (option OTW126, currently unavailable)?

As matter of fact, I would not be surprised black one dies fast with a brushless motor. I've ordered 2 OTW126 but they are backordered currently...

Correct the s33008h screw, came loose alot for me early on until i just added lots of threadlock after having 2 or 3 of the hop up blue spurs chewed up.  Now after every run i check almost every screw. The blue spurs have been out since covid started. I have 2 new still and sold one recently to someone in France i believe. 

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7 hours ago, silvertriple said:

That comment... Makes me thinking I may have forgot to put grease on the final pinion... Going to experiment that now :-D

It wasnt fun when i had to tear mine down last year. The reason i had to was the bottom plastic belt cover moved a little and dirt and sand got in the gearboxes after a baseball  and soccer field run. Hopefully never again, i soaked the gears with simple green and degreaser too it was a mess

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5 hours ago, Rb4276 said:

It wasnt fun when i had to tear mine down last year. The reason i had to was the bottom plastic belt cover moved a little and dirt and sand got in the gearboxes after a baseball  and soccer field run. Hopefully never again, i soaked the gears with simple green and degreaser too it was a mess

I noticed on the Javelin that some dirt may get into the belt/chain guide, mainly on the top side. I do clean my cars after each run with compressed air. I'm considering adding some silicone to seal the lexan part that close it (which is where the dirt enters).

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It was raining outside, so decided to move on with the build

Parts metal bag E
Time to put assemble the steering rods and put them in place. I generally does the 2 before putting them in place so I can ensure they are the same length
tpGppZ4.jpg

At the next step, the sway bar is attached. The plastic part is snapped on the balls. Unfortunately one of them broke (the plastic is really rigid, it did not broke when I put it in place, but when I placed the second one – I may try to model this part and print alternatives one in PETG).
SkigL6F.jpg

Next are rear carriers…
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Which joins chassis at the next step. E-ring is used for bottom as well as for the front carrier. One of them flew while I was trying to put in place,  and  I could not find it. Not sure where it went. Thanks I have some spares somewhere.
3gNjgDH.jpg

Rear sway bar takes place. Same issue as the front with one of the plastic part (I guess this is going to be my next 3D model activity).
I1ocupM.jpg

The next step is to prepare the radio plate
R4ILUZ6.jpg
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Normally it should join the chassis right after, but I decided to anticipate the servo link fixation, as it is definitely easier than to do it with the radio deck in place. I had to open the next bag for this.
4ZKmJwq.jpg

While the bag is opened, I just put the spur gear in place to save a little of room in the screw cup
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I then put the radio plate in place, and also anticipate the antenna wire, again to clean a bit my now full screw cup (as there is part of the Metal part F in this one.
fIpjnbl.jpg

Bag E is no over, I cleaned up the table, as it was going to be soon the time for lunch… You may look at my work organization to ease the move when it is time to free the table:
Cs1xN4S.jpg

  • White box includes tools, electronics, part trees and everything else useful
  • The box is closed by a plate that I use to do the assembly
  • The box is large enough so you can put the kit box on top of it with the chassis, and move that without any risk for your chassis or parts to move away

Time for lunch, this afternoon will be shocks as it is raining outside…
 

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The weather is variable this afternoon, but it is raining. As planned earlier today, Shocks!

First you take the shocks bodies, and you remove the piece where the piston rod goes and you work out the tools for the shocks mounts (yes, there is tools :), just like the Javelin – no pictures for those).
mLkcXf1.jpg

You have the seal to put in place. Some people find this difficult; I struggled a bit when building the Turbo Scorpion, but once you’ve understood how to do it is pretty easy and quick. I align the part with more material with the places where there is no thread, and push the seal with my nails, slowly, thread by thread alternatively on the right and left side of the part. It moves down to the end of the thread. 
HFQAiUp.jpg

And I repeated that 4 times as there is 4 shocks. Next I laid down the part for each shock to make sure I’m not missing anything with a proper double check before starting to assemble
XgVRBEZ.jpg

I then assembled the shocks piston. Seems I missed  a picture here as I don’t have it (maybe was too much focus on what I was doing 😊)
I then use the Tamiya tools tray to fill the shock bodies and to proceed to the insertion of the piston rods.
dpAaNfo.jpg

And finally, I got all the hydraulics assembled, full and closed. But for this time one of the front shocks was not perfect. The first body I tried to assemble was giving me issues. When the piston was failing to move properly inside the body, I thought that maybe one of the part was not properly cut from the tree. But I did try the same piston on next shock body, and that was not the same. The shock body had apparently a surfacing issue. I don’t like to stop on a fail situation, so I assemble the 3 other shocks and start to think about my issue. I did use 1200 sand paper on the biggest part of the piston, doing multiple try until it moves as freely as the other one, and finally closed the fourth shock. Manufacturing issue? I’ll drop a mail to Kyosho and to my dealer for advice in any case.
4L9BgBe.jpg

Next is the setting rings for the shocks. There is an o-ring inside, you must oil it, and it becomes very difficult to put inside the setting ring, but it went well and at the end, I’m ready for next steps
yjoDWmS.jpg

Finally, I have four proper shocks 😊 (first time I spend that much time to do 4 shocks – about 2 hours – the front shock issue made a lot for this)
X7WhQJA.jpg

Next step was to put them on the chassis, and nothing to highlight here it is the same as the Javelin
zv7cCXa.jpg

Next I went to set my RX, and check the steering servo was centered before installing it in place. Basically, it’s set to 0 on the trims, I installed it and adjusted the steering rods to have it perfectly straight at 0. I set it this way also on the Javelin, and it’s perfect (and since I mounted the steering rod earlier, this step did not took as long as what it was with the Javelin 😊). The RX is also positioned in its definitive place.
emKU59Z.jpg

Next I installed the motor in the chassis. And the wheels... One screw remains, it is for the driver head 😊
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That’s it for the chassis. There is still a bit of work for the ESC, as I did not mount it yet. I will have to do some soldering for this. And there is the paintjob for both the driver and the bodyshell. I will need to cut the body shell first. But I won’t do those today!
 

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While looking at the 3 Kyosho Legendary series I have at home, I noticed the shocks have the same internals between the Javelin, the Turbo Optima and Turbo Scorpion (I check the instructions manuals). They use the same cluster, and the only difference for the Turbo Optima is the color of the cluster (black for the Turbo Optima, red for the two others). Other difference is the externals where the Gold version from the Turbo Optima has a setting ring with a threaded shock body.

To be noted: those Gold shocks exists in Red, as HG shocks for the Turbo Scorpion, in case you want to make a Turbo Javelin but keep it the way it is in terms of colors... 

This is wrong. Optional HG Shocks for the Scorpion seems to be much more complex than the Turbo Optima Gold ones. They are red, and springs are black.

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I never noticed if the gold and red on the optima were the same but i do know many people had issues with the red leaking after building. I had 2 leak on my optima right from the start even after rebuilding atleast 2 times. I was able to stop one after changing the o ring and green slime. I now have the gold shocks with no issues

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3 minutes ago, Rb4276 said:

I never noticed if the gold and red on the optima were the same but i do know many people had issues with the red leaking after building. I had 2 leak on my optima right from the start even after rebuilding atleast 2 times. I was able to stop one after changing the o ring and green slime. I now have the gold shocks with no issues

I never had any leaking... But I saw many people complaining about the shock gaskets having broken those. And there is some replacement parts in the spare parts bag.

On the OTW102 parts broken, I just did a design in Tinkercad, I will have to print them once I restart my printer.
GPujPrS.jpg
CyRJGKj.jpg

I also sent a message to Kyosho, we'll see...

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2 hours ago, silvertriple said:

I never had any leaking... But I saw many people complaining about the shock gaskets having broken those. And there is some replacement parts in the spare parts bag.

On the OTW102 parts broken, I just did a design in Tinkercad, I will have to print them once I restart my printer.
GPujPrS.jpg
CyRJGKj.jpg

I also sent a message to Kyosho, we'll see...

I have seem people complain about that piece too, i never had a problem luckily.  Also the front plastic piece for the steering, never an issue for me either

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2 hours ago, Rb4276 said:

I never noticed if the gold and red on the optima were the same but i do know many people had issues with the red leaking after building. I had 2 leak on my optima right from the start even after rebuilding atleast 2 times. I was able to stop one after changing the o ring and green slime. I now have the gold shocks with no issues

I have the exact same issue. My Optima (Javelin bodied) and Turbo Scorpion red shocks are leaking chronically to the extent that the entire wheel and tyre to all four corners was completely saturated in oil ftom just sitting in the plastic storage box i keep them in - this was within days of building both of them and not driven either. I had the same on the Outlaw Rampage too until i upgraded it to the alloy dampers.

The gold shocks on the Turbo Optima I built over christmas last year have been totally fine and the gold shocks ive fitted to my recent Tomahawk build look to be fine so far as well.

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8 hours ago, Superluminal said:

I have the exact same issue. My Optima (Javelin bodied) and Turbo Scorpion red shocks are leaking chronically to the extent that the entire wheel and tyre to all four corners was completely saturated in oil ftom just sitting in the plastic storage box i keep them in - this was within days of building both of them and not driven either. I had the same on the Outlaw Rampage too until i upgraded it to the alloy dampers.

The gold shocks on the Turbo Optima I built over christmas last year have been totally fine and the gold shocks ive fitted to my recent Tomahawk build look to be fine so far as well.

Did not have any leak issues. That being said, during the first days after the builds, I always put the cars in a recipient to avoid any issues of that type. I never had anything to clean. However, I'm more concerned by the front shock body with surfacing issue. Searching over Facebook groups, I found at least one guy with a similar issue...

9 hours ago, Rb4276 said:

I have seem people complain about that piece too, i never had a problem luckily.  Also the front plastic piece for the steering, never an issue for me either

Yeah, I remember a question somewhere about that steering plastic part, and same never an issue for me either.

Anyway, I need to check my design is dimensionally correct, so will wait for the time I've reactivated my 3D Printer to print. If the dimensions are ok, I will get some printed in Nylon PA12....

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On 9/19/2021 at 9:05 PM, silvertriple said:

I never had any leaking... But I saw many people complaining about the shock gaskets having broken those. And there is some replacement parts in the spare parts bag.

On the OTW102 parts broken, I just did a design in Tinkercad, I will have to print them once I restart my printer.
GPujPrS.jpg
CyRJGKj.jpg

I also sent a message to Kyosho, we'll see...

Got a very good feedback from Kyosho today by mail. They are sending me replacement parts...
For the defective shock, they are asking me to send them for analysis, but as it is mounted now, I'm just keeping the way it is as with the sanding done on the piston side, it seems to work the same way as the other side (and I actually don't know on which side the defective shock is :-D).
I also mentioned the screws which seemed to be longer than the hole they should go in within the U shaped support to fix the front under guard (I had the same issue with the Javelin), but I had to precise further as it seems they don't have the same instruction manual in front of them. I sent pictures to be more precise.
And it seems the OTW126 will be back in inventory very soon so I may finally have a runner rather than a wheelie car :-)

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I wonder if they sell those gold shocks individually...they looks **** sweet. Maybe if a Kyosho is not in the cards for me, at least some shocks could suffice.

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1 hour ago, cambragol said:

I wonder if they sell those gold shocks individually...they looks **** sweet. Maybe if a Kyosho is not in the cards for me, at least some shocks could suffice.

Yes they exists under OTW128 and OTW129 reference...

And a small details on the Turbo Scorpion: all the shocks are the same, and they are actually Javelin/Optima front shocks. I'm questioning myself to change the red shocks by gold shocks on this one :)

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