RC Bashers

Hi guys, I finally finished my GB02 Buggy Champ. I've been out of RC for awhile (was into as a kid, then out, then in after college, then out, then in around '07 again, then out, then in recently after seeing more Tamiya re-releases) but I digress.

This is my GB02 Buggy Champ SuperStar - light edition ver.BA

hop-ups:
Graupner Speed 300 motor
Hitec HS85mg servo
Eurgle 2.4ghz radio
3Racing shocks
3Racing steering servo saver
Turnbuckles
alu. motor plate
alu. wheel nuts

mods:
added bearings in front swingarms
replaced front swing shafts with TL01 shafts, widening front track a few mm

custom work:
light buckets
led lights powered by main battery, activated by 3rd channel on radio
custom painted body
custom painted rims

details:
I love this buggy. Grew up with Tamiya cars as a kid and found myself thrilled with the TT-Gear releases (managed to "collect" all the off-road ones, hmmm) I wanted to bling the GB02 out a bit and make it really display case worthy (as well as nicely drivable too) Most of the mods I performed followed suit with the oople.com review and various info I found when scouring the web for every last bit of info I could find on this buggy ;) The only original things I did were; paint the chrome rims Tamiya offers. I masked out the edges and rivets and painted the inners black. I also grabbed a fresh body and painted a semi-custom scheme. I never liked the baby blue of the original Rough Rider, so I used a different shade, Spaz Stix deep blue metallic, or something like that. I wanted some additional, yet simple details added too so I did some ghost stars. I think they're a nice touch. I also did some custom lights. I had learned to wire LED lights from my mecha modeling days and had all the supplies ready. I ALSO learned I needed something called a PICO switch to actually power the light circuit from the car battery. I previously though I could just hook them up to the 3rd channel on the receiver, but after posting the idea on some forums I learned that won't work. the 3rd channel is just not designed to carry voltage that way. I learned I needed to use something called a PICO switch. This device is very cool, it is basically just a simple switch that you can control from the 3rd channel on your receiver. Many uses for this device actually. Here's a link to info about it: http://www.dimensionengineering.com/PicoSwitch.htm I researched some light buckets and went with the RPM units for short-course trucks. They happened to actually be a little smaller than the standard plastic light pods! I was happy that would help add to the scale look here. I didn't like RPM's mesh light covers so I fashioned some from some metal grating I had lying around. The clear piece went on top of that to seal it all together. The wiring was an exercise though. I had to brush up on wiring techniques, and employed the use of a resistor calculator. For anyone who's still actually reading, I ran 1 pair of parallels circuits, one for the front, one for the back. each circuit has two lights in series, and a single resistor. (thanks to Bill, fordstoys88 for some insight there) Nonetheless, I also wanted to easily be able to remove the body, so I wired a servo plug within that circuit so I can detach/attach easily. So now, here we are with some pics...

Body with servo plug detachment:


some closeups of the light buckets:




top shot of just the body:


chassis shot:


and the beauty shots:






and last, but not least, a video of the lights in action:
http://mechamaniac.com/rc/gb02/lights.MOV

Thanks for reading!
BA

Wow you put some detail into that guy! Nice work man.

i really like the detail work you put into it.

that pico switch is the cats ass!! i just did a custom set for a customer and wired in the switch for him, i tried all out and was very impressed with it. im glad i was able to help you out on the lighting part with some advice, you did a great job on everything.

Looks so clean you don't want to touch it. The attention to detail reminds me of Wrench, that's a compliment by the way.

That looks super killer. Nice work indeed. The scale touches are just popping off the page. Always been a softy for a Tamiya rig when done right. Well done.Thanks for the eye candy.l8r,w.