There's a Ryft in the Universe...and it's MARVEL-ous

[Panther6834]

First...and foremost:

1) No, this is NOT another 'build thread'
2) Yes, this is another Black Cat "themed" vehicle.

If this was a fully custom rig, or even a semi-custom rig built off something like a SCX10.3, VS4-10, TK Pro, or similar chassis, a full build thread would be understandable...heck, one could even say it would be 'expected'. However, since there have already been quite a few 'build threads' on the Ryft Kit, and they're all essentially identical (with the exception of custom paint jobs, somewhat limited selection of certain aftermarket parts, etc), I felt that doing another 'build thread' was redundant. As such, I'm going to focus on the non-OEM stuff...or, put another way, the Black Cat Customizing

With that said, I present to you "The Most MARVEL-ous Ryft in the Universe".

The first thing to share is all the incredible work done by Arthur, & his crew, at Vitavon Racing. As many already know, Vitavon develops, designs, and manufactures machined aluminum parts...mostly in 7075...for a variety of vehicles, including the Ryft. Even better, he makes many of them available in a variety of anodized colors (as opposed to Treal's 'Ford Philosophy' of "You can have it in any color you want, as long as it's black"), including a spectacular, and incredibly vibrant, blue. Just look at how mesmerizing this hue is.
As you can see from the above photos, the initial parts from Vitavon are front & rear axles, steering knuckles, servo bottom side 'protector', rear trailing arms, and sway bar. From Treal, there's the front & rear upper links (the front lower links will remain SS, for the additional weight they provide. For those who've followed along in the "Alternate Shocks Food The Ryft" thread, you already knew I was working on a way to use the Traxxas GTR shocks from the UDR on the Ryft. I won't go into any further details about that, as it's already in the "alternate shock" thread. Lastly (at least, for this initial post), there are SS skid & pumpkin protectors from TP Power.

More to follow soon.....



~ More peace, love, and kindness would make the world a much better place

[Panther6834]

Add was already seen in most of the previously-posted photos (impossible to miss), I dyed the cage red, using RIT. This is entirely to go with the red, white, and blue color scheme, which is required for the theme...which, yes, I know, I haven't mentioned yet. Don't "worry", it's coming...but, before that, I wanted to mention the underside of the body panels. After spraying the under-most color (and waiting an additional 24 hours), I coated them with Herculiner, a paintable truck bed liner recommend by several other RCers.The underside of the hood is an example of a properly-done application, while the underside of the side panels is a (purposely-done) "crappy" example. Why did I do that? Simple...I screwed up on the visible side (which those reading this will see soon enough...at which time, the 'theme' will be fully known), and will soon be ordering replacement clear panels to be redone (meaning, just the side panels...the hood will be held as a 'spare'). So, how did I "screw up"? Also simple. I read the directions...and, when I went to do the side panels (several days after applying Herculiner to the interior & hood), I ignored a VERY important part of the directions - ALWAYS use a fresh brush when applying. I planned on throwing the brush away, but I decided to use the same brush on the side panels. Of course, I already knew I'd be redoing the side panels, so I felt it was 'ok' to ignore the "always use a fresh brush" directions.

Anyway.....let the theme be revealed.No...it's not "Captain America"...but close. The theme is "The Avengers". And, this is a major part of what caused this project to take so long. The ONLY place I was able to find 1/10 scale figures way on eBay, and ONLY coming from China (these figures are made specifically for the Asian market, and, thus, aren't available in the U.S., except (maybe) at Asian 'collectables' stores. Here's what it took to just get the heads prepped for installing onto the Ryft's interior.Once the heads were ready, I was finally ready to install them onto the interior.Although not installed into the cage, this was my first "view" of what it would eventually look like.
More to follow soon even sooner than the previous "More to follow soon".


~ More peace, love, and kindness would make the world a much better place

[Panther6834]

Before adding more, I need to 'step back'...I forgot to post some of the close-ups of the T-Power SS parts, and Vitavon servo protector. So, there's ya go: Powering this MARVEL-ous vehicle is a Castle Copperhead 10 ESC, and Castle 1415 2400kv motor. Operating the hi/low shifter is a PowerHobby 59MG, utilizing a 3D-printed 'horn'. Controlling steering is an Ecopower WP120T servo.



~ More peace, love, and kindness would make the world a much better place

[Panther6834]

Now...we're finally to the hood & side panels. To achieve what I was looking to do, I needed to print my own water-transfer decals. I started by downloading a collection of Avengers images, and narrowing them down what the ones I felt were best. For the 'Ryft' logo, I scanned the build manual at 1200dpi. Using Photoshop, I manipulated all images to what I needed. Then, I printed each out at multiple sizes, to determine what worked best. Finally, I placed multiples of each image into a single image, and then printed the water decals using a color laserjet. Here's the 'Ryft' sheet:Next, I applied the decals to the underside of each piece. Here's the hood & side panels:Now, we get to my "screw up". After applying the 'Ryft' decal to the side panels, I went to prep to spray the metallic red & blue...unfortunately, I couldn't find my low-tac blue painters tape, so I went to use my Frog Tape. When I went to peel the tape off, it pulled off part of the 'Ryft' decal. So, I had to scrape everything off, and apply a new decal...except that I had also sprayed a flat clear over the decal, and I couldn't scrape that off. I knew I'd need to get replacement panels, and redo the side panels...but, in the meantime, I decided to complete these side panels, just to 'finish' the Rift. Here's the end result:The hood looks fantastic. And the side panels look...well...uh...subpar? No worries, as they'll be redone someone in the near-future. Here's (almost) everything else, except the wheels & tires:I said 'almost' because the pièce de résistance still needed to be added. While this is an Avengers vehicle, is is still meant to be driven by Cap...and, as well as know, to he's never without his shield...so, adding the shield:
By the way ..sorry about the upside-down photos. In my gallery, all photos are showing right side up, so I'm really confused as to why some are appearing upside down in the thread.



~ More peace, love, and kindness would make the world a much better place

[Panther6834]

A person cannot walk without shoes (ok, some do...but, just go with me on this one), and a vehicle cannot travel without tires & wheels. I didn't want to use the stock plastic wheels...so, once again, Vitavon to the rescue. And, once again, more of that brilliant, vibrant blue. While the "laces" are from a 3rd-party vendor, the "shoes" are stock...at least for now (for anyone who's tried other tires with the Ryft, I'd GREATLY appreciate some input on the best 2.2 options for the Ryft).I took the Ryft out for it's initial 'testing', in the driveway...and, in doing so, I lost 5 of the 6 screws attaching the hub to the front-driver's side wheel. Why did this happen? Because I ran out of Loctite, and hadn't yet threadlocked metal-on-metal screws. On the 'plus' side, I found 3 of the 5. Plus, I discovered that, unlike the 4-40 screws used by Vanquish, Arthur choose to use more easily found M3x8mm caphead screws...so, off to the LHS I went. They didn't have any silver ones, but they did have black ones...tho, they are larger in diameter, require a 2.5mm hex wrench (as opposed to the 2mm hex of the original screws), and muzzy be installed AFTER attaching the wheel nuts. But, I do like them. When it comes to left/right balance, and front/rear weight bias, the only vehicles I've seen with "better weight distribution" are on-road & off-road race vehicles. Here's the weight info, in grams & ounces:For those not wanting to calculate the total weight in pounds, it's 9lbs 9.36oz.

So...is this the end of the build? Not quite.....


~ More peace, love, and kindness would make the world a much better place

[Panther6834]

Final post...for now..........

Obviously, I'll be working on replacement side panels, although not until 2022. Also, regarding the tires, I will be looking into options beyond the OEM tires (again, any recommendations?).

For now, I'm running 300K diff fluid in the front, 2.5M in the rear, and the locker in the center. Already acquired, but holding off installing, are more Vitavon parts, and some Traxxas parts. Regarding the Traxxas parts, they are nothing more than the Revo rod ends, just in case the stock rod ends on the front-lower links 'fail'. As for the Vitavon parts, I've got 2 sets of hardened steel helical-cut ring & pinion gears, a spool (for the rear), am aluminum diff cup (for the front), and hardened steel front & rear shafts. While I also got the Vitavon servo saver is I haven't yet decided if I'll use it...plus, I don't even know yet if I'll be able to, as it might only for the Spektrum SX107 servo, which I refuse to use).

I won't install any of these yet...but, to they're ready for installation when needed. The only other thing (that I can think of, at least right now) will be MIP driveshafts, front & rear. I just need to get the 6mm output yokes.

So, there you have it...the most MARVEL-ous Rift in the universe.


~ More peace, love, and kindness would make the world a much better place

[Panther6834]

Have an update, related to the steering slop many...maybe even most...experience - I added a "steering stabilizer". Well, sort of. Technically, it's not actually a steering stabilizer, but the philosophy become what I did is no different than the steering stabilizers used on real trucks. Since a strong stabilizer is nothing more than a repurposed shock, and considering I didn't use the kit shocks in my build, I took one of the unused front shocks, and that's become my "steering stabilizer".

I started by removing the spring, lower spring holder, and preload adjustment ring. Next, I removed the 'wide' ball from the shock's cap, and replaced it with a 'narrow' ball from the bottom of one of the other unused shocks. Finally, I filled the shock with 5000wt diff fluid (3000wt might have been enough, but I figured 5000wt might be better). To install the "stabilizer", on the shock's 'top', I attached it to the servo saver, on top of the steering arm, and on the 'bottom', I attached it to the left steering knuckle. I should also mention that, in order to attach it, and the steering arm, to the servo saver, I had to use a longer (25mm) screw.As you might also notice, I decided to swap the HR servo saver for the Losi LMT servo saver. Overall, I really like...but, I do wish the horn were aluminum, instead of plastic.

With the swapping of servo savers, and the addition of the "steering stabilizer", all but approx 0.5mm of 'slop' have been removed. I can 'deal' with 0.5mm, as it really doesn't affect driving.


~ More peace, love, and kindness would make the world a much better place

[Timmahh]

I tossed my G8 AXE rig on my bt scales and it was surprisingly well weighted. 65/35 rear to front, and with in a couple grams side to side. Which my NPs were this even. lol

[Panther6834]

Not sure if no one noticed...or, if it was noticed, but no one said anything (if the latter, thank you). I've discovered the "error" in my steering stabilizer. Technically, my "steering stabilizer" wasn't actually acting as a 'steering stabilizer'...it is closer to a "self-adjusting second steering arm".

With an actual truck, one end of the stabilizer is typically mounted to the frame...in other words, something "rigid". Similarly, when it comes to motorcycles, a steering stabilizer is attached to the triple clamp, with one end being attached to the center post, and the other end attached to either of the two sides. Obviously, with my 'fix', neither end is attached to anything "rigid". What I believe I need to do to correct the problem is find something equivalent to a panhard mount, that can be attached to the cage. If anyone knows of something like this for the Ryft, or has ideas/suggestions, please, let me know.


~ More peace, love, and kindness would make the world a much better place

[UZI4U]

Sick looking RIG!

[Panther6834]

Originally Posted by UZI4U

Sick looking RIG!

Thanks. It's not 100% complete...of course, I don't ever consider any of my vehicles (even my race vehicles) as "100% complete", because, sooner or later (like most of us), I'm always changing 'something'.

I still haven't totally resolved the steering problem...partly because I still haven't come up with a way of attaching my "stabilizer" to the chassis, and partly because I've been too busy with other things (work, other vehicles, problems in life, etc) to work on figuring it out. Once I move, I'll (hopefully) have more time to dedicate to my RCs. My next 'themed' build should be my most ridiculous/incredible (to date).

~ More peace, love, laughter, & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

[DrIsotope]

I'm just trying to figure out how that cross weight got so bad. Did you scale it with one end raised to see how the corss moves dynamically, or to find the CGH?

Full disclosure, I've never scaled my Ryft because I just don't see the point. It handles about as well as one would expect it to, and with the cruise ship-like low-speed turning radius, I don't expect miracles from it.

[Panther6834]

Originally Posted by DrIsotope

I'm just trying to figure out how that cross weight got so bad. Did you scale it with one end raised to see how the corss moves dynamically, or to find the CGH?

Full disclosure, I've never scaled my Ryft because I just don't see the point. It handles about as well as one would expect it to, and with the cruise ship-like low-speed turning radius, I don't expect miracles from it.

Other then the Vitavon parts (incl wheels), Traxxas GTR shocks, and T-Power skid/pumpkin protectors, it's basically the stock kit.

As for the "cross weight", there was actually nothing wrong with it. A couple weeks after those photos were taken, I realized/discovered I had accidentally attached the two 'rear' stickers to the opposite 'rear' scales. As you'll notice from the photos, the left-right balance was "almost perfect". Once I corrected the sticker problem, the left-right was 50/50, and the "cross weight" was within 50g (I don't remember the exact weights, or percentage, as it was almost 10 months ago, but I do know they were less than 50g apart). Put another way, the error was...as many errors are..."human error".

~ More peace, love, laughter, & kindness would make the world a MUCH better place

[ferp420]

Originally Posted by Panther6834

Not sure if no one noticed...or, if it was noticed, but no one said anything (if the latter, thank you). I've discovered the "error" in my steering stabilizer. Technically, my "steering stabilizer" wasn't actually acting as a 'steering stabilizer'...it is closer to a "self-adjusting second steering arm".
~ More peace, love, and kindness would make the world a much better place

i noticed but it dident make me laugh or anything when i saw it i just thought it was there for scale looks or something like maybe a steering ram

i would add a break rotor to the steering horn for a kinda rockwell look with the scale hydrolic steering ram/stabalizer it would all fit in nicely
it also helps hide the servo

lovein the color scheme not much of a comic book fan but it look good