My Tamiya TT-02
 

Well Lincpimp's Tamiya M cars got my wheels spinning since the kits are cheap. So I started looking at the different models of Tamiya kits, exploring the different features and bodies. I knew I would want 4WD and shaft driven to start so I ended up zoning in on the TT-02 models. They offer the TT02, TT02D for drift, TT02S, and TT02R with different levels of upgrades and +/- a body.

I landed on the base model TT02 with a Mercedes Benz GT3 body. I really like the GT3 lines and looks.

http://www.gpmd.com/image/t/tamc8639.jpg

Tower got the kit to me in 2 days time and I began to assemble shortly after. The parts trees are pretty well labeled and segmented by area making the parts pretty easy to find when needed. The bags of screws weren't as nicely labeled so it took a minute to sort thru them and make sure I knew which were which as needed by the instruction manual.
The instructions themselves are ok at best. They're very cluttered as it incorporates every language on the same page instead of separate instruction sets in different languages. They also list certain parts and screws on the side then put other parts needed in the illustrations. I missed a part or two because of this but its easy to go back and knock it out.

In no time, I had the diffs assembled and installed in the chassis tub with a-arms, hubs and motor installed. This was accomplished in roughly 2 hours time with no rush and a 3yr begging to go out in the rain.
I did opt for a bearing kit from Fast Eddy's for $15 versus buying the bearings separately. This definitely helped for a smooth drivetrain in the finished product.
My plan for now is to run the "Torque Tuned" motor until otherwise needed. I'm trying to keep it tamed for now to help my 3yr son learn to drive.

https://i.imgur.com/awCLPys.jpg
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The next morning was installing the shocks, steering components, body mounts and electronics, which didn't take long at all. I soldered on new battery connections and charged up a 2s back and was good to go.

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Time for a quick test drive. Man it's fun! The ESC/motor combo easily powers this car pretty quickly and can power into a drift nicely even without drift tires. Stock ESC brakes aren't too strong in brushed mode tho. Brushless mode has adjustable brake power and drag brake so I may swap to a 17.5T just for the brake adjustment. The car powers into a drift/donut easily one way but not the other way, thinking that's torque limiting. Stock setup does have some understeer so I'll see if I can fix that to turn in harder. Thinking of a ball diff for the front and maybe locking up the rear diff. For roughly $100, these kits are pretty great. Sensored capable esc, great bodies, easy to assemble. Overall this car is good, cheap fun and I'm looking forward to another.


Next up is tackling the body. My boy's favorite color is green so the car will be some variation of green. Not my first choice but hey!

I put an ebay 17.5t bl motor on the same esc that you have. It is about the same speed as the torque tuned motor, so I would suggest a 13.5t if you want to go faster. I have that setup in the tamiya dump truck, but plan to put the 17.5t in the konghead I am working on. These tamiya kits are awesome!!!

I am getting a tt02, just need to settle on which one. Probably the NSX.

My boy wants to learn to drive so I may pickup the ebay 17.5T to keep it slow enough. This would allow better breaking to be programmed. Although I can adjust the throttle endpoint for him so maybe a 13.5T for when I drive.

The detail and lines in the bodies are great. This GT3 body comes with a separate inner nose to make functioning headlight lenses, plastic side mirrors, and a nice rear wing with plastic risers.

The NSX looks great too! and for $90 shipped from Tower(with coupon), that's hard to be for what's included. Add a radio and servo and you're running.

I put the 13.5t motor on the dump truck, much better than the 17.5t And the brakes are stupid strong on 5 setting, so i dialed it down to 3. The drag brake was factory set on 2, so i went back to 1 which is off. I really think the 13.5t is the best bet for upgrade over the torque tuned motor, which was quite surprising to me. I am using a 5000 50c 2s lipo, so that may be making the best out of the brushed motor!

Wouldn't it be an option to get a cheap remote with EPA's on the throttle channel?
Then you can use the 13,5 motor, but your son can drive it slowely to.
Plus that if he gets more expierenced and wants to go faster you don't have to buy a new motor?

I heard good story's about the Flysky GT3B remote, they are cheap as beans.

I have both the GT3B and GT3C. Great product and receivers can be had for as low as 5 bucks... I just bought 10 of them of Ebay. The GT3C comes with a lipo battery, so well worth the extra over the 3B.

I have one of the Traxxas radios in this one with the Bluetooth module so it's easy to turn it down from the app. I did that yesterday at lunch with my boy and he was yelling at me to make the car go faster....

I guess my hesitation is not wanting to tear it up with a more potent motor, thinking the 17.5T would be better. But I'll likely pick up both.

I'm thinking about getting some chalk dust and cones to layout a course on my driveway. This thing is a hoot to drive around and the 6100mah 2s I have in there last FOREVER!

Get the box of sidewalk chalk, your kid will love it, mine does. She makes roads for me to drive on!

That's even better and we already have it. I was just watching the Youstube and saw courses drawn out in parking lots with chalk. Good enough for me.

I started work on the FF-3 chassis last night. Killer deal, straight from tamiya usa with free shipping. right at 100 bucks. No esc included, but it does have a bearing kit and oil shocks included.

Well I have a 17.5T Tekin in hand as well as a 13.5T ebay motor on the way. We'll see how this goes.

And I should be home alone for a little while this afternoon, I'll try to get the body cut up and masked off.

Also picked up the high speed gear set, alu prop shaft, and mini CVA shocks to spice it up a bit. Sounds like guys gear to the moon on a 17.5t to the high speed gear set should help that.

Didn't get to th body yesterday but hoping to do that tonight possibly.

It's been a while since I cut out a new body. I always used body scissors and kinda hacked it up. On this, I decided to check the YouTube out for tips and it seemed like the scoring method works best. So I grabbed a utility blade/box cutter and went to town...

Getting the hang of it
https://i.imgur.com/qHKnAc9.jpg

This is definitely the cleaner method to cutting bodies and getting clean lines and cuts.

All cut out.
https://i.imgur.com/Wew2sq1.jpg
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The body lines and detail are great! Man this is a good looking body. And to top it off, I hadn't looked at the decal sheet. O my! These are great!

https://i.imgur.com/W3Vr4O3.jpg


Again, for $100 these Tamiya kits can't be beat.

Looking good dude!!!, and yes, there is alot in the box for 100 bucks.

I will ave to look up the scoring method. I use body scissors, and get decent results, however some of the tight cuts can be a pain. I need to take the dremel with a sanding wheel to a few of mine...

Hopefully I get some time this week and can get a few of mine painted, although I doubt it...

Finally got the wing, headlight and taillight buckets cut out. The wing must be thicker lexan because it was much harder to score, but I got it. My awesome wife was in town yesterday and stopped at the LHS for some paint. I let her pick out the main color but said it needed to be my sons favorite color, so fluorescent green it is. I should be ready to paint this afternoon after giving the lexan a quick bath.

https://i.imgur.com/jcvCQzA.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/g3C8UdM.jpg

Got everything masked off this morning before work to be ready for paint when I got home. Forgot to snap a pic then.

Started playing some paint this afternoon. Fluorescent green that I'll back up with white. Also have some smoke paint for the windows.

https://i.imgur.com/j5ImTtW.jpg

Tail lights

https://i.imgur.com/1XIjGd4.jpg

Laid some paint...

http://i.imgur.com/s7MMZlu.jpg?1
http://i.imgur.com/EM93LWu.jpg?1

3 layers of green, 1 white, 1 black. Came back and sprayed Tamiya Smoke color on the windows. Also started the tedious process of cutting out decals to apply. There are many decals with yellow accents that would look great with the recommended Tamiya grey color but not so much with fluorescent green so I'll leave those off for now. Quite a few more decals to cut and apply. Still need to install the headlights, taillights, and side mirrors as well.

http://i.imgur.com/6R7ZhJl.jpg?1
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Will try to install the high speed gear set, CVA shocks, and alu prop shaft this weekend. I did receive the ebay 13.5T motor as well so that or the Tekin 17.5T may go in as well.

Got the body all stickers up and I'm pretty happy with it. Looks really good zipping around the driveway. I really like the head and tail lights,the detail is pretty realistic.

Still have to trim the body posts and build the CVA shocks. I ended up taking off the stock servo saver in favor of a Vanquish 20mm servo arm. Much better now.

https://i.imgur.com/Jsu3LVR.jpg
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Got my oil filled shocks assembled and installed.

http://i.imgur.com/XWlDtHg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/rZr7DG5.jpg

Looking good, can you snap a pic of that servo arm?

Is it just a solid arm with no spring function? I debated doing that with my M03 years ago, the stock tamiya saver just has too much slop in it. I ended up using a skinny zip tie to firm it up, just wrapped around the C shaped plastic piece that acts as the saver "spring"

Yes sir. The geometry is off a little with the stock draglink since it is limited in the range of motion so I'm looking for a new turnbuckle to use with better pivotballs. With the original saver, I noticed a couple times that the car would continue to turn even though I let it center. That doesn't happen now.

http://i.imgur.com/UIVmzwR.jpg

I did finally receive the Yeah Racing adjustable motor mount and I have some gears coming now so I can install the 17.5T soon.