Mattzilla Ultra4 2014 build from down under - codename "Gojira"

[mce076]

ESC mounted to the tray and motor wired up..
i can almost feel the drive on this now its so close to being useable



plenty of room in the radio box (its a Yeti fuel cell)..



and here's a mockup in Photoshop of the colour scheme and some sample logos (not the final logos or placement but you get the idea)..

[northkona]

Are you keeping the on/off switch ? I cut and solder all of mine , they tend to get a bit of dust in them and glitching /shorts happen . The other solution is blutac around the switch which stops the dust but makes it un-usable so I just cut them off.

[mce076]

Originally Posted by northkona

Are you keeping the on/off switch ? I cut and solder all of mine , they tend to get a bit of dust in them and glitching /shorts happen . The other solution is blutac around the switch which stops the dust but makes it un-usable so I just cut them off.

i wasnt thinking that far ahead to be honest..
i'll leave it for now and see how it goes and if its an issue i'll do something about it

one thing though, i wouldnt mind making an emergency cut off loop for the battery lead somewhere given its 6 screws to access the pack or a bit of finger contortion to get to the on/off switch

[mce076]

so there's no room to mount a sway bar pre-built into the chassis..
i opted for this setup while i consider my options, which is very much like some monster trucks use (its also now on the top of the links)



panels are now primed ready for painting..





and a poser shot with a change of scenery for once

[RcBro]

Great looking rig!

[mce076]

Originally Posted by RcBro

Great looking rig!

thanks.. looking forward to putting the final paint on and the finishing touches like lightbars (when ordered) and decals (when made)

[350TacoZilla]

wow this thing is unreal on the packaging, everything is hidden out of view but then the rig doesn't look cluttered up to purposely hide it.

[yotapower07]

That is a bad ass rig!!!!

[mce076]

Originally Posted by 350TacoZilla

wow this thing is unreal on the packaging, everything is hidden out of view but then the rig doesn't look cluttered up to purposely hide it.

one of the rules of U4RC is wires/battery have to be hidden..
it didnt take much effort to keep all the internal wires hidden just needed the battery tray/shield to hide that one away

Originally Posted by yotapower07

That is a bad ass rig!!!!

i've actually gone through phases of liking/disliking it as various parts progressed but i think that was just me being used to seeing a certain look
sometimes what you see in your head is hard to put out there in reality lol but i am very much pleased with results so far

[mce076]

i gave in an decided to start painting the panels..

couple mistakes here and there and learning that TS paints dont like isopropyl when they're not completely cured
the reason for the isopropyl was to clean the tape residue from the orange stripe as the 3M tape i normally use on lexan seemed to leave a residue on that colour

i still have the roof and bonnet to do but not sure how to paint it..
it needs to have the same scheme extended to there somehow but still deciding on exactly what to do

[mce076]

small update.. the battery tray/shield has been painted now...

this just leaves the roof and bonnet still but i'm having a hard time visualising the final look that i think i want

[mce076]

next panel completed is the roof panel..

this leaves time to stress over the bonnet and also do the grill piece (which might be re-made so i can do some cutouts easier)

[mce076]

this update will be pic heavy as all the panels are finished..

i decided to cut some holes in the front grill piece to suggest that lights were previously there and painted to match..



i then did a mockup on the bonnet to visualise the final look..





so with the grill completed and the bonnet painted, here's the final paint job..
this leaves me just to install things like lightbars and do the decals..

[Ballistic17]

Rig looks really good. Can't wait till I get mine to start on it. Got some good ideas from you build that I am wanting to try. You going to start on the Mantis chassis now?

[mce076]

Originally Posted by Ballistic17

Rig looks really good. Can't wait till I get mine to start on it. Got some good ideas from you build that I am wanting to try. You going to start on the Mantis chassis now?

i'm shelving the Mantis for now, got some other builds that i want to get underway first (too many builds atm lol)..

glad that my build has given ideas, thats one of the things that i like about this segment of the hobby..
the sharing of ideas and seeing how others solve problems or put together the same parts with different outcomes is awesome

i'm still not done with this one just yet but it could be a few weeks before any updates and its finalised

[mce076]

so there's been some minor changes since the last pics were posted

- first thing was to swap out the Rock Beasts for a taller set of tires so went with the Growlers
- then i played with the track width, front is now 10.5" rear is 10.25"
- upped the spring rate on the front to the next step
- removed the spare tire, think it looks better

then i took it out for its first shakedown run..

i managed to clip a triangle rock sticking out of the ground with the axle right in front of the right side link mount
that resulted in a snapped revo rod end, which brought the session to an early end unfortunately

here's the damage..



i was quite pleased with how it was handling but i think i'll now soften up all the suspension now that i feel the balance is right..

here's some photos of how it came back home..

[Ballistic17]

Looks good. How do you like the growers? Been thinking of getting a set for mine.

[mce076]

Originally Posted by Ballistic17

Looks good. How do you like the growers? Been thinking of getting a set for mine.

they are brand new and not run in and dont have much to compare on this rig unfortunately

what i did notice was the weight of this (7.1lbs being class legal for U4RC 1.9 Trophy) combined with the Duece Wild single stage foams it doesnt climb anywhere near like my comp setup Scale 2 chassis..

i think they will wear in a lot better, they felt a little slippery out of the packet but they now have a different feel so they should come in given some time to wear
out in the dirt and driving around on grass, flat rock and loose stones/gravel they worked well enough

[WesTX]

What was your runtime like with that 3S 2200 with that kind of weight? Curious as I am looking at batteries for my U4 chassis.

Thanks

Wes

[mce076]

Originally Posted by WesTX

What was your runtime like with that 3S 2200 with that kind of weight? Curious as I am looking at batteries for my U4 chassis.

Thanks

Wes

the only time i've measured the runtime was in the backyard running on grass..
i just drove up and down in straight lines at full throttle all the time to see how long it would last

runtime was around 20mins, motor temp was mid 80s (celsius)
out in the dirt with a mix of fast bursts and slow rock crawling would give you a longer runtime