KillerBlackbirds New Bright JK...

[KillerBlackbird]

I saw this JK pop up a few months ago and I had to have it. I was almost done with the rebuild of ScaleReadys Tundra and I needed another project. I'm not a huge Jeep person, I like trucks a lot more, but I guess everyone must have a Jeep at some point lol.

As far as direction goes; I'm going to keep this looking as close to "street legal" as I can with as much tire coverage as possible. A mall crawler that still gets used ROFL. I'd also like to make as much stuff as I can by hand too.

No idea what color I'm painting the body on this yet either. I'm leaning towards Lime Ice green since I never seem to paint anything bright and wild lol.







When I got this thing I realized it needed a ton of work. I wasn't a fan if how tall it sat so I searched through my shock assortment and found some stock SCX shocks. Using the existing front shock mounts it had a good ride height. Since it was built for shorter rear shocks I made a new rear shock tower from 3/16" rod.



Much better:



For some reason I just don't like the Mickey Thompson Baja Claw tire. I'm not sure what it is. The new RC4WD Compass tire caught my eye and I ordered a set. Has a better "street legal" look now.





I had an older Axial HD overdrive gear set up without the hole for the driveshaft pin, so when I rebuilt the axles I drilled a hole through the shaft and bought an underdrive set for the rear axle, SCORE! I had a set of Axial aluminum lockouts laying around I also used. I have STRC C-hubs and Knuckles a shot up front, which I am quite pleased with for the price.

Since the stock SCX transmission is too tall to fit under the floor, I ordered a Dinky RC aluminum GR7 and Split Skid. The links that came with it are Wraith links, they need to be slightly longer. I'll make my own from 3/16" solid rod to perfect the wheelbase when the time comes.



The front bumper that came with this looks like it belongs on a pre-runner and wasn't going to work to hold my RC4WD 9.5cti winch and VP 2" Rigid Industries light bar. So, I decided to bend some 22ga sheet metal and see if I could get it to look like a bumper...or something close.





Not bad considering all I used was tin snips, hammer, torch, and a bench vise. I'll make a "hoop" from 3/16" brake line for a stinger/light bar mount, add some mounts for shackles, and clean it up more.

I'll cut the old bumper off once I figure out how I want to mount the new one.





I also have MT Head making some new beadlock rings that look close to these out of black delrin:

[fr8cture]

A mall crawler with tube doors? I love the tube door look. I kinda want to make a 2 door jk with tube doors.

[KillerBlackbird]

Originally Posted by fr8cture

A mall crawler with tube doors? I love the tube door look. I kinda want to make a 2 door jk with tube doors.

Semi functional mall crawler lololol.
A guy had a white JK around here with tube doors, I don't think it ever saw a dirt road lol.

[KillerBlackbird]

I got a little more done on the bumper, a hoop made for the light bar and tabs brazed on for the light bar. I still have to decide how I want to mount it to the frame.

[Bulldog]

Nice fab work! I like big and bold, but bringing things closer to scale is always nice to see. Keep it up!

Those rings will look killer. Mthead will come through. He does GREAT work.

[KillerBlackbird]

Originally Posted by Bulldog

Nice fab work! I like big and bold, but bringing things closer to scale is always nice to see. Keep it up!

Those rings will look killer. Mthead will come through. He does GREAT work.

Thanks!
I have a lot planned for this thing, which usually happens after I start something lol. It was usable the way it was but a lot of small stuff needed attention.

I can't wait to see the rings, he even noticed some details in them and asked if I wanted those incorporated. Should look cool!

[KillerBlackbird]

I made a bracket so the bumper can bolt to the frame in case I need to remove it later. I need to tweak the light bar mounting holes so it's even, nothing major just my OCD kicking in lol.







My drivers side rear fender also had a crack in it that finally decide to break, so now my body is in two pieces on that side lol. I made a list of other stuff to do, since I ordered 4 Wraith seats I'll probably just use the New Bright dash and make my own interior from styrene. I also have an idea for the front grille and headlights I want to do too.

[KillerBlackbird]

I haven't had much time lately but I had a couple hours today.

Since I needed some way of accessing the bottom of the screws that hold the winch on the bumper, I creatively made some holes in the bumper with enough space to get to the screws. I countersunk the holes to give it some dimension too.



Coat of primer for now:



Started throwing ideas around for the interior floor supports too. I'm only going to use the New Bright dash and build the rest from styrene along with 4 Wraith seats.

[Prime]

I love the way your front bumper turned out. looking forward to seeing what's next.

[KillerBlackbird]

Thanks guys!

My new MTHead rings showed up Friday. I used some stainless Locked Up RC hardware to make them stand out a little. The rings came out great, easy and inexpensive mod to change some boring wheels into something cool.

[fr8cture]

Those rings are sweet, would you care if I had him make me some? If so that's fine..

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

[KillerBlackbird]

Originally Posted by fr8cture

Those rings are sweet, would you care if I had him make me some? If so that's fine..

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

Not at all! Have at it lol.
I saw the design looking at different 1:1 beadlock rings online.

[pardonmyn00b]

Awesome metalwork! That front bumper is very nice.

[ColquittCustom405]

absolutely sick bro...

[KillerBlackbird]

8-million months later and I'm still working on this thing.

I'll do a full update at some point, but I've done more styrene work than I ever thought I would. The only New Bright left in it, is the front clip lol. The rear body snapped in two pieces since it was so fragile - so I figured I might as well teach myself haha.

Lots of small stuff left now. I'm working on details. Here's a styrene battery box I made that bolts together with Locked Up RC scale hardware and holds a ProLine scale battery:

[mcrawlinslow]

Oooh my old jeep! I haven't seen this thing in a while, I built it over a year ago then got it back in trade like 8 months ago then it disappeared lol. Good to see it back and someone doin somethin with it, very cool work your doin!!

[KillerBlackbird]

Originally Posted by mcrawlinslow

Oooh my old jeep! I haven't seen this thing in a while, I built it over a year ago then got it back in trade like 8 months ago then it disappeared lol. Good to see it back and someone doin somethin with it, very cool work your doin!!

I've been working on it for the past 8 months since I bought it off you lol.

It's very close to being ready for paint. A few more details, an overall sanding/smoothing/filling and then it's time for primer and paint.

[KillerBlackbird]

I took the time to strip the anodizing off the wraith aluminum links and polish them, hoping I could re-use them. Nope. Threw the wheelbase way off and made it look terrible. So, I made my own links from 3/16" solid steel rod and Traxxas rod ends. I primed and painted them gloss black. Much better. Now the front tire doesn't rub the flare.

Shortly after doing this my rear section of the New Bright body decided to snap in half at the rear left fender. Wonderful.

Before:



After:



Start of interior. I made the floor from 0.060 styrene and supports and other pieces from 0.040 and 0.020. I used the new bright dash which bolts to the driveshaft hump. I added a lot more details, like places for gauges, etc.



I have four Wraith seats that will mount to the floor pan.



One thing that was a must right from the start was adding eyelids. I'll smooth them out more when I do final body work.



Since the NB body broke, why not grow a pair and make one from scratch? It was a good learning experience. I made everything from 0.040 styrene and I used 3/8" round tube for the corners. I'll use Axial round tail lights for the rear like som Jeeps use for aftermarket tail lights.

I also added Axial Poison Spyder flares.





I still have to sand everything and add a few more details before paint.

[Maddog Madigan]

I love this jeep! Excellent cage and body work. Keep it up

[KillerBlackbird]

Originally Posted by Maddog Madigan

I love this jeep! Excellent cage and body work. Keep it up

Thanks! Mcrawlinslow did the original metal work, I just made the bumper, rear shock hoop, and steel floor pan supports.

It has definitely taken longer than I expected it would but that's not a bad thing. I've always wanted to do a big styrene project and I dove in head first with this one lol.