the northkona Shannon Campbell Ultra4

[northkona]

Since I got the bug for building a chassis out of brakeline (my Bomber rig ) I have been searching for a while for another Ultra4 rig to copy. It's taken a long time but I have finally grown to love the look of Shannon Campbells rig , its still damn ugly tho. Fast , very competitive and ugly. I love it.
It will be using Wraith axles for a few reasons, I have a heap of spares , tons of great companies make very cool upgrades for them , they're tough and give a heap of steering. I have yet to see an IFS that looks scale enough for my liking.
This build will be scaled off photos of the 1:1 so it should be close to the real thing .....minus the IFS.

[IMG][/IMG]

I'm using 1/4 and 3/16 brake line soldering with Map and silver solder .

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

At this stage I thought it was going really well , whats the line ? " measure twice, cut once "
I managed to screw up one of the measurements on the rear section of the frame , it was 50mm/ 2 " too short. AAAAAARRRRRRGH !!!!!
out with the hacksaw.....

[IMG][/IMG]

[northkona]

The 3/16 tube fits perfectly inside the 1/4 so I slipped it inside all the joins of the new rear and welded it together.

[IMG][/IMG]

How it sits now , spare time seems short around here.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[axelsnapr]

Looks like a sweet start. Some of the early Campbell rigs were solid/solid I believe.

Maybe you can get some ideas from the older rigs, if you haven't already done that.

[tedo]

Originally Posted by axelsnapr

Looks like a sweet start. Some of the early Campbell rigs were solid/solid I believe.

Maybe you can get some ideas from the older rigs, if you haven't already done that.

I think all those early Ultra4 / XRRA rigs were with his old Moon Buggy chassis. I could be wrong.

Sweet build, btw. Always love Campbell rigs (even the cone dodgers). If it's anything like your Napier rig this is going to be killer.

[northkona]

Originally Posted by axelsnapr

Looks like a sweet start. Some of the early Campbell rigs were solid/solid I believe.

Maybe you can get some ideas from the older rigs, if you haven't already done that.

I have looked at just about every image of Campbell rigs and his current one is my favourite. I'm not a fan of the shock hoops on the live front/rear rig , I'll be using Proline SC shocks on this the same as my Bomber . The short front shocks work real well and I can keep them under the hood line.

Originally Posted by tedo

I think all those early Ultra4 / XRRA rigs were with his old Moon Buggy chassis. I could be wrong.

Sweet build, btw. Always love Campbell rigs (even the cone dodgers). If it's anything like your Napier rig this is going to be killer.

Cheers, to tell you the truth I wasnt a fan of his rigs for ages , I think his race performance has a lot to do with changing my mind .
I'm still deciding how much I am going to bling this up , VP make sooo many nice shiny things !

[ngward79]

Man that's looking awesome ! I was going to finish my ifs this winter and then sell it and build the Campbell rig. All well guess I'll stick with what I got ! Lol....

[northkona]

Originally Posted by ngward79

Man that's looking awesome ! I was going to finish my ifs this winter and then sell it and build the Campbell rig. All well guess I'll stick with what I got ! Lol....

Aw , c'mon. I'm damn sure there is plenty of room on here for a heap of Campbell rigs !
You've got the skills , give it a shot

[northkona]

I got a few more braces put in today and looking at sorting out motor/esc/battery positions . One of my MMP's died yesterday so I might go RX8 in this rig .
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[Richterat83]

Nice progress so far!

[sam63]

I love the Campbell rigs. Maybe that's because he is the only big timer that I have ever met and actually talked to, on three different occasions even. Very easy going and down to earth, until he gets behind the wheel

The build is looking good. Nice fix on the chassis. Takes a bit of bravery to do what you did, feels a lot better afterwards though don't it?

[northkona]

Originally Posted by sam63

I love the Campbell rigs. Maybe that's because he is the only big timer that I have ever met and actually talked to, on three different occasions even. Very easy going and down to earth, until he gets behind the wheel

The build is looking good. Nice fix on the chassis. Takes a bit of bravery to do what you did, feels a lot better afterwards though don't it?

Man I stressed all night after I made the screw up on how to fix it, thinking of what tubes to lengthen. It was a much better solution to hack it off and start fresh. That rear section might end up on another rig sometime, having the 3/16 tubing be a nice firm fit inside the1/4 made it a whole lot easier tho.

[northkona]

I made a start on the trailing arm setup and the rear shocks . I found some old HongNor 1/8 buggy shocks with a 3.5mm shaft that are a bit longer than the proline shafts , I'll still be using the Proline bodies but these shafts will make a longer shock . I'll fuel tube the shaft as a bump stop later.

[IMG][/IMG]

The top one is with the longer shaft , the lower one is a standard Slash rear.

I had a go at making some trailing arms , theyre a bit rough but and I'd like to make some better ones but somehow I think once this rig is built they'll be staying on there. Beefy Stainless tube with stainless plate and stainless allthread laser welded together.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

This is how its sitting at the moment, I was going to try and run a real short link on the front axle but its not going to work out . The driveline angle would be too much so the skid plate is going to be cut back to about the front of the spur and regular length Wraith links will be made up. I'll do a bit on the front end tomorrow.

[IMG][/IMG]

This is where I really get impatient , parts are usually about a 2 week wait out of the States unless I pay $50 shipping for each order, I'm waiting for a 155mm rear driveshaft and trying to find a black VP Wraith axle housing....now green method 101's would be just perfect if I could find some of them too...

[IMG][/IMG]

[terrible]

Nice trailing arm setup. laser welded you say?

[northkona]

Originally Posted by terrible

Nice trailing arm setup. laser welded you say?

I'm an optical tech and use a laser welder at work, it's a beautiful machine to work with.
Here are the stainless swing-away mirrors I made for my Penhall rig, for scale reference the screws are 1.4mm and the "mirrors" are 16mm/ 5/8". Stainless and titanium are really easy to laser weld and the welds need no clean-up.
Its one great toy I'd love to have at home but the 30K pricetag is a bit much !

[IMG][/IMG]

[northkona]

I got it to a roller stage today , all the links are made and the skidplate was cut back to fit in a better length of link. Next up is to fab a battery box and finish off the spacers for the shock ends.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

Great clearance on flex, no rubbing on anything, more good luck than good planning !

[IMG][/IMG]

A mock-up with some paper panels.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

I'm hoping the performance of this rig matches the 1:1 , I'm loving my Bomber rig right now but this may be my #1 .

[ngward79]

Beautiful northkona ! Looking forward to seeing some video of this running !

[Szczerba]

Yes sir! Proportions look spot on!

[northkona]

Originally Posted by xtremeaudio

That looks sweet. Can't wait to see it finished.

Originally Posted by ngward79

Beautiful northkona ! Looking forward to seeing some video of this running !

Yeah this is anxious part of the build, I dont want to rush it but trying to steal time everywhere to finish it ... still waiting on bits from the US .

Originally Posted by Szczerba

Yes sir! Proportions look spot on!

Cheers, with my Bomber I sorta cheated a bit by dropping the roofline, with this I've kept all the dimensions the same as the 1:1. (apart from the offset cab, I centered mine )

[northkona]

I'm gathering scale bits for the cab , this rig just had to have the cutting brakes in it !
[IMG][/IMG]

[northkona]

Did somebody say BLING !! I'm really happy how my wheels have come out, they're RC4WD Predator wheels that I painted with DNA "Dragonfly" and the beadlocks are painted with flat black Ceramatec. The tyres are going to get a heap of siping but I really like the size , a bit narrower than the RB2's and just a touch shorter.
[IMG][/IMG]

I wanted something to fill the rear so I have had a go at making the exhaust and headers with an Exo engine . It looks pretty dodgy now but a bit of paint will tart it up.

[IMG][/IMG]