Tamiya Neo Fighter Build -MY 1st DT-03 Buggy

[@ralphhowing3473]

You know there is a lot of frog decals in the body build so a bit of pink in the paint job is good. thanks Addam, Ralphie

[@AddamsPlayground]

Yeah, I am not sure why they did not just call it the Neo Frog as most folks go that frog themed route when building it.

[@stevenwallman2346]

I kinda wish that I did not watch this video, now I want one. I totally agree with you about how good it looks, I have a DT-02 so I appreciate that they tied together the top of the front shock towers.

[@AddamsPlayground]

It is a fun buggy and for the price a great deal! Believe me, I have spent a lot of money due to watching other people's videos too so I feel ya! You won't be upset with it though!

[@nomusicrc]

135.00 that's a steal The clips through the axles is genius I wish I would have thought of that

[@AddamsPlayground]

They are great kits and they have raised the price on them since but the Racing Fighter is still right around $125-130. The clips in the axles work really well and make life easier assembling.

[@YourNextCast]

That's a cool looking buggy man.

[@AddamsPlayground]

The paint job should look cool but it is not playing nicely so I may have to "adjust" plans! Hope to get it done soon so I can go drive it!

[@darrenalmeida1382]

Frog it! Go retro with this one! With that said, looks like I have to buy one of these too!

[@AddamsPlayground]

For the price it is a great deal! Thanks for stopping by and checking it out!

[@SnarkyRC]

The 2022 release of this kit comes with a Hobbywing 1060 ESC that can handle 3s lipos. I have the older version that comes with the same ESC you have.

[@AddamsPlayground]

Yeah, my Racing Fighter came with the 1060 ESC with it. They are great ESCs. I wish they would put the Tamiya switch on them but it is a small price to pay for the more reliable ESCs!

[@nedb4419]

It's perfect machine for a Tamiya cup Adam! Thank you for this video. Gratings from Belgium

[@AddamsPlayground]

I am looking forward to being able to run this around a track. I have to build the track first but I think this is going to do very well. Thanks for watching and as always thank you for the kind words.

[@HaydadRC]

I’d roll with the blue you’ve got on hand; Tamiya paint is expensive!😂 Great build Addam, the DT-03 is a great chassis; I had the Racing Fighter! Excellent value in the kit! Nice job!👍😊

[@AddamsPlayground]

You ain't lying about that, the paint is expensive!! It works so good though 😊 Thank for the vote, we'll see what happens!

[@acereport8939]

I recently built this kit too. I upgraded my son’s HSP Brontosaurus to brushless and used all of the HSP electronics in this car. With the 550 motor, it’s plenty fast and lots of torque. I heard you say that you ordered from Tower Hobbies. That’s where I got mine too. I always throw in a Futaba servo or two whenever I order from them. I like the S148 precision servo. I used to use those Tower Pro MG995/6r servos but I got frustrated because they didn’t always center properly and would drift to one side. I ended up replacing most of them. It’s a shame because those servos work great otherwise but the Futaba precision servo gives me much more control and accuracy.

[@AddamsPlayground]

My driving is crappy enough to warrant precision servos but I understand being frustrated with wonky ones, I have servos drift and glitch at very poor times and when I was driving nitro stuff that could be catastrophic!!! For most of my builds I get cheapies from Amazon in bulk. So far they have done well and no failures yet. Most have not seen too much abuse but some have seen a few good licks and have kept rolling. Tower is the best place I know of to get Tamiya kits and they have great coupons and flash sales!!! I'll check out those Futaba utaba servos next time I'm there. Thanks for stopping by and checking it out!

[@davebarker9022]

There quite a good kit I think for the money I got one for my Mrs last Christmas I have the upgraded shocks that came with the kit but I have seen the kit with friction shocks as well i left the standard motor in it the only problem she has is the servo saver so put a cheap Chinese one on and not had a problem since

[@AddamsPlayground]

Yeah, the Tamiya servo savers are not the best design and break fairly quickly or seem to last for eons.. not much in between with them 😊

[@RCBirds]

Congrats to your DT-03. I love this little car. The price is great for the stuff that's in there and you'll get a lot of hop-ups. Most of them not allowed in its racing class, bit as long as I don't take part in the competition, I can put in there wahatever I want.

[@AddamsPlayground]

I just run them around here at the house. I have never been into racing. I am not competitive at all and just enjoy goofing off and I also get too frustrated too quickly trying to race. The finished build and first run should be out tomorrow I hope. Just have to record some run video.

[@RCBirds]

@@AddamsPlayground I'm curious for this video. Keep an eye on the front c-hubs. They seem to be the only weak parts on this car. It might be an urban legend, but it keeps up in the community.

[@AddamsPlayground]

@@RCBirds sure thing, if anything breaks I'll be sure to let everyone know. Unless I run it head long into something then I'll just keep my awful driving secrets to myself!!!🤣🤣🤣

[@tonysimpson5310]

Fantastic I've just build one.

[@AddamsPlayground]

I am very happy with it so far, I am looking forward to getting it out and running soon. Hope all went well with yours! How are you liking yours so far? any issues with it?

[@tonysimpson5310]

No issues at all I love it I've got the aeration oil filled damper set for it . I'm a sucker for tamiya upgrades.

[@AddamsPlayground]

@@tonysimpson5310 I can certainly see those being better. These plunger style work better than the pogo stick ones but are a bit slow to react. I am thinking about running it and then playing with oils and then doing mods to the plungers and drilling holes to be more like "normal" shocks. I'm sure someone has done it but don't recall seeing it done.

[@theoagrc]

Hey Addam, as you know I love my DT-03. The final chassis understeers a fair bit so I can recommend some additional weight to the front of the chassis to help keep the front end down. Transformed the drive for me. Look forward to see how you go with this one bud! Keep up the great content 👍🏻

[@AddamsPlayground]

Thanks for the tip! I was a little concerned about it. I have some lead stick on wheel weights I can add to it up front. I'll rip it around without first and then add them to see the difference. Thanks for stopping by!

[@mad-beerc3818]

Nice buggies these, l would do it in the Frog boxart it looks great 👍its like a tribute car then haha a nod to the original classic 🐸

[@AddamsPlayground]

Thanks, I appreciate the vote and the help!

[@mad-beerc3818]

@@AddamsPlayground 👍

[@JF-RC]

Hi There Addam, a very interesting kit indeed. Box art does look good, but I’m sure that body will turn out good in your very capable hands. 😊😉 I appreciate that the Tamiya paints are a higher price, even here in the UK, but I think their paints are better quality and cover better than most. I’ve got my notification ready for the next one. Take care, keep well and all the best to you. 😊😉😊

[@AddamsPlayground]

Thanks for the confidence in me I won't make a mess of it! I do love the consistency in Tamiya paints, everyone of them works and colors are always the same. I have used 1/2 can of year old paint and finished with a new one and you cannot tell them apart. I did use some of the Traxxas paint the other day, while nowhere near the amount of colors it works well and is the fastest drying paint I have ever used! I am hoping to get it and another one out this week and get some running video done, getting kinda cold for these old bones so I have to pick my days wisely!

[@willeymunda]

I have an orange, yellow and blue cable coming out of the esc what connects to the yellow and the green wire of the motor?

[@AddamsPlayground]

The orange wire is just for the brushless motors so that does not get used. It should go yellow to yellow and blue to green for a brushed setup.

[@GTMatukka]

DT-03 is a very nice chassis for the price. Few weak points tho. Motor mount to body cracks if driven hard and the mysterious C-hub splitting that happened to me few times, i have my own theory about that. Great vids btw 👊🏻

[@AddamsPlayground]

Thanks for tips on what to look out for. I will have to keep an eye on things after runs for sure. Thanks for stopping by and checking it out!

[@RCsoandso]

That is a great kit, I usually recommend it for folks that are looking at the hobby early on. Fetching job as ever 👍

[@AddamsPlayground]

It has been on my radar for a while and decided I need to go ahead and pick it up and see what it was all about. Was a little worried as I had not seen a lot about it so was wondering if it may be a dud but I was pleasantly surprised when I got it built. Just need to get out and run it around but I am confident it'll do great. Appreciate the comment and the kind words!

[@rexrcs]

The bulkheads and arms seem so similar yo the dt-02, im told this is more stable than dt-02

[@AddamsPlayground]

I am very optimistic about this one, I think it is going to be pretty good right out of the box! The arms are very similar and the transmission I think is the same or almost identical. Thanks for checking it our Rex

[@nikko7507]

Hi there Adam , I’ve just decided to purchase this as I’ve always fancied it , I gave in finally ! Just quick question , what speed controller do you have with the kit ?? I’ve found a bargain kit but it doesn’t include that - Ive used a Tamiya TBLE-04S Electronic Speed Controller with my others, is that fine for this model ??

[@AddamsPlayground]

If you have one on hand sure it will work fine. If you have to buy one then I would just go with the Hobbywing 1060. It is a cheap and handles down to a 15turn motor so it should be more than enough for you. It is a really nice kit to put together and for the price you cannot beat it. I would pick up a bearing set for it. I think it takes 14 5x11x4 bearings so you can get a kit from TRB or Fast Eddy or buy a package of 5x11x4 sealed bearings. I build so many I buy mine in bulk from TRB but for a single build it may be cheaper to a packaged set for it. The only thing I do outside of the bearings is I use 20wt (or 200cst) oil stead of the stock oil which is closer to 30wt. It speeds up the cycle of the shock a lot better yet still offers good resistance on landings.

[@nikko7507]

Excellent il purchase the bearings , I’m in U.K. . It’s not a bad price £11.69 for ten pcs ( bearings) best I could find , from China . The hobbywing 1060 sounds great , il get that as they’re well cheap in U.K. … i have a spare RS- 540 sports tuned motor il try that out in the 🏎

[@KrasenAsenov]

I want to get a Tamiya buggy. I was considering the TT-02B chassis but I saw your other video where you compared it and said clearance was quite low. I guess DT-03 is better in this regard? Which one should I get?

[@AddamsPlayground]

I think either you will be happy with, I have not run the Neo yet so I can't give a valid comparison yet. Both have pro and cons but I think for the money either will be a last and have a line of hop ups available for them. For a 4wd platform another good ones to look at are the dragon lineup. I know the looks are not for everyone but the Thunder Dragon performs superbly...

[@KrasenAsenov]

@@AddamsPlayground Thanks man. I will wait for your first drive video! Subscribed ...

[@canuckchuck8836]

I would go one of 2(3) ways with this. Use all three paints as you rightly said about stripes down the side OR since the body is so sleek, do a WW2 fighter plane theme or submarine theme. I really do not recommend painting it all white with "Gravol" printed on the side and calling it a suppository theme...

[@AddamsPlayground]

Hrmmmm.... kinda liking the idea of the white on top with pink on the bottom with a thin line of the blue separating them.... interesting... I do like the fighter plane theme as well but that one may need to be the shelf queen body! I'd hate to spend all the time to make it look like a crashed plane!!!

[@canuckchuck8836]

@@AddamsPlayground I like your white/pink with blue stripe idea! The funny thing is, I was eyeing the Neo Fighter kit so I could paint it with a warplane theme...a little self-serving that I suggested it for you to do.

[@AddamsPlayground]

@@canuckchuck8836 I certainly has the body shape for it!!!

[@canuckchuck8836]

@@AddamsPlayground you know...I was thinking (and it hurt) you could almost get away with painting it up like an X-Wing Fighter. Although the grasshopper may be a closer shape.

[@AddamsPlayground]

@@canuckchuck8836 that is a cool idea too!

[@bradkalman2353]

I wouldn't use the tortune motor for that I'd go brushless like 3300 or a 3000 which I've seen them run on.

[@AddamsPlayground]

Maybe in the future, I am curious to see what it'll do out of the box and go from there. Maybe an additional brushless vs brushed comparison video down the road!?!? Thanks for the suggestion

[@madmustangrc214]

Hey Addam new subscriber here I thought I would reach out and say hi. How are you liking that neo fighter?

[@AddamsPlayground]

Have not had a chance to drive it yet, still figuring out what paint I'm going to use on the body yet. From the suggestions from everyone I have a pretty good idea but need to get it painted and then take her out for a rip! I think it is going to do pretty good but the drive will tell all. I've been sidetracked with yard work and stuff so my painting plans got pushed back. Soon though!

[@madmustangrc214]

Yea I to know that feeling of adulting yup I said adulting lol. Well as far as paint you will know when you have picked the right one it will just feel right.

[@AddamsPlayground]

@@madmustangrc214 yes, adulting is the worst part of my day!

[@madmustangrc214]

I feel ya lol

[@rexrcs]

Dingle dangle lol

[@EDC-King]

Pink please.

[@bradkalman2353]

You did get ball bearings for it didn't you?

[@AddamsPlayground]

Yeah, I don't build any of them without replacing the bushings. Not a fan of those bushings at all!

[@bradkalman2353]

I sent you a video of the Kyosho progress I hope you watch it and hope you'll say they should make it again.

[@AddamsPlayground]

Sure, I will check it out!

[@bradkalman2353]

That's all monoque chassis.