Artful Dodgers Design Ground Rat

[DirtMerchant]

The way you’ve done the weathering, especially on the black, makes this look truly antique. Very cool.

[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by DirtMerchant

The way you’ve done the weathering, especially on the black, makes this look truly antique. Very cool.

Thanks I still feel like I could have done better. I also know sometimes you have to put the paintbrush down and say done.

I feel like black is more challenging than a color as far as finding a good wash. Or maybe I need a new technique for black. I use water based house paint watered down along with real rust paint/activator.

I feel like a colored paint will sort of absorb the washes and allow me to work in some other colors. This particular area of black seemed to bead up the wash a bit different, the beads were bigger and looked wrong. I either watered it down too much and had big beads or too little, if it was too little the contrast was too strong and I'd end wiping it off and staring over. I may have tried to wash too big of an area at once too, I usually break it up into sections that I do one at a time.

I did just discover the laid over suspension has a few side effects. It makes it way easier to lift a tire (torque twist) and at full lock/full compression the tire contacts and spins the springs along with the preload collar. After a few minutes the preload collar is fully unscrewed on one side and the rig is sitting at a tilt.
I'll try to design a 3D printed collar so I can lock the preload collar in place. For now i just threw on a zip tie to keep them in place

[B-MOW71]

Love how the Ground Rat ended up! The weathering looks great! It reminds me of my old Hot Wheels cars that I had (and still have) when I was a kid. All beat up and rusty!

And that front bumper looks amazing! Great job on that too!

I hear ya on the gap up front bugging you. I didn't really notice it, but I too let those little things get to me. In fact I have the same type of issue with my GK-Ecto build that I'm currently working on. The grille on the PW sits cocked to one side.

[HumboldtEF]

Thanks Brian I apprecaite it!

I think I may have overstated how much torque twist this rig has. Later I realized it was only lifting a tire when I was on a super steep incline. I was able to get it into some pretty extreme angles both vertical and side hilling. Its actually pretty well planted with all the weight I have on it. Its not a lightweight at 5 1/2lbs but most of that weight is down low.

Oh and the predator tires were hooking up good for once, I've struggled to get these to work. I think this rig being heavier helps, the last rig I tried them on was in the low 4lb range and the tires would spin a ton before hooking up.

[soze]

Build looks great! I haven't been on here much lately and completely missed this build! Glad I caught it to check it out!

[indybama]

Thats beautiful humboldt! Howd she do out on the rocks?

[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by soze

Build looks great! I haven't been on here much lately and completely missed this build! Glad I caught it to check it out!

Thanks Soze!

Originally Posted by indybama

Thats beautiful humboldt! Howd she do out on the rocks?

Thanks indybama!

It crawls great so far, no complaints. The gearing and revolver allows it to creep nice and slow. I found myself driving like a bit of an idiot to sort of test the limits and I was able to put it in some pretty difficult spots.

I already swapped out the rear springs for some stiffer ones. They were just too soft on steep terrain.

I'll definitely put together a video sometime soon.

Oh and for anyone with the Crawlmaster V1 check that LVC is turned on, mine was not and I ended up draining a battery way too far. I was able to bring it back but its worth double checking. I feel like my other V1's came with it on by default but I might need to check again.
In the programmer the values for LVC are kind of confusing, I think its a value between 250 and 350. I set it to the max 350 which seemed to hit LVC at 3.4 ish volts per cell.

EDIT: I just checked the video JRH put together for the V1 programming and the value for LVC is just missing the decimal place, 350 does equal 3.5v

[Rb240]

I recently just finished building one of these chassis. Used the stealthX and ar45 straight axles, revolver 2200and a crawlmaster mini v2. I was extremely surprised at how capable it is!

[smog]

That is a badass and Beautiful Humboldt. The chassis, your metal work and the paint job, all masterful. Thanks for sharing it

[soze]

I don't know how I missed this thread. Awesome work! The bumper is fantastic. You've also accomplished what I've been meaning to try with the battery tray. Looks like it turned out great!

[HumboldtEF]

Originally Posted by Rb240

I recently just finished building one of these chassis. Used the stealthX and ar45 straight axles, revolver 2200and a crawlmaster mini v2. I was extremely surprised at how capable it is!

It is pretty solid. I've run it a bit on my rock pile and did some trailing last weekend but I think I might try it without the knuckle weights and rear weights. If it wants to roll backwards on a steep climb I'll try to rely on the suck down winch to reel it in. It's planted but its also a bit chonky at 5 1/2 ish lbs.

Originally Posted by smog

That is a badass and Beautiful Humboldt. The chassis, your metal work and the paint job, all masterful. Thanks for sharing it

Thank you sir my pleasure

Originally Posted by soze

I don't know how I missed this thread. Awesome work! The bumper is fantastic. You've also accomplished what I've been meaning to try with the battery tray. Looks like it turned out great!

Thanks Soze
Do it, design a battery tray or something all it takes is to give it a crack. If it doesn't fit/work bolt it up and see what dimensions need to change, iterate until its where you want it. That what I do most of the time.



I finally got some extra preload collars for the GTS shocks. The shock angle and caster are making it so the tire contacts and spins the spring at full lock to the point they're loose. I'm using these extra collars to lock the others in place.
I tried out some trailing with these tiny 850 mah batteries and they definitely dont suit the run times and pace, not that its a surprise I just thought I'd try it out. I may try to make room for a bigger battery in the future.

[HumboldtEF]

Well I've been doing a bit of tire testing and I've circled back to my old opinion of the predator compound, IT SUCKS! From my experience at least.

I dont know why but whatever rig I try to put this set of predator Krawlers on never lasts. I've tried a few different dual stage foams, undersized and soft and too big (IMO) 4.75 foams thats are on the stiffer side. I've tested on lightweight rigs and 6 lb rigs.
Maybe its the variety of rocks or the temps here IDK.

I guess I just need to sell these things because I keep trying to make them work and they never seem to perform.

Anyway I think i'm probably gonna land on a set of JConcepts Landmines with a very soft undersized foam (4 1/4"). I borrowed a set from another build and they instantly improved the performance.

I pulled the SSD brass knuckles and rear weights off and I still have a great F/R balance 56/44 so I'll just keep those off. Now its right at 5.5 lbs it was just under 6 lbs before.

[soze]

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

Well I've been doing a bit of tire testing and I've circled back to my old opinion of the predator compound, IT SUCKS!

I never had great luck with the predator compound. It's just too soft and folds rather than grips for me. I love the G8 though.

[HumboldtEF]

Yeah G8 is still my preference. I did also want to test some old Pitbull Rock beasts too.

[ardinmcallister]

This is an absolute work of art! This specific build is what's inspiring my own trophy rat body build. If I hadnt used my groundfox for a class 3 ar60 monster, I'd use that too after seeing how well it fits over the ends. Its the perfect length!

By any chance have you shared the stl for that rear cage anywhere (thingiverse, thangz, etc)? I love the cage you made but I'd love to toss it into tinkercad and remix it if you'd let me.

[HumboldtEF]

Tiny Update, I swapped tires and wheels. I let my brother drive it around on the old tires and his reaction was "meh". So I yet again ditched the Predator Krawlers, I've put these on 4-5 rigs but they never stay long .
I swapped on some RC4WD MT/R's with some cut down super soft foams and Gold Enduro wheels which match the color scheme pretty good. These perform much better

Originally Posted by ardinmcallister

This is an absolute work of art! This specific build is what's inspiring my own trophy rat body build. If I hadnt used my groundfox for a class 3 ar60 monster, I'd use that too after seeing how well it fits over the ends. Its the perfect length!

By any chance have you shared the stl for that rear cage anywhere (thingiverse, thangz, etc)? I love the cage you made but I'd love to toss it into tinkercad and remix it if you'd let me.

Thanks! I'm happy I've been able to provide some inspiration



I actually haven't shared the cage STLs. I'm not sure I want it loose in the wild but if you wanted to send me a PM we could discuss it.

[SteveB1]

Love this build.



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