I got the kit a few days ago and have been building it. Here's a mini build log for the car.

It's not complete yet. I need to enlarge the suspension arm holes to allow free movement. This is required because the manufacturer can't have the arms made to the exact dimensions required. They always make the holes slightly smaller so that the end user has control.

Once I get this done, I can move on with the build. No electronics are ready for the car yet. I'm planning a HW Xerun 150A ESC with their 1800-1900 Kv motor. I might do Tekin but the chances are low. The batteries will be 4s, 5000mAH+ ones, most likely made by SMC. The servo will be a Savox 1256TG. The Rx will be a Sanwa RX451. I might use the one from my slash or get a new one.

Tires are Sweep Racing's Cubix in medium compound.

Now, onto the pictures.

The obligatory picture of the box. (you can see the tires above it)


This is what the designer of the car/owner of JQ Prodcuts said.




Now, onto the build.

Bag A had the shocks and it was a fairly straight forward build. This is my first 1/8 scale build. The size of everything was a pleasant surprise after coming from the 1/10 slash 4x4.

Shock seals.


Shock bodies with seals and piston inserted.


Front shocks


Now, onto bag B. It had all the three differentials. All of them were pretty much the same with a few minor changes.



Next came the front end. I started off with the diff case. The arm holders aren't screwed together because I need to ream the holes. Two big bolts go through the differential case and are held by nuts. They'll go in once I get the arms reamed.



After attaching the sway bars links, installing the sway bar, shock tower and top plate. The shock towers have JQ logos engraved(not sure if they're LASER etched) onto them. If you hold the shock towers so that the light strikes them the right way, you can see the logos. The links are done as well. Everything went together smoothly. The sway bars will be attached to the links once the arms are ready. I think I have the links on the wrong way. I'll have to check JQ's website for images to get a better idea.

EDIT: Car guys will notice that the droop screw is on the wrong way. I've got that fixed.



Assembling the steering knuckles. I had a pleasant surprise waiting with the knuckles. They've got CNC machined Aluminium hubs.





Steering knuckles ready. ( A subtle reminder on the manual to remind me to threadlock some screws on the car.(They weren't threadlocked because they would get in the way while getting the arms out to ream them)



Close up of the universal joint.


I realized during the build that my old hex drivers were killing the screws. I ordered some hex drivers from Murli(owner of JRH) and I'm loving them.

I'd like to thank Dharmesh of Veels on 5er for bringing in THE e car and for the tires as well.

My biggest thanks go to my father who made all this possible and is always ready to help with anything.

I'm progressing at a slow pace with the build since this is my first one. It's been great so far.

iamahuman, you are always welcome and you are doing a great work.

Like I have said earlier too, it is nice to go slow and have the build done the right way cause if anything is messed, it is messed for ever unless you completely replace that part with a brand new one.

As always, please feel free to get in touch with me for any help.

Good build. What weights are you using on the diffs and shocks?

5-5-3 on the diffs and 500 front, 450 rear.

Congrats   for your kit and All the best   for the build.

I have been so busy lately that it has delayed my 8ight T 2.0 E build   Will post it

How is the quality of parts? And which power plant you have settled on to install in it?

Regards,

Awesome build! Can you use one 4s lipo itself? Or do they have to be 2x2s in series?

Can do both. I'll run a hardcase 6s brick pack.

Looking forward to your build, firefly.

I'll run a tekin 1400 on 6s.

The Tekin is on its way to India and the battery is already there. I sourced them through ARE Hobbies based in Ahmedabad.

I couldn't take this to the race in Hyderabad on the 26th of Jan (obviously) but I ended up racing a Nanda NRB5 belonging to Amey Dhuri from Bangalore. I asked him if he had a spare car and he said he did. The car hadn't run for a long time and used entry level equipment.

I qualified first in the amateur buggy category and led for 7 minutes out of 20 in the race. My engine flamed out on entry into the pits. Despite the efforts of Amey and his partner(Bhuvan), the engine did not start up and the pull starter broke. It would've been a different story had the engine not flamed out. I'd like to thank Amey and Bhuvan for pitting for me, helping me out, and giving me their car. I used my own Tx/Rx (Sanwa M11x/RX451) and Sweep Racing's Cubix tires in medium compound. If I have time to spare, I'd love to the THE eCar to the next race and battle it out.

Here's a video of the race. I'm driving the white bodied buggy.



Gandhar