Project BumbleBee: A K2-3L K5 for Ty

[Grizzly4x4]

Well, with Nationals fast approaching I came to realize that I didn't have anything for my daughter to drive. Last year she really enjoyed driving my comp rig around so I thought it would be fun for her to have something to help pass the days.

I took a K2-3L chassis from ReignProducts that was going to be used for MY scale blazer and started work on HER Blazer.
I'm not going to go through the build up of the K2-3L chassis because the incredible build document that was put together for it details everything you need to know; part numbers and all. The quality and clarity of the instructions was on par with building a Tamiya kit, The only difference is that not everything needed to build a crawler was included in the bag.
I chose the K2-3L mainly because I saw how well they performed at the Montana scale comp, the K2 is a true perfomance scale chassis. If you are building a scale rig that you want to wheel hard and have perform like a comp rig then you won't go wrong with this one.

Here is the chassis after assembly and paint. I used Duplicolor semi gloss black to give it a more scale look. If anyone finds a spray paint that doesn't peel off evertime you sneeze on the chassis please let me know.
The aluminum angle et the ends of the chassis are for the velcro body mounting, no ugly body posts here.

[cartronicshn]

NIce start Grizz, bumblebee is that the color scheme your going for?

[RustyCrawler]

now paint it with clear cote,works very well for stopping the paint from chiping

[Grizzly4x4]

All I had laying around for touring car shoks were some old Duratrax units. They still hold oil so they will do for now.

Unfortunately I didn't haeve 4 of the same length (that I could find ) but the chassis was able to accept them well enough. I put the longer ones up front mounted in the second chassis hole back, and the shorter ones in the rear mounted in the second chassis hole back. This made the short ones stand up more vertical than the fronts; giving me a pretty level chassis height. When you buy a K2 chassis I highly recommend getting the hardware kit. It made bolting up the shocks a total no-brainer.

A TLT upper link was used for a drag link, a Traxxas 116mm turnbuckle (part #5139) was used for the tie rod, and a set of Yeah Racing aluminum knuckles from TCS round out the chassis. Tower lists the turnbuckle as 118mm, but my package clearly stated 116mm :?
I don't think Ty will need CVD's, she's a pretty careful driver so this will have stock shafts in it for now. Plus, I got like 5 sets of stock shafts. The front end has Blackfoot stubs (Tamiya part # 9805391) to keep the tires from hitting the links while turning.

Then came the wheels and tires. Ty is a big truck kind of girl, she don't like wimpy stock trucks with 33" tall tires so a 1.9 build just wasn't going to work for her. Since this Blazer has a 120" wheelbase (in scale) we decided that 49" IROKS on 22" wheels would work fine. I asked her if she wanted a smaller wwheel/tire combo to give it a more scale look but she said she likes it just the way it is. Good 'nuff.
The wheels are RPM Torkerz (part # 81096) with MSD beadlock rings. I like the whees cuz the small center of the Torkerz helps to make the wheel look a little smaller. There are 5 lugs on the wheels made from 2mm socket head cap screws (8 lugs just wont work with these wheels very easily) and I replaced the 3mm rock ring screws with 2mm button head screws form a set of Losi LST faux beadlock wheels.

I think its a pretty good looking setup. There will be other wheel and tire setups I'm gonna try in the future but for now "that'll do donkey, that'll do".

[Grizzly4x4]

Originally Posted by cartronicshn

NIce start Grizz, bumblebee is that the color scheme your going for?

You got it. As soon as I showed her the body she gave it the name.

Originally Posted by RustyCrawler

now paint it with clear cote,works very well for stopping the paint from chiping

I haven't tried a clear coat. I'll give that a go, thanks.

[to-fast-4-u]

looks good

[Grizzly4x4]

Now for the body. This was a lot of work and very frustrating at times.
She wanted a camo paint scheme, so after examining Excessivefire's Blazer (and a little prodding from Brandon) I decided to go for it even though I only have a single action airbrush.

First I masked off the cap and windows, then I laid down the yellow on the outside of the body. Next I mixed up some white and black to make a grey. This is where I knew I'd have problems, laying down the second color. The single action airbrush lays down a pretty wide spray and alot of overspray. But I continued on. Then I laid on the black. The overspray covers most of the yellow but after you look at the body for a while it takes on this blurred effect, adding to the camo scheme.

I then painted the topper black, painted the inside of the topper black, and then painted the inside of the rest of the body silver. The silver should shine through when the body gets scratched. A final inside coat of black was done to make it look better until inner fenders and a floor can be put in.

It's not perfect but hey, this is a trail rig and not a show truck. It's my first attempt at a camo scheme. We both love the look so that's the important thing I guess.

Feel free to let me know if you like it or hate it.

[Brandon]

Love it! What a great dad The paint turned out great good work Chris

[Grizzly4x4]

Originally Posted by Nluvwithxlr8ing

Love it! What a great dad The paint turned out great good work Chris

Thanks B. She immediately loved it as soon as I showed it to her and said "I'm gonna call it BumbleBee".

[racerx]

Dang Chris! That is BADDAZZ!

[STANG KILLA SS]

what do you have planned for the grill?
what are teh shocks off of?
LOVE the paint scheme!

[Grizzly4x4]

Originally Posted by racerx

Dang Chris! That is BADDAZZ!

Thanks Rob.

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

what do you have planned for the grill?
what are teh shocks off of?
LOVE the paint scheme!

I've spent a while searching and I can't seem to find them. Duratrax used to sell these as a replacement touring car shock. They weren't designed for any particular car, just a generic upgrade. I guess they don't make them anymore as I couldn't even find them in the Duratrax website. I also have a set of replacement buggy shocks they used to make. I think the last set of these shocks I bought was 4-5 years ago.

Ah yes, the Blazer grill. I was thinking I would play with the stock one and see what I can make it look like. Leave it camo; paint it black, play with stickers, etc. I don't know if I want to spend the time on replacing it if I'm just going to paint it to blend in with the paint. Time will tell though, Ty doesn't mind it so I'll just let her drive while I figure it out.
Besides, right now I only have one OG Clod grill and it's going on MY Blazer.
Thanks man.

[Double J]

Nice rig. I like the yellow camo.
My wife wants a camo paint job on her's when I build it. but with blue or pink. Just not sure where to start.

[mulchman]

The main thing that matters is your little girl likes it. Father/daughter time is priceless.
Wayne

[bustedcrawler]

Looking good man!

[Grizzly4x4]

Originally Posted by Double J

Nice rig. I like the yellow camo.
My wife wants a camo paint job on her's when I build it. but with blue or pink. Just not sure where to start.

When she said camo, I asked her what kind, urban, red, blue, purple? She said how about yellow, gray, and black. I'd never see yellow before but I thought, ya know, that could be really cool. So I rolled with it. I looked at some other camo patterns then just kind of went with what felt right. There's prolly a little too much black but what'cha gonna do.
Thanks DubJ.

Originally Posted by mulchman

The main thing that matters is your little girl likes it. Father/daughter time is priceless.
Wayne

In the end, thats all that matters to me. I'd like it to look a little more scale with some 1.9 Mashers or narrowed Dirt hawgs, but in the end it's her call.
I figured by 13 she'd think I was too dorky to hang with so I'm thankful for every day that she still thinks I'm cool.
Thanks Wayne

[miniwheeler]

The yellow camo looks cool

[Grizzly4x4]

Originally Posted by miniwheeler

The yellow camo looks cool

Thanks mw.

What's a build thread without flex shots huh.
The track width is pretty scale and I really like how the tires stuff on this thing.

[1BadJeepBruiser]

Love the last picture, nothing better then a tucked tire

[chip cross]

very nice i like the paint job