2014 Beetle

[juicedcoupe]

Since the weather continues to be garbage, I decided to go ahead and build this one. While none of it was hard, several things were more aggravating than I thought.

Put the optional gearing (8.3:1) in the transmission and paired it up with some vintage Kyosho power, a 34° Super Stock.

The shocks were more trouble than usual. The little gaskets are hard to get on and the bottom fill design is awkward.

Starting to come together. The rear training arms aren't too bad but that front setup is downright weird.

Mounting the tub and electronics.

The receiver is a Kyosho KR-14, with a Kyosho 5031 servo. I went with a Hobbywing 1060 because I couldn't justify paying 3X as much for the Kyosho rebrand of the same esc.

[juicedcoupe]

Got it all wired up.

- This car doesn't have much room for a traditional antenna wire, so I had to wrap a good bit around a spool (Traxxas 1926) and attach it to the side of the receiver.
- The tub has an opening in the bottom to pass the motor leads through, keeps it clean.
- The car is setup to have the battery connection in the box at all times but the esc is mounted at the opposite end of the tub. So I had to make an extension pigtail to the battery compartment.

[juicedcoupe]

The original Kyosho adds show the inner cover being black, even though the manual says nothing about it. So I gave it a couple coats of Duratrax basic black and sealed everything away. Kind of a shame to cover all that up.

And with the body sitting on it.

Probably gonna be like this for a little while. The weather sucks and will probably continue to suck for a while. And I have six other bodies that need paint, as well as three more cars that need bodies.

[silvertriple]

Got it all wired up.

- This car doesn't have much room for a traditional antenna wire, so I had to wrap a good bit around a spool (Traxxas 1926) and attach it to the side of the receiver.
- The tub has an opening in the bottom to pass the motor leads through, keeps it clean.
- The car is setup to have the battery connection in the box at all times but the esc is mounted at the opposite end of the tub. So I had to make an extension pigtail to the battery compartment.

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Yes, initially you find the room to be largely enough... And then, when you start to put the ESC, you discover it is a bit tight.


I have a Turbo Scopion, and mounted a brushless ESC and it was really tight. All the cables, including the sensor cable are going thru the designed channel (which is allowing for more room than the original design) but it is tight. I later changed the ESC for a Performa Racing P1 which is the same as the Kyosho brushless one and is easier to fit in, and allow to have a switch manipulated outside the body (compare to the first one I have where I needed to put the battery, and remove the body to switch it on). Definitely it would be better if there was few additional millimeters available in height...

And by the way, servo may be also an issue. I had to change for a low profile to avoir damage the paintjob of the Turbo Scorpion body shell..

[juicedcoupe]

And by the way, servo may be also an issue. I had to change for a low profile to avoir damage the paintjob of the Turbo Scorpion body shell..

I checked clearance before painting the inner cover, it was all good.

While not a low profile, the Kyosho servo that I used isn't as bulky as many others that I've come across. It fit into tub without the spacers and isn't overly tall on the top.

[juicedcoupe]

I decided to change the tires and wheels.

The rears are chrome versions of the Beetle wheels with new tires. The fronts are chrome Scorpion wheels with JConcepts Rips for a RC10. The front tires are sooooo much better than the originals.

For some reason, the last few sets of JConcepts tires that I've received have been "off" colored. Auto tire cleaner got them decent but they still have a tint to them.

I think this looks better. The yellow wheels were a bit much and the star fronts didn't have the right look for a vintage type car.

[juicedcoupe]

Got it all painted up and decals on.

The body is done in Duratrax mellow yellow, backed in white and then black.

The driver is done in Tamiya brilliant blue, backed in silver.

[XLR8]

Got it all painted up and decals on.

The body is done in Duratrax mellow yellow, backed in white and then black. 20210801_204626.jpg

The driver is done in Tamiya brilliant blue, backed in silver.

Screenshot_20210801-204850_Gallery.jpg

The Beetle looks great. I always like to buy chrome wheels when they're an option.
It seems like the trend nowadays is to de-chrome everything but I like to avoid following trends. I think one can never have too much chrome.

Since you have the Beetle in front of you, do you think the yellow you've used would be a decent color match for a boxart Turbo Optima Mid?

I rebuilt a Turbo Mid SE a couple years ago and used some old Pactra Daytona Yellow and I think it's a bit too pale for that car or the TOM I'm currently building so I'm searching for a closer match. thanks!

[juicedcoupe]

I think its probably a little brighter than that. But you can experiment with different backing colors on some scrap lexan.

This car was backed in white, before covering it with black. A silver or grey would darken it up a little, but I think black might be a bit too much.

[juicedcoupe]

Just a few more pics in better light. The color reminds me of the "Chrome Yellow" that Ford used on Mustangs in the late 90's. My brother had a 98 Cobra in that color.

And some with the body and inner cover removed.

[XLR8]

I think its probably a little brighter than that. But you can experiment with different backing colors on some scrap lexan.

This car was backed in white, before covering it with black. A silver or grey would darken it up a little, but I think black might be a bit too much.

Now that you mention it, I think I followed the same path on the SE body; backed the yellow with white, then black. Maybe if I'd used silver rather than white, it would have been a little closer to boxart. Anyway, I'll order a couple cans of yellow to test. Thanks for reminding me about altering the background color.
Your Beetle looks amazing out in the sunlight.