Vaterra K5 Blazer body+SCX10=class 1 trail truck

[jj650]

I'm starting a new thread seeing my original thread "another cheep Deadbolt" in the scx10 forum turned into this.....
I bought a NIP unpainted Vaterra Blazer body. And so begins my 1.55 scale trail truck.



I'm going with RC4WD 1.55 white steel wagon wheels. I think they fit the era. And I was torn between Growlers and Rock Stompers but seeing our weather here in Ohio and our muddy trails I went with the Rock Stompers.



I'm not changing much on the drivetrain seeing the Deadbolt platform is pretty good for what I intend to do with it.
I did put aluminum links all around, steering yet to make.



I put the 4 link up front.



I added a Gear Head rear 4 link truss because I was/am going to put 70mm shocks on the rear of the axle and up under the frame.



I mounted the esc on the passenger side frame rail between the slider mounts.



And mounted the rx and winch controller on the drivers side the same way.



This put everything nice and low so I can get the Dinky RC interior as low as possible.

[jj650]

I didn't take any pics of the five main pieces but here is the interior glued together.





I am impressed at how nice this interior kit fits the scx10 chassis.
I mentioned I got 70mm shocks and was going to mount them behind the axle and up under the frame but the Dinky interior is molded to allow the shock towers and shocks to stay in the upright position.
I did have to move the shock towers back towards the rear of the frame in the other set of holes.





I got the interior mounted as low as it can go. I did have to heat up the area where the transmission is and then push it down in. This puts the interior right down on the rear of the frame rails.









I wanted the interior to be easy to remove for cleaning or trail repairs. I used the stock body mounting posts in the front, just pushed the posts all the way down and cut off the access.
You can't see these with the body on.



In the rear I used the extra post mounts that's on the parts tree they give in the RTR trucks. I put them in the last holes on the rear of the frame rails. Again pushing the posts all the way down and cutting off the access.





This puts the rear posts in the cargo area of the interior. Easy to hide with some scale accessories thrown in.

[jj650]

Now with the interior/underbody all secured I mounted the body with 8mm rare earth magnets.

The rear has magnets Gooped on the interior and on the rear of the body.





And the front I made a styrene bracket to glue magnets on. And another set under the hood.





I wanted the sides of the body to be sucked in at the bottom to get away from the square look. I drilled holes in the sides of the interior and glued magnets in each hole.



I then glued thin strips of metal inside the body so once on they snap in against the magnets on the interior.



This setup holds the body tight in place.

[jj650]

I made some steel bumpers. Simple flat stock with Yeah Racing heavy duty shackle mounts and shackles on both ends.



Rear......



Front.....



And how they look with the body on. Yeah, painted body! Metallic blue and gunmetal grey. I really wanted to make this look it's age but figured I'd paint it up like a fresh rebuild and let Mother Nature work her magic.





Got paint to start working on interior. And still have lots of detail work to do on outside of the body.

[littletoyboy]

Very nice indeed. I like how you mounted the interior/body. Color looks nice also.

[jj650]

Coming along. Got the aluminum side trim, windshield, and vent windows trimmed out.



Put the stock Axial steering wheel in. And John mounted to seat with magnets also. Makes removing him easy. Oh and sporting a Coke. Lol



And mounted the winch to the frame behind the body. Waiting on my order from RC4WD and their aluminum winch fairlead to mount to bumper. The winch will be hidden and nothing stick out further on the front bumper for good approach angles.

[Big Bill]

Very nice, with Class 1 my new favorite Class I will be watching your progress.

[jj650]

Made up aluminum steering links.



Got the RC4WD fairlead installed.



Painted the interior. Needs some weathering. Too glossy. Dash finished.

[jj650]

I sprayed the interior floor with a rubberized paint to more look like carpet or a bedliner material.



Throw in some scale accessories and not too bad.







More pics to come. Took it out for its first trail run. Very impressed with it overall.

[jj650]

And it's first trail run.













Overall for a trail truck with class 1 tires it performed great. The deep sand was a challenge on the steep hills, but wider tires would fix that.

[jj650]

So my son gave me an early birthday present. 1.55 Pit Bull Growlers!!
I mounted them on Axial 1.9 beadlocks with a single stage foam I had from another project.
I like how that widened them out but lost a little height though. I think these will work out much better overall and I really like the look of them on the truck.







I also added four headlights so far. We are planing on a trail run this weekend hopefully.

[jj650]

Finally found Nikki Bella to go with John....



Too bad I don't get scale points for Fido. Lol

[Natedog]

Looks good, I like the 1.55s though. First time I've seen Sgt Rock as somebody's driver and he fits well. 2-speed would help in the sand too.

[northernerbill]

Glad I found this thread. Just remodelling mine back to a Blazer and have 1.55 Growlers sat here waiting for the rims and shell to arrive.

Looks great, very scale!!!

[Jeepfixer1]

Looks great, digging the interior. The only thing I see that I think would make it look better would be some trim around the wheel wells. I also really like the craftiness with the magnets.

[jj650]

I stuffed CI comp cut dual stage foams in the Growlers. Much better now. Filled them right out but still have enough squishiness to them.






And finally got it out to trail test the Growlers. I'm VERY happy with how they perform! There wasn't any sand at this spot and I purposely stayed out of the deep mud holes. I'm very happy with the overall setup. It's an awesome scale trail truck.







I put together a little YouTube vid of our trail run. I'll try to upload it later today and I'll post a link to it.

Thanks for looking and for the great replies!

[jj650]

And here's the latest video testing the Growlers out.

https://youtu.be/SqFbO_r6d-w

[jj650]

I wasn't happy with the front bumper, sat too low and left a big space between it and the grill.
I modified the mounts, shaved the ends up at an angle and added some bars.

In the rough.


While I was at it I added a spare tire/hi lift bracket to the back bumper, and shaved the ends same as the front.


They're in the paint shop now. Stay tuned for assembled pics.

[jj650]

Much better! Up high and tucked in tight.




And the back end.

[Natedog]

Revised bumpers definitely add to it.