Asuga Horatio's Sworkz S35 T2E Pro Build

[Horatio]

Mmmmm. New car smell...

This full build will be documented here in due course.

To begin with, the manual is clearly illustrated with black & white diagrams. The pages are mat paper finish. Bag M comes with generous sized silicone oils, tools and grease. The multi tool is really nice. Whilst anyone attempting to build this will surely have proper hex drivers, it's nice that they include L-shaped Allen wrenches - they're very useful for 101 jobs.

The Truggy body may not be in 'fashion' but it's not the worst looking thing either. It's nice that they include one - Xray usually don't. And Corally supply 2 - 1 clear, one painted with their Kronos XTR.

Diff components were of the highest quality. Steel gears and out drives are very crisp and well finished.

'Helped' by PJ the cat.

So,

Beautiful CNC machined 7075 pivot braces. Wow. Very nice

Chassis milled/machined to within an inch of it's life...

The pictures don't do it justice to be honest. It's nice.

It deserves to be given a chassis protector.

Erm....PJ - can I please use the towel....

That should do it. Keep the scratches at bay.

Next - suspension arms - and mounting diff housings to chassis.

 

[KnowAir]

Sweeet!! Nothing like a race kit!! I think PJ is trying to sabotage ur build?! Hopefully he didn't knock all ur diff parts on the floor? Congrats!!

 

[Horatio]

Sweeet!! Nothing like a race kit!! I think PJ is trying to sabotage ur build?! Hopefully he didn't knock all ur diff parts on the floor? Congrats!!

She hid a screw under her paw and fell asleep on my tool bag, but apart from that - we're still set!

 

[Jeffwazz]

That chassis machining
And added cat hair makes everything better.

 

[KnowAir]

She hid a screw under her paw and fell asleep on my tool bag, but apart from that - we're still set!

Sorry, she.

 

[Horatio]

That chassis machining
And added cat hair makes everything better.

It's certainly a very homely build! There will be less home office working for me in the coming weeks, so doing bits and bobs during the week is a luxury. My regular work bench is full of other projects at the moment, so building the Sworkz is a bit of a mission.

PJ was determined to try and eat the off-cuts from the carbon wrap. FFS. She's so clever most of the time, but then a total bird brain when I'm my hands are full!

Sorry, she.

PJ identifies as - whatever you like! She doesn't mind.

 

[MrBumbles]

It's certainly a very homely build! There will be less home office working for me in the coming weeks, so doing bits and bobs during the week is a luxury. My regular work bench is full of other projects at the moment, so building the Sworkz is a bit of a mission.

PJ was determined to try and eat the off-cuts from the carbon wrap. FFS. She's so clever most of the time, but then a total bird brain when I'm my hands are full!


PJ identifies as - whatever you like! She doesn't mind.

Lol I once rebuilt a Buick V6 on my carport, everything laid out with 2 motors torn down. being a fresh rebuild I bought, it just happened to be missing half of camshaft bearings. They sold the motor with a big chunk out of the block with only 2 cam bearings support the cam. Oddly enough it run great and smooth but somehow coolant was leaking and it was steaming. Anyway swapping blocks I started to notice things missing lol my dog was taking parts and burying them in the yard, hope pj doesn't foil your build lol ... Rebuild went fine on the v6 he apparently new good parts from bad lol

 

[Horatio]

Lol I once rebuilt a Buick V6 on my carport, everything laid out with 2 motors torn down. being a fresh rebuild I bought, it just happened to be missing half of camshaft bearings. They sold the motor with a big chunk out of the block with only 2 cam bearings support the cam. Oddly enough it run great and smooth but somehow coolant was leaking and it was steaming. Anyway swapping blocks I started to notice things missing lol my dog was taking parts and burying them in the yard, hope pj doesn't foil your build lol ... Rebuild went fine on the v6 he apparently new good parts from bad lol

Little joker, eh! PJ does like getting involved. It's all good, mostly. I do find it heart warming that she is with me for every step of the build for all my rigs and drones. She even enjoys coming out with me to run/fly them!

The Buick rebuild sounds like a mission. Your dog was burying Buick parts .....to eat later?! .

Pets are funny.

 

[Horatio]

Unique drop down anti roll bar. It's a very neat trick.

Suspension arms are monocoque design

Confusion at the steering assembly stage. For some reason, one of mouldings here isn't to do with the steering. The actual part was in bag F. No idea why. Otherwise, bag by bag assembly was generally the way, although parts from previous bags are also used in next steps.

Beautiful 8 bearing design. Super smooth.

Nice carbon composite rear hub carriers are sandwiched between woven carbon fibre plates - with plenty of pick up points.

Track width adjustable with the rear pivot inserts. Nice!

 

[KnowAir]

Very nice!! Did all that CF come with the kit? YFS hardware and everything!! Really looks like a top notch kit! We don't hear much of Sworkz here in 'murica. Well, I don't. I have heard of the brand but is rare I think? Bitchin' rig though!!

 

[Horatio]

Very nice!! Did all that CF come with the kit? YFS hardware and everything!! Really looks like a top notch kit! We don't hear much of Sworkz here in 'murica. Well, I don't. I have heard of the brand but is rare I think? Bitchin' rig though!!

Yep! All came with the kit. It's awesome. 7075 everywhere. Beautiful machining. Perfect fit. Clever little details that I've not seen on any other kit - I'm really impressed. I'll give a more detailed account very soon.

The only deviation from stock is the Avid Titanium droop screws with large dome heads. The kit items are large dome head steel.

 

[Horatio]

PJ gets quite protective over my stuff.

Getting the front end mounted. Slight issue - the pivot pin block nearest the steering assembly was on upside down, so the holes didn't offer up to the chassis. Because - of course it was! Naturally, I discovered this when all the other M4 screws were in.

Everything mounted up nicely. The suspension is super smooth and each component falls under it's own weight.

It's truly the sexiest Truggy chassis - bar none.

Chassis is braced with alloy rods and ball ends onto carbon fibre plates.

Sliding motor mount is similar to the Corally ones. It's very nice.

Carbon composite center diff mount is attached to the chassis using M4 countersunk bolts. These have to cut their own thread and need to go in square and straight - otherwise the diff mount can be split/damaged. It would have been nice to see these bolts go into captive locknuts. Just saying!

No matter - the way these diffs meshed up and the silky smooth, free running drivetrain is extremely good. The best 1/8th drive line I've ever seen.

One other minor issue - the steering trackrod outer ends. Not in the box - simply no sign of them. I had 2 lots of inner trackrod ends instead. Perhaps this proves that even robots have brain farts!

This issue was immediately remedied by Answer RC.

Next job - Shocks. These look truly outstanding.....

 

[Horatio]

Let's start by saying that these seal packs are excellent. 16 o-rings, 4 bladders and 12 Delrin guides. Sworkz aren't messing about with these large volume shocks.

1.4mm x 6 pistons (rear) and 1.3mm x 6 (front) pistons are held on by a lock nut. The piston is supported by a washer.

Working the air out of the shocks took just a few minutes. A bleed hole on the threaded part of the shock cap, as well as a bleed screw at the top of the shock, allows perfect air free shocks.

The cap design also allows for emulsion shock setup for those that prefer it (I personally don't) - the bladders can be replaced with rubber seals instead.

The finish is really quite stunning. Credit where it's due, these are 100% on point - the form factor is outstanding.

Rubber boots protect the shock shafts and nifty little nylon clip-in bushes support the top. At the bottom, the locking spring supports are keyed such that they are unlikely to be displaced.

My sub optimal lighting makes it very difficult to do these components justice, but suffice to say - these shocks take the crown of best shocks ever. Nice job Sworkz!

Back in the 80's, 1/8th buggies were dominated by Kyosho. Part of the dominance stemmed from a great shock design. So much so, that even team drivers of other manufacturers used the Kyosho shocks to be competitive. They were simply stronger, smoother and more consistent than the other shock designs at that time.

I've built PB, Mugen, Kyosho, Xray, Losi, Associated, HPI shocks over the years. Kyosho, Mugen and Xray shocks stood out as excellent designs.

These Sworkz shocks are the best I've experienced yet - and by quite some margin. The sturdy delrin guides, the clever seal design and the finish of every component is exemplary.

I should imagine these shocks are going to be very durable. Might we see these on Arrma and Corally rigs as a luxury upgrade?

 

[Horatio]

So, Buggy or Truggy? Both!

Never a fan of the Tekno Tug body. These however go back full circle to what these began as - modified, widened 1/8th buggies. I really like it.

 

[KnowAir]

What? No love for the box car theme?
I hear ya, the Tekno box is fugly. I've always dug the Jconcepts punisher body.

 

[Horatio]

The missing track rod ends! Yay! And the Bruggy mounting posts for Falcon body. Some minor modification was needed for this to work with the LFR body, which has a more angled front end. Mounts needed an extra set of 1.9mm holes higher up the post.

Some trimming required for the front upper arm clearance, but otherwise - this is ready for painting up.

Looks like I could lower the rear body posts by one hole.

Overall - what a nice kit. Certain aspects of this build are flawless. And those issues that were encountered along the way are very minor and don't detract from how special this machine is.

This brand will always be compared with Xray as a benchmark. The Xray manuals are the best and Sworkz keep it simple. They are equally clear, just not in colour and on plain paper rather than glossy.

Missing parts in a kit is always mildly disappointing - but Sworkz are quite generous with screws and other helpful extra parts that they include in the box. In the UK, Answer RC are the distributors - they offer excellent service and after sales support.

The parts quality is excellent. Certain aspects are better than anything I've built over the years. A very impressive kit indeed.

So, now it just needs electronics and we'll see if it performs. To me, it feels super light, tight and strong with everything 100% precise.

What? No love for the box car theme?
I hear ya, the Tekno box is fugly. I've always dug the Jconcepts punisher body.

Bruggy bodies were a good idea from a performance perspective. It saddened me that truck bodies were being relegated - the Tessman Enforcer truck body is my personal favourite.

 

[KnowAir]

While I did buy my Xray XB8 (2007) used, it came with all the manuals, very nice indeed! This 2007 Xray is still tighter than my brother's 2 year old Typhon 6s, that's for sure. Mind you, it's double the cost.
Can't wait to see the finished product!! Hopefully it'll be done in time for some snowbank jumping?

 

[Horatio]

While I did buy my Xray XB8 (2007) used, it came with all the manuals, very nice indeed! This 2007 Xray is still tighter than my brother's 2 year old Typhon 6s, that's for sure. Mind you, it's double the cost.
Can't wait to see the finished product!! Hopefully it'll be done in time for some snowbank jumping?

Xray stuff is excellent - but pricey. Mind you - Sworkz stuff is $$££ your side of the pond....

Those shocks though.

 

[KnowAir]

Xray stuff is excellent - but pricey. Mind you - Sworkz stuff is $$££ your side of the pond....
View attachment 4997


Those shocks though.

Too funny, I googled the S35-TE2 after you started the thread, landed on the exact same page you posted.. very nice indeed. About the same price as an Xray here in the states.
Actually more..Amain has a $20 off coupon which brings the XT8E down to $730 here.

 

[Horatio]