El Camino - the ultimate big-wheel basher (in parts bin)
Status: Extra info
Date: 25-Mar-2007
Comments: 2
Probably my most-used car, this was a built trade from Tamiyaclub (apologies, but I forget who traded it). It came in used-but-very-good condition with good tyres, full ball bearings, new silvercan and a Cross Tiger lexan shell.
My first run with the Blackfoot Extreme was very disappointing. The speed was dreadful. I was horribly bored within one battery pack, so I quickly upgraded to a 20T pinion on a Super Stock BZ motor. This transformed the Blackfoot from Mildly Annoyed Kitten to Very Cross Indeed Tiger, and has stayed at the top of my basher list ever since.
The only real problem with the car was the shell, so I took an El Camino shell that I'd painted for a drifter project, cut out the arches with a knife, and plonked it onto the chassis. The 200mm shell makes the truck look much more chunky. To finish the look, I painted the wheels with Tamiya PS silver.
The shell design is based on a car from a novel I wrote, in which the main character drives a futuristing El Camino-esque hovercar painted yellow with black stripes, exactly as on my shell. However I made the mistake of painting in a wooden shed during frosty conditions, so the yellow didn't take too well and the black undercoat shone through, giving it a sickly green effect on the sides.
I know now to paint indoors or in warm weather only - and I'll probably be doing another El Camino at some point in the future, possibly without cutting the arches, for that real hovercar drifter look.
Comments
My Dagger was upgraded along the same lines, a 20T with a BZ. But I found 4WD gives less power on understeer, but the batteries don't last as long. These are tough I must agree. You can launch them all day long, and nothing breaks (they do bend but!)
Mad Ax
I've just purchase a WD roller which I'm going to use to convert this to 4wd complete with 14.4v and 550 power... Watch this space!
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