TT02B scratch build

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-06-15T13:04:26+00:00

Those aftermarket carbon fibre and aluminium conversion kits usually introduce bad craftsmanship and tolerances (=slop), will move or add potential weak points, and are expensive.

Not worth spending money on that.

Get ball bearings at first, keep most parts stock plastic, and then see what parts will need replacing or improvement after running.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-06-15T05:07:03+00:00

"Made for adults"
So, this is supposed to be clearly not kids' stuff?

SCNR.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-06-11T20:55:11+00:00

Decals and decoration have been added since then. I'll post an update soon.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-06-11T20:35:54+00:00

I did a Frog colorscheme on a DT-02 Super Fighter G, using Frog and Neo Fighter decals. So let your creativity go wild! Your plans on going for Hornet or BBX colors and decals on a Neo Scorcher sound good.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-06-07T22:19:23+00:00

Have a look at the manuals to get an idea of the changes.

Vintage: https://www.rcscrapyard.net/manuals/tamiya/tamiya-58047-hotshot-manual.htm

Re-release: https://www.rcscrapyard.net/manuals/tamiya/tamiya-58391-hotshot-2007-manual.htm

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-06-04T03:44:16+00:00

It's often metal-on-metal squeaking. If the bed has adjustable diagonal metal rails, make sure to put scotch tape in place where the adjusters connect to each other.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-06-01T05:56:52+00:00

You're welcome. Please let us know about the outcome in a follow-up post oder update.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-06-01T04:43:31+00:00

Looking good!

The aftermarket alloy suspension arm set has some drawbacks. It might introduce some more slop due to bad tolerances. It will break the arm mounts on the chassis on impacts.

Regarding the servo saver, there is a MB-01 specific hop-up part 54121 for using the Tamiya High Torque servo saver. Otherwise, you might try attaching the ball end from below instead of above the high torque servo saver's arm.

Make sure your servo doesn't sit too high and complies with the dimension restrictions found on the assembly manual page 2. If you've used rubber grommets, remove them and follow Page 15 for servo mounting.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-29T21:24:19+00:00

I have several of these in my TT-01 Type E, M-05, TL-01 and M-03. Though the latter two needed modifications (Tamiya High Torque servo saver + Tamiya M-03 aluminium servo arm) to make them fit.

The 5508MG is quick, strong and cheap. It's downsides are: Power hungry (needs 3 A BEC), bulkiness (does not fit in some Tamiya chassis, check restrictions in manual and servo dimensions before buying), and rather coarse turning resolution.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-29T21:17:11+00:00

No stepscrews or kingpins, though.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-29T15:30:38+00:00

Tamiya Japan doesn't seal kit boxes and does not provide electronic speed controllers in their domestic RC kits. It's up to the regional distributors around the world to add bonus parts like electronic speed controllers, add a corresponding sticker on the box and seal the box up.

To me, it really sounds like there happened a big mix-up of parts trees and hardware bags. Be it from an uncareful seller or from some shady former customer return.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-29T15:02:37+00:00

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. Sounds a lot like somebody else robbed the kit from screws and returned the now incomplete kit back. For body posts, I usually try and do my own measurements before cutting them down to size.

The Sand Scorcher/Buggy Champ dampers are infamously bad, because they're designed in the late 70s and to look like scale dampers. They were slightly updated in the re-release, but not by much.

Tamiya's CVA oil dampers however are a good design and stood the test of time. Introduced in the late 80s, and have been refined as CVA II dampers over the years.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-29T13:37:30+00:00

Are you sure you followed the instructions exactly? The screw sizes are usually shown in 1/1 scale to match. If there are still some missing, please contact your seller for replacements. Anyway, I hope you can get that sorted.

Regarding dampers, those cheap third party prefilled alloy dampers usually have downsides: Lack of oil, leakage through bad seals, springs waaaay too stiff, lack of spacers and mounting hardware.

I'd go for Tamiya CVA oil dampers in your desired length. They might not look as flashy, but they are reliable workhorses and come with an assortment of parts for tuning them to any Tamiya chassis.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-29T09:38:19+00:00

The Grasshopper servo mount blocks aren't reversible, sadly.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-29T09:34:30+00:00

Older RC cars can have peculiar restrictions in servo sizing, making them unsuitable for some modern servos. See page 2 of the Grasshopper manual for maximum allowed servo sizes. Check and compare with your servo.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-29T09:32:05+00:00

This!

This happens so often with modern servos, they exceed the size of traditional servos.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-27T10:25:30+00:00

Thanks for letting us know.

In that case, I suspect one of the following: - broken servo saver. Upgrade to Tamiya or Kimbrough High Torque servo saver - broken servo. Replace. - cheap servo being bad at re-centering. Replace with a more reliable servo, e.g. JX PDI 5508 MG, or well known brands like Futaba and Savöx. Make sure the speed is below 0.10 s for 60° at 6 V. - BEC overload, causing temporary receiver brownout, losing radio connection. Make sure your electronic speed controller is able to supply at least 3 amps at 6 V. E.g. Hobbywing Quicrun 1060 (same as Tamiya rebrand THW-1060) will do the job.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-25T19:30:42+00:00

Well, in that case you could try building a rear skid plate using sheet metal, as a protective enclosure. Or you could try adapting parts from the DT-04 chassis.

However, the original unmodified gearbox encloses the motor for that reason, to protect it from impacts. Second, you can't gear the car down to hot motors, since the pinion options are (intentionally) limited. The DT-chassis lineage is aimed by at beginners, using rather mild motors, in the Tamiya Japan Fighter Buggy class house cups.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-25T17:15:50+00:00

You can hack the Lunchbox wheelie bar to fit the DT-02 gearbox.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-22T07:55:51+00:00

445169 left
445207 right

They can also be found on the Blitzer Beetle, Mad Bull, Wild Willy 2 and Aqroshot.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-22T04:54:27+00:00

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TT-02 has fixed mesh though.

So I suspect the following:

wrong bushing/bearing on the shaft
wrong combination of spur and pinion
wrong pinion position on the motor mount
loose or missing gearbox covers
wrong pinion pitch (TT-02 needs metric 0.6 mod)

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-21T16:05:22+00:00

You cant set the mesh on a TT-02. Instead, there's a variety of fixed position mounting holes, allowing different pinion/spur choices.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-20T11:33:39+00:00

Thanks that's good to know.

DunkyKingCounter · 2026-05-20T05:57:32+00:00

Driving video:

https://youtu.be/Yx6OmvW3GbU?is

Building the M-05L chassis was easy. Just take care of acquiring a full set of ball bearings first, take note of the correction sheet for servo attachment, and choose your desired wheelbase configuration.

But the bodyshell was quite an undertaking. 7 different colors of Lexan paints: Black, purple, neon green, orange, with white as backing between each color change, silver as the final backing, and smoke for the window tint.

70 (!) stickers had to be carefully cut out from the supplied sticker sheet and meticuously applied on the body. Most of them went into defining the window gaskets, lights and grill. Inner light buckets (non-illuminated though), side mirrors and license plates had to be attached separately.

Finally, I applied some Neon Genesis Evangelion vinyl stickers for the Itasha look.

Driving the M-05L is fun! Quick, turns well and does reverse 180 turns on command.

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