Schuco Tobby 1:12

[rkl]

A strange and lucky find on german ebay...

[rkl]

Inside the box...I try to get my first "Oldie buildt up report" together the upcoming days...

[EvolutionRevolution]

Ah, another little known Japanese manufacturer's car ("Phoenix") reboxed for the German market. Looking forward to the build report.

[VintageJohn82]

Cool.

[rkl]

Ok here we go... As I wrote I found the Tobby on the german Xbay...OVP...just some scratches on the box... Sadly I missed the first car auction but a few weeks later get the second car...I didn`t know anything about the car, just like the look and the "oldschool" Chassis...Schuco also is an old german toy brand which I used to know for static toys and cars...so it seems also Schuco steps on the "Label" market like Graupner and Robbe before with the first distribution of the Kyosho items under their own label...

[rkl]

...a couple more...

[rkl]

As you can see the Tobby is for a car of the early 80`s quite simple...on the other side I like the "saddle-pack" battery setup with the tubes - they hold up two of the lates Sanyo/GP/Intellect NimH Zells or a special 4,8V pack I will show you later...
The components sits quite central on the thinn 1mm Alu-Chassis in a special plastic frame wich could be removed (like the rc-trays on modern 1:10 or 1:8 nitro on-offroadmodells) via just one body splint...the rear of the "rc-box" is loosely positioned between the motor bulkheads, only the front of the frame sits on a small Pin on the chassis to create a good chassis flex as there is no seperate suspension on the rear axle (solid with "adjustable" gear diff) or for the front wheels...

Speed Sektion: here the entry level rc car from phoenix offers a small Mabuchi Style 360 brushed Motor with a mechanical speed controller... (the motor is positioned between very massive powerpod plates made from plastic (the look of the plastic remindes me on the Losi/Asso reinforced plastic/graphite parts); I don`t know if a rc car company used this compounds in the early 80`s but the motor mounts seems quite stable... For max. Chassis Flex the speed controller sits on the rear of the rc-frame and offers a charging plug for the battery...

[rkl]

Steering section: Quite simple with a central "steering post" with integrated servo saver (spring style) and two springless steering arms. But you could adjust toe in/out and there are also some plastic blocks react as a stop for the inner wheel to prefent them from "slapping"...but there is also a small "bug" buildt in: maximum steering is only for left turns...if you turn to the right the zentral steering horn touches the steering linkage...

[rkl]

As mentioned before my Tobby was a special "entry level racing" version as it comes with a special 9,6V NICD Accu ... these are half the length like the for example Sanyo 1200 Cells but the same diameter so each pack (4 cells) fut in one of the sided yellow plastic rings... But sometimes oldschool isn`t cool - as NICD Cells laying around for 30 Years unused in a box...

[rkl]

...so I throw them in the recycling box for old batteries and get two small LiFe cells from my LHS... As I want to keep the original look of the chassis i planed to mount them with doublesided servo tape inside the original cell holder and connect the cells (direct soldering) with the original battery mounts...

[rkl]

...as I didn`t want to use a seperate reciever battery and - sorry about this - would like tu use my spectrum reciever I just solder a servo cable underneath the speed controller (nearly invisible) to get the LiFe voltage to the reciever...only problem is to disconnect the cable from the reciever when charging the LiFe via the charging plug...

[rkl]

...as I didn`t have radio gear from the 80` I used two 2 "standart" sized HoBao 08/15 servos laying around from an 1:8 RTR Buggy (with 3kg, 0,2s and simple plastic gears they are not perfect for the 1:8 offroader but quite perfect for the old Tobby)...room was offered enough on the rc-tray and after some playing around with the perfect position the two servos and also the mid sized reciever just fit in without problems...

[rkl]

...next step was to position back the radio tray on the chassis, connect the motor with the speedo, install the steering linkage and - there is the good point with modern rc transmitters - adjust the servo travel for the speed controller and the steering...relative fast & easy even with the used dx4s or an comparable cheap rc system...

[rkl]

...to switch off the LiFe Pack from the reciever I went back to "fast & easy" and just solder a small connector between the front connecting cable...

[PlastiZapCA+]

Nice! This is great car, it looks very well designed. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.