My first built: The Fall Guy
 

"Guten Tag y'all"

I am a German now living in Texas. So please be gentle with my english.
I have been with RCs since Tamiya's Frog and Wild Willy, later added speed boats, motorcycles, even surfers and yachts.

Inspired by watching tons of videos about scale crawling and reading hundreds of pages on this forum beforehand, I wanted to build a scaler as well!
So first of all: Thanks to all you talents out there - I have seen so much great work here, that I was too embarassed to post something at all. But in the beginning I guess everyone was a newbie ;-) And thank you Mäsi for the encouraging words!

So, I love the building process, therefore I got me a Dingo kit, went with a Tekin FXR / 45T motor and took the rest of the electronics from one of my RC models. And since I wanted to test the motor and balance (I got me saddle pack Lipos, which sit left and right of the motor), I built the stock version first, including a 4 link set up and a "Defender face" and gave it a run - "awesome" to make it short!

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...psf8ff90ef.jpg

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2b6d3384.jpg

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...ps026e2678.jpg

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...ps84c47ad3.jpg


I still have a good collection of my toys from my childhood. One of them being Evel Knievel (someone remember?). He reminded me of my childhood hero: Colt Seavers and his famous pick up truck! So the idea was born.... I learned, that a Clod Buster body would fit nicely onto a Dingo chassis (thanks freedom83!). And it does:

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5dd9addc.jpg

Unfortunately the RC4WD wheels I really liked and look like the "real thing" are 1.9s ... they are too big in comparison to the Clod body and would rub on the wheel arches. What do you all think?
Also at this stage the body was sitting way too high, the space inside the wheel arches is way too big. To get a better idea, where this is heading:

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...psffd2fa57.jpg


So, here is a "scale" comparison - Evel was so kind to help as a ruler. First, with 1.9s. I managed to lower the body a lot, but the shocks seem to be too long (stock Axial 90mm)?

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...psa8e0ce33.jpg

This is, where I want it to be:

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7bf28923.jpg

As you can see, Evels head is where it is supposed to be - now it is sitting on 1.55s. Now the tires are too small I think - I sleep in front of the mailbox every night since I am waiting on 1.55 Desert Kings to come in - they should have the proper size of 94mm, which fills out the wheel arches perfectly.

In order to lower the body that much, I also had to turn the motor and transmission 180 degrees, otherwise the rim of the bed in the back sat right on top of the housing:

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9e5ac34c.jpg


This is where I really need some tips and advice: Since I don't want to build a "shelf queen", I want it to be sturdy. I figured out a good way to mount the body, but besides the stock roll bar in the back, which is made from plastic - just like the bumpers - I want to build a scale front guard. As you can see, the original from the 80s is quite skinny:

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...ps186438f7.jpg

I gave it a try and altered a Tamiya guard by using threaded rod, which I inserted into aluminum tube and bent it until it fit. Problem: The aluminum cracks at some point and the stock posts of this guard are way too big in my eyes.

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...pscdab9b85.jpg

Does anybody have an idea, how to recreate that front guard? Cut it out of sheet metal? I have never worked with heavy duty stuff and have no idea how to bend it on one hand and make it sturdy on the other... Thought about using U bolts left and right - but coming from european metric size I have a hard time figuring out their sizes online - the ast one I could have used to hold the entire axle of my real car - lol. The local hardware store wasn't much help either. Their "hobby" drawer is pretty much empty...

Thank you, if you read all the way down here ;-) There should be progress soon - scale progress!

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Do you have a welder? Do you have access to one? 16 ga steel would probably be a touch thicker than the one on Colt's truck then some 3/16" solid rod, you can bend it ina bench vise, getting really tight bends. That would be my recomendation. 3/16 =1/10 scale 1 5/8" roughly iirc.
You will probably go through several cut of wheels with a dremel, or the more economical choice is a side grinder with thin cut off wheels.
Typically grill guards run under the front bumper and attach to the frame rails with a couple bolts.

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

You already have a start on the guard. Why not just ditch the plastic pieces and just use the metal brackets you already have?

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Thanks for feedback!
@scorpiondave: That was my initial plan too - maybe shape the posts to fit the bumper better as well. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of ground clearance with it since it sticks out almost an inch under the bumper...
@lonleycreeper: Thanks for the size recommendations! I guess I could use the same size to build a roll bar too. Actually my neighbour is a farmer and has one in the garage. Wonder if he ever worked on something that small ;-) Maybe he can help me with it. By the way: Liked your idea, how you strengthened your bumper.
@LoneRanger: I am honoured to receive a like from you - admire your work. Especially your detailed Bronco!

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Just to keep you going..
The Fall Guy Intro - YouTube

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

I am actually watching these episodes on YouTube whenever I find time to work on it ;-) sooo cheesy!
But this is what I found yesterday at an "antique store":
http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...ps62f199e3.jpg

I bet that's what you guys were really waiting for? Her face comes pretty close to Heather Thomas' - have to get her on a diet though, arms are way too big ;-) But.... Where the hell is Howie Munson? Probably somewhere getting another college credit!?

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

i absolutely loved that truck when i was a kid.

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Looks like a good start sir. I use to love that truck growing up.

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

I thought that show was awesome when I was a kid. I'll have to watch this thread.

There is a thread on pirate about a high school auto shop building that truck from the ground up. It was a couple or three years ago. They did the storage box in the side of the bed and everything.

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

loved watching the fall guy , great build so far "thumbsup". will have to keep an eye on this one

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Man, I loved that show when I was a kid. Great theme for a build!

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Awesome!! I recently got to meet the Fall Guy! One of my childhood idols!

Oh, and welcome to Texas! Plenty of Germans in this state...but most are in central Texas.

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Hey Jeremy - thanks for the friendly welcome :-) I toured that part of Texas - Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, Gruene, you name it ;-)

You met him!!?? I was 12 years old when Colt Seavers and his friends aired on German TV - funny that I still think he talks German, since the episodes were voiced over. I watched it every week back then and never realized, how many trucks they must have wrecked... there is a video on U-tube that shows every jump the pick up did on the German episodes - I think in total it is more than five minutes long!

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Yep, he lives in Houston now. "thumbsup"

That central part of Texas is where I grew up. My great grandmother spoke nothing but German.....

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

I actually have been productive - unfortunately it doesn't show that much yet. So what happened so far:
I had a nice and great running Dingo, that I completely took apart again. Turned the motor and tranny 180 degrees so the Clodbuster body would fit better.

Next I changed the axle width, which was far more complicated than I thought. The Axial axles were just too wide. So I threw in some used Tamiya TLT axles. I read they were the narrowest - but honestly, they are still not narrow enough for my taste:

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...ps659bf7cb.jpg



I had to renew all the links and shock mounts, which took forever to get the wheelbase right and to have a proper articulation. Especially because the TLTs didn't come with upper 4 link mounts. And since I was working on it anyways, I mounted the servo to the chassis, since that looked really ugly on the front axle:

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...psf55c721b.jpg


I had my first attempt at cutting metal - from an old grill I found in the trash - and had to do two exact pieces for my custom front guard. Still working on the outer frame - thought already, U bolts would do it but cannot find the right size...

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...pseffcc2fe.jpg

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6d1a4b7f.jpg



Then I cut out the pick up bed, since I want to lower it as well. The bed will get Colt's hidden box behind the cabin (to store my RX). And also I need to build me a mount for the roll bar. Together with the front guard this thing is actually very sturdy and should survive an accidential roll.

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...psce288be2.jpg

I will be in Germany next month - so unfortunately I have to give this built a break. Hope to get more done on the weekend though (filling all holes, build the bed), since I want to get to painting it. And I have already a good idea for the trunk: In one episode the truck had a rocket engine bolted to the bed ;-) Now, that will not be considered a scale rock crawler then anymore I am afraid ;-)

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Here is another shot:

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...psd1514596.jpg

Wheelbase much better, exspecially with 1.55s and the small Micke Thompson Baja's. Still would like to narrow it by about an inch in total. Heard of Losi MRC axles. But they have a 4mm driveshaft instead of 5 mm and then the whole fitting process starts over again... Anyone done it? Are those small axles capable/strong enough for a big and heavy rig?

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

I love that area! We want to move closer to Austin some day in the future.

And dude, if you ever see him again, tell him that every kid in Germany - and now people in their 40s love him! The show would actually make a pretty good updated movie! Just think of all those remakes.... Lee Majors on the big screen! I think I have to get me his "6 million dollar man" action figure as for a driver. My Evel Knievel looks more like him than that figure though ;-)

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Try a different offset wheel and that will help a lot.

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

did u make ur links?

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

I had great plans in the beginning for this but got distracted by many other projects (you know what I mean :-). Built a Sawback and a Mercedes G-Model and totally lost interest in this ...
Since this was sitting on my SCX10 chassis which I wanted to actually drive I got another chassis (TCS I think) and axles - so I had to start over completely with link lengths and so forth...

But: I finally got back to it and made some progress. I wasn't happy with the axle width from the beginning. Took me forever to figure out what kind of axle and offset would narrow it down enough ... and after cutting SCX10 axles, using TLTs I ended up with MRC axles that I enhanced with very helpful D-Lux mounts, metal gears and c hubs and Tamiya drive shafts. While this was sitting on the workbench, I wanted to drive my SCX10, so I ended up getting me another chassis (TCS), took the entire project apart, built new links and body mounts

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...pslzpsptqs.jpg

Built a bed and hood from styrene (scale cockpit is in the making), servo is chassis mounted. And I found a decent way to mount a winch to the original Clodbuster bumper and to the chassis.

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...psbbn5zu8o.jpg

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0b27dc06.jpg

It flexes OK - the wheels tuck in just fine - and it actually performs very well for all the pieced together flea market parts I gathered the last months ;-)

http://i1334.photobucket.com/albums/...psrxrlyo1s.jpg

Just not sure about the wheels. I have some 1.55 steelies that the Fall Guy's truck had as well, but they are black and they just have to be chrome! Someone experiences with chrome paint?

Roll bar, GMC grill and guard are not mounted yet, but the rig is ready for some paint job I think! Finally!

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

It looks great and the axles are perfect so are the tires!

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/27/ybeqy7yd.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/27/aru5e5u8.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/27/4abusehe.jpg

Mini update, have to take more pics. Have finished the front grille, inner fenders installed and tail lights added (the glass is from a tamiya ford f350 lens kit I think). Filed them down and painted them.

I finally sanded the body and primed it. Can't wait to spray some champagne and brown on it! Oddly it is raining hard in west Texas for days, so I rather wait with it until it is nice and dry again. Shouldn't take long here ;-)

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/31/enesazar.jpg

Finally had the patience to strip some steelies in order to really have some steelies. 1.55 ones!

Let the detailing begin!

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/06/01/neseme4y.jpg

Jody can't wait!
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/06/01/a4ebe2u2.jpg

My first built: The Fall Guy
 

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/06/01/varebare.jpg

And Evel Knievel aka Colt Seavers likes his new license plate! But... Where are my taillights and my GMC badge!?

My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Finally running and crawling is actually okay for the narrow axles. Need to see how it does outdoors...
Lights are working and if I wasn't colorblind I would have put white ones in the front instea d of red - lol.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/06/14/dypujyte.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/06/14/u4asu9y6.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/06/14/yry7y8ah.jpg

And maybe someone is interested what it looks like under the hood. Still have to do the front grill and tailgate. An of course an interior for Colt, Jody and if I find a doll: the ever studying Howie!

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/06/14/egusapa3.jpg

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Really cool build.

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Awesome!

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

I was asked by scalecrawler18 how I build my axles in detail. So I tried to give as many details to end with an axle width that lets your wheels tuck in nicely under a Clod buster body and anything wider (and the Clodbuster body is very narrow!).

Finding the right width axles took me as a newbeee forever since I wasn't familiar with any of the sizes in the beginning!

First I tried TLT axles, because everybody was saying they were the narrowest on the market. They are not. In fact, in the end they were just a tad shorter than axials. Didn’t narrow the width enough for the clod body at all.

I finally took LOSI MRC axles (the Vaterra Slickrock ones are exactly the same by the way!). They are narrow. Very narrow. Tooooo narrow! And, they seemed flimsy for my custom build which I wanted to drive too.
For one thing, everything on the MRC axles is smaller. The shafts are smaller, so you cannot hook up a strong drive shaft right away. The wheel axles have tiny pins which would have too much slack on the hexes I wanted to use. And they are too short for my wheelbase. And, last but not least, the link attachments were too small and too close to the center - your shocks would be on the inside of the chassis frame.

I still had the TLT axles and messed around with them, finding out, that their axles acually fit into the MRC C hubs lengthwise and would give me the right wheelbase.
But they created a new problem: They are slightly thicker and wouldn’t fit the ball bearings of the MRC which were smaller.
At that time I just had bought the Gmade sawback which was sitting unassembled on the shelf. But it came with ball bearings that did fit perfectly! I ordered two packages of these in the bay:
Team Durango Ball Bearing 5x8x3mm (4) TD601022

So I had working axles - and finally the width I wanted. They still weren’t attached to the chassis though. I cut off the original mounts of the housings and ordered some MRC shock/link mounts from DLUX. And I needed a drive shaft, that would attach to the tiny diffs. The original MRC shafts are way too short. So, I got me some traxxas plastic drive shafts and Traxxas differential output yokes which have a smaller mounting diameter than for example the axial ones. I have to mention, that I run a MRC tranny too! Otherwise you would have to build your driveshafts with one end being 5mm and the other 4mm output, which is a pain and very costly (there is a solution with this: MIP online sells these driveshafts: MIP Spline CVD™ Center Drive Kit, Axial SCX10 #10145. This would mount to a axial tranny. For the axle end you would have to get smaller CVD hubs. They sell one for Losi Mini RC, part #09103).
By the way: If I want 2 or 3mm more axle width now, I only need to change the hex adapters - thats it :-)

I was afraid, that a bigger motor and bigger tranny wuld put too much stress on the small axles - and they did. Stripped the gears on the first run… So, to add more strength, I changed the knuckles and hubs to aluminum and all the diff parts to metal. The original Losi MRC motor was very slow. Worked fine, but no whellspeed at all. For my Fall Guy build I got me a Losi RX280 Motor which is a lot faster now.

Here are some pics - sorry for the quality, just used my phone:

Here you can see the DLUX link mounts (and the shaved MRC housings). Also the aluminum upgrades for more strength:

Attachment 294962


Notice the Traxxas shaft and yoke - they have to be smaller than on regular axial axles. On this picture you might spot some spacers behind the wheel, that you actually do not need when you use hex mounts that have a clamp screw and don’t move at all:

Attachment 294960


For size comparison: TLT axle stub (mounted) - See the position of the pin? That`s the five millimeter missing! And in front the original (much smaller) MRC axle:

Attachment 294961


And in this picture you see how everything lines up: the shocks are further out where they belong, mounted to the DLUX mount on the bottom. The steering radius turned out to be very good. If I used thicker shocks they would have rubbed on the wheels I guess. Still need a metal steering link!

Attachment 294964


Thanks for reading. Hope that was helpful for anybody ;-)

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Very nice build, love the grille and how you were able to beef up the mrc axles.. I have a spare set of mrc axles from my kiddos 55 cameo build I may experiment with, good job"thumbsup"

My wife's actually in Lubbock this week so if you feel like the fall guy rig needs a new home feel free to hit me up hahaha

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Thanks for the thumbs up Yotapane!

What do I have to look for in town? A Hilux or FJ? I am afraid your wife will come home empty handed though - I am still working on this one for a while!
Needs interior for my passengers! And finally a better bull bar! I have just no chance to weld or work with the steel rods with appropriate diameter....

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Good job on the build, I am certainly a fan of the truck. Watch out for the wind in Lubbock, when it stops blowing I expect everyone to fall down. Our tornadoes will blow the tattoo right off of your arm. Welcome to Texas by the way.


Your English is excellent. When I was in Germany visiting, my German was awful but the Germans spoke excellent English. My understanding is that it is taught early in school in Germany. I wish we had similar curriculum here in the states.

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Thanks man - I heard that Lee Majors lived in Texas for a while! I loved that show. And thank you for giving me kudos on my english. When I arrived in Texas the first time, I thought my school english would get me anywhere. Then I tried to talk to someone .... even weeks later I wouldn't understand a "thang". Too me quite a while to get used to the draw.
Today I got used to it - and yes, the wind too. I am from northern Germany, there is always a good breeze too - mostly mixed with rain though (instead of dirt ;-) Where did you go in Germany?

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

I visited family in wiesbaden. My wife's family immigrated several generations ago to New Braunfels, Texas following prince Solms. We live 15 minutes away from New Braunfels. Didn't travel too far in 100 years.

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Nice down there! Wiesbaden just like New Braunfels. I went to a Serengeti Park down there once ;-) And Fredericksburg is always worth a stop on our way over to Austin or San Antonio. We might move there in two years when our daughter is out of high school.

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Very nice job on the clod "thumbsup" I have an original 80's unmolested 1 paint job clod I am wanting to do the same thing to. I even have the same tire wheel combo you have waiting to be used.

I have a question and may have missed it in the build...What shocks are you using ?

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

hotwheels000:

Thank you - I used the RC4WD ultimate scale shocks - 80mm.
If I come across some 90mm ones I will start looking for tires that are 1.55 but somehow "balloonier" if you know what I mean. But I went through tons of pics and episodes of the show. They changed the truck over and over again. There simply is no Fall Guy truck... the rear is always different, the wheels are and so is the bull bar in the front. Never noticed it back then, when it jumped over a fence or pile of cars...

And now that I have more experience with the MRC axles, I am planning to get me yet another Clodbody and do a stock ride height farm truck with super narrow axles... I love the body. Found a guy in the "bay" that does several different front grilles (like GMC, Chevy, different model years - even the round headlines!

I need to follow your build then! Let me know when you have more questions "thumbsup"

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

Never realized this much work went into "scaling" a clod body. I vaguely remember the show, I was more into Airwolf and Mission Impossible.

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...87410af2d4.jpg

Redid the entire chassis and changed to an scx10 frame because I wanted an empty cockpit and run a larger transmission and drivetrain. Fits good now. Continued detailing here an there with some contemporary stickers ;-)
There is not much room under the hood, I can tell you that. In fact, I squeezed my tekin in there and must have bent the capacitor ... There was a good explosion with scale smoke after a while as I I blew my head gasket... Argh.
Anyhow, steering was bad so I tried to build a panhard system for the MRC axle. Gets even more crowded here with the bigger shock mounts and links. I even want to get some delrin leafs in there .... As Jeremy says: How hard can it be!?

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...6fe06b57d8.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...bee2d197bb.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04...0882531c22.jpg

Re: My first built: The Fall Guy
 

love the whole truck, but especially the wheel/tire combo! cool rig!