Team Associated Mini MGT 3.0
Mini? You must be kidding me surely, you’ve gotta be having a Giraffe, I mean I know when placed next to its 1:8 scale big brother it isn’t as burly, but it is still quite a significant truck in its own right and should deserve a better moniker than just Mini MGT. I’m thinking MGT Junior would have been a better choice to swerve away from the arguments in my head of whether a dwarf is bigger than a midget. It’s too late for me now though as I’ve got the film Time Bandits in my thoughts and I believe it’s time for a bit of a lay down before they cart me off like Britney.
out of the box
As per usual the first thing we clap eyes on is the body shell, and while I’ve seen a fair few flame type designs in my time, this one just happens to remind me of the morning after a hot curry (even though I’ve never eaten one). I’m not saying that’s a bad thing but I do seem to be humming the Johnny Cash song Ring of Fire whilst looking at it, so I’ll put it out of the way for a while and get on with the rest of the truck. This really is a chip off the old block with its extruded aluminium chassis design and general layout. But what grabs my attention straight away are the bumpers and the elliptical buffers behind them, they look like they’ll take quite a beating before they surrender should you happen to drive straight into something.They bolt on to the lower part of the shock towers which are small, squat items but very thick and if there was ever a tower I don’t expect to break, it’s these ones. They feature just two shock mounting positions up top and another two below on the A-arms. The shock absorbers (of which there are eight) that join the two items together are wrapped in some shiny blue springs that feel just about right for this truck as I push down on it.
The suspension arms aren’t your average run of the mill jobbies, they seem curved like a pair of bird’s wings in flight, and they join together underneath the bulkhead instead of beside it. The upper arms have what could be described as layers, the thickest of which is in the centre where a rather large blob of plastic is evident; they then step down in three sections in what must be a tough as old boots design. All are held in place without a clip in sight too as AE clothed it with captured pins at the bulk end and as it has a pivot ball system at the other end, there are no clips there either.
In between these arms whether it be at the front or rear, there are the driveshafts. These aren’t exactly the normal type we’re used to, they start off at the diff end in metal before entering into a plastic end where they’re grub screwed into place and this turns into a universal joint with a metal square making the transition into the axle. It certainly looks as if they’re intended to be strong, but I can’t work out why they didn’t just go with the normal style shaft, anything to be different I guess. The radio tray is spread across the width of the truck on top, yet the steering assembly is located underneath, it’s powered by a single AE S2008mg servo and has a further space available for another on the opposite side should you wish to double up, the bellcrank is repeated this side too so just a servo and a small piece of linkage is all that’s required to provide a massive amount of torque to the steering, not that the single servo struggles in its duties.
Back up top the S1903 throttle/brake servo is stood up with a clear sight of the carburettor and has only a small journey to the brake cam that has dual drilled brake discs fitted with a unique alignment device that keeps the brakes friction free until engaged.
But we’re not finished with the servos yet, there’s another that controls a rod for the gearbox, not only does this gearbox work with some two-speed gears, it carries a reverse module too. Very handy when you’ve overcooked a stuntman move and you’re left stranded against something, save yourself a walk by simply flicking it into reverse and carry on bashing.