HKS/Ikkitousen Dodge Viper GTS-R

So I like big names. I picked up a rtr CEN SP-1 off the bay for cheap. It was in great shape so I decided it was worth being a project. I rummaged through my never ending pile of unused RC stuff and found an HPI 200mm Viper body. The Mercedes CLK-GTR body that came with it was in pretty good shape but I wasn't feeling it for this project. I'll throw it in the pile and let it turn up later. Now that I had a base it was time to imagineer.



BODY: I decided to do it in pro-drift style with Itasha style graphics. The paint scheme was simple/complex. I used the patterns from broken glass that has "spider webbed" but not fully broken. I picked a spot on the windshield as the point of impact and made lines radiate out from there. I then fractured those segments into smaller fragments. Finally I assigned each fragment a color making sure no two colors shared the same border.

Once the body was painted, I installed Yokomo S15 silvia headlight buckets and some homemade closed cell foam taillight buckets.

Then I mounted an HPI type-D wing and ordered up some Ikkitousen anime decals along with a set of HKS drift decals from my homies in China.


While I was waiting for my stuff from china to arrive I pilfered a few decals from the Tamiya HKS Opel decal set I have. I also picked up a flashing headlight/taillight set from China and installed them.

CHASSIS: I didn't do much to the chassis. I had a pair of Powerline Racing shocks many years ago. Not long after I got them I lost one, for FIVE years. I finally found it at the bottom of my RCCA collection. Built them up and put them on the back.

The front shocks came from ebay. I bought a full set for a different car but one set was missing the extra pistons and rod ends. I emailed the seller and asked him to send the missing pieces but he sent me a whole new set! Awesome seller. I used the blue/stiff springs, two hole pistons, and 50wt oil in them.

I also shimmed the suspension. This car has down travel limiters in the arms and that was nice. Wheels came from China, tires came with the car.

The only thing I did was soak the tires in GOOP hand cleaner for a few days to soften them a bit. I used the stock electronics (fail, more on that later) with a fresh Johnson silvercan.


The last few pieces ordered were a great big Kawada pinion and an e-sky gyro. My only other tricks were to move the electronics to the lower deck and de-grease the bearings.



TESTING: This puppy is fast! The parking lot was wet (It was raining!) but the gyro kept this 2wd beast in line. I could still spin it but only when I was trying. The stock esc is crap. Reverse never worked, you have to use the "set" button to power on/off, and it had a serious case of  "I go where I want" when the radio was off. My buddy gave me one from China so I expect it to feel right at home on this car. The radio was working great but it came with batteries. I accidentally left it on and killed them. One leaked and now the radio is acting up. I'll sort it before I take it out for round 2.









UPDATE: The body wasn't designed to be slammed with headlight buckets. At full lock the tires would jam against the lights and the car would push like crazy. I busted out my fake Dremel and sanded away at the lights. Still rubbed. Now I either raise the body or the ride height. I'll probably go with the ride height since during the first test a wood screw jammed itself into my chassis. The new esc works flawlessly and it has a switch that I mounted on the side of the chassis. Now I don't have to remove the body to turn it on/off. Also this thing beeps for "on" and has a neat little 3 note tone for "radio on". The motor was getting a little warm but some of that was from the tires rubbing adding extra load on the motor. I hope its not geared too tall, as I have a tendency to do that. When I touch up the paint chips on the front lip I'll take some night pics.

More pics here.