Build Thread Luke66's MKUltra 3D Printed RC Race Buggy Build.

[luke66]

Updating this thread after a long hiatus.

Started the rebuild waaaaaaay back, finished fairly recently after I returned home after our summer travels.

First, some pics of taking the thing apart:

Many things were broken at this point so the entire car had to get redone, including diffs.

Here’s how the car sat for 2-3 months while I was gone:

So, pretty much a corpse for a very long while.

But then…. I rebuilt it! Without any pics…. Here’s how the car sits now:

A couple more pics in next post.

 

[luke66]

More pics, and I also made some basic stickers cause I can:

Crazy amount of droop, will need shock travel limiters:

Stickers:

But, as is the case typically is, when I finally get something fixed, I find things that aren’t perfect that I want perfect. This thing needs to be dialed. So suspension is getting a rebuild.

Also the driveshafts are a bit too long, and they cause some binding so they need to be shortened.

Printed some new bits and got them ready to install:

All arms/hubs/pivot blocks were drilled to ensure less slop and more smooth:

Unfortunately I’m not finished with this yet, heading to the Ark for a college expo (thinking about more school )

You may have noticed that the car has no shocks. Yep those were stolen for the Rustler MM and the front of the Stash. Planning on getting another set of the same and 3D printing some custom pistons, putting in some travel limiters, and getting more buggy-sized and tuned springs (in many different stiffnesses) to get these shocks built as well as possible. I want this thing dialed. There’s one major problem that hopefully won’t arise again, and that’s the chassis. If it breaks again I simply don’t have the time to be figuring out how to make it stronger, and I’ll most likely have to ditch the platform for a 22X-4. While I want to keep this car running as long as I can, it’s gonna be tough, because not only is this 3D printed the design is also old enough that even a normal race kit of this age would be outdated.

Overall it may be a bit tough, especially because I don’t have a true track to test on (the 1:30hr away one doesn’t run off-road anymore) but I’m hoping that this will soon be a super competitive buggy. I’m gonna put a lot of myself into it, and hopefully the work pays off.

 

[Horatio]

Updating this thread after a long hiatus.

Started the rebuild waaaaaaay back, finished fairly recently after I returned home after our summer travels.

First, some pics of taking the thing apart:

Many things were broken at this point so the entire car had to get redone, including diffs.View attachment 255051View attachment 255052View attachment 255053View attachment 255054View attachment 255061View attachment 255062View attachment 255063View attachment 255064View attachment 255065View attachment 255066View attachment 255067View attachment 255068View attachment 255069
View attachment 255073
Here’s how the car sat for 2-3 months while I was gone:View attachment 255070View attachment 255071View attachment 255072
So, pretty much a corpse for a very long while.

But then…. I rebuilt it! Without any pics…. Here’s how the car sits now:

View attachment 255073View attachment 255074View attachment 255075View attachment 255076
A couple more pics in next post.

That car looks like a lot of very hard work.

10/10 for perseverance!

 

[luke66]

Well guys another update. This thing has been a tough build but I’m getting there. Things just keep on breaking but I’m redesigning parts as I go and it’s just getting tougher and tougher. I now believe that I could probably (depending on how I drive) survive qualifying and a main. As said I have no off-road track near home so I won’t be able to test that, but I’m still just running it (attic track) for durability testing.

Anyways the project is still on going but I’m feeling better about it now than ever!

 

[ahr43]

Building your own chassis is tough. You're doing o.k. Even if it eventually falls short of what you want or expect, the experience you gained will help when you look to buy commercial off the shelf.

Looking forward to seeing vids of it in competition. Hang in there, Luke. -AC

 

[Doom!]

Well guys another update. This thing has been a tough build but I’m getting there. Things just keep on breaking but I’m redesigning parts as I go and it’s just getting tougher and tougher. I now believe that I could probably (depending on how I drive) survive qualifying and a main. As said I have no off-road track near home so I won’t be able to test that, but I’m still just running it (attic track) for durability testing.

Anyways the project is still on going but I’m feeling better about it now than ever!

Glad your still going at it. it's a cool project and worthy of completion.

 

[CertifiedMike]

Its like paying to go to school. You have learned a lot, more to go still. You have a cool rc to show for your efforts no matter how tough it is.

 

[luke66]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I for sure have learned a lot during this build and I now consider myself to be a pretty experienced builder (as if the MMs weren’t enough proof) I know there’s more to learn, especially in the world of tuning (also I want to get pro-level good at painting) but I’m sure I can figure it out and get this thing dialed.

Also have a build thread for a new 3D printed RC in the works coming soon!