lel-95 Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 I'm writing this thread as a bit of a diary for this build, I decided to skip the building photos as there are plenty of build threads about, plus I wanted to crack on and get it rolling as soon as I could. This kit wasn't my most enjoyable for a few reasons. First off I found the manual to be slightly unhelpful at times, this is definitely a kit that requires a bit common sense or plenty of kit building experience to complete. For example, there is a few mistakes in the manual regarding link lengths which requires a bit of experimenting, nothing crucial but it slows the build down. I also found the skid plate holes weren't properly drilled for the lower link pins, again this is not a deal breaker but trying to push a hinge pin through plastic only to realise its never going to go is annoying and painful. With my downsides out of the way i'll comment on the things I like. The quality is fantastic, full metal transmission is a very nice touch and runs silky smooth, my kit came with the HD diff pinions and driveshafts so Vaterra have obviously addressed the weaknesses and hopefully future kits should be a lot harder wearing than the first few batches. The chassis layout is very nice, ESC and receiver box are mounted out the way at the rear of the chassis with the battery mounted on a floating tray over the front axle, keeps the whole truck nicely balanced and weight over the front. Metal links again are fantastic as is the chassis mounted servo which keeps the very scale looking and low profile axles tidy. I'm looking forward to getting out with this truck and seeing what its capable of, I'm not planning any major upgrades or super expensive parts as I'm working on a budget this time. So far I have a roller and I've cut the body, I have electronics on the way which should arrive and be fitted next week. TL;DR I like this chassis and I'm making a dairy of my time with it. piccy time 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Very nice so far dude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostewart Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Glad to see another Ascender, great trucks. I miss mine. And great to see HD diff pinions and driveshafts, they were my only gripes. What electrics are you going to run? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lel-95 Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Thanks. I have a Yeah racing crawler combo on its way, its a rebranded HW 1060WP and a 45t rebuildable motor. I'm looking at a 20kg Power HD for servo duties and i have a FS GT3B on its way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostewart Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Sounds good, I found 35t in mine to be good, had good wheel speed and no problems with torque. Rebuildable is definitely the way to go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lel-95 Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 I'm hoping the 45t will be fine, i'd have preferred a 35t but i only saw the 35t combo after i ordered! My biggest dilemma is what colour to paint the body, i've seen a few fully black ones that look smart but i think a nice retro beige or brown would suit it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostewart Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 I did mine black with a white roof. Looked good but beige would suit it nicely. 45t you can gear up a little, I ran a 16t pinion on my 35t motor. Ran fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeze Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Looks good so far Had the chance to prod and poke at one of the the other day, was impressed, it feels a lot more solid than a box stock SCX10. Only bit that really let it down for me was the Vaterra branding moulded into the sliders and diff cover, don't know why they did that doesn't really seem right for a scaler. Hopefully someone will start doing metal bits for those pieces soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lel-95 Posted March 21, 2015 Author Share Posted March 21, 2015 Yeah i agree with you there, i was in 2 mind whether to put the sliders on and i'm not to keen on them so they might come back off, i'll see what they look like with the body painted. I believe someone makes metal diff covers but i can't remember who, i might strip the chrome off the plastic ones and give them a lick of paint, there's a little slider thing on the bottom of the diffs so the paint should be protected hopefully! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostewart Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Yeah I've seen metal diff covers, they look great. Can't remember who does them either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostewart Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 I see you posted about wanting a gelande 2, why not put a landy body on the Ascender. That's what I would like to do in the future potentially. Still undecided whether to save up for a Wraith, Gelande 2 or Ascender... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeze Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 If I went for one of these, I'd be wanting this body http://thescalerstore.altervista.org/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/27_198/products_id/2518 Should work well with the standard, wide bumpers too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lel-95 Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 I've already done a SCX D90, it turned out to be a bit top heavy and didn't really perform too well, the SCX axles are, in my eyes, too wide for the D90 body so you really have to limit the articulation to stop the wheels rubbing. Saying that the Ascender axles can be narrowed... got me thinking now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 Range Rover would be an interesting idea and a different direction to go in. Not seen many of those around! Might not be amazingly detailed but I'm sure with some shut lines, nice paint job and a couple of light (I totally know what you mean about top heavy D90's ) accessories. That'd look good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ostewart Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 That's what i like about the ascender, wheelbase is adjustable along with width of axles. Very easily trimmed down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lel-95 Posted March 22, 2015 Author Share Posted March 22, 2015 updatey body posts are mounted and i got out my sonic screwdrivery thing and zapped some holes into the body I've decided on a colour for the body which is very retro tastic and i'm ordering paint and the servo as we speak. The motor and ESC should arrive tomorrow or tuesday and followed by my GT3B. should be ready to boogie by the weekend 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lel-95 Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Had a little shipment arrive today, all the electronics apart from my RX/TX and the paint for the shell i love all the little wiring clips on the chassis, keeps the wiring secure without ugly zipties everywhere and keeps everything nice and neat. I've never had a motor that came with no wires before so i had to cut the wire off an old battery and solder it on, i left the deans plugs on so i can still change the motor easy if need be. I'm not sure if i can be bothered to paint the shell today, we'll see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewbacca Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 (edited) You'll love the HD20, it's a beaut of a servo for the money. I can't fault the HW1060 either, I'm running them in the D90 and Wraith. Edited March 24, 2015 by chewbacca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lel-95 Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 the servo feels so smooth and quiet! I haven't got my radio to test the ESC yet but it lights up and works which is a bonus. Do you take the jumper thingy out for drag brake? I can't find much info about it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lel-95 Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 got some paint on the body earlier, i'm really not happy with it. For starters my "low tack" masking tape left loads of sticky stuff around the white after i removed it which ended up smearing all over when trying to remove it. And secondly, Tamiya paint is just rubbish. It's FAR too thin! No matter how light your coats are it just runs, and i'm not doing thick coats at all, for example the body colour has 7 coats in those photos and its still see through in most parts, so definitely not too heavy on the paint. I remember why i stopped using Tamiya paints about 2 years ago and moved onto Pactra and Absima paints which work lovely. Doesn't look too bad but it could be better, i think removing the overspray film and adding the stickers will bring it to life, plus some better photos will help Feeling a bit bummed now 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Yes, you just take the little plug thing out to enable the drag brake. It's quite vicious, so it takes a little bit to get used to. But once you master coming off the throttle that last bit smoothly, it's a lovely ESC! Also you might have already mentioned it, I haven't read every post, but is that the 'stock' battery tray? Seems teeny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lel-95 Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 thanks bud i'll take it out Yeah thats the standard tray, its designed for 96mm shorty hardcase packs but these soft case Traxxas size ones fit well and are loads cheaper. It would be nice to fit a full size hardcase but theres nowhere to put one unless you want to mount it sideways or above the servo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeze Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Bummer on the paint Worth sticking with it, the retro colour scheme works well I run 2200 packs like those, two in parallel on the sliders keeps the weight nice and low and gives plenty of runtime Would squander the neat battery tray loading straight onto the axle though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lel-95 Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 Hopefully the paint sorts itself out, the more coats i put on made the runs less obvious and i still have another tin to finish it off, fingers crossed i wonder if i could fit 2 of these small batteries in the battery tray on their side and run them in parallel? That basically makes a very small 4400mah shorty sized pack that costs half the price of a similar mah proper shorty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lel-95 Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 success! 2 batteries fit perfect in the tray, just need to knock up a parallel adaptor and it'll be sweet clears everything fine so i can keep the battery tray too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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