AC's Axial SMT10

[ahr43]

Hey RC guys and gals,

Got a start on beginning the SMT10 as a racing monster truck. Be using Trigger King R/C Outlaw Retro Rules for the class build. 27T brush motor on 2s LiPo. Eventually upgrade to Sport Mod class rules with a 17T brush motor and chassis mods. For now, bone stock build.

Sub-assembly builds are done and fleshed out the partial chassis yesterday. Have an unused P-L '72 Chev C10 body that may work.

Kit assembly is a bit tedious. Lots of fiddly bits and fasteners. No written instructions. All images that take a lot of looking at to get right. Taking frequent breaks and coming back later helps. More to come.

Cheers. 'AC'

 

[Doom!]

Hey RC guys and gals,

Got a start on beginning the SMT10 as a racing monster truck. Be using Trigger King R/C Outlaw Retro Rules for the class build. 27T brush motor on 2s LiPo. Eventually upgrade to Sport Mod class rules with a 17T brush motor and chassis mods. For now, bone stock build.

Sub-assembly builds are done and fleshed out the partial chassis yesterday. Have an unused P-L '72 Chev C10 body that may work.

Kit assembly is a bit tedious. Lots of fiddly bits and fasteners. No written instructions. All images that take a lot of looking at to get right. Taking frequent breaks and coming back later helps. More to come.

Cheers. 'AC'

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Lookin' good! Sometimes instructions can get pretty confusing. Sometimes you shake your head, and when you come back later they make perfect sense. I feel ya on that one.

 

[ahr43]

Lookin' good! Sometimes instructions can get pretty confusing. Sometimes you shake your head, and when you come back later they make perfect sense. I feel ya on that one.

There are good build threads on YT that have been very helpful in guiding me along. Been in RC 20+ years but MT and solid axle is all new to me. First time through slog and all that.

Anxious to see this through. Gonna be cool me thinks. Oh, and glad to read your wife is on the mend, Doom! Thanks for looking in. Cheers. 'AC'

 

[ahr43]

Chassis is done. No electronics installed. Well, almost none. 27T motor installed and gear lash set. Motor is buried so deep in the chassis and locked in by driveline it needed to go in early on.

Trimming and fitting the body comes next before electronics install. Need to know how and if it will work and get the paint on order.

More to come. Cheers. 'AC'

 

[Doom!]

Hey that looks like a monster truck!

 

[ahr43]

Hey that looks like a monster truck!

Thanks, Doom! She's coming along.

Chassis done. Body fit and trim done (Whew!).

Axial does not really provide instructions on how or where to mount the faux GMC blower and injector hat. Or fasteners. Sort of have to figure that out on your own. No biggie. Glad they included it as part of the kit. Did fit it up but think it may interfere with the driver tray install. Have a compromise fix in mind if so. For now, it looks kinda neat in there.

Have sort of settled on a paint for the body. Have to let it stew in my mind for a day or two before hitting the buy button. Once the body is painted and accent pieces are fit to the chassis, will get about the electronics install. Thanks for looking in, guys and gals. Cheers. 'AC'

 

[Doom!]

Lookin' good, for some reason trimming bodies is always a little unsettling. The fear of cracking it is always at the edge of my thoughts.

 

[ahr43]

Lookin' good, for some reason trimming bodies is always a little unsettling. The fear of cracking it is always at the edge of my thoughts.

Yeah, I hear ya. Opening up the bed area for cage clearance was quite the exercise in trim, cut and sand. Some places were so tight, had to do the x-acto score and snap. Still learning that technique but getting better. Overall, Lexan is pretty tough stuff. Seems to endure the bend and flex after scoring to snap pretty well. You can see the body was worked a lot in twist and bend by the outer protective skin peeling off. Will have to re-mask those areas prior to painting.

Body is an old version ProLine '72 C-10. Been in the basher stash for years. Ten at least. Not really a MT body. What the hey. Had to give it a try. Nothing to lose. Think it will work o.k. Had to use one of Sharon's decorator flower pots to scribe larger wheel well arcs for MT tire clearance. Gave me the opportunity to "cheat" making the body's wheelbase seem a bit longer too. Also a reason for staying with the shorter 2.2" Axial wheels instead of going full MT with the taller 2.6" wheels and tires.

Always new things to learn in RC. No matter how many years one has been at it. Keeps it fun and interesting. Cheers. 'AC'

 

[ahr43]

Finally got a day cool enough to spend quality time in the garage workshop. Soldered up an adapter. XT60 to Dean's. Not a big fan of adapters, but with a new ESC need to know it works before snipping off the XT and soldering on a Dean's.

Next came hooking it all up and calibrating the ESC to the radio. Made a few changes to the default settings on the ESC softening up some of the settings. Nothing too drastic. Finally working my way down to centering the steering servo and setting initial end points. True to the reviews, the Axial servo saver was nothing to write home about. Made a quick change over to a ProTek aluminum arm for now.

Last change was unplanned. Like to see the bind LED light when I turn everything on. Axial provides a nice receiver box, unfortunately the cover blocks the bind light on the receiver. Cut a flat out of a piece of scrap Lexan for a cover and fit it up.

Getting close to a test run. Thanks for looking in. Cheers. 'AC'

 

[WickedFog]

Lookin' good, for some reason trimming bodies is always a little unsettling. The fear of cracking it is always at the edge of my thoughts.

I always worry about that too. I started trimming bodies with an Xacto knife. I just score the cut line, do some relief cuts with scissors wherever there is a curve in the cut line, or bend in the body, then snap the pieces off. It makes it super easy.

Gonna be a great looking truck AC!

 

[ahr43]

I always worry about that too. I started trimming bodies with an Xacto knife. I just score the cut line, do some relief cuts with scissors wherever there is a curve in the cut line, or bend in the body, then snap the pieces off. It makes it super easy.

Gonna be a great looking truck AC!

Tried that for the first time on this body prep. My only concern was having to bear down on the blade. My hands aren't as steady as they once were. Cuts I could do with a straight edge, yeah, works great. The piece trimmed (above) actually came from the wheel well drop off material on the body. If you look closely, the impressed P-L logo is there. Save that scrap Lexan. Never know. . .

 

[Doom!]

That is the same method I use, still expect myself to do something stupid.

I always worry about that too. I started trimming bodies with an Xacto knife. I just score the cut line, do some relief cuts with scissors wherever there is a curve in the cut line, or bend in the body, then snap the pieces off. It makes it super easy.

Gonna be a great looking truck AC!

 

[ahr43]

Got in a floor test with the SMT10 today. Fit up a set of ProLine Street Fighter Low Profile 2.6in as transport tires. Checks out A.O.K.

 

[WickedFog]

Tried that for the first time on this body prep. My only concern was having to bear down on the blade. My hands aren't as steady as they once were. Cuts I could do with a straight edge, yeah, works great. The piece trimmed (above) actually came from the wheel well drop off material on the body. If you look closely, the impressed P-L logo is there. Save that scrap Lexan. Never know. . .

Use a brand new blade. And you don't have to put a lot of pressure. Test pressure needed on some scrap lexan to get a feel for how light you can go and still get it to snap easily. It may surprise you

 

[ahr43]

Here are stills of today's activity. First off, proving once again there is no five minute job, had to drill out the ProLine adapters to fit the 7mm shoulder on the 12mm Axial hex. The narrow P-L wheel adapter goes under the drill fastened to a wood block. The tires with the wide P-L adapter required a different approach held steady with a woodworker's clamp.

Onto the floor for a photo session. Heading East chassis only without body. Heading West chassis with body and cut away for cage clearance. Fun day altogether. Thanks for looking in. Cheers. 'AC'

 

[Doom!]

First off, proving once again there is no five minute job,

I can't even count how many times I've said this will only take a minute, then proven myself wrong.

 

[ahr43]

Got the 2.2in JConcepts Rangers glued to the Axial wheels and mounted on. Waiting for the body paint to arrive.

Fabricated a stand tall enough for both the 2.2's and the future coming 2.6's. Looks a bit strange but serves the purpose well enough. Using up whatever boards I can find in scrap lumber. Wood isn't cheap anymore, so using what I have.

Started pricing out a mod tranny build. Having already taken the 27T motor in and out for wiring, ect. have decided building an entire tranny/motor platform is the quick and easy solution to a mod motor swap. Besides, being lots of neat stuff out there for mods to the SMT10. Anxious to try some.

Cheers. 'AC'

 

[ahr43]

Almost done. Stuck on stickering. Got the basics. Grille and running light stickers. Looking at MCI's Bear Foot and also special commission for a 'Plain Vanilla' sticker set.

Back and forth a lot on how and what to paint. Gave up and shot 'er Tamiya PS-1 White backed with PS-12 Silver. Cheers. 'AC'

 

[Greywolf74]

Thats a cool build dude!

 

[Doom!]

Very nice!