Now people can't stop talking about the 1/12th Fantom 4wd re-re!!! :)

[1300GT]

Having another look at the instructions while smelling the tyres.

I missed an option part listed.
BRG007F replaces the bronze bushes that the kingpins pivot in with flanged bearings.

[sundevil67]

please post a video when you get it running!

Mmmmmmmm, Kyosho.

[rraeford]

On a related note, the lack of flights overseas has seriously hampered shipping—which is why you see ridiculous shipping costs to Japan for even small items. Shipping to the EU or UK is also really high. Perhaps as a consequence, the stocks of Kyosho kits have become scarce. Ebay and Amazon prices have skyrocketed for those who cannot wait.

[treystoys]

What’s going on everyone!

I’m one of those guys who as a 9 or 10 year old back in the early 80s drooled over the Fantom in those first tower hobbies catalogues I got my hands on! There was a 1/12 race club nearby back then, but I knew I was going to run whatever my first rc car was everywhere, so my dad and I picked me out a Tamiya Fox instead. By my early teens I was racing on road, but we ran 1/10 scale only and I had forgotten all about that cool little chain drive 1/12 scale car I liked so much.

Fast forward 25 or so more years I started to see Fantoms randomly pop up on eBay for $500 to $1000+ and just figured at that price point I’d never have one lol. I did actually end up picking up a new build vintage Tomahawk after being discouraged enough from seeing a $1200 Fantom on eBay. I overpaid $400 for the Tomahawk never guessing I’d be able to pick up a re-re kit for less than half that a few years later!

When Kyosho announced the Fantom rerelease I got the bug again! I totally dropped the ball on any pre orders and kept an eye on eBay instead, mainly because the first available kits I ran across I saw there, but for near $400, I just kept watching. Low and behold early one morning a few weeks ago, Kyosho of America is on eBay selling them for the $219 shipped! Once again I dropped the ball as it was 6 am when I saw it at work and decided I’d better run it by the wife pre purchase and it should be done face to face lol, so my luck goes that by 3 that afternoon and they were all sold.

I then jumped on KOA site and filled out the notification for restock, then checked out A-main and saw they were accepting pre orders, but upon contacting them they couldn’t give me an eta. So I kept watching eBay and early this week a seller in Jersey popped up with a few! They were still $219 but had a shipping charge, nevertheless I jumped on it, and fedex should be delivering mine before the weekends up!

I plan to do a retro brushed set up as I have a few new Lemans motors and a new in box Kyosho superspeed 1000 Esc. Just need to locate and appropriately sized servo, maybe a Futaba 132h, not sure what’s gonna fit. Either way I’m really stoked about this little car!

[1300GT]

Finally built.

Things to note, the parts fit is excellent. The only thing that wasn't quite right on mine is the front right stub axle side play. There was a little more movement than the left side. Easily remedied with some Tamiya shims.

The front sprocket isn't ferrous. It has quite a heft to it. Probably stainless steel or nickel plated brass. It should last a long time.
The spur gear rides on a bearing instead of directly on the rear axle.
The kit includes a 21t pinion with a long shaft. Optional pinions are listed in the instructions but from the pictures it would seem they are not long shaft pinions. After fitting the 600E it looks like shorter pinions will fit without problems.

If you use the Le Mans 240S ESC you'll have to buy a sensor cable for the brushless motor. Kyosho lists the part number in the manual.

For some reason Kyosho recommends threadlock on the kingpins only. With lots of machine screws in alloy, I threadlocked everything apart from the nyloc nuts.

I've fitted a Power HD R6 servo. It's length is 35mm. Anything longer than this and you'll have to file the slots a bit more.

Five links were removed from the chain to get it to sit as in the picture.

[treystoys]

Looks really nice!

[RC10th]

Why isn't the body painted yet ???

[XLR8]

The car looks great Chris!

By chance, are you able to determine if the front and rear sprockets have the same tooth count? Someone mentioned the car having one-way bearings in the front but I'm curious if they've addressed the difference in tire size by over-driving the front sprocket.
Anyway, thanks for posting. Can't wait to see the completed car.

[1300GT]

Looks really nice!

Thank you.

Why isn't the body painted yet ???

It took me long enough to build. I'm getting older.

The car looks great Chris!

By chance, are you able to determine if the front and rear sprockets have the same tooth count? Someone mentioned the car having one-way bearings in the front but I'm curious if they've addressed the difference in tire size by over-driving the front sprocket.
Anyway, thanks for posting. Can't wait to see the completed car.

Thanks Doug. The rear sprocket has 16 teeth and the front has 15.

[treystoys]

Sunday delivery! Exited like I’m 10 on Christmas morning!

[XLR8]

I'm curious if anyone here is planning to run their car. If so, will you run the kit foam tires or will you try something else?

[Pyxster]

RC Kicks just did a speed test:

https://youtu.be/ApxfW-pi3bM

[treystoys]

Here’s a few pictures of my build.

Build time!

Front end

Rear pod and bottom plate

240SB

Superspeed 1000

Esc

Chassis

Front

Rear

Hardest part was getting the grommets into the radio tray! Other than that it was smooth sailing. I too used lock tite on all the metal to metal fastening. I used a Lemans 240sb and the Superspeed 1000 esc. I have an Airtronics 94141 servo in the car now, but it’s 36mm across and is squeezed in. I have to make a run to the hobby shop tomorrow for paint and a body post reamer and will see if they have any mini servos. I left out the receiver for now as I forgot the esc has a G connector. I do at least want to test run it once, I need to either find a G to J adaptor or possibly use something different. The battery is just a very old nicad pack I stuck in there for some contrast.

I honestly would love to run the car, at least once, but have nowhere to run a pan car at the moment. So I’ll get it set up and buzz it around the living room a bit before it gets shelved.

Trey

[1300GT]

I can confirm, shorter pinions will not fit with the 600E fitted. I tried a Robinson Racing 22 tooth 48dp pinion. There's not enough shaft to lock the grubscrew onto. 11mm of shaft protrudes from the front of the motor. In the instructions Kyosho recommends motors that have 15mm minimum for using shorter pinions.

I'm curious if anyone here is planning to run their car. If so, will you run the kit foam tires or will you try something else?

I'll be using the kit tyres. When spares are readily available I'll buy another couple of sets of wheels and try aftermarket foams.

Sunday delivery! Exited like I’m 10 on Christmas morning!

B2D7154E-A413-4489-9C5D-BF761028ECC8.jpeg

Your car looks good.

[treystoys]

[/quote]Your car looks good.
[/quote]

Thank you sir!

Have you decided on paint yet or were you doing box art? I have always been a bit intimidated by huge decals, and have in my mind I’ll make a bubbly mess trying to apply them. So I am considering a basic paint scheme instead. Just have no ideas yet other than I am considering the majority of it to be Tamiya light blue ts-23. The yellow with white scheme from the 86 tower catalog is how I remember it and considered that as it would be easy enough to duplicate, but painting bodies has never been my specialty lol.

Trey