New Project...

[HPIguy]

What do you do when you have two already unfinished projects on the bench? You start another of course. Snagged this SCX24 off Fakebook MP. Really clean, Injora steelies, tires, and front wheel weight. And came with the now discontinued Betty body that I always liked. Got paint on order for it.

 

[Ritz413]

Gonna be a good looking truck!

 

[Tunedfrog]

Very cool, looking forward to seeing it finished.

 

[HPIguy]

We'll see how this goes. Worst case scenario, it becomes a tow rig for the drift car. LOL



Printed out the Yep Spec chassis out of ABS, links and paint should be here today.

 

[HPIguy]

Well, everything finally showed up. Scored a Meus carbon LCG chassis setup on Prime day for $24 (3D printed ones just weren't stout enough for my liking), which came with links, driveshafts, and body mounts. Also doing Injora steering links, Injora overdrive in the front axle, Injora brass skid which allows me to flip the trans for motor forward for weight distribution, and Meus CVD drives up front.

Made some good progress last night, started here…

Tore that down to just this

This stuff is tiny LOL

Overdrive installed with some Red ’n Tacky

Trimmed the housings for more steering (cleaned the cut up after this too)

I called it quits at this point last night. Just gotta do my electronics, and paint the body and it’s ready to roll.

I swear this was clean when I started.

 

[Doom!]

I swear this was clean when I started.

It's still clean compared to mine!

 

[RudyF6]

That chassis kit is a helluva' score!

 

[OnwardGuinevere]

Excited to see how you paint up that body.

 

[HPIguy]

That chassis kit is a helluva' score!

Yes it was!

Excited to see how you paint up that body.

Thanks, gonna try something a little more advanced on this one, at least for me.

 

[SuperFLY91]

That looks great so far...can't wait to see how it finishes up!

 

[HPIguy]

I got started on paint last night while I await more parts. I didn’t realize this was a metallic orange when I ordered it, but I kinda dig it, happy accident. Also happy to report that I finally think I’ve figured out how to get my airbrush to spray decently.

 

[HPIguy]

So, some more stuff came in, and I fianlly got some tinkering time, so more progress is being made. Injora 39mm shocks, J Concepts Tusks (more on that later), servo extensions, and 15wt shock oil.

The frame had a small pocket that with a very light amount of filing, fits the new ESC just right and tucks it in tight for mass centralization. And of course cleaned up and secured my wiring.

Everything tucked in just how I wanted it to with a major forward weight balance. Also trimmed my sliders to clear the body.

Now, about those tires. Apparently I should read a little further before snap ordering stuff. Looks like one of those Iceland tundra rigs. LOL New tires on the way. Also, 1.0” beadlocks suck to work on. I did figure out that spraying the tire with some isopropyl alcohol helps greatly to get things to slide together. Still, getting that first bolt to bite into the hub is a PITA. And all being done under a magnifying hood no less cause this stuff is tiny.

.

 

[Doom!]

Lookin' good. That particular rim is one of the hardest to line up, most of my others aren't too bad.

 

[HPIguy]

Lookin' good. That particular rim is one of the hardest to line up, most of my others aren't too bad.

You're not kidding. Bolt holes will line up, but NOT the wheel holes. LOL

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

That orange looks killer!

I echo @Doom! I find wheels that use the hub more difficult than wheels that use a beadlock ring.

I've tried various things from marking the inside of the wheels, circling the hole I am aiming for (hehe) to have the correct wheel orientation, literally anything I can think of and they're still a test of a person's patience.

 

[WRM]

So, some more stuff came in, and I fianlly got some tinkering time, so more progress is being made. Injora 39mm shocks, J Concepts Tusks (more on that later), servo extensions, and 15wt shock oil.

The frame had a small pocket that with a very light amount of filing, fits the new ESC just right and tucks it in tight for mass centralization. And of course cleaned up and secured my wiring.

Everything tucked in just how I wanted it to with a major forward weight balance. Also trimmed my sliders to clear the body.

Now, about those tires. Apparently I should read a little further before snap ordering stuff. Looks like one of those Iceland tundra rigs. LOL New tires on the way. Also, 1.0” beadlocks suck to work on. I did figure out that spraying the tire with some isopropyl alcohol helps greatly to get things to slide together. Still, getting that first bolt to bite into the hub is a PITA. And all being done under a magnifying hood no less cause this stuff is tiny.

.

Why can't they make those Servo control cables long enough to reach the Rx?!!! I have a kit/tool to make my own Jumpers, but we shouldn't have to!

Yes, I feel better now....

 

[HPIguy]

Why can't they make those Servo control cables long enough to reach the Rx?!!! I have a kit/tool to make my own Jumpers, but we shouldn't have to!

Yes, I feel better now....

It reached the stock electronics fine. They were where my battery is now. But I flipped the trans around for motor forward for weight bias, and added the Injora ESC and my Futaba RX so I could run my 4PLS. Big difference in low speed control/jumpiness/smoothness. And no ESC whine either.

But yes, I've had the same issue building kits before as well. Same reason I bitch about an 18" USB C charging cable also. Would it keel them to give you one long enough to reach the outlet from a table? LOL

 

[RLB454]

I havent tried isopropyl alcohol for the tires, but have used just a tiny bit of liquid dish soap. The soap really lets things slide around, and dries up really well.

 

[HPIguy]

So, the correct size J Concepts Tusks came in. Same rough size as the Maverix I had. Also found a trick for lining up the wagon wheels as well. I detest these wheels, and I now know why they’re called wagon wheels. Becasue the only place they belong is on a freaking wagon. And even with all this, the new Tusks will not work with these wheels. No matter what, the bead will slip out.

I also finished up paint, and obviously had a lot of paint bleed issues with the masking tape I used. Oh well, I’ll know for next time. Also, hand cut masking a body this size would make a preacher cuss. Next time I’ll try liquid mask, mark from the outisde, then cut and spray. Still learning the airbrush too, so some of it’s on me.

I have some more parts on order too, I’ll update when they get here.

That’s a 5.56 casing for scale next to the wheel face, hub, and bolt. (cross posting to non RC forums also)

.


This body will get cut up quite a bit for articulation clearance and be a beater, no worries.

 

[HPIguy]

So I did some more tinkering last night. I did some more trimming on the body, and I put the stickers on the body. I made a front spring change for more droop. Adjusted bolt tension on my front links to free them up a little more for better articulation. Then put it on the scales to check bias and balance.

I also made some radio tweaks trying to get better low speed smoothness out of the motor/esc. And I gotta say I’m still not super happy with it, so a new motor is likely next.


Seems like my plan worked, weight bias looks good.

Mandatory poser shot

And of course piled some stuff up and did some work bench crawling.