Badcrumble

Ran my stock Outlaw in the back garden this lunchtime. Two 3300mah NiMH packs didn’t last long, I was surprised how little run time I got out of them compared with running my Tamiya Dual Hunter on the same terrain or one of my M chassis cars on tarmac. Admittedly, this car is quite a bit quicker than the ‘Hunter which is on standard silver cans. When I took the car back into the garage there was quite a ‘hot metal’ stink - I wonder how much longer my motor will last?! Had a scout around for my alloy chassis and other upgrades but couldn’t find them!

Hmm, food for thought @Redback, thank you. I didn’t think this through very well, did I??!! All that spreadsheet work and I took my eye off the prize!! Ah well, I’m sure I can find a home for it in my JK or the SCX10iii I have yet to build. I’d looked at the MAX10 combo, in hindsight I should have gone down that route!!! Need to get myself the metal driveshaft too. Right, better draw up that Modelsport order...

I’d been looking at the Sidewinder 4 @Redback but as you say, they out of stock on their own. To try and keep costs down, I was going to go for a Hobbywing 10BL60 https://www.modelsport.co.uk/hobbywing-quicrun-wp-10bl60-bl-esc/rc-car-products/382833 Not helped by me going down my typical ‘impulse buy’ route of the Holmes Hobbies 2500kv Revolver. If I’d waited I would probably have ended up with a Castle combo.

I purchased the Austar gearbox for my Outlaw conversion but I've lost it in the garage somewhere...I need to find it so I can fabricate a mounting plate as it doesn't have a flat underside. Hoping to pick up my new brushless Holmes Hobbies motor from the office next Tuesday. Still need an ESC though. I swore I wouldn't spend too much on this truck but the electrics alone will match what I paid for it! I like the party trick!

Have a look here to start with . https://holmeshobbies.com/motor-recommendations There's a product related thread on rccrawler.com (I can't link it from this machine) and plenty of YouTube videos from Holmes Hobbies which are well worth viewing. Some common recommendations on this forum too.

Here you go... https://www.red-winches.com/product-category/holmes-hobbies/ The range can be limited but they have the popular options, I believe. I bought mine from RCMart despite my general policy of 'no electronics from overseas'. Also, my 2500KV Revolver qualified for free shipping.

If you're using a lexan body but want to use auto paint, the issue is the ability of the paints abilit to flex with the body (but I think you know this already from your earlier comment). Some people have had success with priming the body with Halfords plastic body primer then using paint over the top. https://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/65619-painting-lexan-on-the-outside/ Using the Tamiya Camel yellow would be easier if you don't mind colour difference.

This is a fun Trophy build to follow. https://scalebuildersguild.com/forum/showthread.php?30393-1983-Land-Rover-Series-III-Camel-Trophy The paint colour discussion is on page 5 - the colour the OP used was the official colour posted above.

@Redback what are your pinion and spur counts for your current transmission? I'm new to this and maths isn't my strong point. I did some digging around FDR, RPMs on other forum and came across this - (motor kv * battery voltage) / (spur gear / pinion gear) = RPM Assuming this is correct the standard brushless Outlaw is the following - Motor Battery (spur pinion Final drive KV * voltage / gear / gear) = RPM Ratio Outlaw Brushless stock gearing 2S / 17T pinion (2950 * 7.4 )/ (62 / 17) = 21830 / 3.65 = 5985 3.65:1 Unfortunately, I haven't got the stats for the brushed Outlaw (brushed motor kv values aren't that common) but it would be interesting to compare. I stumbled around for ages looking at the ratios of my Axial (copy) transmission and a couple of Holmes Hobbies brushed motors. I gave up, thinking I'd ruin the motor if i tired to get an output anywhere near the brushless (plus, I'm currently only running Nimh). So I started looking at brushless and ended up with a Holmes Hobbies Revolver v2 at 25000kv. On paper it looks like this Motor Battery (spur pinion Final drive KV * voltage / gear / gear) RPM Ratio Revolver 2500 Axial transmission Nimh / 17T pinion (2500 * 7.2) / (56 / 17) = 18,000 / 3.3 = 5454.5 3.3:1 Revolver 2500 Axial transmission 2S / 17T pinion (2500 8.4) / (56 / 17) = 21,000 / 3.3 = 5833 3.3:1 I know this doesn't take into account the axle gears or calculate rollout but I'd be interested to get your thoughts / opinions. As for getting this set-up rolling, I need to pick up my new motor from the office when lockdown eases and actually assemble the gearbox on my new alloy chassis before transferring the rest of the Outlaw over. Oh, and purchase a suitable ESC. So this will remain theoretical for a few more months.

Two mounts, test fitted and trimmed. Next step - fit and reassemble the rear suspension so I can turn my attention to the front.

Tidied up my triple layer mounts a little - plenty more could be done to make them look nice but hopefully they will be hidden under a load cover one day! A little more fettling required to the bottom of the middle layer so it fits well against the chassis rail and I can get a screw through.

Yesterday we went for a walk in a local park and there was a guy with his daughter running an SCX10II, trailing on the paths and trying to scale a riverbank. “We could come here and do that” said Mrs BC. Right, better finish the JK... This morning it is 4 degrees centigrade in the garage so I did as much as I could before the cold set in to my fingers and I started making mistakes. Third delrin plate cut and drilled on both sides so now cutting down the original single plate mount to go in the middle so it looks less Swiss cheese-like. I think this might actually work! Three plates a lot stiffer than the single but the delrin is pretty light so not too much weight added. I’m sure a single metal plate would suffice but I’ll use what I have!

So...the JK has been in hibernation as my garage is not a nice place to be in the winter. Pre-Christmas I was working on scale buildings for Christmas presents and since then I’ve been back to Tamiya with a little Mini but my son was taking a look at the JK in the garage yesterday when we were packing away the Hornet after a back garden blitz and asked when we could take it out. Erm, not just yet... So I started making a new rear damper mount

Thanks for the update @Redback, looks like a lot of fun with the new motor. I'm still drawing together parts, I've boxed myself in by staying brushed with a Holmes Hobbies Crawlmaster 550 8T motor and using Nimh. Don't want to burn it out on the first run so likely starting with a 10T pinion.

PM sent!

I've seen it with the decals on since, very purposeful!

Straight lines are over-rated @Stormbringer. Not much in this life is straightforward and you won’t notice when it is muddy! But it might bother you when it is on the shelf! I like it, suits the utilitarian nature of the body. Keep ‘em for now, fix it at your leisure.

That looks great @Stormbringer. I reckon the colour will really work when all the extra bits are added to the body.

First back garden bash of the year

I've just seen that the Blitzer Beetle is coming back in stock. Blitzer Beetle This buggy chassis-based and there's a background thread here. it comes with oil dampers, ESC - decent kit for the money.

Following on from this, if you don't have the nostalgia factor, I would stay away form the Monster Beetle and Brat as they have inherent drivetrain problems. They can be fixed but it either takes money (MIP diff) or good DIY skills (Old Frogshot screw method). Unfortunately, Tamiya stopped producing the WT-01 chassis which is probably the closest to your Ion MT (though the WT-01 is 2WD). You can still import an Amarok WT01-N Amarok with the associated costs that brings. I run a Dual Hunter which is a dual motor version of this chassis but is long out of production. Related to to the WT-01 and the Dual Hunter is the 2WD WR-02 Wild Willy, the current interpretation of an 80s classic. A used one of these was one of my first kits and they are great fun with almost endless body modding opportunities . The battery position means that it spends most of its time on its rear wheels (or flipped) though. I wouldn't say it is the most complex of builds but it is good fun and again can have oil shocks, bearings and a horde of aftermarket parts like front bumpers (see below), exhausts, etc. The GF-01 noted in my previous post is basically a 4WD WR-02 and also likes to wheelie.

There could be a few Tamiya options to look at as well as the Mad Bull. For fun - Gf-01 Semi-scale - CC-01 Defender More scale - CC-02 Merc The CC-01 is an old platform with limitations off-road but can be modded to make it better. The CC-02 is relatively new and is an example of Tamiya at its more complex, some say over-engineered. If the scale trail runner or crawler is what you are looking for then it might've best to look outside of Tamiya at Element or Axial. As for buggies, not my thing so can't comment. I have a modded Hornet I love but it is only good on short grass. If you for a Tamiya, you really need a toolkit for JIS screws Tool kit And you will need bearings!!!!

I'm certainly not trying to dissuade you from buying a new RC or a Tamiya but as you already have the Ion MT and cost is a factor, why don't you take it apart and rebuild it? Tamiya are great (I have a few myself) but aren't that cheap and the ones at the lower end of the scale might give you the performance you are looking for. You could do it in sections rather than have a table of bits. If you wanted to go down the new-build-kit-from-scratch route and Tamiya then if you can find one, a Mad Bull is a starting place if it is going to be run somewhere like the pic of the Ion. Mad Bull at Modelsport You can improve the steering with a simple mod Mad Bull steering mod and start the hop-ups with oil filled dampers - most cheap Tamiya come with pogo sticks as standard.

@suls From the brushed Outlaw manual

You're off to a great start there. I should have thought about the motor mount and prop shaft but I've not got any TTs so not at the forefront of my mind. The Carson radio should get you off to a good start, I've the a couple of the wheel / trigger equivalent as I didn't get on with sticks. Great service from your LHS!