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I've lusted after one of these for years and remember them in the Towerhobbies catalog as a kid.



Finally pulled the trigger early last year and I immediately tracked down some uber-Avante parts to add the appropriate amount of:




Here's what I decided on to dress it up (ignore the motor plate in the pic).













Of course, knowing me, everything went out for some color via anodizing, hence the motor plate shown earlier with the dress up parts. I also did the rear shock mounts and a few other aluminum bits from the kit. (ignore the rc10 parts in the first pic below).










Here's my build progress so far (shown as I was about to install the 2nd ball diff).




My observations so far? Well honestly, I'm not enjoying this build. It's my first Tamiya since my Hornet as a kid and this is a complicated bitch. The instructions are at times very cryptic. Right now I'm stuck looking for some compression washers lost somewhere in the bags and bags of parts with no rhyme or reason for their bag association. Bag B? Bag D? But you need screw "BD4", wtf. Some of the parts use their actual name (i.e the output shaft to the center drive shaft) and other times it's a vague shaft "BE5" which doesn't help since it's in a bag with 4 other shafts and a bunch of screws, bolts, pins and other crap.

Add to this that I'm substituting parts/upgrades on the fly as I build and I'm not a Tamiya experienced builder. Like the torque splitter setup took a looong time. Eventually after some searching I realized the instructions had an error!

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=72192

If you don't have access to their site here's the diagram:



sumb**ch

So the build is going...... but I've never had one I can't wait to finish for the final product, but really want to skip to the end because the build is so painful to get through.

I will probably build it with the stock motor and esc, but I was thinking of putting something brushless in and running it once or twice. We'll see, but with the amount of ABS plastic in this thing, no wonder they're known as brittle and breakable. Imagine how good this could be in nylon or delrin plastic. And also jeez, the gearing leaves me scratching my head. Could we possibly add more planetary gears and other complication and drag?

Ok rant off, will post back with more progress soon.

Sounds like your having a tough time Adam but hang in there. I like the mild color choices you are throwing at this.

I sure could have used the alloy steering parts back in the day. thats what finally side lined my avante back then. Of course that car went out of production almost as fast as it was introduced, so back then, it was done for, no spares in podunk colorado. Really cool car, and the colors will be awsome.

flipwils11 wrote: So the build is going...... but I've never had one I can't wait to finish for the final product, but really want to skip to the end because the build is so painful to get through.

I will probably build it with the stock motor and esc, but I was thinking of putting something brushless in and running it once or twice. We'll see, but with the amount of ABS plastic in this thing, no wonder they're known as brittle and breakable. Imagine how good this could be in nylon or delrin plastic. And also jeez, the gearing leaves me scratching my head. Could we possibly add more planetary gears and other complication and drag?

Ok rant off, will post back with more progress soon.

The car does have a reputation for being overengineered and fragile. Awesome looking, but it's a good example of why theory doesn't always translate into real performance...

Sometimes I wonder why every single Tamiya seems to have a fatal flaw...

Trials & tribulations aside, with your personal touch to the custom aluminum anodizing, it's gonna be pretty to look at!

Brilliant combination on the shocks and rims .
Hoping for a body in Yellow and Orange metallic

Thanks for the comments on the parts and colors.

It's possible I lost them, but unlikely. I think my kit had a missing screw bag.

I had to order a "cross joint" screw bag from Tamiya USA because I need these key pieces to continue with the build. Very disappointing.

flipwils11 wrote:Thanks for the comments on the parts and colors.

It's possible I lost them, but unlikely. I think my kit had a missing screw bag.

I had to order a "cross joint" screw bag from Tamiya USA because I need these key pieces to continue with the build. Very disappointing.

Wouldn't they send it for free? If the kit's missing bits you shouldn't have to pay to get them.

Does this kit come with CF chassis plates? I thought the original came with a FRP chassis.

Will you be making the body box-art, or in a color scheme more fitting for the wheels?

I thought about telling them the bag was missing and asking for a replacement, but it was Sunday night and it was easier to pay the $15 with shipping and just get it sent asap. The car is a re-release 2011 model, so weren't they all carbon fiber chassis?

The body has been painted for months, waiting for me to get going on this. The body is a subtle play on the gold and yellow anodizing, you'll have to see soon.

I do need to send one more item out for anodizing because it wasn't part of the original plan. I didn't know about the pargu aluminum wings for the Avante but ordered one up so now I'll need to add some color to it.

Got my replacement parts today so I was back at it. Progress is sloooowww. This thing is like an Erector Set.

Looks nice! I see Tamiya doesn't use the K.I.S.S. philosophy...

askbob wrote:Looks nice! I see Tamiya doesn't use the K.I.S.S. philosophy...

LOL, It does seem like it has a lot of moving pieces as well. Look how thin the sway bar is too. Looks fantastic Adam so far.

Looking great! I wanna see more!

That looks great. I've always loved these cars... Tamiya has really made some iconic RC cars. Looking forward to seeing this done!

Funny that the parts where missing , in the past couple of years I have built a Avantee, Black special and an Egress and have had no problems at all with parts, must admit the builds where some oft he toughest that I have done, still can't believe I built 1 when I was 13.
The parts are looking great, regretting not getting the titanium screw kits, they look a lot tougher than the butter soft kit screws, more progress please