Project: A Decent Crawler

[taiwanesekid05]

It's been a while since the last time I updated this...

This project is INCREDIBLY slow so as I wait for myself to buy things, the project slowly goes along...

So, as of last night, here's the status of this crawler:




Rewired the battery pack wires so I could put the battery pack back to where it belonged (made the body look to high when the battery pack was on top.)




Added a piece of styrene to the bottom of the tie-rod so that there would be less steering play.




And I did the bump steer mod:





So, for the future I plan on getting and adding:

-A HS-50 servo for more power and to get rid of the big (though reliable) gearbox

-Aoshmia model kit for the body and the wheels

And eventually:

-Wire up a HS-55 for steering

[taiwanesekid05]

Modded a few things.

Got rid of the spring things and moved the springs to the top of the knuckles since they kept on getting in the way and prevented it from crawling






Put in some brass tubing in the tie-rod to get rid of the last bit of steering slop.

[winner]

looks really cool! imma watch this one for sure!

[spitfire]

Looks like you've got some realy clean cut work. Good job so far.

[taiwanesekid05]

Got this in the mail today






A bit pricey at $34, but it's worth every penny

[Donziikid]

Awesome! What are you plans as far as paint and other customizations?

Cheers,
Kyle.

[taiwanesekid05]

I'm planning on switching out the gearbox with a HS-50 servo (since the last HS-55 died on me) and then possibly changing out the stock steering servo with a HS-55 servo.

As for the color, I'm thinking a armyish flat green, kind of like the color Goodfellaz's Civic he did recently.

[taiwanesekid05]

Took some random pictures. Body's still not mounted since the wheel base is too long and I got to custom make a drive shaft. I hasn't been painted either since I still need my mommy to take me to my LHS.









Did a minor rim change since those Hot Rod rims are the only ones that I have that work inverted.

[lol]

Hun Hao! Wo yao! Gei wo? ---> Very Good. I want. Give me? (just in case you don't understand my fail mandarin)

Still going to run a servo? Your pretty confusing and undecisive.

Going for an interior also?

[taiwanesekid05]

I'm going to try and run a HS-81 servo (the gearbox is in now so I can play with it). I want to switch out the gearbox simply because its really top heavy and the 4Runner's body will keep hitting the gearbox. And if you're wondering why HS-81? It's because the HS-55 I had in the beginning failed on me (the motor) so I want something stronger.

I'm not going for an interior simply because its more work (and money). If I'm bored, I might add an interior, but now (due to money and school limitations) it's no interior.

[Kryten]

Very nice body choice,this build is coming along nicely.Are you keeping the stock elecs or going hobby grade too?

[taiwanesekid05]

Stock electronics since I'm not climbing this thing to Everest.

[Bananabrain]

Looking good so far, also i use a hs-81 servo, a bit bigger than a hs-55 but works great for xmods.

[4G63punk]

Looks good! Get em detailed and youve got a nice rig!

[taiwanesekid05]

Got parts of the bumpers painted.

Back looks fine:






The front bumper/ grill was a disaster. I need to scrape off the paint (it sticks so little that I can scrape it off) and then sand down the chrome for the paint to stick.

[bondo]

lol,who'da thunk it would take 9 months to build "a decent crawler"......j/p.

it's looking good man,glad to see some paint being flung finally.

you're absolutely right though,you CAN NOT paint over unprepped chrome and expect it to stick.
it's pretty much like painting a mirror as far as adhesion goes.
the grill itself should be fine for the most part since it's pretty well protected but the bumper itself is another story.

mask off what you want to remain chrome and scuff the rest with 400g or finer.
you dont have to remove the chrome but you do want to atleast get through the majority of it.

for the toyota badge,use an acrylic paint and lay in the recessed area,let it dry for a minute or two and wrap a paper towel around a pencil tip eraser to remove the paint from the raised portion of the badge.
let it dry,repeat and then repaint anything you rubbed off in the process.

if it was me working that bumper i'd start with the emblem,get that squared away and work my way out from there.
when working details it's always best to start with the most intricate of them and then protect those as you work the rest.

good job and good luck with the rest.

cheers,

[taiwanesekid05]

Sanded off most of the chrome and ready for a repaint



Did that little detailing trick bondo said works like a charm.

[taiwanesekid05]

Houston, we've got paint. Actually went and bought some paint the other day. Olive drab.




Here's what it sort of looks like:




I laid down a layer of paint not too long ago, but I'm too lazy to take a picture.

[taiwanesekid05]

X2 post

Paint is beginning to dry. There are a few blemishes, but I'm pretty happy with the color I got the flat, darkish green I was looking for.

(Sorry for the shaky pics)

[Dr. Kustom]

The paint came out very smooth! Flat black details will make the truck looks even better. =]