Project Ugly Duckling

[rerebuilder]

Nice job with the clean-up of the ugly duck. I do the same thing with my rigs if I purchase a used one. Your is coming out real nice.

[Prime]

Originally Posted by rerebuilder

Nice job with the clean-up of the ugly duck. I do the same thing with my rigs if I purchase a used one. Your is coming out real nice.

Thank you. I always tear apart a used rig and check them out. My daughters SCX JK (Project Blue Berry) looked like a brand new perfectly built kit. Tore it apart and the tranny and axles had no grease in them, they were lubed with shock oil.

I do have a shocking update for Ugly Duckling. It now has shocks!!
The shocks I am using are 85mm and are from the fronts of the first gen RS4 Nitro MTs. Cleaned them up and filled them with AE35wt oil.



Got them mounted up and pretty happy with them. The springs are a bit stiffer than stock SCX springs but I always find the stock springs too soft so this should work out in my favor.




Next up? Paint the rims and get the tires mounted up.
More to come,
-Prime-
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[Prime]

Well it is time for this tired project to get some tires.

For this truck we are going with a set of RC4WD MT Baja Claw TTC tires.



Going to wrap these tires around these old well used axial 8 hole bead locks. They have 2.5oz of weight in each of them.
They are a bit beat but a coat of paint that should fix that.



Gave them a couple coats of bed liner paint. Looks much improved to me.



Got the tires mounted up. Looks pretty snazzy I think.



Tires mounted up on the chassis. Rather like the way they look.



Next up? Guess I will get the bed cleaned up and repaired.
More to come. Thanks for looking.
-Prime-
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[Prime]

Got a Honcho bed at the start of the thread from ScalerFreak93. Now is the time to get it cleaned up and ready for the truck.

There were a couple of cracks in the lexan so I fixed them with some 5min epoxy and repainted the bottom of the bed with some Tamiya silver.




Also removed the worn decal on the fuel cell and painted it red.



And mounted up.



I always wanted one of these beds, now I am happy I have one. Still need to add a few scale details to it.
More to come!
-Prime-

[snapon boy]

Very nice work! I have used shoo goo and mesh drywall tape on lexan. I'll have to hit the 5min epoxy a try. I need to add a honcho bed to my stash.


149 r/c worx team driver

[Prime]

Originally Posted by snapon boy

Very nice work! I have used shoo goo and mesh drywall tape on lexan. I'll have to hit the 5min epoxy a try. I need to add a honcho bed to my stash.


149 r/c worx team driver

I use the 5-minute epoxy for almost everything. Had used shoe goo in the past with great results back when I was racing touring cars.

An update on the Duckling. Started on a battery/electronics tray. Got a template mocked up out of cardboard. It is going to be made in the style of the howler battery trays.





Next step is to transfer the template to metal.
Stay tuned for more.
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[Prime]

Got the template transferred to some metal and cut out. Only piece of metal big enough I had was a sheet of stainless so I used it.
Considering I used a angle grinder with a cut off wheel to cut this out I am quite happy with how it turned out.
Also drilled a few holes in it for style points and to make it lighter.



To mount the front I used these Tamiya pieces left over from an old TLT to make a set of risers.



Now to paint it up and get the electronics mounted up.
-Prime-
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[Prime]

All painted up. Used bed liner paint to give it some texture and add a little more protection than straight paint.
Also added some Velcro straps to hold the battery in. I am really happy with how this has turned out.





Going to mount the ESC on the side opposite the motor and will be mounting
the receiver behind the front bumper in a Traxxas waterproof box.
-Prime-

[4X4 Freak]

Doing a heck of a job bud looks bad azz

[Prime]

Originally Posted by 4X4 Freak

Doing a heck of a job bud looks bad azz

Thank you! Hope to get the electronics mounted tonight so I can give it a test drive.

[Prime]

Electronics are mounted up. Got the receiver in a Traxxas waterproof box in the front, because I just can't seem to stay out of the water.



Made a small deck out of some styrene to mount the box on.



Drove it around the living room last night and it ran really well. Climbed great on "shoe mountain" and handled "Kid's Room Canyon". Can't wait to get it out on the trails and see how it really does. My Toyota body came in yesterday. So it will get mounted up soon.
-Prime-
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[Prime]

Look at this beauty!! Got the Proline SR5 Hilux cab to top off this build. It is one sweet looking body.

Got it all trimmed out.



I really like the detail in the rear cab wall.



And all mounted up. Like how it fits and love the fact that the mounting locations for the Honcho bed are spot on. Only thing I kinda dislike is the front bumper. Sits up a bit too high to just trim it off and run the chassis mounted bumper, so it kinda has a stacked bumper look. Not sure if I am going to cure this yet or not.





Next up is to paint it and get the decals applied.
Stay tuned for more!
-Prime-
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[snapon boy]

Dude that's Going to be be sweet

149 r/c worx team driver

[Prime]

I went with a simple black paint job, nothing fancy here like on Cheapbolt. Added the goldish decals to the side to complete the look. I have to admit it, I am quite happy with how this turned out. On to the pictures.









Still more to do but it is getting closer to being completed.
Thanks for looking.
-Prime-
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[Honcho907]

Looks good! The RTR mirrors works really well with this body I also used an old hilux grille I had laying around. I didn't like how generic the stickers made the front look... now it actually looks like a yota up front

[RCJayC]

Originally Posted by jbondbmw

This is always my fear when buying used RC's (which I have only done once, a Savage Flux XL slider) is that they are poorly maintained. It is amazing how badly some people treat their things. Looks like you are doing a good job saving this one though.

But isn't discovering and fixing problems part of the fun? If you're buying used in order to immediately go out and got the trail then you'll most likely be disappointed but I got a good deal on a complete Wraith and only found the plastic transmission to be stripped so not too much more money spent to get it running again.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[Prime]

Originally Posted by j.krug

Great looking truck!!
I've really enjoyed following your build.

Thank you

Originally Posted by Honcho907

Looks good! The RTR mirrors works really well with this body I also used an old hilux grille I had laying around. I didn't like how generic the stickers made the front look... now it actually looks like a yota up front

I have a set of mirrors I have been kicking around the idea of installing them on this truck. Might have to make that happen.

Originally Posted by RCJayC

But isn't discovering and fixing problems part of the fun? If you're buying used in order to immediately go out and got the trail then you'll most likely be disappointed but I got a good deal on a complete Wraith and only found the plastic transmission to be stripped so not too much more money spent to get it running again.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

For me, I like saving a big chunk of change by buying used, if the price is low enough. To be honest, when I got this truck I initially planned on it just being a parts truck. Glad I never gutted it and decided to rebuild it instead. I have less than $70 so far in this truck because I have used mostly used parts I had laying around or bought/traded for what I needed. The only new part on the truck is the body, everything else is used or second hand.

[Honcho907]

RTR mirrors, door handles, and first gen grille... I cut off the lower bumper to first the scaler fab bumper better

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[Brake Weight]

That new Proline body looks good with and without a bed.

[Prime]

I kinda forgot to post these up. Got a chance to run the Duckling a couple of weeks ago. It did very well on it's maiden voyage. Everything held up well and proved to be a pretty capable scale rig. The only upgrade I can see in the foreseeable future will be to replace the axial 27t with a better motor.

A few pics from the run.









Tested out the water proofing.





Think I might go ahead and add a set of light buckets to the bumper for looks sake. Got to say I have forgotten how much fun a simple little trail rig can be.
-Prime-
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