390 - The Wild One Revampin Is Going On

Continuing with the works on my Wild One I've finished to disassembly the car and with the bare chassis in my hand I've deeply but gently washed it and I've replaced the 13 years old "Ko Propo" stikers with a pair of new "Oakley" ones according to the trend settled with my Kyosho Ultima SB Dirt Master and to my Tamiya BBX.

For the moment I will keep this original chassis it's that is intact spite it shows  many signs of its use... but I like it ✌!

To be ready when it will be the moment to install the electronics I've update the Robitronic Speedstar 2 (17 turns motor limit in this case) with 4mm bullet connectors and extending the motor cables that will reach easily the Dird Tuned placed on the back.

I've prepared also the set of new wheels placing the Schumacher tires from  JC Racing pink rims to a set of yellow ones.

389 - Bringing My Wild One Back To Life

It is the time to start to work on my Wild One. It is a car that I love as I never figured and for its build, at that time, I’ve spent a lot of time and payed a lot of attention. Just for information it was my first build with Tamiya Craft Tools RC Tool Set.

I’m ready to give to this car its 4th life: the first out of the box with black FAV’s parts and some black custom parts, the second with 2.2 pink rims and Super Stock motor, the third (never lived) with that horrible aluminum chassis and Dirt Tuned motor (to save the transimission) and the life it is going to live with a new body, new yellow rims and front suspensions reinforce.

So I’ve started to disassemble the car to give a deep cleaning of the old parts involved in this revamp. The KO receiver will be swapped with a new Futaba one and I’m planning to use the original chassis saving the new one in case of breakages.

Cabling will be better organized, I will keep the KO servo (old but good for this car), front shocks need to be rebuilted and a new livery will revitalize the car considering that the original always looks a bit faded.

Bearing on axles, pure old school 😎

388 - Chrome or Yellow?

Finally I’ve been able to wrap the set of BBX rims I’ve dechromed and paintend in yellow with a new set of tires.

I’m not full happy of the fresh painted rims but I shouldn’t make a full valuation without watching it with tires on and I have to admit that it isn’t so poor.

For a while I’ve considered to switch from the stock BBX wheels to a set of standard 2.2 buggy wheels because, running it on the grass, I should have prefer to gain some millimeters of air under the car.

Time ago, with my BBX and my Ultima side by side, I’ve noticed that Ultima’s wheels are not so taller than the BBX one so, with wheels in my hands, I’ve decided to make a direct camparison.

Well, it’s pretty clear BBX wheels are taller than 2.2s and I’m satisfied because the higher sidewall tires will keep the full spirit of this car.

387 - GForce Pit-Cube 300, A Compact Charger!

 

I’m going on with the idea to slim the equipment destinated to follow me on holidays saving weight and space and making it more practical to use.

The matchbox sized box and its contents 😎

 

From a while I’ve noticed that on the japanese market are available some compact chargers powered via USB-C and I've keept them in sight considering that for weight and dimensions they could help me.

In particular my attention was on the last released: the GForce Pit-Cube 300 saw on the IG of Masami Hirosaka, the legend, himself.

Weeks ago I’ve bought another USB-C powered device, a Miniware TS101 soldering iron that requires a powerful USB charger to properly works so, all was ready to try the jump.

I’ve found the Pit-Cube to buy in one of my fav online shop: Banzai Hobby in Japan so, without esitation, I’ve bought this charger even if it was in backorder and I received it in almost ten days.

Great service from Banzai, as usual.

The GForce Pit-Cube is surprisingly small, less than a cigarettes pack (I’m a former smoker), it carries toughness when in hand, it looks well builted.

Unlucky its default language is japanese and after some attempts to find on the manual the way to switch to english I was considering to bring it to Venice and ask to my wife to help me, until when…

… for pure chance I found the right menu and we started to understand each other. Great!

386 - The TT 60 ESC Sits In Its Place, Finally

The Tamiya BBX is a great model: I love how it looks and I like how it performs but arranging the Electronics isn't an easy task.

Recently I've decided to avoid the use of the cover for the ESC and to be safe I've decided to swap the freshly installed Robitronic Speedstar for he MTroniks TT60 ESC bought year ago and used only a pair of times.

I preferred the MTroniks for its solid construction and because it claims to be waterproof… a good feature for an exposed installation.

Unfortunately the TT's cables are stiffer than usual cables and placing it in the narrow spaces of my BBX have been quite difficult. I've decided to extend the motor cables with softer ones hiding the original blue and yellow under the ESC shelf in the attempt to make a clean and tidy work another cable extension for the battery was already in place.

I've been a bit in trouble to find a good place for the switch, it's bigger than usual also compared much older ESCs.

Found the place for every cable I've well secured them all to the BBX cage with some nylon bands; some other will be needed at a second glance and I will consider to do some more adjustement because I'm not full satisfied by the result.

385 - I Got A New (Smart) Soldering Iron

Two weeks ago my Dremel Versatip stopped to work before starting the soldering session to arrange my MTroniks TT ESC to fit my Tamiya BBX.

I was quite happy about that soldering iron mainly because of its portability that made it good when I pack my stuff for holidays.

As my usual I've started to surf the Web to look for a good alternative and I found out this Miniware TS101 usb powered smart soldering iron that with its marker-like size should be a good choice to my needs.

The TS101 stands on my laptop during its firmware update

It's not cheap a cheap tool and I hope that the money payed forces me to take good care of it to keep it properly working for a long time. 

My new soldering iron have been immediately put at work on my TT ESC to swap the old 3,5mm bullet connectors to 4mm ones, to extend the motor cables and to solder them to the motor tabs and all went good: it reaches the working temperature in a few of seconds, it is very handly and easy to clean. Finger crossed for next soldering works.

384 - BBX's New Livery Finished

All body works have been completed and here is shown how my BBX looks in its new livery. To me it looks great, hope you like it. 👍

It is a very simple paint scheme and as planned I've done my best to stay out of troubles limiting my ego in the search for unlikely pyrotechnic effects.

383 - BBX's Body Parts Finished

Roof and tails have been completed with some stickers and are ready to be installed, I hope that the car looks more bright than the previous livery.

I will be curious to try to alternate the new white tail ends with the old green ones, just to check how the car will looks.

382 - God Save The King

The alpine lawn where I drive my cars when in holidays is a wonderful place but wild grasses, even when well cut, tend to oppose a certain resistance and it raises ESC and motor temperatures so I've bought from RW Racing in the United Kingdom a pair of smaller steel pinions for my BBX.

This is why I love United Kingdom: you can spend only a few of pounds for a pair of pinions but the way you receive it spread a kind of timeless class that only Britain offers.

381 - What's Wrong Between Me And BBX's Driver Figure?

 

Another fail, we are not made one for the each other. It's evident 😓

I have one or two alternatives in my mind, my BBX can't remain without a driver figure but I guess I will be forced to use brushes instead of masking fluid and spray cans.

380 - Going On With BBX's Body

The main body of my BBX have been finished off with some stickers and a 3mm neon yellow lining stripe to hide some imperfections between the metallic green and the neon yellow paints.

Other parts have been painted in white also and are waiting for some other stickers and to be be drilled and installed on the car's cage.

Concerning the rear tail covers I'm corious to notice the difference trying with the new white ones and the old gree ones.

379 - How The Rescue of BBX's Wheels Turned Out

This is how the BBX wheels turned out after the chrome removal and the attempt to save them after a fail in dyeing. Fine primer, yellow paint and a light coat of gloss.

Sprays have been applied only on the outer face this is why it is flaking from other parts. Result seems quite acceptable, should I use it?

378 - Impossible To Resist

 

The paint on my BBX's body was just dry and I couldn't resist placing it on the car to see how is coming out. To my it looks great, doesn't it?

377 - Possible ESC Swap

Having a chat on Tamiya Club forums I learnt that some guys remove the ESC canopy from their BBX.

From then I'm considering that option but I don't feel easy in keeping the brittle Robitronic Speedstar 2 so exposed and I'm planning to swap it to my unused MTroniks TT60 that seems to be tougher and claims to be waterproof.

376 - Body Sides Finished

After the competion of their paint, the new body sides for my BBX have been refined making the holes needed to screw them to the and with a Oakley sticker each,

Then I removed all the old body parts and installed the new sides. I really love how it stars to look hope you like it also.

375 - New Receiver For My Wild One

My Wild One is still equipped with a KO receiver but to keep it in running condition, due to the switch from KO to Futaba, it needs a new receiver that will works with my 3PV radio gear

So I've bought this a new R203GF receiver also considering that  I'm going to deeply refresh the car to keep to having fun in driving it.

I've decided to go for a original Futaba receiver, I'm not comfortable with compatible one made by other makers. Thoughts?

374 - Keep It Simple And Stay Out Of Troubles

I'm considering different liveries for my BBX but the mantra is "keep it simple" (avoiding complex designs) and "stay out of troubles" (easy masking).

373 - Yellow BBX Rims, Again!

 

Honestlty, in a beautiful natural light, the BBX rims painted in PS-27 neon yellow do not look so bad and I've been quite surprised in shooting this pic. Maybe I could try to finish them with a coat of gloss.

372 - BBX Body Sides Paint Completed

My Tamiya BBX body is on its way to be completed, the first step have been made and the body sides have been painted. After the painting the removal of the back ends is evident and it seem to not look so bad.

371 - BBX Body Sides Ready For The Painting

I've completed the cut and the sanding of the body sides of my BBX and now they are ready to be painted. In cutting them I've removed the portion of lexan roughly shown in yellow because many times, in watching the car, they appear s bit precarious to me.

I take the habit to help my self, during painting, with a carton support because it can be easily handled than sigle parts.

370 - BBX Rims Painting (Second Fail)

To fix the problem occurred with the dye of the new rims set for my Tamiya BBX I've decided to spray them with the Tamiya Ps-27 I've started do use in my lexan bodies from a while.

Neon yellows wheels match very well my last colors choiche and are usefull to spot my cars on the grass.

Painting the wheel is a solution that don't like but in this case I tried to save them to the awful yellow reached with dye: another fail.

I've sprayed them with a fine primer and than with the yellow but the result reminds me most "Jurassic Park" than a race car of the good old days.

369 - BBX Rims Dyeing (With a Fail)

Well my BBX rims were ready to by dyed so I did it!

It have been the first time for me (and da last) and I well prepared all with the maximum accuracy.

To be sure to avoid the plastic to touch the hot pot walls I used a threaded bar and cooking string to keep them in the boiling water.

After almost half an hour of simmering in the hot water my four wheels turned out in a not solid dark shaded neon yellow.

I guess that three mistakes have been done: I havent deep whased the rims before starting to dye them, starting with much low water temperature after boiled it, ending with adding much diye in the attempt to save the savable.

368 - How To Switch The Wild One To (Almost) Total Black Set Up

Back in the 2013 when I bought my Wild One I decided do go for a total black set up regarding chassis/plastics. It has been a little expansive but to me the result, after more than 10 years, remain magnificent.

While ordering my WO in addition to the kit I purchased the following FAV spares:

#19335611 (rollcage)

#19000238 (D parts, side guards)

#54154 (F103 Carbon reinforced Upright).

I’ve also painted in black the BA (aluminum shock towers), A6, A10, G3 and G10 parts. The only parts that do not well tollerate the paint coating are the shock towers but I will keep them because I like the wabi-sabi effect.

Also the steering linkages have been updated using black ball ends and tougher rods but, my fault, I do not remeber the Tamiya codes.

The A11 and A12 parts that have swapped with two scratch build substitutes that have been, of course, painted in black. Using that craft made parts allow me to close the horrible hole on the right side also.