Defender 90 - First build back!

[jamesbernatchez]

I've been out of the game for years and just aquired my Gelande 2 D90. I am awaiting a replacement driveshaft as one wasn't drilled properly, but RC4WD is taking care of it.

When building a scale truck I require hard bodies. Lexan doesn't come close enough to being realistic for me. I never had a Defender so knew it would be perfect.

I'm a bit rusty and overwhelmed with all the new parts available since I last was into this, but i'm very excited.

See posts below for the ongoing build of another D90 i've aquired. I've put the new D90 on hold to focus on going way overboard on the other D90.

[Bthomas]

I really want one of these bodies, they are so scale! looking forward to the rest of the build

[jamesbernatchez]

Well my other D90 came in and the builder did a great job! It's beautifully weathered. Looks great in person. Now to get on track with my other one.

Notice no side mirrors. I forgot to put them back on before taking the pics.

[GREEDY GENIUS]

Nice build you got going there!

Good luck bud.

[jamesbernatchez]

Well since I'm undecided exactly what I want to do with the body on my new one I decided to wire up the Old Rusty D90 and check it out. I haven't crawled in years so I was pretty stoked. I love it! Lots of room to fit everything. My soldering skills came in handy as I found I could fit everything under the hood besides the battery. Next up on this one is winch and bumper and then a driver.

I did a bit of snow running in the backyard and it is a blast to watch this bouncing around. Very realistic looking for sure.

For this one I went with:

7955TG servo
Tekin RS
Integy 35T motor
Small 2S lipo

Quick shot of the wiring. Battery sits out back on the tray.



I need to get the RC4WD inner fenders so you can't see the red battery wire and it will be perfect!

[jamesbernatchez]

I'm focusing my attention on the old landy for now. Just grabbed a bunch of scale goodies. I have some cool stuff planned

[jamesbernatchez]

Well since this thread has turned into finishing the Kraftwork D90 first, I figured i'd continue. Once this one is done, i'll move on to finishing my other one.

I spent yesterday combing craft stores and toy stores for anything I could use in my build. After a few hours I had enough stuff I felt I could go home and get to work.



I found a NECA Rambo figure that fits perfectly. I grabbed two of them as they had different accessories with each. I also wanted a companion and got lucky finding this German Shepard that was actually sitting. All the dogs I kept seeing were standing!



A simple little hole in the seat and a screw secured our figures.



There are still a bunch of stuff I want to do to the interior, but that will come in a bit.

Lets take a step back. This rig, i've decided, is to be an end of the world exploration vehicle. It needs to store food, water, shelter, survival gear, and be a go anywhere rig.

With that said, you can bet we are going to have a bunch of stuff up top on the rack. Now I love the Adventure Rack. It's big, heavy, and has the room to store lots of goodies. The only issue is the cross braces are spaced a bit far to put small items like coolers, pails, etc. I originally planned to get some metal mesh, but then had a different idea. Wood.

What if I did a wood roof rack that covered a portion of the available space that would give me the ability to store smaller items. Luckily, the craft store had the needed requirements.

I found some wooden sticks that were the perfect size for planks. I laid them out getting an idea of what I was thinking.



Seeing my idea take shape, I went to work on how to attach it. My first thought was small guage wire through the wood and tie each individual plank to the rack. It would work, but it would be time consuming and the planks would move side to side. Then I thought, lets go end of the world. What would John [Rambo] use to build it. Maybe rope.

I found a nice spool of hemp that would be relatively scale looking cordage.



Great I thought. But the wood is awfully light colored. What could I use to give it some color and weathering? Why used motor oil of course. I slathered it on and let it sit a bit before wiping the excess off. As you can see it worked perfectly!



Once all the planks were done it was just a matter of attaching them to the cross planks. I decided to use two planks across and twelve top boards. After I tested a few different methods I found this to work the best and look great too! This is the underside. All the knots are underneath for a clean look.



Wow this is taking a long time. Here is what the top looks like.



Half way there.



Beginning of the other half.



Quick test fit on the rack. I like where this is going.



And done!







I added a third cross plank underneath the boards and attached it to the tubing. Then I attached it to the two outermost boards. The wood rack is then attached to the rack with hemp.



Putting some stuff on it let me know I made the right choice. Few hours well spent!







I found a nice roll of hemp netting so I used a piece to make a rolled up rack cover.



I still need to add a bunch more stuff on the rack. Immediate plans are for some tarp material, and if I can find it, a scale tent. I'm trying to locate one I can break down like the real thing.

For the outside i'm just waiting for some more stuff to arrive. Sand ramps, winch bumper, hitch bumper and dirt bike.

Dirt bike you say? John needs another option to search the area when the Landy is too big. I plan to mount the dirt bike in a hitch rack i'm going to build.

While we wait for that, lets go back to the interior. Now I had found some scale maps and while nice, they didn't fit my need. I was able to find some magazine covers, maps, and more. Scaled them down and attached the covers to books and cut the maps out and ta-da!





John sure likes his Defenders!



If only there was someone he could radio to.



Since he's alone, minds as well take his mind off of all the despair.



I'm working next on building a CB radio, Laptop with military satellite GPS, and a gun rack.

[jamesbernatchez]

Well I didn't plan to use the jump seats and I have a pretty sweet idea of what to do for the interior there so I hacked it up.



Sanded it flat and added some styrene.





Since i'm going to continue that tomorrow lets go with a laptop. Started making the screen. You can see the image i'm going to use beside it.



Here are the two parts of the laptop. I sanded and shaped to my liking.



Then I attached and added one more small thin piece for the bottom.



I painted it, but you'll have to wait for pics later on. Now to just figure out what to do for a keyboard.

[jamesbernatchez]

Spent last night working on something else. What could it be?

[GREEDY GENIUS]

Looking good man,love the magazines and scale stuff...

Need to get me some of those.

Good luck with the build.

[jamesbernatchez]

Bit of an update tonight. So I had the motivation to get some more done. I'm still planning out the interior so instead of really digging into that I decided to work on the exterior of the vehicle. I received my RC4WD ARB Winch bumper as well as the G2 rear towing bumper. In addition I got a bunch of spare screws, as well as another winch and controller and some scale accessories.

I installed the winch and front bumper and tested it. Awesome! Looks great and both function well too. You can also spy my etched metal emblem up front. The emblem really makes the front end come alive I think.









Now out back there are some fun scale items I made. I was driving home the other day when it clicked.....bumper stickers!!! Full size cars do it so why can't I? I jumped online grabbed some pics of bumper stickers and other logos. I scaled them in photoshop and printed them out on sticker paper. In order to get a glossy, real bumper sticker look I put excess clear decal sheet over and then trimmed to size. You can use clear packing tape too. I didn't have any at home which is why I went with the decal material for now.













I think this one is great. I made it using text, a white background and a scaled down drawing of a D90.



Out back you will also find the etched rear Defender serial number plate.





The original builder put in the correct fuel tank doors, including the auxiliary tank.



Got sand ladders now!



I also got my ramps and Pull Pal too. I'm still trying to figure out how to fit everything I want to up top.



John wanted me to get a photo of him with his other favorite toys...firearms.



Wait a minute! What's on the back of the Defender?!

Why it's John's dirt bike. He wanted the option of getting around and exploring tighter areas where the truck couldn't go. To help him, I built a hitch mounted dirt bike carrier. Still needs some paint and a slight bit of strengthening to be a bit more rigid.



Plenty of clearance.











John's a bit out of hand. He needs to go get some sleep to start on the interior tomorrow.

[jamesbernatchez]

Installing the carpet.

[jamesbernatchez]

Well I got the interior done for now. I'm waiting for Proline scale batteries to arrive but other than that and some dash work I'm happy with the interior.

With the carpet done, I wanted to finish the rear portion of the interior. I'm countersinking screws so if needed I can pull this apart.





Getting the cover setup in order.



All together.



With the cover on.



Laid down flat black and silver leaf, bolted it in and done!



Added some accessories.



And a little surprise when you open it......



Added some better decals for the nitrous bottle.



And they're back in ready for adventure.

[jamesbernatchez]

Took the plunge and finally got it outside in its proper local. I had to be careful as there are a lot of leaves still around so it took away from the scale look. I was able to grab a few that I think do it justice.

Teaser while I edit the other photos.

[jamesbernatchez]

Alrighty. Finished uploading the photos so here we go.

First off, the truck drives like what I think the real one would be like. It sort of lumbers along, but with the short wheelbase and heavy rack and items up top, it doesn't like side hills all that much. What it lacks in ability is made up in sheer enjoyment! It is a blast to run. As a C1 vehicle I can't expect it to get up some of this tough terrain.

Found this little dirt and snow pile right near the parking lot so I started there. It lent itself to scale shots pretty well.





Then I walked into the woods where I found this:



It looks great, but with the low clearance this was a nightmare to navigate. In scale, these would be absolutely massive obstacles to navigate. It was fun though.







A little futher up I came to the water where there was some pebbles and a shallow pool to play in. It was a small jump and about a 4' drop out to the pebbles, but I felt it would lend itself well for real looking shots. It didn't disappoint.



















It was a bit cold, got wet, and never took the 1.9 Jeep out to play with, but it was a blast! I love this rig! Just waiting on a few more small additions and then it's relatively done.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

[GREEDY GENIUS]

Great pics!...some look like the real deal.

[jamesbernatchez]

Thanks Eddie. It's right in Milford and while it isn't the best place to go, the terrain is a bunch of fun. A couple scale rigs and forcing us to use winches and straps, instead of picking up the trucks would be a blast. We should head there some time.

[4X4 Freak]

Very nice looking rig . Love the still action shots really realistic scale look

[jamesbernatchez]

Since I figured the rig was basically where I wanted it except for a few small things. I splurged and grabbed something you don't see all the time in rigs.





Sound baby! Nothing like hearing an engine turn over and the idle of a V8. So far I really like the unit. There is definitely some delay, but it was very easy to setup. I set it up with a simple on/off switch so it doesn't have to run the whole time the vehicle is on. It's pretty loud, but once i'm moving it gets drowned out by the motor noise. It isn't perfect, but i'm happy with it and it adds something overall. The speaker is zip tied out back facing up towards the interior. I may try building a small box and see if I can get a bit more out of it. It doesn't sound too bad as it is.

I really need the inner fenders back in stock. I'm sick of looking at wires.



RC4WD Land Rover Defender 90 scale crawler - YouTube

[Rok Out]

Awesome job on the details