Yokomo Super Dog Fighter Project

   

I didn't really know much about Yokomo when this kit became available.  I'd heard of them of course, but mostly just for making drift chassis which isn't my thing.  But I also knew they'd been around a long time.  Turns out they were part of the vintage buggy racing cadre back in the 80's.  In the days of the Associated RC10 and the Kyosho Optima, there was the Yokomo YZ-834 Dog Fighter in 1985.  That was a chain driven 4WD buggy with front and rear mono shocks, rear trailing arms, and a plastic chassis.   A version of this chassis now known as the Wonder Dog Fighter won a wold championship in 1985 driven by Gil Losi Jr.  When the YZ-870 Super Dog Fighter came out in 1987, it improved on everything.  The chassis changed to FRP, the suspension went to independent double wishbone all the way around, and the chain was replaced with a belt.  There was later a "Works" edition in 1991 that added an upper deck, a sleeker body, and many other improvements.  Yokomo re-released this one as well, and then later made an ultimate more modern edition called the "Team Spec" that replaced the FRP with carbon and made many other tweaks.  This one can be considered an ultimate edition.  Sadly, it didn't exist when I was shipping or I would probably have bought it.

I wasn't very interested in the regular Dog Fighter when it was re-released because it came mostly pre-assembled. However the Super Dog Fighter became available shortly afterward as a full kit, and I couldn't resist it for long.  Having never built anything from Yokomo, I was really keen to try them out.  I wasn't disappointed.  The packaging, build process, and design were quite distinct from anything else I've ever experienced (and that's quite a lot).  I used a brushed Yokomo Esprit motor which would have been period correct at the time.  This is not a particularly fast motor, but I'm not going to be driving this very hard anyway.  I used otherwise modern electronics including a shorty Li-Po.  The chassis is provisioned for original sub-C saddle packs, but that would have been crazy to replicate for reduced performance.  The single deck chassis flexes quite a bit in the jumps which temporarily loosens the belt, so I drive this one fairly conservatively.  The chassis handles really well on pavement or grass, and is a joy to drive.  I attempted to do a box art paint scheme, but was forced to simplify it quite a bit due to lack of talent.  No instructions for the livery are included at all.  This includes the minimal sticker sheet which is really left to the discretion of the builder.

The kit came with a ticket and invitation to a 2024 RC event at Tsukuba in Japan (pictured above, right and left).  Not that I would have been able to attend anyway, but these events were long since past when I finally built this model in 2026.

Description	Manufacturer	Model #
Super Dog Fighter 1/10 Scale Electric Competition Radio Control Off Road Racing Car Kit	Yokomo	YZ-870c
Esprit RPM 27T Rebuildable 540 Brushed Motor	Yokomo	YM-ER27
21 Tooth 48p Steel Pinion	Yokomo	BM-4821A
Quicrun 60A Brushed Electronic Speed Control	Hobbywing	1060
2 Channel 2.4 GHz DSMR Receiver	Spektrum	SR215
Budget Metal Gear Steering Servo	Savox	B-08KG
PS-1 White Paint	Tamiya	86001
PS-2 Red Paint	Tamiya	86002

Up to RC Index