Mazda kit build
Posted: Fri Feb 07, 2014 8:15 pm
This is an old Otaki model kit in 1/24 scale. It came with provisions for a battery and electric motor, with a sidewinder gear set up. I took a Carrera Evolution motor and it snapped into the motor pod perfectly. I used the gears that came with the model kit. The axles are 2mm, and I picked up a pack of brass sleeves to cut down on them flopping about in the plastic chassis. In the area of the battery I installed the digital chip. The interior was already half height because it had to clear the battery. The tires and wheels are the ones from the kit, and I suspect they are at least 30 years old. They are still somewhat soft and grip pretty well. I added a magnet, because the car weighs almost nothing.
Overall I am very happy with the ease of the build and how it looks. The performance needs work as it spins out too easily. I timed a few laps and the best was 10.08, while the track record is 7.2 in a new Carrera 917.
If I could find some better tires and perhaps get some weights it might be able to get in the 8-9 second range, which makes it sort of run with the bulk of our 1/24 cars.
I am going to run it on the 1/24 power pack and just program it down by about 30%.
I have about 4 more of these kits to build and they should be fun to race against each other. An RX7, Fiat, 240Z, cars of that sort.
I really liked building this because it was easy, but really need to make it faster!
This is the car I was trying to get the steering to work on, but gave up and glued it in a fixed spot.