Another SCX 10 II Raw Builder’s Kit build

[RC_County_Crawler]

I’m hoping this is the right forum thread to post this.

 

I’ve had a nice response to my “hello” thread and a couple of people have suggested I do a build thread...so here goes.

 

Be gentle, this is my first attempt at a build thread and my first foray into an RC build. Personally, I think building is more interesting than an RTR. 
 

So here’s the kit box and some sprues from bag 1. I’m going to run stock for now - although I’ve already been drawn to all the shiny upgrade parts - and if anything breaks or wears out, I’ll upgrade to whatever I’m drawn to online. SSD look like they do very nice stuff for this chassis. One of the reasons I chose this particular one was the myriad of upgrades available from lots of different companies. Also, does anyone have any experience of purchasing parts direct from the Far East? I’ve found a lot of offerings from a lot of manufacturers on Aliexpress.

 

I also picked up the nice Fastrax tool set from Modelsport. I’m starting from scratch, so it’s nice to invest in some decent gear that’ll hopefully last a while. Does anyone recommend using shock pliers btw? The shocks on this kit are plastic, but if I go down the aluminium shock upgrade path in the future, will they be a good tool to have?

Edited June 7, 2020 by RC_County_Crawler

[DartmoorTrails]

Good choice, it's a great kit to get started on.
Yes, it's the right section to post this up on [emoji106]
As for shock pliers, I would even though I don't have any, bit wish I did!
There'll be loads of tools you'll see that you'll want as you do more tinkering so expect deliveries thick and fast!

Keen to see the build come together, good luck with it all and don't hesitate to ask questions.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[RC_County_Crawler]

Just thought I’d take a few pictures of the parts as this thing progresses.

 

Its going together really nicely. The instructions are very clear and appeal to my OCD nature (measure twice or more, cut once).

 

I picked up these lubes for the diff and bearings. The Kyosho diff grease is very viscous which is exactly what I wanted.

 

I like the use of threaded metal in the link arms. The plastic ends (sorry I don’t know their actual name) screw in nice a tightly but I suppose you don’t want to screw/unscrew these too much as that’ll loosen the thread you create when you first screw them on.

[Oh How Original]

Rod ends is the term, or ball ends, or ball joints, take your pick  

Personally favour EDS hex drivers over Fastrax, but my Mrs uses Fastrax and finds them to work fine, bit of a faff changing ends though so we have several handles.

Shocks, the stock ones will sadly leak no doubt, that's just Axial shocks for you, you can attempt to prolong it with some Associated Green Slime on the o rings and also get some Tamiya o rings, but they are pretty poor.

If you do look at some aftermarket ones, a used set of Element Enduro ones would be the best bang for buck.

Or SSD Pro 90mm for just the best overall.

I don't use shock pliers, they go together pretty nice with hands, then just nip them up... They don't need to be super tightened down.

[Andy-Roo]

Welcome bud! Good choice of rigs, the 10.2 is very capable and I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun with it.  As you’ve already found out, there is a multitude of upgrades from a seemingly endless list of companies, but the 10.2 doesn’t need loads done to it. 
 

I replaced the plastic shocks with Traxxas GTS ones (a recommendation from the guys on this forum), I also shimmed the ring and pinion gears to take out the slop, and I’ll be replacing the plastic shock hoops with metal ones from SSD (snapped the Panhard mount yesterday) but other than that, my chassis is stock.  

My shock tool is a piece of cloth held in pliers. As long as you don’t damage the shaft you’ll be fine.  
 

What electrics are you planning on using? 
 

Good luck with the build, and if you need any help, you’ll find it here 👍

 

Edited June 7, 2020 by Andy-Roo

[stimpy]

Good choice chap!... We have one in our fleet also that always surprises folks.... 

 

Have fun! 

[RC_County_Crawler]

1 hour ago, stimpy said:

Good choice chap!... We have one in our fleet also that always surprises folks.... 

 

Have fun! 

“...fleet...” I like the sound of that! I think this hobby could get expensive 😂

[CarlC]

1 minute ago, RC_County_Crawler said:

“...fleet...” I like the sound of that! I think this hobby could get expensive 😂

 

Oh it can/does, I started with one, just for fun, 8 months later I have 5 and everyone is special and needs its own love and attention....... Oh and I still have an ever growing list of rigs I want to build lol.

[RC_County_Crawler]

Rear link arms done and the rear axle assembly completed. It’s very satisfying to turn the diff and feel how smooth it’s all running.

 

And the before & after for the shocks.

 

This is all extremely satisfying! 

[CarlC]

Looking good, it's coming together well 

[RC_County_Crawler]

2 minutes ago, CarlC said:

 

Oh it can/does, I started with one, just for fun, 8 months later I have 5 and everyone is special and needs its own love and attention....... Oh and I still have an ever growing list of rigs I want to build lol.

Yeah...I reckon I’ll be like that. So many great chassis kits out there to build. I like the SSD Trail King kit and the Vanquish VS4-10 chassis kit for upgrading the SCX10.

[stimpy]

7 minutes ago, RC_County_Crawler said:

“...fleet...” I like the sound of that! I think this hobby could get expensive 😂

All just a bit of wizardry with the man maths!! 😂

 

I believe I’ll be at 7 crawler based vehicles shortly.... All with different purposes! There may of course be others... 🙈😂

[RC_County_Crawler]

It would be great to see some photos of your crawlers @CarlC & @stimpy.

Edited June 7, 2020 by RC_County_Crawler

[Stormbringer]

check this thread

 

[Andy-Roo]

35 minutes ago, RC_County_Crawler said:

Yeah...I reckon I’ll be like that. So many great chassis kits out there to build. I like the SSD Trail King kit and the Vanquish VS4-10 chassis kit for upgrading the SCX10.

I’m building a VS4-10 chassis kit right now, but not to upgrade my 10.2, but as a ground up build using mostly upgrade parts.  It’s a lovely bit of kit and in my mind a bit of a bargain. 

[RC_County_Crawler]

24 minutes ago, Stormbringer said:

check this thread

 

Thanks. That looks like a lot of fun. Good to hear you guys were able to get together (at a sensible social distance) and put your crawlers through their paces.

Edited June 7, 2020 by RC_County_Crawler

[RC_County_Crawler]

6 hours ago, Andy-Roo said:

Welcome bud! Good choice of rigs, the 10.2 is very capable and I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun with it.  As you’ve already found out, there is a multitude of upgrades from a seemingly endless list of companies, but the 10.2 doesn’t need loads done to it. 
 

I replaced the plastic shocks with Traxxas GTS ones (a recommendation from the guys on this forum), I also shimmed the ring and pinion gears to take out the slop, and I’ll be replacing the plastic shock hoops with metal ones from SSD (snapped the Panhard mount yesterday) but other than that, my chassis is stock.  

My shock tool is a piece of cloth held in pliers. As long as you don’t damage the shaft you’ll be fine.  
 

What electrics are you planning on using? 
 

Good luck with the build, and if you need any help, you’ll find it here 👍

 

So, what does “...shimmed the ring & pinion gears...” mean and how do I do it?
 

You’re talking to a “the whole engine bay is a sealed unit” kind of guy, so sorry for the noob question

[Andy-Roo]

1 hour ago, RC_County_Crawler said:

So, what does “...shimmed the ring & pinion gears...” mean and how do I do it?
 

You’re talking to a “the whole engine bay is a sealed unit” kind of guy, so sorry for the noob question

Basically, shims are like a thin washers that are used to reduce play/slop in diffs/axles/drive shafts. I found that both F/R ring & pinions gears weren’t meshing very well, especially when going from forward to reverse (both output shafts had a lot of fore & aft play).  Shimming the pinion gear reduced the play to a minimum and now both gears play nicely together.  You can buy packs of shims off the MS site, or any hobby shop in lots of different sizes - they are a good thing to keep in ‘stock’ in your soon to be growing parts bin. 
This vid explains it much better than I can.. 

 

 

[CarlC]

5 hours ago, RC_County_Crawler said:

Yeah...I reckon I’ll be like that. So many great chassis kits out there to build. I like the SSD Trail King kit and the Vanquish VS4-10 chassis kit for upgrading the SCX10.

 

Am just finishing a Vanquish VS4-10 Ultra build, build thread is here if you're interested

 

[RC_County_Crawler]

2 hours ago, Andy-Roo said:

Basically, shims are like a thin washers that are used to reduce play/slop in diffs/axles/drive shafts. I found that both F/R ring & pinions gears weren’t meshing very well, especially when going from forward to reverse (both output shafts had a lot of fore & aft play).  Shimming the pinion gear reduced the play to a minimum and now both gears play nicely together.  You can buy packs of shims off the MS site, or any hobby shop in lots of different sizes - they are a good thing to keep in ‘stock’ in your soon to be growing parts bin. 
This vid explains it much better than I can.. 

 

 

You explained it very well, thanks. And thanks very much for taking the time to answer my noob Qs.

[RC_County_Crawler]

18 minutes ago, CarlC said:

 

Am just finishing a Vanquish VS4-10 Ultra build, build thread is here if you're interested

 

That’s great, I’ll delve into your thread in due course. Thanks

[RC_County_Crawler]

So, after the front and rear axle assemblies and shocks I’m going to have to hold the rest of the build until the motor and ESC I’ve ordered arrives. As you can see from the photo, it’ll be the Hobbywing Combo - the XERUN-AXE540-2300KV - which unfortunately is out of stock with Modelsport. It’s already been ordered, so when it’s back in stock I’ll be good to go. But that won’t be until the end of the month, according to their website. Wheels and tyres are on back order too. They will be GMade SR02 1.9 beadlocks with GMade MT1902 tyres.
 

I’ve got everything else though. The servo will be the Savox SW-1210SG. I purchased the Axial Aluminum Servo Horn to go with it. Radio & receiver is the Absima CR3P AFHDS 2.4GHz 3 Channel Radio System. An Overlander Supersport 11.1V 5000mAh 35C LiPo Pack with XT60 with Overlander RC-S65 AC 65W Balance Charger / Discharger.

 

Can’t wait to put all this together and see how it runs.

[stimpy]

CarlC has that system in his TRX - I believe he likes it and certainly seemed to go well Saturday 👍. 
 

Let’s hope you’re patient!.... hehe.... 

[RC_County_Crawler]

7 hours ago, stimpy said:

CarlC has that system in his TRX - I believe he likes it and certainly seemed to go well Saturday 👍. 
 

Let’s hope you’re patient!.... hehe.... 

That’s good to hear, thanks.

[Andy-Roo]

11 hours ago, RC_County_Crawler said:

 XERUN-AXE540-2300KV

There’s one of these up for grabs in the sales section on page 2. I’d have posted a link but links don’t always work for me 🤪

 

Tyres; I cant comment on the GMade, but I can for Proline, especially in the Predator compound. I have just fitted a set of predator BF Goodrich Mud Terrain KM3  to a set of pressed steel headlock wheels, that were very kindly given to me by @CarlC, and they performed incredibly well. Of course, they are more expensive than the GMade, but you get what you pay for.