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- Arrma RC's
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- Typhon 3s
Hi All,
Having read this back before posting, it is a little long and probably rather boring for most. It is nothing new or exciting, just my journey so far as best as I can describe it... Skip to the bullet points and photos for the real details of the 'build'!
So I have been on the Forum for a while but I am not a ‘chatty man’ on forums, more a lurker. I have mostly been using this gold mine for resource and ideas. With the 5th Year Anniversary, I thought it about time I give a little back (and of course throw my hat into the competition!) so I have become a Premium Member and bashed out (see what I did there?) this nonsense...
Thank you @WoodiE for your efforts in setting this place up and maintaining it. It is truly a great place to spend (read: lose track of) time. Thank you all, especially those who take the time to detail and share their experience (and generally not begrudging the costs they have incurred to get it!). I have subscribed to a few of those with YouTube channels and thoroughly enjoy watching and learning too. Thank you to those who again spend their time for the benefit of others. Some of us 'fans' do like to keep ourselves quiet.
This all started for me at the end of 2019… Well maybe a little earlier if you count my first RC as a very young boy (I’m currently 34… still a 'young boy'?!) which was a Tamiya Fighter Buggy RX. I remember having hours of fun driving it around the small garden we had growing up. I am not sure what happened to it in the end. The sands of time probably took its toll and I didn’t have enough interest (or money) in it to want to keep it… Now it remains just fond memories… I am tempted to buy one for the shelf as a memento but is it really the same?!
Fast forward many years and having spent most of my ‘hobby’ time (read: lots and lots of money!) on motorcycles I now find myself with a young family. Fortunately, the motorcycle (Triumph Speed Triple 955i) remains quietly in the garage for the occasional escape. However, the time came when spending valuable garage time with my 18 month old son, we discovered that we enjoyed flying an old micro helicopter together. I think it was a joke Christmas present from my parents a few years before. It was great to see his enthusiasm for it so I bought a couple more. It quickly became apparent that both our skill sets were rather limited to say the least and there were a few near misses and many crashes… I decided it best we ‘retire’ those much to my sons dismay…
With this new found prospect of RC fun to have with my son, I was wasting work time on YouTube and came across Kevin Talbot. Love to hate him or not, I found his energy for RC captivating. Many hours later, I have in mind that I want to spend my ‘Birthday money’ (read: secret stash from SWMBO) on a new RC buggy (fondly remembering the Tamiya). I went to a model shop (about an hour from me as I have nothing too local). Although having done a bit of research, I had no intention of spending as much or real knowledge of Arrma before I ended up convinced and I walked out with an Arrma Typhon Mega… That is where this Build Log really starts…
I enjoyed the car and felt I got a good deal from the model shop until I found this Forum where distraction and temptation is plentiful! From my love of motorbikes, I wanted to ‘upgrade’ and personalise this car to my liking. Please bear in mind, that I am not a ‘hands on’ person. My skills are mostly academic… There was and remains a lot to learn. There have been real sweat, tears and blood involved in this which makes it even more satisfying.
I read the various ‘must have’ Mega upgrades and ran with it from there. Quickly spending a small fortune (sorry son, your inheritance is being enjoyed whilst I’m alive!) on various items which I shall outline below. As many have said, converting this Mega to effectively a 3S BLX is more expensive but nowhere near as informative or enjoyable! The most painful cost of all of this is certainly import duty from the US into the UK. 20% is enough but the Royal Mail then charge (I laughed when someone wrote ‘ransom’ for this) another £8 for ‘Admin costs’.
Starting from nothing, I have bought and set up a fair amount of tools, batteries, charger and spares. I have learnt how to solder (good enough for me anyway) and I have learnt to be more gentle (read: plenty of stripped threads, too much Loctite used and general cack-handedness!).
So what have I done? Far too much to remember accurately and let me know if you spot something I have not mentioned but this is where I am at present:
I originally 'upgraded' to a Dumbo RC Transmitter and Receiver but I recently bought a FlySky GT5 Transmitter and a few Receivers from Banggood. The Dumbo RC kit was good but I just prefer the feel and features of the FlySky.
My favourite tools are my Arrowmax drivers.
I am currently running 50K front and 20K rear in the diffs. The shocks have the stock 550cst oil in them.
It is set up how I like it for now but I cannot help myself but tinker… I have said that I need to save my money for parts when I break them now and more importantly for the next rig surely?!
I do not know why I went down this path but I ended up getting a SkyRC GPS Speedometer and I can see how addictive speed running must be…
The Mega did 17mph on the 8.4v NimH battery. I got 30 mph on 3S and 56 mph on 4S with the Brushless set up with a 15T Pinion. Later, I was running 4S, an 18T Pinion and Proline Badlands tyres and got 67 mph. I have gone up to a 20T Pinion and put on the Hoons to try to break 70 mph (this is my ‘target’, although I am sure that I will want more if I break it…). However, the buggy took a bit of a tumble and the Speedometer finally threw in the towel to my abuse. I have ordered a new SkyRC GNSS Performance Analyser to try some more. Watch this space...
My son does get to play with the Typhon when we are in a very large open space. He sits on my crouched knee and gets to throttle or steer. It is as I hoped and I love that he enjoys it so much, frequently asking for it to join us for our walks. I have bought a couple of Banggood (I seem to have had pretty good experience with them, including ZOP Lipo batteries, so far) smaller RC cars which he can have his own fun bashing in our garden. I even managed to surprise myself by making two small ramps for the garden. Although expensive and as much a distraction from her as my motorbike I am sure my wife appreciates the improved safety I have playing with RC cars.
This is of course not where I stopped… I have spent more. I had to get another rig but I will save that for another time.
Well done if you made it this far. Thank you all again!
Stay Calm and RC!
Right now, Stay Safe!
Having read this back before posting, it is a little long and probably rather boring for most. It is nothing new or exciting, just my journey so far as best as I can describe it... Skip to the bullet points and photos for the real details of the 'build'!
So I have been on the Forum for a while but I am not a ‘chatty man’ on forums, more a lurker. I have mostly been using this gold mine for resource and ideas. With the 5th Year Anniversary, I thought it about time I give a little back (and of course throw my hat into the competition!) so I have become a Premium Member and bashed out (see what I did there?) this nonsense...
Thank you @WoodiE for your efforts in setting this place up and maintaining it. It is truly a great place to spend (read: lose track of) time. Thank you all, especially those who take the time to detail and share their experience (and generally not begrudging the costs they have incurred to get it!). I have subscribed to a few of those with YouTube channels and thoroughly enjoy watching and learning too. Thank you to those who again spend their time for the benefit of others. Some of us 'fans' do like to keep ourselves quiet.
This all started for me at the end of 2019… Well maybe a little earlier if you count my first RC as a very young boy (I’m currently 34… still a 'young boy'?!) which was a Tamiya Fighter Buggy RX. I remember having hours of fun driving it around the small garden we had growing up. I am not sure what happened to it in the end. The sands of time probably took its toll and I didn’t have enough interest (or money) in it to want to keep it… Now it remains just fond memories… I am tempted to buy one for the shelf as a memento but is it really the same?!
Fast forward many years and having spent most of my ‘hobby’ time (read: lots and lots of money!) on motorcycles I now find myself with a young family. Fortunately, the motorcycle (Triumph Speed Triple 955i) remains quietly in the garage for the occasional escape. However, the time came when spending valuable garage time with my 18 month old son, we discovered that we enjoyed flying an old micro helicopter together. I think it was a joke Christmas present from my parents a few years before. It was great to see his enthusiasm for it so I bought a couple more. It quickly became apparent that both our skill sets were rather limited to say the least and there were a few near misses and many crashes… I decided it best we ‘retire’ those much to my sons dismay…
With this new found prospect of RC fun to have with my son, I was wasting work time on YouTube and came across Kevin Talbot. Love to hate him or not, I found his energy for RC captivating. Many hours later, I have in mind that I want to spend my ‘Birthday money’ (read: secret stash from SWMBO) on a new RC buggy (fondly remembering the Tamiya). I went to a model shop (about an hour from me as I have nothing too local). Although having done a bit of research, I had no intention of spending as much or real knowledge of Arrma before I ended up convinced and I walked out with an Arrma Typhon Mega… That is where this Build Log really starts…
I enjoyed the car and felt I got a good deal from the model shop until I found this Forum where distraction and temptation is plentiful! From my love of motorbikes, I wanted to ‘upgrade’ and personalise this car to my liking. Please bear in mind, that I am not a ‘hands on’ person. My skills are mostly academic… There was and remains a lot to learn. There have been real sweat, tears and blood involved in this which makes it even more satisfying.
I read the various ‘must have’ Mega upgrades and ran with it from there. Quickly spending a small fortune (sorry son, your inheritance is being enjoyed whilst I’m alive!) on various items which I shall outline below. As many have said, converting this Mega to effectively a 3S BLX is more expensive but nowhere near as informative or enjoyable! The most painful cost of all of this is certainly import duty from the US into the UK. 20% is enough but the Royal Mail then charge (I laughed when someone wrote ‘ransom’ for this) another £8 for ‘Admin costs’.
Starting from nothing, I have bought and set up a fair amount of tools, batteries, charger and spares. I have learnt how to solder (good enough for me anyway) and I have learnt to be more gentle (read: plenty of stripped threads, too much Loctite used and general cack-handedness!).
So what have I done? Far too much to remember accurately and let me know if you spot something I have not mentioned but this is where I am at present:
- Arrma: Typhon 6s Shocks (very lucky to have gotten hold of these, thank you Jenny’s RC!), Granite Front Bumper, BLX diffs and inputs, Adjustable Motor Mount, 4S Slipper Assembly, Adjustable Turnbuckles, DBoots Hoons, Centre Driveshaft Support, Heatsink and Fan.
- Hot Racing: Pivot Balls. I did have the servo saver but swapped it for a modified Kimbrough as recommended which feels much better.
- GPM Racing: Front C Hubs, Front and Rear Knuckles, Steering Assembly, Front and Rear Magnetic Body Posts (this buggy is likely to only see light jumps and mostly for street driving so I like the convenience of these although the posts required some modifying to fit the magnets).
- RC Decals: Chassis Sticker/Protector.
- Banggood: JX Ecoboost 21Kg Servo, now a DSS 25Kg as the JX was a little noisy, not as strong or waterproof.
- Hobbywing: Max10SCT ESC and EZRUN Motor Combo (3200kv motor).
- RPM: A-arms.
- Fast Eddy: Sealed Bearings Kit.
- Dusty Motors: Shock Socks, I do have a cover but it currently removed.
- Shims: I have eliminated some of the slop in the driveshafts with some shims as recommended. Although there are bearing in the steering and I have purchased some shims I am yet to make any changes there.
I originally 'upgraded' to a Dumbo RC Transmitter and Receiver but I recently bought a FlySky GT5 Transmitter and a few Receivers from Banggood. The Dumbo RC kit was good but I just prefer the feel and features of the FlySky.
My favourite tools are my Arrowmax drivers.
I am currently running 50K front and 20K rear in the diffs. The shocks have the stock 550cst oil in them.
It is set up how I like it for now but I cannot help myself but tinker… I have said that I need to save my money for parts when I break them now and more importantly for the next rig surely?!
I do not know why I went down this path but I ended up getting a SkyRC GPS Speedometer and I can see how addictive speed running must be…
The Mega did 17mph on the 8.4v NimH battery. I got 30 mph on 3S and 56 mph on 4S with the Brushless set up with a 15T Pinion. Later, I was running 4S, an 18T Pinion and Proline Badlands tyres and got 67 mph. I have gone up to a 20T Pinion and put on the Hoons to try to break 70 mph (this is my ‘target’, although I am sure that I will want more if I break it…). However, the buggy took a bit of a tumble and the Speedometer finally threw in the towel to my abuse. I have ordered a new SkyRC GNSS Performance Analyser to try some more. Watch this space...
My son does get to play with the Typhon when we are in a very large open space. He sits on my crouched knee and gets to throttle or steer. It is as I hoped and I love that he enjoys it so much, frequently asking for it to join us for our walks. I have bought a couple of Banggood (I seem to have had pretty good experience with them, including ZOP Lipo batteries, so far) smaller RC cars which he can have his own fun bashing in our garden. I even managed to surprise myself by making two small ramps for the garden. Although expensive and as much a distraction from her as my motorbike I am sure my wife appreciates the improved safety I have playing with RC cars.
This is of course not where I stopped… I have spent more. I had to get another rig but I will save that for another time.
Well done if you made it this far. Thank you all again!
Stay Calm and RC!
Right now, Stay Safe!
