Traxxas Hawk 2- Project Black Hawk

[jwscab]

that might be a cheap price for those, unfortunately. there are a few parts that the hawk/rad shares with the trx1/3 and eagle chassis that are pretty hard to find.

[85Edinger]

Well, I think that problem's solved.
I went to Hobbytown for shock bladders. While I was there, I picked up this little gem for $3:

[jwscab]

Nice score!

[BMKTW2]

So lucky

[85Edinger]

It's finished.
That was a pretty extreme transformation, if I may say so myself. It's hard to believe this is the same car shown on the first page.
It's been pretty much done since Monday, but I was waiting on the parts from Harry697. He sold me the front bumper and all the parts in the photo.

Many thanks to him and all the other people that helped me.

For electronics, I have the Traxxas Xl-5 ESC that came with my Rustler, which so far has been used in every R/c I've owned that's big enough to fit it.
I have the Trinity Green Machine motor it came with installed right now, but I also have a more contemporary Fantom Team Stock I may put in at some point.

I thought I might use the included Hitec servo, but after turning it on and witnessing its pathetic slowness, I installed a Solar D771 that I had sitting around. I had to dremel its case a little, and use the black (narrower) servo mounts, but I got it to fit.
For now, I'm planning to use my Flysky Fs-gt3b radio.

In case anyone thinks I'm a sucker after seeing that battery, I didn't and never will pay retail for a Traxxas lipo. I bought it from a friend, and I'm using it because my big hardcase lipos don't quite fit.

The body has seen quite a lot of action on top of my Rustler, as one might infer from the cracks, holes to stop the cracks, scuffs, more cracks, and transponder hole. Hopefully it will live a somewhat gentler life with the Hawk 2, and hopefully I'll get to use that transponder hole.

I was able to reuse the included HPI wheels. The horrible dried foamless tires pulled right off. I stripped the red paint and chrome with some acetone. Then I put them into a vat of hot black RIT dye. When I pulled them out, they were blue. Go figure.

I'm still trying to decide if I should use those shocks Harry697 sent me. They're in like new condition, maybe I should keep them that way.

[BMKTW2]

That looks really good!
I haven't found a good battery yet that fits my hawk2.
Its got such a small space... Whats the part number for the one your using?
Have you had a chance to test those proline caliber tires out yet?
I was looking to try those tires next on my SRT...

[85Edinger]

Thanks for the compliment.
This is the battery I have:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0001P?I=LXBLMX&P=8
It's 135x21x45mm. The 135 and 45 are what matter, height's not an issue. It just squeezes in there.
If one of my friends hadn't sold me this lipo for a reasonable price, I would probably have gotten this:
http://www.hobbypartz.com/98p-b-25c-3300-2s1p-trx.html
Too bad it's out of stock, but any softcase that size or smaller should squeeze in.
I haven't gotten a chance to try the Calibers yet. I'm under over a foot of snow. Hopefully I can take it to the indoor track soon.
I saw your SRT on the Vintage Runners thread. That's a nice looking car. The SRT's easily my favorite Traxxas ever.
I'm planning to have some fun with the Hawk 2 around here, then take it to Vonats, but I might sell it at Vonats or soon after. Maybe I'll pick up an SRT once the Hawk 2's moved on.

[harry697]

Truck is looking great! I would throw the aluminum shocks on. Way better than the stockers. They look new because I used them for less than 5 minutes.

[BMKTW2]

I saw your SRT on the Vintage Runners thread. That's a nice looking car. The SRT's easily my favorite Traxxas ever.

Ya the SRT is an awesome car! You should get you one.

Truck is looking great! I would throw the aluminum shocks on. Way better than the stockers. They look new because I used them for less than 5 minutes.

I agree with Harry (as usual). The aluminum shocks are such an upgrade. Those plastic units are so crappy.
Get the LSII or nitro hawk shocks. They are cheap and work great.

[harry697]

I agree with Harry (as usual). The aluminum shocks are such an upgrade. Those plastic units are so crappy.
Get the LSII or nitro hawk shocks. They are cheap and work great.

Those are the ones I sold him. Kinda hard to tell in the pic but those are the pro-series shocks that came on the TRX-1 and LS-II, just without the blue caps. They have the newer darker gray anodizing on them. Think they're #4760 fronts and #4761 rears.

[85Edinger]

Here are some updates.
I finally installed the shocks Harry697 sent me. I had to put the rears on the outermost hole so they didn't try to push the suspension past it's travel limit. It now has tons of rear downtravel, and sits with the arms slightly above level. I think my extra Rc10 springs should fit, so I can tune them.
I got to run the car around in a D.C. suburb front yard, in Maryland (too much snow here in Albany). It feels agile and quick, and the motor runs great.
I installed my Airtronics Sr-2p radio. I switched the + and - wires on the plugs for the ESC and servo since I'm using an old Airtronics receiver. It seems to work great.
I hope to get to my LHS this Sunday and do some racing. I'll need to be careful with the Airtronics radio's antenna, though. It's nearly 3 feet long, fully extended.

[85Edinger]

The Airtronics radio tells the servo to turn a little too far. I had to turn the dual rate down.
The sr-2p doesn't have dual rate.
I made a wooden spacer to limit the steering travel in the tx. Because of the way the mechanism works, this wooden block limits the travel the same small amount in both directions.
What are the pots on the board for?

[knixdad]

Pots should be for RF tuning, not for endpoints and whatnot.

[85Edinger]

I broke my first part today.
I was at r/c kinetics in Troy. The car drove well with the Green Machine. I swapped in the Phantom to see if it would be faster. I'm unfamiliar with the track layout, I was still getting used to it and I hit the wall on the straight. I heard Nitro Rustler steering blocks fit, I'll get a pair as replacements.
On the plus side, I made one of the first donations to the new track's Bin of Shame.

[85Edinger]

Here it is.
I used Nitro Rustler 25 degree caster blocks and steering blocks. The Nitro Rustler has 30 degrees of kickup. I believe the Hawk 2 has 25 degrees of kickup? That would put current caster at 20 degrees. It was 10 or 15 before.

It also significantly changed the steering geometry in several other ways. Hopefully it'll still handle well. It does seem to have less bump steer.

Best of all, I no longer need to put spacers on the crazy long stock axles!

I'm taking it back to the track on Sunday.