RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

I bought this a few months back, ran it for a bit, but my intention was always to strip it down and re-build it. I know there's a million Optima threads on here, so I apologise in advance, I posted this thread over on Tamiyaclub where I'm a regular, not many Kyosho's over there obviously, I do love Kyosho though, so will log in here for Kyosho advice!

Back in the late 80's I used to go into this shop called Radioactive in the South of England, it was a Model shop, but unlike Beatties, which was the most popular RC/Model Chain in the UK at the time, it didn't stock Tamya's it stocked Kyosho's, schumachers and Yokomo's, along with RC aircraft, and it was the only place you'd see them locally, before I started going to the RC club anyway.

I always loved the boxes of the Kyosho's, they looked a bit more serious/professional than the Tamiya's did with the actual model shown on the box, and the action shots on the sides

The one that stands out in my memory from that time is the Optima Mid Custom, I've always wanted one, ever since I was a kid staring at them in the shop

I bought this used example, but it hasn't been used much by the look of it, I've started stripping it down, I've left the gearboxes and belt drive system fitted to the chassis as it's very smooth and I don't wanna end up like this guy




Pics so far;

How it arrived, the box is massively important to me as usual B)




nice info from the box





It came with a pretty awful body, but also with a brand new Kamtec shell and decals, this is the original body (Hmmmm)



Stripping and sorting.




Nice original wheels/tyres




Rear plate was removed by previous owner, it's back now.

It came with original instructions, which are a bit tatty an missing a couple of pages, plus a full photocopied book, which I'll be using for the rebuild.



Exploded view



Motor included was the original kit supplied Le Mans 240ST

As I left the chassis & gearboxes, the first part for my rebuild is Installation of rear shock stay (step 4)



Front shock stay





Caught up with the instructions now, so moving onto the installation of rear suspension arms (step 7)



Installation of chassis (upper) and battery holder (step 8/9)



Steps 10, 11 & 12

Knuckle arm assembly, installation of front suspension arms, front rods and front bumper.



Steps 13, 14 - Rear hubs, shafts and rods.

.

Looks like a very clean project kit there...that should come together quite nicely. I've always loved the original Optima series frame-rail car design, but it's rife with weak points that must be addressed if you're trying to bulletproof that chassis. I appreciated the relative simplicity of the Mid series' chassis design when I built my OptiMutt car; personal favorites aside, the Mids are simply better-designed chassis'. Looking forward to the rest of your build.

.

Thanks for comments guys, there's some serious knowledge on here, my RC race experience starts and ends with a few amateur races with a stock Manta ray when I was 13

Steps 15, 16 & 17 installation of servo saver & tie rods



Steps 18 - 21 shock rebuild, assembly and installation



I also rebuilt the rear shocks as they had a leaked...



but I've just picked up some Gold ones to match the fronts.

.

I've got some black front shocks now, got gold rears too but I'm gonna go original boxart, I've fitted them but no photo's yet. The build is now complete minus paint/decals.

So back to the build, where was I?

Steps 18 - 21 shock assembly and installation







Steps 22 - 24 Installation of upper deck and belt cover



Step 25 - 26 Motor installation (kit supplied Le Mans 240ST)

Step 27 is the mechanical speed controller, I'm skipping that as I'll use an ESC

Step 28 - Installation of the wing stay, I had to order a new one from Korea as a piece of my original one was missing.





Step 29 & 30 - Assembly of wheels and tyres



Steps 31-33 is installation of radio.

Just the servo for now





Kamtec repro body has been trimmed, still needs painting (and a bit of tidying)

With standard shocks.



Need to sort the springs, think I've got black ones somewhere...

Very nice!

Scott

Thanks Scott, got some white paint ordered for the body.

looks great !
I've got one that can't decide if it's a Custom or a Custom Special....

Also, where did you get it from ?
I raced against a few back in the day that looked very similar, the 2 colour fade with UK Mag stickers on !

Your build is nice...I think having a full set of black shocks complement it better than having "half-and-half". In terms of quality, kyosho were (and probably still are) miles better than tamiya.