King 'Jero - Rebuild

[Locked Up]

Current Specs:
Body: Custom stretched Pajero by SgtSteve
Frame: Custom SCX10 with narrowed front by Difuser
Wheels: Locked UP RC OEV with Galaxy rings
Tires: Pit Bull Rockers
Front Axle: SCX10 with HD Overdrive gears & FI Spool
Rear Axle: SCX10 with HD Underdrive gears & FI Lunchbox Locker
ESC: TBD
Motor: TBD
Steering Servo: TBD
Winch: TBD



I wanted to start a new thread for this truck because I feel like it is going to be a pretty lengthy rebuild. I also wanted to be able to update the first post with current pictures and specs for the ADHD folks out there.


I pulled a lot of pictures from the old thread and slapped them into a gallery for quick viewing. This is everything that was done to it before I got my hands on it:
Dan's Build

Which brings me to when I first came across the King 'Jero ... The 2012 Scale Nationals. I roomed with Dan and once he realized I had only brought one rig, he decided to let me borrow the 'Jero to run in class 2. A very gracious gesture in my eyes!

Unfortunately, during one of my runs, the truck got into a hairy situation and fell off a 6 foot drop landing square on the roof.
The results were not good:


The body actually popped back but it had cracked and the internal cage was toast.

Of course I offered to buy the truck form Dan and was actually disappointed to hear Devlin already called dibs. Once he heard it had been wrecked he said it was even more valuable! He's crazy but we love him.

Dan and I continued to run the truck and I took 3rd place. Dan took a top 10 with it but we were within 2 points or so of each other until the battery died on him on the last run. We probably would have been 3rd & 4th if we had swapped the battery. To me, that is a testament to the performance of the truck.

Anyway, time passed and I forgot about the 'Jero ... until Devlin called me up to let me know he had decided to sell it off. Without question I said I would take it!

It arrived at my house in the same battered condition we had left it from scale nats and I decided to do a rebuild on it. So this thread will cover the rebuild and the rest of the trucks life because I'll never sell it!

More to come...

[klampykixx]

never seen this before, but purely out of curiosity, im subscribing to see the progress on this rig

[Locked Up]

The first thing to be done to the truck was to repair or rebuild the body.

After talking it over with Dan, we decided a freshly built body would be the best way to go. The old body had been repaired several times, repainted several times and was just beat.

Since I am pretty hard on bodies, I decided I wanted 2 new bodies. That way I can keep a pretty one for the shelf, really just beat the other one to death and I'll still have the original as a trail backup.


Enter the styrene skills of SgtSteve...
Now some of you may be asking why I'm not grabbing the styrene bull by the horns and tackling this by myself. The answer is time. Believe it or not, I work about 12hrs a day trying to fulfill orders and CAD out new products for you guys. I also seem to never want to pull products for myself because I always want to have everything in stock for yall. So hopefully with Steve pushing me I'll actually get this truck done and get some time back out on the rocks because it has been waaay too long!

Anyway,
I set Steve up with 4 bodies. From talking things over with Dan we decided the best way to rebuild the body for ultimate strength would be to cut down 2 bodies vs his original method of adding a patch panel.


Once Steve started posting up pictures I knew I had made the right call. My workbench is covered in dust from machining and doing something like this requires a nice clean workspace (more on that later).

Steve started by cutting off the bumpers and then cutting the bodies in half ... well more like 60/40 and 40/60...



Cab mocked up on the chassis:


First run of bonding:


Another mock up:



And here is where you can see the 60/60 join. A little past the door handles for the rear to add on to the first cut fronts.


That is where we stand as of last night.
Steve is actually on his way over here this morning so we can discuss our plan. I'm hoping to get a few pictures and with time permitting I may slap on some of our new M3 Scale hardware.

I'm really excited about where this is going to go!

[sgtsteve]

Body updates

I have the sides glued in and filled in all the little gaps, along with sanding to smooth it all out. I still have to trim the wheel wells a bit, fill and sand the whole thing at least one more time, then shoot a coat of primer so I can sand that down and find what little imperfections are left





Patrick wanted the front side markers shaved smooth, and they came out really smooth



Test fit, like a glove!

[doublej]

Sexy sexy - going to look killer with paint on it.

[scorpiondave]

I'm liking this. I'm subscribed to follow it's progress.

[french_connection]

cool body, quite unique looking.

[fr8cture]

This is cool, never saw this one before.

[sgtsteve]

Finally got the first coat of primer on I will spend a couple hours now sanding it down looking for touch-up spots, then fill those, then hopefully get another somewhat warm day to spray primer again and do this process a couple times. The interior will get painted as well but for now I only needed the exterior done.

[elsewhere]

I dig it!

[Locked Up]

Woohoo!

[Locked Up]

In preparation for the return of the 'Jero, I decided to do a little work on the interior ... since it is the only part I have here.


I wanted to add a passenger (since nobody likes to wheel alone) and came across a Hunger Games "Peeta" figure to match the "Katniss" figure already in there. I'm not a fan of the movie(s) but since Dan had her in there already I figured I'd give a new figure a try.

The figures are detailed but expensive and not not as pose-able as the ones I have in the store. They twist at the waist and feet but no knees and no hips. This means they have to come apart just to get into the seats .... which is a PITA, but anyway....

Since Katniss had a leg cut off by Dan, I assumed that Peeta would require the same so I went ahead and removed one of his feet. I got him slid into the passenger seat and popped a hole in the back of the seat to secure the harness:


With the setup this way his legs are pinned by his torso and the harness and the harness is holding his torso in. So he is loose but not loose.


I was actually almost done when I remembered what happened the last time she drove the Jero...
http://www.lockeduprc.net/misc/pictu...2/IMG_2124.JPG


So fudge that!

Of course the mounting holes in the seats are slightly different so I thought it would be easier to get him into the driver seat by removing her vs. adding a new hole to the seat. Wrong!

She was hot glued in and I killed some foam getting her out.



Here you can see how Dan had cut her leg off:



So while I was drilling a hole to add a foot to the cut off leg I went ahead and drilled all the way through to remove unnecessary weight. I can tell you these figures are a lot heavier than the ones I normally run.



That is when I got to really start comparing things and I realized her legs are wider and longer than the guy.



So that's when I decided to swap the lower parts. Since that one set of legs were already cut for the driver side I'd leave them there and use his torso on her legs and vice versa.

Now I know what you are thinking ... that is madness because he will have lady parts and she will have a captain winky.



Not to worry .. I have a heat gun and am happy to report he now has a package and she has ... well... Nothing to see. I heated them up from the inside and used various tools (no pun intended) to press things in and out until...


Was easier to add his junk than to remove hers.
And there is a line I never though would see the light of day on RCC.



I still had to go back and narrow her hips a bit. You can see my heat gun surgery flattened the lower out a tad and made her hips wider than her top:



Here she is ready to go:


I ended up using a screw through the seat for her torso and her legs because the 5 point broke. I just could not get it to snug up in beteen her legs because the faux adjuster that was there would not allow the strap to fold. It's now under her and that's probably fine. More than likely she will get out if they get into rough terrain anyway since she still has nightmares about her 60 foot drop at nats.

Getting him finished was a different story because the seat back had become weak. Maybe just bad luck but as I was making up a bracket to reinforce it....


Anyway, I got it repaired by bending up some thick lexan and making a new "hinge" section. Everyone safe and secure now.

[sgtbham]

When you do that to action figures do you call it bodywork? (haha ok that was a bad one...) Looking mighty fine, cant wait to see her done!

[sgtsteve]

Great work Patrick, although I am a little concerned with your "attention to detail"

I dont need the chassis anymore as the final fit and all the pre-paint work is done so I will bring it over this weekend

[Rok Out]

Awesome start bud can't wait to see more

[hotwheels000]

You have lost your mind.... a scale wanker huh, not giving you points for that, I don't care if you are the boss or not

By they way, great job.

I tried to steal/replace her before sending the Jero on its way to you, but just like you, I realized she was glued in. I am a big fan of the series and am really upset with the ending in HG ll.

And to set the record straight, I never said it was worth more damaged, just that it looked more real...scale crashes just cant be replicated in body damage very easy.

[sgtsteve]

Originally Posted by hotwheels000

..scale crashes just cant be replicated in body damage very easy.

I accept your challenge

[hotwheels000]

[Locked Up]

Originally Posted by hotwheels000

And to set the record straight, I never said it was worth more damaged, just that it looked more real...scale crashes just cant be replicated in body damage very easy.

Ah ... well, I drank a few beers that weekend ... so no holding me accountable for not quoting perfectly!

[offroadace]

Where do you get the 5-point harness?