[PRE-ORDER] RSO/01 Workable Suspension (Tamiya)

Description

Tamiya’s approach to the RSO suspension is frustratingly…static. On the one hand, that’s fair, since the kit also has link-and-length tracks that aren’t going anywhere. On the other hand, they had multiple options for how to connect the cantilevered bogie arms to the H-frame and they chose a shallow, dinky little connection with an amount of play that’s unbecoming of a Tamiya kit. MiniArt arguably has the more elegant approach.

We took it as a challenge. Multiple prototypes failed. There’s just not a lot of room to work with. But inspiration struck right as the project lingered on the edge of abandonment. And here we are with a simple, robust workable suspension that only replaces a few kit parts.

What’s included

• 4x H-frame inside endcaps (replacing parts A7 and A8)
• 8x bogie arms (replacing parts A13 and A14)
• 5x bogie axles

How it works

The RSO runs a simple H-frame suspension. Cantilevered bogie arms connect onto axle bearings at the front and rear, and rotate freely to keep the wheels and tracks grounded. So all that you need for a workable suspension is a workable bogie axle.

This set provides exactly that. All you have to do is drill out the openings in the H-frame (parts A6) from the inside, install the replacement endcaps, insert the bogie axle through the assembled H-frame, and glue each bogie arm onto its respective axle.

The axle – and the bogie arm glued to it – can now pivot freely. Mount road wheels and put your RSO in whatever non-plank setting you wish. Or put it on a plank. The beauty of this suspension layout is that it’s more or less auto-leveling.

Choose your bogie

The included bogie arms work just fine with the kit road wheels, but the conical mount thing Tamiya’s been using lately for road wheels doesn’t translate as well to something so shallow.

A second set of bogie arms features an improved wheel mount design that’s compatible with the optional hubs in our RSO road wheel set. It’s a little thing, but life’s too short to deal with wobbly wheels.