Bear Hawk

[radioactivity]

I got this as a "mystery" auction item purchased by the wife.
Been cleaning, sanding, painting, sanding, painting and trimming decals for a while.
Turning out pretty nice if I do say so.

Chuck

[romulus22]

I didn’t see that coming
Nice turnaround! I thought you were going with an arctic snow theme when I first started scrolling. Looks really good though.

[radioactivity]

Thanks Romulus!

She was in pretty bad shape paint-wise. Lots of runs. Really thick.
I went with box art Tamiya TS-15 Blue lacquer and MCI decals.
Kind of surprised that the decals were available.
Front wheels were painted as well. Chucked them into a drill and sanded, then polished.
New rear wheels as the originals were HPI.

Chuck

[coxbros1]

nice work as always Chuck

[XLR8]

Great work Chuck, the body looks awesome!
How's the rest of the car, is it a runner?

[radioactivity]

Thanks guys!

Well the ugliest part of the car was the body.
Thought I'd start there and see if if it could be salvaged. I think it looks pretty good, at least a whole lot better.
So I'll probably keep going forward.
Really need to tear it down a thoroughly inspect everything as this was a pig-in-a-poke.
Also going to keep it as OEM as I can. Maybe throw in some new bearings, 5mm id rubber tubing for the friction shocks and I've been on the hunt for proper tires.
Mechanical speed control will go if I get it to a decent running state. I do have a period correct Tamiya ESC.
Got a couple balls up in the air now and I suck at juggling

Chuck

[Biz73]

Front tires will be the hardest part for this buggy. If you can find a set they usually run in the $50+ range. Fine for a shelf queen but not so great for a runner. The rear tires are still made.

I sold my Bearhawk a couple years ago. I regret it of course.

[radioactivity]

Found this in a '91 Sheldon's Hobbies catalog

Chuck

[Biz73]

Wow, that was a cheaper than I would have thought. Maybe Tamiya will re-re it for a decent price someday.

I just remembered that the front wheels are 1.9" so it's possible Kyosho Ultima tires or the Jconcepts 1.9 Rips might work with the stock wheels.

[radioactivity]

A little bit of finishing up.

Full clean up and wiring reroute.
New pair of correct rear tires for the new rear wheels. Still can't find new front tires but these aren't too bad.
Rebuilt shocks with new silicone 5mm X 9mm hose. Changed the springs as the springs that were on it were both non-original and way too stiff.
The silicone tubing actually doesn't do a bad job of "damping" the shocks. Much better than just non-damping pogo sticks.
Painted driver figure.
Took it for a spin outside and it runs and steers OK.
Up on a shelf now

Chuck

[coxbros1]

looks great Chuck! on to the next build. Kyosho next time possibly?

[radioactivity]

Derek

Remember racin' at Lynn's?
Frogs, hornets, Tamiyas and Kyoshos all road bumps.
Got a simpler RC10 in the works for a quick build.
But who knows, never thought I'd reanimate a Bearhawk, FX10, Wolfhunter and a Panda.

Chuck

[coxbros1]

Hell yes i remember it...we still discuss it all the time with Bill, Jim Piersol Sr. and Jr., Skip, Mike, Me and David. we are still racing together after all these yrs.!!!

[radioactivity]

Can't forget Ralph Volkman, Danny Schnaare, Brian Chapman, Larry ?? ( stocky w/beard), Andy Wallace and last but not least Sean Cochran.
Sure there were many others but...
What great times. Always looked forward to race day.


And I do have 1 Kyosho piece but not quite enough to build a car around

Chuck

[coxbros1]

Rember Ralph and Danny well...but they are not into rc now....we deal with Andy all the time now but didn't know him then...Sean could care less about vintage rc, or any rc for that matter now. Chuck Freeman (RIP) was a 4wd icon back then with his Tamiya Supershot . I don't remember the others tho...people weren't real nice to me and David back then...i think they thought we were goobs! can u confirm?