Absima Sherpa

[ChilliBreath]

Hi everyone :-)
A while back I first posted here about my newfound addiction in the form of SCX24's (link to thread). While not as active as in the early days, I do still bring my SCX24's with me when I go camping, or drive them around the house or even the office (got a coworker hooked).
But one day I was shopping for a new charger at a dedicated RC store, where the salesman showed me the Absima Sherpa. I was hooked. But... I didn't budge immediately. For marriage-related reasons...

Fast forward one year where I would regularly think about the Sherpa. At some point I started keeping an eye out for used models, but they often were 80-90% of the new value. Until I found a used but good condition Sherpa for a more friendly price, and decided to go for it.

I got a sherpa with a bunch of unnecessary stickers and, other than its suspension, was stock otherwise. The rear diff lock does not work, but I'll get to fixing that eventually. First off I wanted to make it MY Sherpa by adding some printed accessories.

So, picture time!


As you can see I added a number of accessories to the roof rack, as well as hood vents. Let's start with those:


I got the 3D model for these off Thingiverse, painted them a silver colour and added some ageing effects with anthracite and sand colour. I had a spray can of sand coloured paint which I used very lightly to give them a bit of a dusty look.


On the roof I have a chainsaw, shovel, Maxtrax (all off Thingiverse) and a toolbox (my own design). I tried giving all of them a worn look, again by dusting them with sand coloured paint, but also by using other tricks. For example, the toolbox was painted a base layer of silver and then I added the blue, after which I sanded lightly in random spots to create scratches, and also some smears with black paint for an oily look. Same or similar procedures for the other stuff.


On the rear I added two jerrycans (thingiverse) in a rack (my own design) and also a fire extinguisher I designed myself for easy 3D printing and direct interfacing with existing holes in the Sherpa's bodywork. Similar ageing tricks were applied here. The jerrycans are a slightly too tight fit, but so much the better; I won't lose them in a tumble.


This is a generic cool looking picture...


Last but not least, an axe. I realize that keeping a sharp tool pressed against your vehicle's bodywork doesn't make much sense so I might at some point modify the jerrycan's rack to accommodate the axe, or find some logical spot on the roof rack.

I have some small items on order (tow hooks, trailer chains, ...) and have plans for limb risers. Also I plan to swap out the tires for Louise CR Champs at some point and maybe add a winch or an additional lightbar (I have a thing for bright lights on toys I guess :-D).

As for the rear diff, the locking mechanism does not work but I haven't needed it yet, so I'll enjoy driving it around first before I start worrying about that. I do find the rear differential to run less smooth than the front one so I won't wait too long... but I find I need to work up a bit of courage to start opening up the inner mechanics here.

No plans for performance upgrades just yet. Let's learn to drive this first - it's a whole other sensation than the 1/24th scale stuff so I make the occasional error in judgement.

[ChilliBreath]

Having now publicly admitted to needing to work up the courage to open up the mechanics on this thing, I can now proudly say that I have found said courage. The entire rear driveshaft is now off the vehicle and it is lying ready for inspection on my desk.
So much for my lunch break. Back to work it is...

[ChilliBreath]

So, I found the issue: the diff came out in 2 pieces.



So I managed to find the required part which should arrive pretty soon.
Also went and got out some other stuff from the wish list...




So, expect an update somewhere next week with a fully working diff and some shiny new tyres.

[ChilliBreath]

Limb risers are done. Looking pretty cool if I may say so myself.
Also did some tweaking to the suspension where I had some binding issues. Turned out to be a relatively straightforward fix as I needed a washer to make sure the damper housings could move freely - a simple oversight by the previous owner.
Added some different tow hooks and a trailer chain for looks, and installed the Louise CR Champs.

As far as I can tell the Sherpa is running like new. Next stop is the local crawler club to try it out on some dedicated crawler obstacles.

[Jjay]

New wheels made this rig look Awsome.
Those are good, same like the well known Duratrax Deep Woods i have read.

These Abisma Sherpa got alot great functions like:

2speed
remote lock diffs
portals
and alot more

You maybe should lift the body 10mm. Get more clearence? get that nice high lift look also

[ChilliBreath]

Originally Posted by Jjay

New wheels made this rig look Awsome.
Those are good, same like the well known Duratrax Deep Woods i have read.

These Abisma Sherpa got alot great functions like:

2speed
remote lock diffs
portals
and alot more

You maybe should lift the body 10mm. Get more clearence? get that nice high lift look also

Yeah I am getting some body rub. Slightly longer shocks may resolve this... but I am happy for now.

I have reached out to a local RC club and am going to try their crawler course wednesday evening; looking forward to that

Did a little father-son session today, trying to follow the scx24 with the Sherpa and vice versa:



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[Jjay]

Originally Posted by ChilliBreath

Yeah I am getting some body rub. Slightly longer shocks may resolve this... but I am happy for now.

I have reached out to a local RC club and am going to try their crawler course wednesday evening; looking forward to that

Did a little father-son session today, trying to follow the scx24 with the Sherpa and vice versa:



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LOL those micro crawlers must be fun indoors wintertime

If the body rubs hard, then you can rise the magnets with some spacers
and glue easy i believe, or longer bodypost.
Lift body is easy i have learn now self this week.

i took Arrma 1/8 offroad body posts to my FTX Crawler couple days ago.
They are longer than stock FTX.
I did lift my body 10mm that way, no tire rubbing anymore.
I did mount also bigger aftermarked wheels. This is why i needed lift
my stock Body 10mm. Works great.

Magnets must be easy, mod with glue and spacers, some random plastic stuff
must work i believe.

did you drive it at local crawler course? was it fun? did car handle good?

[ChilliBreath]

Originally Posted by Jjay

LOL those micro crawlers must be fun indoors wintertime



If the body rubs hard, then you can rise the magnets with some spacers

and glue easy i believe, or longer bodypost.

Lift body is easy i have learn now self this week.



i took Arrma 1/8 offroad body posts to my FTX Crawler couple days ago.

They are longer than stock FTX.

I did lift my body 10mm that way, no tire rubbing anymore.

I did mount also bigger aftermarked wheels. This is why i needed lift

my stock Body 10mm. Works great.



Magnets must be easy, mod with glue and spacers, some random plastic stuff

must work i believe.



did you drive it at local crawler course? was it fun? did car handle good?

Yeah, I went there by myself and the weekend after I went with my son. It was cool We joined up as members on the spot...

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