Tamiya Super Fighter GR Built and Finished

Back in 2011 I purchased a Tamiya Super Fighter GR kit (58485) and posted about it here.  I built the chassis in 2012 but left the body alone until a few weeks ago.  This car is a runner and basher based on the DT-02 chassis.  It's definitely a beginner's vehicle but a lot of fun to drive.  Spare parts are very plentiful because of the popularity of the chassis so there is no worry about breaking a part that cannot be replaced.  

I upgraded the bearings and motor on this car in order to give it some more speed, but I left the stock yellow friction shocks.  For radio gear, I used a Futaba R113ip receiver, Futaba MC330CR electronic speed control and Futaba S148 servo for steering.

The motor was upgraded from the stock Mabuchi RS540S to an Epic Paradox unlabeled 27T stock.  Unfortunately the gearbox has an almost enclosed motor housing so cooling is an issue.  On hot days, the motor gets really warm after only a short run.

At first I wasn't even going to paint the gray molded hard body before applying the decals. But after learning that the main body box art paint color was Tamiya TS-42 Light Gun Metal (85042), which has metal flake, I had to paint it up first.  I'm very glad I did.  It looks a lot better painted than the raw gray molded plastic.  The exhaust tips are painted with Tamiya TS-21 Gold (85021).  

The decals:

The soapy water trick worked very well for the application of the decals due to their size and shape, however the complex curves on the body made it almost impossible to get the decals to stay flat and not bubble up in some spots.  Compound curves are not fun to cover with a flat decal.  A hair dryer on medium heat and a toothpick worked well to get the exhaust tip decals to wrap around the gold painted cylinders and stay there.

I really like the color and decal styling on this buggy.  It's kind of futuristic but with an aggressive body style and sharp decal lines.

And here is the car with Carson wheels and tires designed for the street that I use for general running:

This was a great car to build (very quick assembly) and paint.  If you are just starting out in the hobby, don't want an RTR (Ready To Run), and would rather assemble a car from a kit, then any of the Tamiya DT-02 chassis based vehicles is a good place to start.  Some other DT-02 based chassis vehicles include the Sand Viper (58374), Holiday Buggy 2010 (blue body) (58470), Holiday Buggy 2010 (red body) (84212 (limited edition)), Sand Rover 2011 (58500), Super Fighter GR Violet (58536), and many more.