Defender D90 Rat Rod

[valheru]

What should be my last shipment of parts for this winter’s RC build (which contained the body) finally arrived not too long ago.

The idea of this build started with one set of very special axles that I won this spring from Beef Tube RC; a beautiful set of black SCX10-2 portal axles from Vanquish Products and an inspirational photo.






I first started by sourcing a RTR SCX10-2 chassis, G-Made RSD shocks, gorgeous Team DC 1.9” bronze wheels, Boom Racing 4.19” Hustler M/TX tires I had lying around and a GCM Racing LRT scale transmission combo.







Some of the other bits include: a Castle Creation Mamba Micro ESC and a brushless-waterproof 1406 slate motor, a RC4WD Warn 8274 winch, a HeyOK high voltage winch controller, a Yeah Racing cantilever rear suspension setup, some Vanquish Products front shock hoops and ALOTS of other parts.









I still need to buy a servo and an external BEC, as well as some odds and ends.

On with the build; I previously assembled the VP portal axles and the tires on the wheels, therefore the next big item on the list was the GCM Racing LRT transmission, the motor and I mocked the servo using a dead one I had lying around.







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[Xx Losungen xX]

Went full-chub for this one

[Brian5582]

Those axles are hawt, gonna be awesome

[JatoTheRipper]

Wow quite the mix of parts. Sexy axles and wheels for sure! I can't wait to see this build progress.

[valheru]

Today, project Defender Rat Rod or “D-Rat”, had its wheelbase shorten from 12.3” to 10.8”, the links were made out of 1/4” rod, the tops are aluminum and the bottoms are steel.






The Yeah Racing cantilever suspension was installed, but not before upgrading the plastic shock bodies with some aluminum ones from Hot Racing and filling them with 90 weight oil.





The ride height will need to be adjusted later, once the body is finished and all the scale accessories added.

What is the saying again: “off with her head”?

Well this just happened… I guess there is no turning back now!






I also fabricated a custom panhard bar that matches the contour of the front diff pumpkin, no more hitting the axle on compression.





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[valheru]

This evening on project D-Rat, I finished cutting 15mm worth of roof height and lapping with 220 grit all the pieces flat and level, ready to be glued back together.

I used a good old Sharpie and my digital caliper to scribe the finish heights of both the body and the roof section and to highlight any sections that were not touching during the lapping process.






A good makeshift lapping surface can be made using a straight piece of melamine, Elmer’s spray glue (removable using brake cleaner) and your choice of sandpaper. Nothing precise enough for machine shop work, but more than sufficient for the purpose at hand.





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[valheru]

Well... I wasn’t entirely happy with the overall proportions of project D-Rat, therefore I lowered the roof line an extra 5mm for a total of 19mm (3/4”) removed, this ends up being around 175mm (6.9”) of drop in 1:1 scale.

I glued the rear structure (cargo area) to the sides of the cargo section and moved the front structure forward to match the “A” pillars.

The top rear corner of the door frame was cut, then glued to match the “B” pillar and maintain the full entry to the cab.







The roof section was cut in two as it needs to be extended by about 12mm, the front structure (passenger area/cab) was glued onto the main body and a stiffener was added in the middle of the windshield cavity, which is on the inside of the cab.






The top section of the windshield panel was cut in 2 and extended by 3mm, and a middle stiffener was added, matching the inner one.







Next will be extending the roof panel and refining the seams.

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[valheru]

Well, nothing interesting was on the idiot box this evening, therefore I worked a bit on project D-Rat.

The cab structure was extended rearward to the cargo structure; in the attached photos, you can see the whole process from hot gluing supports between the 2 pieces, to laminating 2 layers of styrene to obtain the appropriate thickness.







The roof panel is once again a single piece and is ready for body filler. One of the doors was cut down and the top window frame reattached.






The windshield and windows still need to be modified to fit their new frames and you can see the final drop top in comparison to that of Big Blue, both bodies from the same manufacturer have the same original height.








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[nedmo]

God damn, thats delicious.

This was the exact look I had in my head for my own chopped and dropped D90 build!

[valheru]

I started finishing the roof extension with Tamiya putty, I modified supplied parts in the Team Raffee body kit to patch the rear corner and roof windows, and I started the final body work on those as well.











In between coats of putty and sanding, I modified the second cab door.










Tonight, I should finish removing all signs of lowering and extending the, and of condoning the rear corner and roof windows.


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[valheru]

Good productive evening spent working on project D-Rat; the final touches of patching the seams of the dropped and extended roof line is done, as are the condemned roof and rear windows.







Next for the body will be the cargo area followed by the interior.

In the meantime, I took a break from the body and started fabricating a scale engine out of styrene to go over the electric motor. It’s roughly based on the Cummins 6BT, but adapted to fit between the front mounted servo and the scale transmission.









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[THX_138]

Love that chopped rat rod look..

Have you given any thought to a little 70’s van style window in each side towards the rear?
Round bubble? Diamond?... etc...
Excuse my horrible image edit to display what I mean

[Postclanker]

Really inspirational...you have way more patience than I do
Great looking styrene work

[valheru]

Originally Posted by THX_138

Love that chopped rat rod look..

Have you given any thought to a little 70’s van style window in each side towards the rear?
Round bubble? Diamond?... etc...
Excuse my horrible image edit to display what I mean

Would be cool, but I already have plans for the side windows.

Originally Posted by Postclanker

Really inspirational...you have way more patience than I do
Great looking styrene work

Thank you



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[valheru]

Yesterday I manage to finish the rough shape of the engine and started refining the oil pan.






After a rough test fit, looks like I will have to reshape the oil pan since it interferes with the motion of the upper suspension links...

In between glue curing sessions of the engine I planned out the layout of the cargo area and I started work on the first main vertical wall and side cabinets.







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[JatoTheRipper]

Very cool!

[Robs07junk]

Hell Of A Build You Got Going There ... Looking Awesome

[valheru]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Very cool!

Originally Posted by Robs07junk

Hell Of A Build You Got Going There ... Looking Awesome

Thank you both.


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[valheru]

Moving along nicely on project D-Rat; the cabin is now sealed off from the cargo area, the rear internal walls are up and the center tool stowage cabinet is taking shape.









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[valheru]

I made a custom body clip for the top compartment of the center tool stowage cabinet and I secured it with a chain as to not lose it out on the trails.






The spare tire retaining system is done, I installed custom D rings made out of good old paper clips at four locations.







To secure the tires I initially started by using RC4WD scale ratchet straps, they did looked awesome, but too flimsy for my taste and protruding too much from the rear to survive at a scale comp.

Therefore, I decided to try some Hot Racing bungee straps instead. They hold well, but it’s not quite the look I was going for.






I may change the bungees for something else.

I also made the door for the lower compartment of the center cabinet. It will be held closed using a steel spring friction latch.












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