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Blakbird's 47304 Fighting Buggy (Super Champ) Build 4 years 11 months ago #55031

The Fighting Buggy sure was hard to find. It all started with the first Tamiya buggy on the first SRB chassis, the 58015 Rough Rider in 1979. Other models on the same chassis would follow, but by 1982 the chassis had evolved into the 58034 Super Champ. The buggies were very similar in style and shared much of the same chassis, but the rear end of the Super Champ switched from torsion bar suspension to the verbosely named F.F.P.D.S. (Free Floating Progressive Damping Suspension). This is a fancy way of saying that the rear axles share a single shock with a progressively wound (non-constant pitch) spring. Re-releases would follow decades later. The Rough Rider became the 58441 Buggy Champ in 2009, then was released again as silver, gold, and RTR versions in 2011. The Super Champ became the limited edition 84389 Fighting Buggy in 2014. It was apparently more popular than expected and stock must have run out, because it was released with another limited edition number only a year later: 47304. None were in production at the time I was looking, but I was able to find the most recent version by paying a lot of money for it and having it imported from Japan.

Let's talk about the naming convention. The Rough Rider became the Buggy Champ which would make it seem like the "champ" name came in later. However, the Super Champ became the Fighting Buggy so the "champ" was removed over time here instead of added. Apparently the names were different in Japan than for export. The Super Champ was always called the Fighting Buggy in Japan, so the re-release just brought the name up to date. Why were they different in the first place? Who knows.

The most distinctive feature of the Super Champ / Fighting Buggy is the rear suspension described above. In addition to the transverse shock, the thing you can see immediately is the rear mounted shock oil bottle. This effectively serves as a huge volume reservoir. It actually works pretty well in providing smooth damping. The tiny front shocks also use oil, but have so little volume by comparison that they are much less effective. By sharing a single rear shock, the rear suspension arms are not entirely independent. The shock serves as sway bar of sorts. The other change to the SRB chassis is the removal of the transparent water resistant radio box which has been replaced by an upper chassis plate. This results in some extra bending rigidity for the chassis. The upper plate must be removed to access the battery compartment. The re-re has been updated to accept a Tamiya Li-Fe battery, but those are impossible to get in the USA. I am using a small (1300 mAh) Li-Po instead.

Despite the age, front trailing arm and rear swing arm suspension, and locked differential, this thing still drives really well both on and off road. Much better than I would have predicted, in fact. I had previously built the SRB based Sand Scorcher which is less stable, but that's probably because of the relatively large and heavy body. The Fighting Buggy, by contrast, is very stable and even jumps well. I'm not going to treat it too roughly though.

I have previously built the Sand Scorcher which uses the very similar SRB chassis. Please see that thread for a more detailed explanation of the build process. Here I will focus primarily on the differences and unique features of the Fighting Buggy.

You can tell that this is a premium Tamiya product by the packaging. Inside the large box with the beautiful cover are a pair of blister packs book-ending a blue hard shell body. Among the metal parts displayed are the gearbox housing, the shocks, and the suspension arms.
The gearbox uses a sintered (or possibly cast) metal housing with 3 internal gears. The fastest moving gear is brass and the others are nylon. Note that there is no differential gear here; the lower gear shaft drives the wheels directly. Once the gears are greased and the housing halves joined, the universal joints can be added. Since this model has swing arm suspension, these u-joints connect directly to the outdrive axles. Another point of note, unlike most Tamiya models this kit comes with full ball bearings and hex hardware.
Now we'll flip the gearbox around and install the suspension arms. There are only lowers here so the camber changes with suspension travel. While the SRB uses torsion bars attached to the arm rotation axis and running forward, this chassis uses rods facing aft to connect to the mono shock. In the right hand image the motor has been installed along with the protective clear cover. The rear axles have also been inserted.
This rear view shows how the suspension arms are connected to the cranks which will support the shock. You can also see the rear bumper and the "FS" shield. Since "FS" doesn't stand for either "Fighting Buggy" or "Super Champ", I am going to guess that it is supposed to mean "Floating Suspension".
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Blakbird's 47304 Fighting Buggy (Super Champ) Build 4 years 11 months ago #55032

The kit comes with two sets of pinion/spur gears: 65:20 (3.25:1) for speed and 70:15 (4.67:1) for torque. The gear mesh is not adjustable which is why only fixed combinations of gearing will fit. I chose the higher speed gearing, shown installed here with the clear protective cover. This old buggy is pleasantly fast with this arrangement, even with the stock motor.
The included aluminum mono shock is not like anything I've seen before, and seems to have evolved from the somewhat leaky version of the original. This version has double rod seals and a delrin guide ring. It is actually built much like a TRF shock and performs very well indeed.
The shock is mounted between the rear crank arms and then an inverted oil bottle is installed above with a silicone tube between. This allows the fluid to expand into the reservoir as the shock is compressed. You can also see the progressive coils on the springs. The coils are much closer together (lower pitch) at the ends than in the middle.
The metal roll cage is nearly the same as that on the SRB. It protects not only the driver but also the shock bottle and motor from impacts.
Now the rear gearbox and suspension module can be attached to the lower chassis plate. On the SRB you would see torsion bars here, but on this model there are only some vertical standoffs for attaching the upper plate.

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Blakbird's 47304 Fighting Buggy (Super Champ) Build 4 years 11 months ago #55033

The aluminum front oil shocks are the same as those on the SRB, but the servo saver is different. The SRB uses a wire for a saver spring, but this model uses the more familiar tapered wedges held together with a compression spring. The forward body mount is integral.
The front suspension is taken directly from the SRB with no changes. It uses trailing arms and torsional springs connected by lateral tubes. All metal. The ball joints snap into white plastic sockets which I assume are a wear item.
Now the front suspension module has been attached along with the front bumper. The servo saves goes in next followed by the steering servo which is bolted to the lower chassis plate.
The use of an additional upper chassis plate has the potential to greatly increase the bending stiffness of the chassis, but in practice this one doesn't do much because the rear mounts are slotted. This is to allow easy removal of the upper plate for battery access. There is no room for a full size battery here, instead the model was designed for an unobtainable Li-Fe battery. I am using a small Li-Po.
The body is a beautiful one piece hard shell which I painted in metallic blue. The portion of the roll cage integral to the body is red. The decorative stripes are the same as the original, but all of the sponsored decals are gone and replaced with generic. For example, what was "Budweiser" is now "Major Pro". The set includes a half driver figure and netting for the side windows. The body attaches with 3 body clips and also snaps to the roll bar. It must be removed for battery access.
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Blakbird's 47304 Fighting Buggy (Super Champ) Build 4 years 11 months ago #55034

The super champ is one of my favourite

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Blakbird's 47304 Fighting Buggy (Super Champ) Build 4 years 11 months ago #55058

Ya, me too, always one of my favorites.
I think it was the first RC that I bought off ebay about 20 years ago :ohmy: I think because it was the one car I really liked back in the day but some how skipped right over. I went from a modified Rough Rider to a Fox and never had the Champ so when I saw a really nice one on evilbay I snapped it up, it's sitting on the shelf right behind me now :) I have built and sold a couple of others over the years but that one is still here along with another more recent one. In fact I keep a receiver and servo in the old champ because it still goes out for a drive a few times a season, just something about it...........hmmm summer is coming.......B)
From somewhere out in the wilds of central Ontario.
.......you build what you like, I will build what I like........it's all cool......
 
 
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Blakbird's 47304 Fighting Buggy (Super Champ) Build 4 years 11 months ago #55074

This is a very strange upgrade story. My RC affliction often results in my purchase of upgrade parts for a model before I even build it in the first place. This was one such example. The suspension set from RC Channel was so pretty that I couldn't resist it, and I liked their aftermarket blue oil bottle and mounting bracket as well. I had installed a similar system on my SRB Sand Scorcher which converted the rear swing arm suspension to double wishbone. I did the same thing here, but actually found that the "upgraded" suspension handled significantly worse than the stock setup. I suspect this was due to the interplay between the unusual shock mounting position and the suspension geometry. The result was that the rear end was way too stiff and bounced like crazy. I ended up removing the parts and reverting to the stock suspension, so in the end I have no upgrades on my model.


Here is the suspension set from RC Channel. You can see that there are quite a few parts included and they match the sintered metal look of the original suspension parts very well. There are even new wheel hubs which are not necessary since they are identical to the originals.
Here is the updated suspension. With a cursory glance, you might not even notice anything had changed. However, now we have an upright which connects to an upper arm. All the hardware that comes with the kit is stainless.
With the tires on it is even more difficult to spot the differences.
Finally, here are all the stock parts which were removed when the upgraded suspension was installed. I ended up putting these all back on the vehicle and packaging up the RC Channel kit. I will see if I can find another buyer for it.

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Blakbird's 47304 Fighting Buggy (Super Champ) Build 4 years 11 months ago #55075

The Fighting Buggy is just a tremendously good looking vehicle. It could be argued that it is dated, but I think that is part of the charm. The camber on the rear wheels is quite evident in these photos.
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Blakbird's 47304 Fighting Buggy (Super Champ) Build 4 years 11 months ago #55077

Amazing parts Blackbird. Congrats.

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Blakbird's 47304 Fighting Buggy (Super Champ) Build 4 years 11 months ago #55092

I also build me a Fighting buggy a while back. Still love it. Esp the improved front steering I made: Here is a picture of it


This is how it looked with the ranger wheels on.

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Blakbird's 47304 Fighting Buggy (Super Champ) Build 4 years 11 months ago #55093

Amazing Koen. These rims are beautifull. Love it.

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