Odinthor's Devastator Wraith

[Odinthor]

So I purchased a Poison Spyder RTR back at the end of April, and have been subsequently hooked on it. I dont think a day has gone by since, that I havent touched it or fiddled with it.

So here is what I have done to it since in terms of additions and upgrades:

-Axial Wraith Light Buckets and LED set
-RC4WD Inner Fender Set
-Custom Steel body and hood panels
-Ridge-Line Bumper Set (Narrow) ScalerFab Front Bumper
-Savox SA-1258TG Servo
-CC BEC
-Axial AX30429 Aluminum Hex Hubs
-Axial AX08135 2.2 Rebel Wheels
-Added two more 5mm LEDs (for rock lights)
-RC4WD 2" LED Light Bar
-RC4WD 4" LED Light Bar
-ST Racing Concepts Aluminum C-hubs and Knuckles
-Axial AX30780 Universal Axle Set
-RC4WD Front Bumper Supports
-RC4WD Aluminum Steering Link Kit
-Axial AX30708 AX10 Locked Transmission Gears
-CrawlMaster 540 Expert
-56:14 Ratio Spur/Pinion Gears
-ProLine Shocks


ONTO THE PICTURES!



Fresh out of the box. Still had that new tire smell!



My first mod I did (before I got the stock light buckets and LEDs). My friend lovingly called them the Light Cannons.


First time getting dirty!





Some shots from the first group trip we did.




IT CAN FLY!


You can see the hood and Pro-Line Bumper here




The rock lights I custom installed, and then the switch I installed for them specifically, since I dont need them on all the time.

[quadfish13]

Looks good. Love the light Idea.

[Odinthor]

Update time!

Installed the Axial Universals, and removed the plastic Ridgeline bumper in anticipation of the ScalerFab one. But the most substantial update is the fact that I got my skins in finally (no more bare sheet metal!) and now you can see why I called this project the Devastator Wraith




Here's some close ups of my skin panels.




And yes, that is Darth Maul at the helm

The day I got the skins in I left for a weekend trip to Cape Cod, so I of course had to bring the Wraith and find something to crawl over.




next up is the ScalerFab bumper, and upgrading the steering hubs and links to aluminum.

[Odinthor]

Got some new parts in today, my aluminum c-hubs, knuckles, and my ScalerFab bumper!



Which I promptly installed




Im super super happy with the bumper, got the rough shape of the Ridgeline bumper I had, but smaller size so it doesnt bind on the tires, and of course, metal construction.

Aluminum steering links should be here in a few days, so that'll finish up the front end for now.

[clickaus]

Looks awesome mate love the skins

[Odinthor]

Well, yesterday during a run with my buddy so he could shakedown his new Vaterra Twin Hammers, I got both my passenger tires wedged under a log and did a number on the plastic transmission gears So needless to say im upgrading to the Axial machined steel ones.

I also somehow lost the top screw on my driver's side front shock during that run. Whether I pulled it out or backed it out I have no clue, went to pick it up and just uttered an "Oh." when it drooped

[Odinthor]

Woops. Forgot to keep this updated!

I of course got my aluminum transmission gears to replace the plastic ones. Ran it a few times, and then went bombing on a wet sandy/beach area about a month ago, mostly to the amazement of some kids I know.

Going bombing around on sand is asking for trouble though, and thats what I got, as I managed to get sand into my stock motor and tear up the brushes inside. So, I took that as my sign to finally upgrade to the CrawlMaster 540 Expert I had been eyeing for a while. Which of course meant switching out my spur and pinion gears too. Went for a 56:14 ratio to keep it roughly stock.




Since then I've run it a few more times with little problems, save for having one end of my steering link mysteriously unscrew. The only consistant issue im having is one of the nylock wheel nuts is basically shot, so it needs constant attention and re tightening so it doesnt cause my wheel to get torn up in some way.

So I currently have an order placed for a new set of nylock nuts, as well as a pair of These shocks that im going to try out in the front, where my stock shocks seem to be fairly shot already. Only ordered one pair because I want to try them out first and see how much of a difference they make before I make a full swap and jump to a set of Slash shocks or something.

Also ordered another set of the Inner Wheel fenders since I mangled two of my original set so far, one of which was during my "IT CAN FLY!" moment pictured above.

Im also eyeing a 4" LED bar to put on the roof/windshield area for better lighting on the evening runs ive been doing lately.

[Odinthor]

Did some more work on my Wraith yesterday considering it was pouring rain all day.

For a while now i've been less than happy with my wiring arangement, as the word 'mess' didnt quite cover it. When I put in the rock lights and switch in the dash, I basically hid a lot of wire between the dash and the bar where my hood is hinged from. And considering last week I bought one of the RC4WD 4" light bars off my friend, I knew I would have to wire that into the mess as well.

So basically, I tore everything out and started over, and decided to do it much cleaner and orderly this time, as well as leaving myself options for further expansion of electronics made easier. Enter this little project.



Started off by pulling the battery tray out of the back, since I dont need it anymore with the battery being under the hood, and installed a 3"x2"x1" Project Enclosure from Radio Shack, which I drilled out the mounting holes inside that matched perfectly the holes on the frame from the battery tray. This would be the location of my new wiring set up. Then I stuck some 3M velcro in the bottom to hold the next component.



A 4 position barrier strip, with the other half of the velcro on the bottom. Addmittedly, this wasnt exactly what I had wanted, but for now it works. Looks nice and clean too, and in the future if I add anything else, its a simple addition rather than having to re splice wires into existing locations.



Box fully installed with the cover on, and of course decals for show!

The orange/white wire in that picture is what feeds the new 4" bar, which I decided to mount underneath the roof like so:



I put it there mostly so that it wouldnt get the hell beaten out of it everytime I rolled or flopped it. I was hesitant to put it here just because I thought the lip of the roof might cut down on the output, but after mocking it up and testing it, its still insanely bright and works wonders.

I also got a new set of the inner fenders since I wrecked two of the ones I had already, and one again painted them black. I did however, decide (for the time being) to remove the rock lights I had installed, along with their accompanying switch, until I can find a better place for them. They were good, but I found over time that they werent positioned in the most effective place, plus they were getting in the way of my battery in the hood. So for now, they're gone, but not forgotten.

I'll finish this update with some shots from a run me and my friend did last week up in Massachusetts. He recently aquired a SCX10 Honcho, and wanted to give it a good solid maiden run.

SCX by industrialearth47, on Flickr
Looking for Traction by industrialearth47, on Flickr
Speed Run by industrialearth47, on Flickr
Honcho by industrialearth47, on Flickr

[Odinthor]

Woohoo more goodies!



Pro-Line Power Strokes, of which I have heard nothing but good things. Chose to go with the ones that were designed for the front of the Slash in order to drop my Wraith down a bit.



Out with the old and in with the new. The amount of gunk and debris that was stuck to the old was much worse than I thought it was going to be. The springs themselves were fairly shot, and I realized afterwards that my rear driver's side shaft was actually bent slightly.




Some nice glamour shots of the shocks installed. So far I am super happy with them. I chose to load them up with 50w oil to start with and see how it works out for me.







The before and after shots. I really should have done them on the same side so you could get a feel for the height change. Oh well! Boring update is boring! I think next on my list is to figure out how I want to put rock lights back onto it, as I kind of miss that feature since it set me apart from my other Wraith friends.

[Odinthor]

Update time!

I finally got around to upgrading from the stock tires to the much more grabby Ripsaws; managed to score a deal on a set of them on chromed Rebel wheels that were brand new out of the box off of a Honcho for $35, so I jumped on that immediately.







Compared to the stock tires, I like the chromed ones a hell of alot more.

As I mentioned previously, I wanted to get rock lights back onto my wraith, and I finally found a system that works and that im happy with. I tried previously (since my last update) to use some more 5mm individual LEDs, but couldnt get them to where I was satisified enough. My first attempt ended up actually getting ripped off during one of my crawling sessions on some big rocks, so I tore those out completely.

What I ended up with was buying a role of LED Strip Lights that I could trim to my desired length. From there it was a simple job to wire them up.





The back of the strips have 3M adhesive on them, so I just stuck them to the bottom of the interior where they are low profile and out of the way of any sharp rocks. Im ordering rock sliders from ScalerFab too just to add another level of protection to them.

Other than those two upgrades, im super content with the state of my wraith heading into the winter months. Now onto the glory pictures!

[WesleyRoy]

Nice solution for all the wires/electronics, in the electronic box, i got some sort of electronic box to, wich houses the receiver and lightset. Nice wrap also.

[WesleyRoy]

The skull on the hood reminds me of the Punisher logo.

[Odinthor]

Originally Posted by WesleyRoy

Nice solution for all the wires/electronics, in the electronic box, i got some sort of electronic box to, wich houses the receiver and lightset. Nice wrap also.

Do my eyes deceive me, or did you put a Holmes Hobby sticker on yours too?

The skull does kinda look like the Punisher symbol, but its a symbol of the Mandalorian clans from Star Wars.

In other news... Today I short circuited the rock lights I installed. But I have some ideas for when my ScalerFab rock sliders arrive.

[WesleyRoy]

yess powered by holmes

[Odinthor]

Yikes! Its been a while since I updated!

Didnt do much of anything to the Wraith between Dec and April, toyed around with it in the snow outside my house a few times, but nothing substancial. Then come April (and my Wraith's first birthday) I looked over my Wraith and noticed that two of the screws for the front Chubs were stripped out from the stock axle, and decided it was time to upgrade.

Managed to find one of the old RC4WD aluminum axles (the ones they carried before Curry) on Ebay, snagged it, and bolted it on. Around that time I also finally managed to get a rock light setup that I was both happy with, and more importantly, worked under stress and water, unlike my previous attempts. The only issue I had with that was at one point the wires I ran off the battery leads to my electronics box in the back got nicked, and crossed. I managed to melt some of the insulation off those wires, causing a moment of panic and smoke before yanking the battery off, and simply cutting off the melted pieces and re connecting them. Did a few minor runs with my Wraith with zero major issues over the next few weeks.

Fast forward to this past week, when I brought it to work (I work at an after-school program, and I knew the kids would love seeing it zip around). The kids of course thought it was the greatest thing, and all wanted me to 'chase' them with it. So I did....

...and proceeded to overheat and burn out my Holmes Hobby CrawlMaster motor.

Now, initially I thought I had crossed more wires like I did before while installing my rock lights (same smoke and everything). So I kinda brushed the incident off, simply telling myself i'd tear the wraith down at home and find the wires and replace them. Needless to say, I didnt find melted wires, but noticed how much worse the smell got as I got to the motor. Plugged in the battery and my ESC started yelling that it couldnt find a motor, and thats when I realized it.

So now Ive ordered a new motor, and while trying to source the problem noticed how many of the wires I used were getting to be a little worse for wear. Crossing wires once was enough, so since its not going anywhere till the new motor, I pulled all the old wire out and replaced it with some nice 16 gauge wire all the way to my electronics box.

Finished that about an hour ago, feelin good, start absently spinning the tires and a little tab of metal falls off into my lap. Its a tab. And its been sheered off from somewhere...

Start digging. Found this.



*slams forhead into desk*

I cant win it seems. So now ive ordered a new pair. Good thing i kept the stock ones too!