Caught the Bug (Scorcher Build)

[HumboldtEF]

I took it out for its maiden voyage yesterday, I had planned to go to the beach to crawl on the rocks but something else came up an I had to run the rock pile in my back yard instead. Its not the prettiest place to run but its at least fun.
The first roll split open the roof a tiny bit which I was worried about since its fairly thin, but I just put some acetone (bondene) in the gap and pushed it back in place and kept running. I might try to add some extra material on the inside to beef it up some time down the road.

I drive in circles at the end to show its awesome turning radius.



https://youtu.be/dKVxkNrNLUs

[Tossedman]

Looks great! That thing turns on a dime. And the paint looks excellent. Not military at all.

[Brian5582]

Cool build. Love those wheels, I will definitely be using them on a future build. Almost ordered them for my LC70 build just didn’t think they fit my color scheme

[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by Tossedman

Looks great! That thing turns on a dime. And the paint looks excellent. Not military at all.

Yeah the turning radius is really fun to take advantage of. Thanks

Originally Posted by Brian5582

Cool build. Love those wheels, I will definitely be using them on a future build. Almost ordered them for my LC70 build just didn’t think they fit my color scheme

Thanks, I've had my eye on these wheels for a while. I'm having a hard time bringing myself to weather them to match the rest of the rig, I might just let them get naturally dirty and not clean them.

[Devwon]

Been lurking, sweet build!

[mgputer]

Oh my. Looks great! I want to do the same thing with the proline body some day. Excellent work!

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[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by Devwon

Been lurking, sweet build!

Thanks

Originally Posted by mgputer

Oh my. Looks great! I want to do the same thing with the proline body some day. Excellent work!

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Thanks, I think the Proline body is a bit bigger which could simplify things potentially.

I just wanted to fill in some blanks where I left off.

I printed up a new exhaust/header to get more room to push my rear bumper inwards, I also weathered the engine and added plenty of rust to an engine thats likely consisting of very little steel.

I lopped off the exhaust leaving just a bit sticking out.



You cant see it but on the ends I left some small nubs that key into the holes on the engine side exhaust (that was cut off).


Mounted up, glued in with CA


Sliders painted the nato black and weathered





Same treatment on the front and rear bumpers





I also drilled a hole that I can stick a tool into to extract the fog light if needed since they are glued in with E6000. also the only way get the bumper off is to access behind the fog lights.


Painted up the half driver that comes with the scorcher with latex paint and a brush. Its really hard not to come up with a creepy face, seemed like the less detail the better. I tried red lips but that was too much and too clown like.



Final weigh in with the battery was 5 lb 11oz, not bad at all. and again this body is actually a touch lighter than some of my lexan bodies, pretty sweet.



Trying out some Pitbull rock beasts 1.5's

[Tossedman]

That rust is just the ticket. New exhaust looks great too. Keep on carrying on.

[HumboldtEF]

I finally got motivated to make up some inner fenders. I used some super thin .5mm styrene. I mixed up some styrene scraps with acetone to make a slurry that I used on some of the larger gaps.


Front


I added a strip that runs across the front filling the gap between the body and bumper.



Rear

I had to incorporate a bulge on each side to clear the tranny case.



They came out pretty good and really weren't too difficult like I had thought they might be.

I started with the upright pieces leaving them a bit big. Then I traced the arch I wanted and used it as a template to cut out some tabs that I folded over so that I had something to glue the arch to. I made the arch pieces a bit big using the widest point as a start then I slowly trimmed it to fit with the body.
I did this to one side and then used that as a template for the other side.

[Tossedman]

Nice! Just keeps on getting better.

[mrbuggin]

Definitely gonna follow this one. I'm a huge vw fan and my next build is gonna be a beetle. Amazing work.

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[Synister_Intent]

Amazing build! Subscribed for sure. I've got a question, I apologize if I missed the answer for this, but what is the wheelbase on the scorcher body?

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[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by Synister_Intent

Amazing build! Subscribed for sure. I've got a question, I apologize if I missed the answer for this, but what is the wheelbase on the scorcher body?

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Thank you


That's a good question, the actual Tamiya Sand Scorcher is 250mm or 9 13/16" but since I'm using a much bigger tire and I've cut and molded the fenders pushing the axles out a bit I'm sitting at 268mm or 10 9/16".


If you leave the fenders alone you're probably going to need to stick much closer to the 250mm wheelbase and use a small tire or raise the body. I figured cutting the fenders would allow for a bigger tire, a lower ride height and longer wheelbase. The shorter the wheelbase gets the more complacated the packaging gets it seems.

[Synister_Intent]

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

Thank you


That's a good question, the actual Tamiya Sand Scorcher is 250mm or 9 13/16" but since I'm using a much bigger tire and I've cut and molded the fenders pushing the axles out a bit I'm sitting at 268mm or 10 9/16".


If you leave the fenders alone you're probably going to need to stick much closer to the 250mm wheelbase and use a small tire or raise the body. I figured cutting the fenders would allow for a bigger tire, a lower ride height and longer wheelbase. The shorter the wheelbase gets the more complacated the packaging gets it seems.

How do you think it's going to handle with a short wheelbase like that? Have you thought about maybe chopping up 2 bodies to make one longer one?

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[HumboldtEF]

It drives great, turns on a dime. I wanted a short wheelbase so I dont plan to change anything. I only mentioned short wheelbases and packaging being harder with other people building something similar in mind.

[HumboldtEF]

Pictures from Proline By The Fire with the Bug

[Tossedman]

Nothing like bugs out in the wild.

[self-future]

I don't understand the allure of a rock bug, I couldn't explain it. But I am totally on the hook, the style is so great!

[Tossedman]

Originally Posted by self-future

I don't understand the allure of a rock bug, I couldn't explain it. But I am totally on the hook, the style is so great!

Careful, they're addictive.

[HumboldtEF]

Known to the state of California to cause cravings, addiction, sleepless nights and endless tinkering, lol