Tamiya “Super Fly” Hornet Reader’s Ride by Alberto Massarotto

Alberto tells us he’s been a RC Car Action reader since 1991, and his Reader’s Ride submission started life that same year as the second RC car he ever owned. He drove it for a few years before parking it on the shelf. But it called to him, and after years as a shelf queen, the Hornet was dusted off and returned to service. The original chassis and suspension had seen better days, though, so Alberto updated the design for the new millennium—fabricating a wild cantilevered double wishbone front suspension that now used Hornet rear shocks up front. The shock tower forms a brace for the cantilever arm as well as serving as one of the anchor points for a custom cage that reinforces the entire chassis. An engineer by trade (and a former Tamiya Factory Team driver) Alberto ran the design through a complete structural analysis and the changes reduced flex by more than 80%!

Alberto wanted to retain the character of the Hornet, so he retained the solid axle setup, but he reinforced it with a rear shock mount that ties to the cage for greater strength and added a third shock—also cantilevered—to control the floating rear end and resist the Hornet’s tendency to compress the rear suspension under acceleration.

Alberto topped his build off with a custom body patterned after the Tamiya original, and added a light kit. Alberto had all of the custom parts 3D printed at Shapeways.com, and the strength puts the old Hornet pieces to shame!

Want to see your machine here? Send photos and a description to readersrides@airage.com. Be sure to send the full-size photos. If that bogs your email, use WeTransfer–it’s easy and free.  

For tips on photographing your car, read this!

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