A new project - Nichimo Spirit FF - The first of a kind

[silvertriple]

Hi,

Ok, well, how to say that... My 22nd RC car is at home. It's complete, but it requires a LOT of work. Rather than be called a car, it should be call a project.

How to describe it: The first of a kind is probably one of the best definition. It's quite rare...

Teaser :


I will update the thread in due time, when someone will find what it is

[silvertriple]

few leads to help one to find out:

• The first of a kind

• It's rare

• Not a Tamiya,

• Not a Marui,

• Not a Kyosho

• Not a Nikko,

• Not a Bandai

• This model shares some design cues with another one within the same brand, but with a different architecture. And both would be considered highly innovative at that time...

• Looking at the overall design, one could think about it as a copy of a famous Tamiya model

[Dadio]

Ayk super trail ?

[silvertriple]

Thanks to play
It's not an AYK model

[silvertriple]

But the AYK Super Trail have a longitudinal motor mount, just like my new RC car

[Trass]

Marui ?

Jerome

[silvertriple]

Marui ?

Jérôme,

As mentioned in the second post of the thread, it is not a Marui

Maybe I can add another lead : There is a metal (yes, metal) radiator at the front, and interestingly, it's not present on the box art

[GoMachV]

Nichimo Spirit FF

[silvertriple]

Nichimo Spirit FF

Yes it is!
Here is some pics of the box.




And for the car, it is quite broken. But all the pieces are there, even for the broken chassis or the bumper. There is a lot of work. I will probably have to rely on 3D printing at least for the chassis and the bumper.






Suspension arms are in good shape, and transmission seems to be as well in good shape...

I won't start the work right away as I need to finish my Marui Hunter/Galaxy project first, but I will update here while working on this project...

[silvertriple]

As I had some time this morning (a day off), some snow outside, it's perfect weather to try to move on on projects...

I decided to start my morning to get the Spirit FF down to parts...



I dismantle all what I could. On the rear end, I did not succeed to remover the wheels from the rear arms. I will need to think on those ones...


The right shock support is fixed with two screws which I believe have been glued with cyano... Not sure what to do to remove yet.

After that I focused on the front end


Lower front arms will probably require remplacement as cracks appear on both side at the shock fixation



The gearbox is interesting, probably the part in the best state of this whole car, but the motor is quite far from the front train...



Funny thing, as the motor is not really close from the front train, they added weight on the front with the radiator (I believe it was an afterthought, when they started to try the creation, as the box art did not include the radiator as well as the promo pictures from Nichimo)... This thing weight 92grams...


Chassis parts, roll bar, front and rear arms are going to require a 3D modeling and printing...

Next update at some point, but not necessarily in few days : I wanted to have a clear view of the state of all parts, to estimate the level of work required. I'll plan for it and I'll have other projects to shuffle as well , so don't expect updates before few months

[Dadio]

Cyano can be removed with acetone but be very careful as it may also eat the chassis if it's ABS .
Very interesting inverted spur gear ! I've seen a YouTube clip of one of these and it wheel spun a lot so I'm sure your right about the radiator being a nose weight , 92g though !

[Coelacanth]

The Nichimo Spirit FF drives terribly on anything other than a smooth asphalt surface, unfortunately. The radiator mainly functioning as a nose weight is to help, but the car still just spins the front tires unless the surface is very high-grip. It's a rare and valuable oddity to add to your collection, but it wasn't engineered very well, inasmuch as an offroad buggy is concerned.

[silvertriple]

The Nichimo Spirit FF drives terribly on anything other than a smooth asphalt surface, unfortunately. The radiator mainly functioning as a nose weight is to help, but the car still just spins the front tires unless the surface is very high-grip. It's a rare and valuable oddity to add to your collection, but it wasn't engineered very well, inasmuch as an offroad buggy is concerned.

Well, for sure it's not a car you add to a collection for its performance or for its beauty. Yeah, oddity is the right term. I had some discussion about the multiple "engineering non sense" of multiple points on this car... Sometimes, when you have a car in hands, you would just ask yourself about what idea the designers had in mind when they did this...

[silvertriple]

Very interesting inverted spur gear ! I've seen a YouTube clip of one of these and it wheel spun a lot so I'm sure your right about the radiator being a nose weight , 92g though !

Yes, that's another oddity of this car. I believe they had an idea of the motor being center was a right idea... Another "wonderful" idea that is a total non sense for a FWD car... And for the youtube clip, I saw one as well, but it may turn the guy did not have the radiator mounted (did not check): journalist were pretty enthusiasts about the car ability in offroad : cornering speed was very good, due to the front wheel drive, as long as you succeed to get to speed, which was the most difficult thing, actually... I need to find some english press reviews (I have only found french reviews at this stage - and all of them pointed to the same qualities. On the bad things, they mention that there was not enough height below the front train, and the motricity (on which both reviewed mentioned that it was not really an issue, as long as you do not push it too fast on acceleration phases)...

[Dadio]

I wonder if the odd inverted spur gear is a legacy of re-using some of the 4wd front transmission gears designed for shaft drive from the rear ?