Seems the MST CMX is not available in the US yet, so here is what I found during my build
At least in Europe, the MST CMX is available only as a kit, with either just the chassis, chassis with motor + ESC (looks like a rebranded Quicrun 1060) or chassis with motor, ESC and a choice of Tamiya Unimog, Bronco or Land Cruiser bodies.
With a width of 195mm and adjustable wheelbase (242 and 252 out of the box and 267 mm with optional parts), it seems the perfect fit for lots of the Tamiya hard shells as well. I selected the chassis-only version and a Wrangler body.
The chassis-only box is small and contains all the parts in smaller bags, all packed to match the single steps in the manual.
There also some 1.9 wheels and 90 mm tires included, with 2 different wheel designs available (but not selectable at order)
The tires look and feel much better and softer than the stock Tamiya bricks, but are a little too small for my build, but others will love them!
To get started, the kit also contains the usual set of tools, grease and shock oil - but I prefer my own
Anyway, the first step: Links
As mentioned before, the kit includes parts to build links for 242 and 252 mm wheelbase, for 267 mm you would need 60,5 mm/72,5 mm long parts for the upper/lower links.
Unfortunately, the manual is not very clear on this, even for the 252 mm wheelbase it tells you to build 2 sets of short links and 2 for the longer wheelbase, but it won't tell you which set goes to the front or back.
As I wanted to get 252 mm, I just build all links the same length, using only one spacer each.
The steering links are made at the same time and the manual tells you to leave a small gap between the rod ends. I "filled" those gaps with spacers I had available.
Next up is the chassis itself.
Two metal rails are connected to the skid, plus a couple of staffers for the front and the back, nothing exciting...
The shocks mounts have different shapes for left and right and can be switched around depending on the wheelbase chosen. Much easier than adjusting wheelbase on an Ascender
After that, the gearbox. Again, nothing special here, very similar to what we have seen from Axial or Vaterra. Gears are plastic, just like anything else in the MST, but the plastic looks pretty good.
Please note: the MST CMX doesn't come with any ball bearings, only bushings.
You can go through the parts listing yourself and write down what you need, or trust my list
16x 5x10x4 (I picked 10 hybrid bearing for the axles, plus 6 normal bearings for the rest)
2x 8x12x3.5
4x 10x15x4
All put together
There is also no pinion in the kit, I chose the smallest possible (according to the manual) 17t/48p at first, but got another 90t spur from MST and a 15t pinion which is a tight fit under the cover
to be continued...
At least in Europe, the MST CMX is available only as a kit, with either just the chassis, chassis with motor + ESC (looks like a rebranded Quicrun 1060) or chassis with motor, ESC and a choice of Tamiya Unimog, Bronco or Land Cruiser bodies.
With a width of 195mm and adjustable wheelbase (242 and 252 out of the box and 267 mm with optional parts), it seems the perfect fit for lots of the Tamiya hard shells as well. I selected the chassis-only version and a Wrangler body.
The chassis-only box is small and contains all the parts in smaller bags, all packed to match the single steps in the manual.
There also some 1.9 wheels and 90 mm tires included, with 2 different wheel designs available (but not selectable at order)
The tires look and feel much better and softer than the stock Tamiya bricks, but are a little too small for my build, but others will love them!
To get started, the kit also contains the usual set of tools, grease and shock oil - but I prefer my own
Anyway, the first step: Links
As mentioned before, the kit includes parts to build links for 242 and 252 mm wheelbase, for 267 mm you would need 60,5 mm/72,5 mm long parts for the upper/lower links.
Unfortunately, the manual is not very clear on this, even for the 252 mm wheelbase it tells you to build 2 sets of short links and 2 for the longer wheelbase, but it won't tell you which set goes to the front or back.
As I wanted to get 252 mm, I just build all links the same length, using only one spacer each.
The steering links are made at the same time and the manual tells you to leave a small gap between the rod ends. I "filled" those gaps with spacers I had available.
Next up is the chassis itself.
Two metal rails are connected to the skid, plus a couple of staffers for the front and the back, nothing exciting...
The shocks mounts have different shapes for left and right and can be switched around depending on the wheelbase chosen. Much easier than adjusting wheelbase on an Ascender
After that, the gearbox. Again, nothing special here, very similar to what we have seen from Axial or Vaterra. Gears are plastic, just like anything else in the MST, but the plastic looks pretty good.
Please note: the MST CMX doesn't come with any ball bearings, only bushings.
You can go through the parts listing yourself and write down what you need, or trust my list
16x 5x10x4 (I picked 10 hybrid bearing for the axles, plus 6 normal bearings for the rest)
2x 8x12x3.5
4x 10x15x4
All put together
There is also no pinion in the kit, I chose the smallest possible (according to the manual) 17t/48p at first, but got another 90t spur from MST and a 15t pinion which is a tight fit under the cover
to be continued...
