TW's Bajas - "Sheila", "Ruby", & "Kyu"

[Thunderwolf]

just a quick little thought i've been having with Sheila (the petrol one).

 

 

the engine in her atm is one i rebuilt, but my knowledge on engines isn't 100%, more so when it comes to finiding out what the engine is, i.e. its cc, or if its got a stuffed crank.

 

 

it does however, starts and works fine, which is all that really matters at the end of the day.

 

 

but, the engine in the marder is an oddifed 23cc, recently i've been considering putting it in the baja to see how it compares with the other engines i've run in the past.

 

the real question is it going to be worth it, given that it will be running on an exhaust designed for big bores it won't be exactly the same in terms of power (the airfilter and exhaust will be different)

 

ah well, somthing to think about atleast, not like i can get to it right now anyway.

[Thunderwolf]

very small update.

 

 

for a i-rc brace for the upper hinge pins, replaces the spacers and links them together for abit more strength, this, combined with the arm brace from gh racing, makes for a solid front end. had to grind the hole out slightly for the hinge pins to slide through but fitted easily enough.

 

 

 

 

and finally, a picture to give you an idea on how long its going to be before i can do anything more to her:

 

[mark35]

Pennies make pounds bud keep savin.lol;)

[Thunderwolf]

Pennies make pounds bud keep savin.lol;)

hard to do when you arn't getting any pennies to begin with

[Thunderwolf]

not large scale, but still baja

 

[Thunderwolf]

i'll just leave these here

 

 

 

[Thunderwolf]

 In continuation to the discussion started in the news section by myself and OHO, and rather than clog up a news thread with something off topic i shall continue here

 

What about flogging that pile of parts you built into a rough Baja shape? Surely that lot should fetch

[Thunderwolf]

and yes, i know many of the photos have stopped working.

 

i sorted out the photobucket albums yesterday morning and it broke many of the newer links i have in the forums.

[Oh How Original]

 In continuation to the discussion started in the news section by myself and OHO, and rather than clog up a news thread with something off topic i shall continue here

 

 

indeed it would, currently the carbon fiber parts in the joblot i bought is currently on ebay in an auction ending a 7pm 08/02 (about 18 hours from time of typing).

 

some of the hopups have also been sold of, and a 2nd auction of mostly stock parts is also on a ebay auction which end around 7pm tuesday because i derped on the time settings, as they stand the 2 auction are set to go for about

[Thunderwolf]

cabon bits are 281586752941

 

job lot is 281586749475

 

as for the price of the marder, i disagree (obviously) when i put it up i had looked at other models like it, as well as stock ones, granted it was a fair bit more than a stock marder, but as far as i had seen, it was the cheapest alloy based one (not including the full alloy one i found which was listed at

[Thunderwolf]

on a totally different and happier note.

 

The ESC made some beeps and light flashes....

[Thunderwolf]

super happy update time:

 

Ruby first.

 

i recently plugged in the 6s lipo that runs my hong nor buggy into the trackstar esc and turned it on (after unplugging one of the motor wires), first, big spark, need to address that at some point, 6s doesn't bother me, but if i got to 8s thats going to cause a problem later down the line, better to sort now than later.

 

on the up side, the esc turned on fine, need to find my program card and sort out rx power before i can program and use it but its a good start imo.

 

going upside further and replacement plan has been make regarding power, more to come later but it saves hassle in the short run until i can work out sometihng more permanent show i need to.

 

going up once again bez has very kindly printed out 2 parts for me

 

 

ignore the one on the left for now, i'll explain that in better detail once all the parts for that side plan get here, but the part on the right is the esc plate i knocked out in cad awhile ago, which will be serving as a mounting point between the castle transmition plate and the esc, didn't like how the cable ties looked or held.

 

 

and finally i am left with but one thing left to buy......batteries, which in turn will require some soldering and i got abit of drilling and filing to do also.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update for Shiela.

 

the engine in her is beeing sold and i'm fitting a different one, because i have it spare, its better, but most of all....because i can.

[Thunderwolf]

ok so i bought the batteries (the correct ones this time)

 

i'll be running it on 2x 3s 8000mah zippy lipos which i'll wire in series

 

 

to save messing about with the bec i have, i've also bought a 2 cell li-fe battery which will be powering the rx, servo and the fans on the esc, its another batter to worry about but it will do for now, plus if i change my mind i can also put it in sheila instead.

 

i'll need to solder everything up and i need to fit a switch in the battery box so i can turn off the radio without need to remove the batter cover all the time but they are fairly simple to do.

 

all being well she'll be running by the weekend.

[Thunderwolf]

today i had some post and got a little bit more done

 

 

first and most important are the batteries, the box was a bit messed up but the batteries are fine so no big deal there, found them to be fairly heavy too, or at least heavier than i expected them to be, both 3s zippy lipos are 8000mah which i'm lead to believe from other user i can expect about 20min run time, driving dependent, which should be long enough to keep me interested without getting bored.

 

both 3s pack also came fitted with 5.5mm bullets, a problem for 2 reasons, reason 1: the negative had a male to which both wires on the esc are male, Reason 2: the esc connectors are 8mm. so i've taken them off and replaced with the 8mm bullets i have in my tool box, on one pack i put 2 female bullets on the other pack has one male and one female, the only reason for this is so i can connect the pack in series without having to have a harness, less connectors also means better power transfer so it will be better for performance and run time as an added bonus to being easier, to get around the charging issue (both my charge wires are male bullets) i also made an adapter, which will only be used to charge the pack and nothing more.

 

here is a pic of both 3s lipos as well as the 2s LiFe pack, i placed one of my baja Q32 cars next to them for an idea of size for now:

 

 

 

as mentioned before the LiFe pack will be powering the rx, and servo as well as the esc fans (because for some reason the fans need to be plugged into the rx)

in a test fit it sits perfectly behind the lipo packs right next to the rx area (basically it sits right next to the servo), however plugging it into the rx directly would require the removal of the shell, the front section of the roll cage, and both battery box lids every time i want to turn it off, so a quick little scratching on the inside of the lid of the rx section

 

 

and a bit of cutting later i got a switch installed, not the neatest job but best i could do with the tools i had, i'm looking for a plate that some of these switch come with which i could put over the top to cove the cutting and make it look much neater, but for now at least i can turn off the rx and fans easily, without having to take anything off it, though it may become a bit difficult when i fit some windows on it but i'll cross that bridge as and when.

 

 

 

batteries had a fair bit of space around so instead of spending yet more money on buying the foam set for the battery box i instead took the bubble bags and wrap from the postage box of the batteries, bit of folder and brown tap later i got some useable pads which i have taped into the box, a bit ghetto but it works.

 

 

all i need now is the esc plate i had printed, my charger could do with updating as well as it only goes upto 5a, but the charging wait time is ok for now.

[Oh How Original]

Awesome Paul, some good progress.

Looking even more forward to seeing her finally running now.

What engine is going in Shiela?

[Thunderwolf]

Awesome Paul, some good progress.

Looking even more forward to seeing her finally running now.

What engine is going in Shiela?

 

the oddified engine thats currently in revy (the marder)

 

revy will go one of 3 ways, i'm just not sure which one yet.

[Noj]

Zippy bricks FTW!

8mm bullets FTW!

BL badgers FTW!

[Oh How Original]

Zippy bricks FTW!

8mm bullets FTW!

BL badgers FTW!

 

BL 5ive FTW!

 

Crack on cap'ain Noj

[Thunderwolf]

[Thunderwolf]

Update for Ruby:

 

i had some post come today which meant i could do some more on Ruby.

 

a new rx switch arrived which had the little plate thing with it, i took that out and put the rest in the spares pile, rx switch looks much neater now, i even got it to at least look straight

 

 

as you can tell from the video above all plugged in and everything is at least working and she has finally moved her drive chain using her own power for the first time, happy moment.

 

also in the post came the 2 3d printed parts i had made,

 

if you don't have the castle conversion then the below pics shows the tranny plate that comes with it, the 4 threaded hole are for screwing the castle xl and xl2 esc units which is fine, but the trackstar i have has its screw point in different places which causes a problem.

 

 

as well as the screw points the trackstar is (at least i think it is) longer too, due to the gearbox being slightly higher at the layshaft area fitting the esc flat is impossible, and so the esc plate comes in, giving a flat surface using the cut out to avoid the raised area it screw in the the 4 holes on the tranny plate to keep it in place, there are then 4 holes for the esc to be screwed onto the esc plate, keeping it firmly in place

 

 

or at least that was the idea when i had it in my cad software, unfortunately the hole for the esc were too close together so i couldn't use them all, i have instead screwed down the front of the esc to the place with the rear held in place with some strong double sided foam, it may not be the best option for keeping it in place but it should be enough for the normal driving around off road, i doubt it will hold up in a violent roll however so i'll be holding off on the jumps and crashes asmuch as possible until i get something sorted

 

 

with the esc fitted (at last) i was able to put the batteries in the battery box, the rx ins in place, roll cage back on, shell on....

 

 

in a nutshell, she is now no longer a project car, Ruby is now a fully built, fully working, perfectly bashable, Baja 5b Flux.

 

 

 

 

in other news the other printer part is also fitted to Ruby, it was from an idea i got from watching a video from the same people that created the anime show where i got the charater Ruby is based from in were they took a pick up truck to see how it was like to drive with a 3rd person perspective, like in video games, so i  came up wiuth this mount i could slide onto the back of the baja using the rpm rear bumper set up i like using

 

 

it provided a flat surface to put a adhesive mount for a go pro, alowing me to get a rear facing view of the car while driving, good for getting footage of car behind

 

 

 

with an extension bar i had i would be able to have a view similar to that of a games 3rd person view, while the idea works the extension bar i have is made from plastic and as a result it wobbles side to side alot, which would make the video so shaky it would be impossible to tell what was being filmed, something that can be fixed with a alloy version instead to reduce the amount of flex in the mounting set up, just means getting one.

 

i'll also be placing a mounting point on top of the  battery box to give a 1st person view from inside the cage itself

[Noj]

Hurrah, she lives!

Tidy build, ingenious cad designs. Look forward to the inaugural run with footage

[Thunderwolf]

it been fun, until life changed its mind this was going to be a 3 or 4 week build, that said had life not gotten in the way she would have been made petrol powered.

 

the cad desing are nothing special, more experiments into something that i shall not explain here for certain reasons.

 

 

that said there are afew firsts in doing this.

 

first long term project that i have seen through

 

first time building a rc from buying parts over time

 

first time i've had custom parts on a model

 

first largescale brushless model i've had

 

it also the longest period of time i've owned a car/roller before getting it running

 

 

 

the funny one is even though the mini recon, baja q32's, and micro t have been with me for less time, all 3 have had more use that this one.

 

 

 

 

 

sorry, i find things like this interesting, another one for example is the oldest rc thing i own is the spekky rx that is run in my hong nor buggy, i've had said rx since 2007, the 3 bottles of diff oil i have are older than all the cars i own, and so on.

[Noj]

Apologise for nowt, certainly not for being who you are, well, unless a mad, tyrannical despot with a history of genocide...

However... A build to be proud of and one which, in my experience, will bring many smiles per mile

Here's to a good weather year for big, brushless beasts the world over!

[Thunderwolf]

Apologise for nowt, certainly not for being who you are, well, unless a mad, tyrannical despot with a history of genocide...

However... A build to be proud of and one which, in my experience, will bring many smiles per mile

Here's to a good weather year for big, brushless beasts the world over!

 

 

amen to that.

 

also, forward view from withing the cage...best. view. ever.

 

i'll put up a screenshot if i can find the cable for my go pro.

[Thunderwolf]

here we are, go pro mounted on the flux battery box lid give a view like this

 

 

bit dark for the camera in my room so quality is awful but gives you an idea, will look better outside in the sun.