N00b Drag Slash build

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bozo

What, me worry?
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Location
St. Pete, FLA
RC Driving Style
  1. Bashing
  2. Scale Builder
I got the bug to build a Drag Slash after watching some racing at the OCC Road House & Museum a few Sundays ago.
Basically built from parts, although I did buy a Drag Slash RTR to "borrow" parts from.
The Drag Slash is now $299 (the price it should have been from the start) or two for $500 with a timing light.
The price drop got me off the fence, so off I went...
Got the RTR from Amazon and "liberated" the ESC, motor, receiver/transmitter, wheelie bar, wheels and gearbox.
Sold the body/chassis as a slider on CL for $140
Much cheaper than getting the individual parts.
All these parts were installed on a Slash LCG chassis with STRC front and rear shock towers and RPM Bandit A arms.
Stock front shocks with metal caps and travel limiters on all four corners, stiff in the rear and soft up front.
Bandit turnbuckle kit and aluminium front and rear hubs/steering gear.
I used a rear body mount extender from AJC mods, as well as their IROC underbody kit and C10 wing. Really nice stuff!
5v 40mm fans on ESC and motor, running on battery voltage- they move some air! Hope they hold up...
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I've always liked Pro Mod cars, and when I saw the Pro-Line "Super J" body I had to have it.
Paint is Spaz Stix Gold/red flip on nose and sides, gold pearl on roof and trunk and mirror chrome on bumpers, hood scoop, grill, side skirts and window surrounds.
I left the grill clear and used some silver painted screen behind it to add some depth. Also added some trailer side marker lights as headlights.
Used a distressed flag mask on the sides with pearl white stripes and pearl blue star field.
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The body fits great, plenty of front and rear tire clearance.
I haven't really run it yet, just got done with all the fiddly bits...
Starting off with the stock Drag slash electronics and motor, we'll see how it works out. Changes may be made as testing continues.
Got a SkyRC performance analyzer to take data with, I'm looking forward to seeing how well it can do.
BTW, I love 3rd gen Camaros, so I had to also get the Pro-Line IROC body (in process shot)
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That paint job is killer! 😍 Can't wait to see the IROC when you get paint on it.
Thanks!
RC bodies are a new thing for me...
Figuring out how to mask and in what order is hard.
Here's the IROC scheme I'm going to use

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Pearl white Spaz Stix upper, Tamiya metal blue sides and black bottom with red stripe.
Adding T-top masks and window surrounds also
Progress so far...
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That's a great start man! learn the ins and outs with this car as is until it just won't get faster. Try to add as little weight as possible and shoot for a near 50/50 weight distribution. 40F/60R is ok, and lower just pulls wheelies. Not necessarily faster.
 
That's a great start man! learn the ins and outs with this car as is until it just won't get faster
That's why I got the data logger. First, I'll get a baseline of 10 or so runs, then Test and tune until it's as fast as it can get as is. Make changes one at a time then test, rinse and repeat. I'm shooting for repeatability. Once it can run predictably (track conditions, tires and temp. notwithstanding) I'll start looking at gear, motor and ESC upgrades.
Adding lightness and simplicating are two time proven techniques to go fast in 1:1 racing. I realize I've put too much "stuff" on the car that could be removed or simplified to save weight. For a drag car, I sure don't need the STRC aluminium shock towers and front bulkhead as well as the 40mm fans.
That would save some weight. There may be a lighter aftermarket chassis in the future, possibly mid-motored. I'm going to try and meet 13.5" NPRC regs, so there are some limiting factors. After watching countless NPRC videos, it looks like it's easy to go fast but hard to do without dire consequences. Most of the wins are the cars that finish- not pull a red light, leave their lane, wreck, break etc..
 
Adding lightness and simplicating are two time proven techniques to go fast in 1:1 racing. I realize I've put too much "stuff" on the car that could be removed or simplified to save weight. For a drag car, I sure don't need the STRC aluminium shock towers and front bulkhead as well as the 40mm fans.
That would save some weight. There may be a lighter aftermarket chassis in the future, possibly mid-motored. I'm going to try and meet 13.5" NPRC regs, so there are some limiting factors. After watching countless NPRC videos, it looks like it's easy to go fast but hard to do without dire consequences. Most of the wins are the cars that finish- not pull a red light, leave their lane, wreck, break etc..
Keeping them in a straight line sure is trickier than 1:1 cars, that's for sure.
 
Keeping them in a straight line sure is trickier than 1:1 cars, that's for sure.
I used to do 1:1 drags, and you are absolutely correct. The big advantage in 1:1 is you have your "ass-o-meter" to let you know when things start to get sketchy and allow you to make corrections on the fly. In 1:10 we don't have that advantage, and if something screws up you really have a hard time figuring out what went wrong. I've got some Chinese gopro knockoffs I'm going to set up at the starting line, 60 foot mark and 132 finish to see what the car does when run. I may even attach one to the wheelie bar to see what the suspension does on launch.
 
I used to do 1:1 drags, and you are absolutely correct. The big advantage in 1:1 is you have your "ass-o-meter" to let you know when things start to get sketchy and allow you to make corrections on the fly. In 1:10 we don't have that advantage, and if something screws up you really have a hard time figuring out what went wrong. I've got some Chinese gopro knockoffs I'm going to set up at the starting line, 60 foot mark and 132 finish to see what the car does when run. I may even attach one to the wheelie bar to see what the suspension does on launch.
Yeah, the go pros will really help out. The day someone comes out with an fpv system for RC cars that simulates vibrations and g-forces, I'm buyin one. Either that or a shrink ray so I can sit in the car 😜
 
Base coats done on the IROC, lots of touchup to do. Had some mask lift issues and overspray but should be fixable.
Taillights will be clear red, backup and headlights clear and turn signals clear amber. Grill will be clear with mesh behind, like the "J".
The car will have a full lighting kit and a black custom wing.
After the paint sets a day or so I'll add some pinstripes and minimal stickers.
I didn't realize how much the windows and T-tops show the interior, I may fab up an interior tub or just tint the windows.
Not real happy with the Tamiya pearl white, used the whole can and another whole can of white backer and the pearl effect is not very... pearly....
I think I'll stick with Spaz Stix.
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Body is done, not totally happy with the poor pearl white or the crappy masking job I did. Added a bunch of 1/16" pinstripe to cover up some boo-boos and add some contrast. Decided to not add lighting to the body and instead put on all the light stickers that came with it. Probably just tint the windows, not worth fabbing up an interior.
This will be my beater test run body, the Super J will be the shelf queen.
As soon as we get some dry weather in Fla. I'm going to start doing some testing.
Let 'er rip, Tater Chip!
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Body is done, not totally happy with the poor pearl white or the crappy masking job I did. Added a bunch of 1/16" pinstripe to cover up some boo-boos and add some contrast. Decided to not add lighting to the body and instead put on all the light stickers that came with it. Probably just tint the windows, not worth fabbing up an interior.
This will be my beater test run body, the Super J will be the shelf queen.
As soon as we get some dry weather in Fla. I'm going to start doing some testing.
Let 'er rip, Tater Chip!View attachment 152617
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Wow man, that paint is impressive. Great job.
 
Wow man, that paint is impressive. Great job.
Thanks, I'm still learning the specific way to paint clear lexan bodies. Most of my experience is with static models. Big learning curve!
I got the C10 rear diffuser from AJCMods today. I'm using it with their IROC side and front underbodies. Everything fits fine, and not very heavy either.
BTW, the Super J body fits over them with no issues. I'm glad I set up the chassis to take both bodies without any changes. Makes it easy to totally change the look.
Rain here in Fla has been really bad the last week, can't even get out to do some test hits. I'm really looking forward to see what it'll do...
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I myself am awful at painting polycarbonate, so I just go the easy route and just spray it one color and just slap the decals on it..But looking at yours makes me wanna actually try on my next clear body 👍
Btw those tires look beast man.
 
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