Javelin Legendary Series - Manual

Build Date: August 2018 (Original)

September 2018 - Brushless gearing kit

After discovering that Tamiya was re-releasing classic RC cars, I had to see if anyone else was doing the same, and found that Kyosho was, and the Javelin caught my eye. I just had to see what it was like to build an RC car from a rival manufacturer. It was great fun, and the Javelin came with many more hop up parts straight out of the box than The Boomerang did.

It started as a stock build, and it's super fun to drive and with all that weight behind the rear axle it's very tail happy!

Electronics

The car requires the following additional electronics which are not included with the kit.

• SC-0254MG - Savöx Digital Servo
• X4 - DumboRC X4 Transmitter (X6 is also good)
• X6F - DumboRC X6F Receiver (one comes with the transmitter)
• Any quality ~5000mAh 2S Lipo battery will suit. example

Motor and ESC

• 37021 - Kyosho Le Mans Motor 490 Brushed 30T
• 30120203 - Quicrun 1060 Brushed ESC (2-3S) - bulletproof brushed ESC works with almost all brushed motors.

Freshly built

The Black Makeover

Rebuild Date: June 2019 (In Black)

After a lot of bashing fun and testing out various parts it was time for a rebuild and a change to black!

Hopups

• OTB247BK Body Parts and Roll Bar Kyosho Javelin - Black
• OT252BK Wing Kyosho Javelin - Black
• OTW133SB Centre Under Plate Silver Kyosho Turbo Optima
• OTW102B Stabilizer Set Kyosho Optima (Ft-Rr)
• 30404309 - Quicrun 3650 Sensored brushless motor G2 10.5T
• 30125000 - Quicrun 10BL120, 120A sensored Brushless ESC
• PNGS4829 Pinion Gear Kyosho 29 Teeth - 48Dp (UM329) Steel
• SCW021B - Slipper Pad Kyosho Scorpion 2014 (2) HD
• Redcat Tyres - 12mm Hex Redcat HPI Buggy Tyres in White

Why these Hopups?

Centre Under Plate

The Centre Under Plate from the Kyosho Turbo Optima (OTW133SB) show below, is an absolute MUST HAVE. It does two very important jobs:

• Greatly reduces the amount of dirt, rocks, etc that can get stuck inside the open designed chassis
• Protects the rear gearbox and differential which made of plastic, and will break after some impacts without this under plate. Yes I found out the hard way!

Front & Rear Stabilizers

The front and rear stabilizers (OTW102B) come standard on the Turbo Optima and bolt straight on as the two cars have an identical chassis, so why not! It has to handle better, right?

HD Slipper Clutch Pads

If you're running brushless you have no choice but to switch over to the HD Slipper Clutch Pads (SCW021B) which are much stronger than the standard pads which slip a lot every time you launch the buggy from a standing start. Switch to the HD Pads and you'll launch way faster and be pulling wheelies in no time!

Modern Wheels and Tyres

The Redcat Tyres are a cheap decent looking wheel a tyre combo I found on AliExpress, that went well for both Tamiya and Kyosho cars. Better that then expensive genuine Kyosho retro tyres, which also wear out super fast on tarmac.

The search for speed

Even though this car was released in 2017, it is based on a model released in 1986. The good news is unlike the Tamiya re-releases, Kyosho has not just remade the original cars, but upgraded their drivetrains to handle the more powerful modern brushless motors.

The Motor Selection

With the first motor I tried to go all original and Kyosho. I installed the Kyosho Le Mans Motor 490 Brushed 30T (37021). This is a modern release but built like a retro brushed motor. It looks good, and does what it says on the box, but at 30 turns, it's quite slow.

Time to go brushless! The first brushless I tried was a brushless sensored combo set from SkyRC, the Cheetah 1/10 60A 3250kV 10.5T (SK-300058-02). Compared to the brushed motor this had some serious speed and acceleration. But this motor suffered from cogging issues at times.

I finally upgraded to a HobbyWing combo with the Quicrun 3650 Sensored brushless motor G2 10.5T (30404309). This proved to be a reliable, cogging free and fast motor, and how the buggy runs today.

Perfect Retro Match Motor

If you have an unlimited budget and want to go all in, Kyosho has released a brushless modern take on their original brushed motors. But these are very expensive.

37032 - Kyosho Le Mans BLS Motor 240S 15.5 - Fast
or
37034 - Kyosho Le Mans 240 Gold BLS 13.5 - Faster!

Matching ESC: 37051B - Kyosho Le )Mans 240S BLS ESC 60A

Setting the right gear Ratios

Speed isn't just about the most powerful motor, it's also about how the motor is used. As mentioned above Kyosho actually redesigned the drivetrain and so there is a wide selection of main gears and pinions that can be used to gear the car for acceleration or outright speed. Kyosho even released a special brushless gearing set:

• OTW126B Spur Gear 51T SP Kyosho Optima - 48Dp (for BLS motor)

I found that this geared the car too high and killed the acceleration, so I stuck to the standard main gear, and used a larger 29 tooth pinion (PNGS4829) to gear up the car just a bit. With the more powerful brushless motor, this kept the good acceleration and also had a good top speed.

For a full break down of gearing see the Gear Ratios table at the bottom.

Spare parts

I had my fair share of issues or crashes with the car which mean some parts broke and I needed to order some new ones. Here is short break down on what is likely to break on a Javelin.

More power equals more strain on the drivetrain. There is one small plastic gear in the rear gearbox that helps guide the drive belt. Mine had some serious wear on it and had to be replaced. You'll need the Gear Differential Case (OT208) gears pack to get the part you need to fix this issue when it happens.

If you turn the car quickly on tarmac it has a tendency to flip. If this happens you are probably going to break one of the hubs on the front or rear. You will need the Hub Carrier & Knuckle Set (OT204), and you better get two because you'll probably have bad luck and break the same corner twice.

A Touch of Red

Not long after I discovered the black body parts and wing for the Javelin, Kyosho went crazy and released them also in white, yellow, red and peppermint green! So I had to have red. This is the wing and body the car has today.

• OTB247R Body Parts and Roll Bar Kyosho Javelin - Red
• OT252R Wing Kyosho Javelin - Red

Gear Ratios

Main	Pinion	Ratio
61T	16T	14.43
61T	17T	13.58
61T	18T	12.83
61T	19T	12.15
61T	20T	11.55
61T	21T	11.00
61T	22T	10.50
61T	23T	10.04
61T	24T	9.62
61T	25T	9.24	Standard
61T	26T	8.88
61T	27T	8.55
61T	28T	8.25
61T	29T	7.96	Current
61T	30T	7.70
61T	31T	7.43
51T	27T	7.16
51T	28T	6.90
51T	29T	6.67
51T	30T	6.44
51T	31T	6.24
51T	32T	6.04
51T	33T	5.86
51T	34T	5.69
51T	35T	5.52
51T	36T	5.37
51T	37T	5.33
51T	38T	5.09
51T	39T	4.96
51T	40T	4.83
51T	41T	4.72