Hulksta Engineering RC G-Spot Scale 2 build - codename "Poison Ivy"

[mce076]

**************************************************

PHOTOBUCKET ACCOUNT HAS BEEN DELETED
ALL BUILD IMAGES NOW AVAILABLE AT THE BELOW LINK

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AnBE1r1npITclvgfKpQVNzX1vCvvaA

**************************************************


Hi all, its time to start a build thread for a new chassis that just arrived from Hulksta Engineering RC.

This chassis will be the build that leads up to the 2015 CrawlANZ Nationals to be held next year in New South Wales, Australia.

Many thanks go to Dan Hulksta for his hard work, time and dedication for the design and production of this chassis.

[mce076]

Here are some pre-production CAD images of the chassis...





The Hulksta gearbox...



One of the early builds of the chassis before design was cut from carbon fibre...

[Bananaclip]

Is this a scale chassis? Any info on the gearbox?

[mce076]

A couple months ago Hulksta offered a limited production run of this chassis and I jumped at the opportunity to snap one of these up.

This was an exciting time for me as having seen this unveiled for the 2014 Nationals, watching some videos Dan had posted and drooling over the pictures of the finished carbon chassis I knew i had to have one.

The chassis was also offered with a custom etched chassis number - mine would be #008.

What felt like a long wait resulted in this turning up at the front door...



It was well packed and no damage...





Inside all the pieces were nicely sealed...





And opening it all up I decided to lay out each piece...

Included with this are the following options..

- battery and electronics side plates
- front delrin bumper mount (2 different heights possible)
- hulksta gearbox
- delrin skid plate, machined for light weight
- 2 universal swaybar setups
- smash plate
- chassis rails and delrin braces

[mce076]

Within about 30 minutes of opening it all up I couldnt resist and started to put some of the pieces together.

It wasnt long before most of the chassis was assembled...



And then test fitted underneath a Team Blue Groove "Trail Ranger" shell that I had decided i would run on this..



Testing out the battery placement on the side plates...

[mce076]

Originally Posted by Bananaclip

Is this a scale chassis? Any info on the gearbox?

Hi, yes this is a scale chassis...

Here's a thread on the gearbox here on RCC...
Standalone Axial based Gearbox

And have a chat with Dan Hulksta on the Hulksta Engineering RC page on Facebook..
https://www.facebook.com/hulkstaRC

[mce076]

So later that night after playing around with the 80% assembled chassis and considering options for mounting this into the TBG shell i became concerned that the rails might be a bit too long.

I had previously spoken with Dan about this and he had offered to shorten the rear rails if i needed them, so with some measurements in mind and a couple sample pictures i sent him he worked his magic and sent me this...



The rear rails will be cut again soon in a shortened configuration.

The setup that I will be running in the end will bring the total chassis length to 400mm.

[mce076]

Last night i decided i would graft on the axles and links from my current Scale 2 chassis as a means to work out what i would need for this build.

It all went together very well and i came away with even more love for the design of this chassis and some good info on how to proceed.

The main items of concern here was whether or not the links I was currently using would be ok on this chassis and to gauge things like shock lengths, drive shafts and other basic requirements.

Here's a bunch of pictures i took during the process...

[mce076]

The images you have seen are all just test fits and initial investigations into what i will need to complete this build.

The current plan for this chassis now includes..

- Blue Monkey RC stage 1 titanium link kit, wheelbase to be set at 317mm
- High steer knuckles with clocked chubs
- Junfac carbon steel drive shafts
- Burly tubes or similar weights in the axles
- Standard hex hubs running Proline Denali or Faultline rims (-2 offset, 230mm track width)
- Vanquish VVDs in the front, standard Axial rear axle shafts
- Team Blue Groove "Trail Ranger" body shell
- DCW delrin rear upper link mount
- Castle 10A BEC
- Gunnar body mounts front and rear
- Team Fast Eddy bearing kit
- Screw hardware will be most aluminium with stainless used for strength

I'm in the process of deciding on the following items...

- Hitec or Futaba servo
- Holmes Hobbies BR-Mini ESC
- Holmes Hobbies Puller 400 33T motor
- Traxxas Big Bore shocks w/ cap mod, Axial alu bodied or Egressor shocks

Tire configuration will include at least these options..

- Proline TSL XL, shaved sidewalls
- Proline TSL XL, shaved sidewalls, center tread cut
- RC4WD Compass

There's quite a lot to sort out, but i'm looking forward this build

[Hulksta]

This should be good, I'll be watching

Cheers
Dan

[mce076]

i have had a bit of a play around with the servo smash plate...

this will impact front upper link lengths so i will prob have to figure out the custom lengths once i've got the lowers in place...

[hotwheels000]

well crud, i guess i should follow facebook a bit more often. I have loved this chassis since I first saw it months ago. Looking forward to seei g how yours turns out.

If I may, my experiences with the Junfac drivelines have been less than stellar. Next time you get a chance put the d lines in a bind and see if they extend and retract smoothly and properly for you. I am guessing you will find the same binding issues as I have in the past. It would be a shame to have such a stellar chassis and have 25.00 drivlines bring the suck at that critical moment when the front tire wont drop and settle the truck since the d line will be bound and not let it telescope as it should to enable the suspention free movement.

If your findings are different, I will politely go pound sand

Again, cant wait to see the build progress.

[mce076]

Originally Posted by hotwheels000

well crud, i guess i should follow facebook a bit more often. I have loved this chassis since I first saw it months ago. Looking forward to seei g how yours turns out.

If I may, my experiences with the Junfac drivelines have been less than stellar. Next time you get a chance put the d lines in a bind and see if they extend and retract smoothly and properly for you. I am guessing you will find the same binding issues as I have in the past. It would be a shame to have such a stellar chassis and have 25.00 drivlines bring the suck at that critical moment when the front tire wont drop and settle the truck since the d line will be bound and not let it telescope as it should to enable the suspention free movement.

If your findings are different, I will politely go pound sand

Again, cant wait to see the build progress.

Junfacs have served me well in my current Scale 2 but I agree, one of the shafts seemed to catch a little but after a few runs and some religious use of carbon grease it stopped the "micro binds" as i will call it

I may opt for something different as this will need a shorter than normal shaft in the front - guess it can be moved to the "thinking about" list

[hotwheels000]

Wishing you the best

[djjiz]

His carbon has gotta be some of the prettiest in the business.

One tip if I may.. The servo plate is gonna flex and adding a button head screw from the bottom facint up will help the plate from flexing into the pinion area. It'll need a spacer similar to the ones provided.

Won't cure it from flexing away from the axle but maybe these plates will eventually be made thicker.

[mce076]

Originally Posted by djjiz

His carbon has gotta be some of the prettiest in the business.

One tip if I may.. The servo plate is gonna flex and adding a button head screw from the bottom facint up will help the plate from flexing into the pinion area. It'll need a spacer similar to the ones provided.

Won't cure it from flexing away from the axle but maybe these plates will eventually be made thicker.

thanks for the tip, but i'm not sure where or how you mean.. can you elaborate a little?

[djjiz]

The center link mount with the adjustment holes closest to the pumpkin need support in my opinion. Running a screw with a spacer in this hole helps the plate from flexing.

In your last pic it would be the hole closest to the pumpkin. Ideally you would want a way to stop the plate from flexing upwards as well but I havent come up with a decent way of doing that.

If you need more detail I'll post a pic or two when I get home from work.

[djjiz]

Here's a pic showing the gap I'm talking about. Didn't like how high the servo plate was and it's been lowered even more since this pic but it serves it's purpose.



I've since added screws and spacers against the pinion/ pumpkin. I'm only running 1.9"s and 400 oz servo and shit would flex like a wet noodle. And thats with the 4 axle screws threaded into "premium" CreationFab delrin tubes.


Servo plate could easily be 2x as thick but this is a simple fix.

[mce076]

Originally Posted by djjiz

The center link mount with the adjustment holes closest to the pumpkin need support in my opinion. Running a screw with a spacer in this hole helps the plate from flexing.

In your last pic it would be the hole closest to the pumpkin. Ideally you would want a way to stop the plate from flexing upwards as well but I havent come up with a decent way of doing that.

If you need more detail I'll post a pic or two when I get home from work.

ok thats where i was looking, thanks for the description and pic..
i can see what you mean by the flex there now and how a screw/spacer there would help

[mce076]

havent done much to this build in a while but here are the latest updates..

Super Spools from Super Shafty...



Gunnar body mount kits..



RCBros SCX width brass burly tubes..





Modification required to axle housings for the burly tubes..



assembly process of the front axle so far...















stay tuned for more of this build.. but it could be a while