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Blakbird's 57828 Fast Attack Vehicle Build 5 years 6 months ago #51879

Note: This build log is excerpted from my web site . You can check there for larger versions of every photo or further reading.

A Fast Attack Vehicle (or Desert Patrol Vehicle) is a real thing, although you've probably never seen one. This is a fast off road military vehicle similar to a sandrail used for desert and dune driving. They have been largely supplanted with Humvees now, although they are still in use by Special Forces.

The 58046 Fast Attack Vehicle was first released in 1984. This is a rear wheel drive, independent trailing arm suspension buggy with a tub chassis and roll cage. It has simple friction dampers on all four corners and a hard body shell. An updated version was re-released in 2011 as 58946, then again as 58539 in 2012 with a shark mouth graphic. If you are paying attention you might notice that my model number is none of these. At the time I was looking to buy this model it was out of stock everywhere and I found that the "Expert Built" version was available and was actually for sale at a lower price than the kit. Although I usually like to build a kit myself, I had heard that Tamiya did a great job with the graphics on their pre-built kits and it turns out to be true.
The 58050 Wild One released in 1985 is almost the same as the Fast Attack Vehicle but with some key differences. Most importantly, it comes with aluminum oil shocks instead of friction dampers. It has a flexible polycarbonate body instead of a hard body, and it also has different wheels and tires. What I wanted was a combination of these two things employing the hard body and scale wheels and tires of the FAV but the nice aluminum shocks of the Wild One. You might think this would be as easy as buying some shocks, but they are not for sale as complete units. I had to buy dozens of individual spare parts to make the conversion, but I am very glad I did. I drove the model both stock and after the upgrade, and the shocks make a huge difference.

So is this Fast Attack Vehicle actually fast? It kind of is! It is much quicker than I expected. It is not a 6s brushless insane-mobile, but it is quite quick. The model comes with two pinion gears, a high and low, and it is pretty fast even on the low. With an all rigid chassis it is not advisable to jump it since you might break something, but on gravel or sand it is a blast to drive. I may convert it to a special ops version with some Knight Customs accessories later.

Since this was an "Expert Built" ready-to-run model, there was no construction to do so this page just presents the contents of the box. The model is packaged at an angle for good visibility which means the box is very large with a lot of empty space. Inside the model is very well protected, although you can see that the driver's right arm is broken off. It was a simple matter to glue it back on.
The stock radio system is a nice 2-channel 2.4 GHz unit. The shape is a little odd, but it is a perfectly good radio. Naturally I replaced it anyway just so I could use my standard radio which I use for everything. "Expert Built" is a good moniker. There are no stripped screw heads or bubbled decals. Everything looks really nice. Even the electronics are mounted squarely with the wires nicely bundled.
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Blakbird's 57828 Fast Attack Vehicle Build 5 years 6 months ago #51880

It turns out to take a whole lot of parts just to replace some shocks. Not only are the Wild One aluminum shocks I wanted different piece parts, but the mounting arrangement is also different so those parts are needed as well. It took orders from about 5 stores to collect all of the below parts.
These images shows the before and after versions of the shocks. The left image is the front shocks, and the right image the rear. Particularly in the front you can see the much larger length and volume of the new shock. In the rear the size is about the same but the quality of the new parts is much better.
Here is the front end before and after. You can see that the new shock tower is taller and is angled back. The lower mount also now hangs below the trailing arm.
Here is the rear end before and after. There is not so big a difference as the front except that the aluminum looks better.
Even though there is nothing wrong with the stock radio, I like to use my programmable Spektrum for everything so I put in a new 2 channel receiver.
I replaced the plastic bushings with ball bearings both in the wheel hubs and the gearbox. Here are the old parts to be discarded.

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Blakbird's 57828 Fast Attack Vehicle Build 5 years 6 months ago #51882

I didn't do much in the way of finishing given that this model came built already. You might think that the camouflage is airbrushed on top of a nice paint job, but it actually looks to be the bare molded plastic color with camo decals which are very nicely done. The tires are even glued which is probably unnecessary at this power level.
The only upgrade I still intend to perform is to add some 3D printed engine parts in the rear.
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The following user(s) Liked this: stingray-63

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Blakbird's 57828 Fast Attack Vehicle Build 3 years 10 months ago #59977

[...] the camouflage [...] looks to be the bare molded plastic color with camo decals [...].


It is such a great box art paint/decals job. Has anybody ever heard of these camo decals being sold separately. Seems to me quite a nice aftermarket idea. Please let me know, thanks
MetalMaxx

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Blakbird's 57828 Fast Attack Vehicle Build 3 years 10 months ago #59978

I never saw rere decals for sale ( maybe mciracing) nor the .50 machine gun I am looking for several years.

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Last edit: by stingray-63.

Blakbird's 57828 Fast Attack Vehicle Build 3 years 10 months ago #59979

[...] the camouflage [...] looks to be the bare molded plastic color with camo decals [...].


It is such a great box art paint/decals job. Has anybody ever heard of these camo decals being sold separately. Seems to me quite a nice aftermarket idea. Please let me know, thanks
MetalMaxx


? They're Tamiya standard kit decals for the re-release FAV, e.g.:

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Blakbird's 57828 Fast Attack Vehicle Build 3 years 10 months ago #59980

awesome, thanks :-) oh man :-)

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Blakbird's 57828 Fast Attack Vehicle Build 3 years 10 months ago #59981

... nor the .50 machine gun I am looking for several years.


I was surprised you couldn't find the relevant sprue from the re-release ... I didn't realise it had been 9 years since the FAV re-release & 8 from the sharkmouth version :blink:

:)

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Blakbird's 57828 Fast Attack Vehicle Build 3 years 10 months ago #59984

So many time????? I remind me my rere first fav. To be honnest I never found any mg fav tree. And I am looking for several 1/10 weapons for my scale rc.

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Blakbird's 57828 Fast Attack Vehicle Build 3 years 10 months ago #59985

I built my original 4 years ago.

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