TOPIC:

stingray-63 wrote:

I prefer the old frog it looks heavier and more compact with the small wheeles.

I think it’s proportions fit the chassis a lot better.
I don’t even think the Brat suits it.

No and tires slip on grass. Very desappointed about the the brat

Nice to see another Blackfoot being built up.

I got mine 10 years ago (have thread on here), and I still need to do mine.
Just hope the plastic parts on mine is good without cracks, when times comes to do that.

So today me and one of my sons were both at home.
He was busy playing FIFA with his mates
I started to build my Blackfoot.
Normally on my builds I like to keep everything are near as possible to original.
With this build I’m just chucking every new part I’ve got at it and just putting the original parts to one side.
The main reason for this was I don’t want to even attempt cleaning up the painted chassis. So if I’m using brand new shiny red plastic, then I might as well use any other new parts as well so it all looks in keeping.
So here’s the start.

The suspension stays are also brand new as I had them left over from my Brat restoration, I thought I might as well use them.
The metal plate was off the original car, so I had to give that a good polish.
Going through all the parts at the weekend, I realised a lot of them had barely been used, if at all.

Front uprights next.
One thing I’m doing is attempting to keep all the fixings original Tamiya. I don’t know why, but it just seems right on the build.

I fitted another one of my copy Futaba S3003 servos. And I’ve got one more left that I’ll use for the MSC.
I’m pretty sure only 3 or 4 parts are missing, the first one is the speed controller arm. So for some strange reason I’ve left the other servo out for now.

Front end pretty much complete.
I don’t quite get the big cover at the front when Tamiya never felt the need previously to offer much protection to the radio gear. Or is it to help make the shock tower more rigid.

The big shocks go on.
I’m realising it’s going to be a bit of a pain when I install the other servo ??
They’re just very basic shocks, so I’m imagining this thing will bounce around a fair bit ?

Gear box. I’ve read so many bad things about this gear box I almost considered buying a brace and even the MIP ball diff from the start, but that seemed excessive when I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the car when it’s finished.

And fitting the real weak point in my opinion. The rear trailing arms. Both of these are beginning to crack, which means I’ll be buying more of these then at some point. These are holding for now so I’m leaving them.

Chassis complete.

The motor is a slight fudge because of 2 of the other missing parts, pinion and motor spacer. I’d have thought I could get it to run without these, I don’t know ??
The final missing part is the brace for the rear body posts. I’ll sort out these bits at a later date.
One departure from the original, I’ve put on the metal parts the hold on the rear trailing arms. These are the ones from the Frog and Brat. I just think seeing that bit of metal just makes it look better.

And just for final effect, I chucked on the wheels and popped on the body.
It’s going to be interesting try to clean up those tyres, especially if I want to soak them in glycerin.

The body shell really makes this model. The chassis just looks like a big lump and if I’m honest isn’t one of my favourites. But I must say seeing the body on there I could get to like this car.
I’m not a fan of the yellow wheels. This feels a bit like one of Tamiya’s more toy like efforts.
I’d have to live with it for a while. I’d have thought silver would look better.
Thanks Al

So this gear box skid plate was on the Blackfoot when I got it.
But in true man rebuilds something and ends up with parts left over style, this part was left over. Having rechecked the instructions it appears it is not part of the original build.
Was this introduced with the Monster Beetle ?

Thanks.

The bf is so nice in black. I love it. You did a nice built.
The rear skid is one of the monster rear bumper parts.

Cheers Flo.
The more I look at it, in black with the yellow wheels it kind of works. I think because my wheels are older, the brightness has dulled on them and they look okay.

I looked up the MB instructions and yes that’s when the rear skid guard came in.

I’m thinking of putting the Brat skid guard up front, because I have 2 of them.
And I’m tempted to put that MB rear skid plate on as well.