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Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) So the time has come to finally update the appearance of my Wraith. I bought the truck in early 2013, and although it's had some minor updates, it's still been running the same stock panels I painted up over 5 years ago. Granted they've held up pretty well, but it's time to give the ol' girl a facelift. Follow along kids and I'll give a brief history. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...82/wraith1.jpg This is how the truck started out right after it was built. I repainted some old Tamiya CR-01 beadlocks that I had lying around since I hate gluing tires. The paint job was pretty simple. I just mixed two shades of orange for a marbled effect, with some black and silver. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...82/wraith3.jpg After running the truck for a few months I did a battery forward mod, found a driver, made some scale 5 point harnesses, and added some scale goods to the rear. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...82/wraith5.jpg Sent the truck in to RC Driver and managed to get a half page spread in the April 2014 issue. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/wraith6.jpeg Gave the truck some new LockedUpRC wheels and rings that I panted to match, did the fastback mod, and took it on a trip to Vegas/Utah/Arizona in March of 2014. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...82/wraith7.jpg At the Grand Canyon. April 2014. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...82/wraith8.jpg Picked up some second hand Swampers and ran those for a little bit. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...82/wraith9.jpg Ran the truck for a while into 2015 before deciding to give it the 1.9 conversion. Here I was testing different tire/wheel combos. 2.2's with 1.9 Baja Claws up front, and some Axial 1.9 8 Hole wheels with Gearhead rings. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/wraith10.jpg http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/wraith11.jpg Got the wheelbase sorted on the 1.9 conversion, then the truck had to take a backseat for a little bit. Finished the conversion with some SSD Dana 60 axle housings. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/wraith12.jpg Ran the truck in this setup for a while. Decided on the 2.2's with stretched and cut Baja Claws. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/wraith13.jpg Then gave it a "I can see everything anytime" upgrade with a GearHeadRC waterproof light bar and some custom rock lights. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/wraith14.jpg I took it to PA in 2016. This was at Rausch Creek Offroad Park. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/wraith15.jpg Jumping Graffiti Road in Centralia, PA, 2016. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/wraith16.jpg Picked up some second hand 1.9 PitBull Growlers in late 2016. Still running the 2.2's. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/wraith18.jpg This was mid July of last year. Didn't run the truck much in 2017. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/wraith19.jpg http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...2/wraith20.jpg This was the last run of the truck before I started the plan for the facelift. This was in December of last year. And now the actual build thread begins. Thanks for making it this far. Here's what I've done so far. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...223336_621.jpg The first thing I did was repurpose some nearly 9 year old 1.9 Axial 8 Hole wheels with some LockedUpRC Agile rings and scale hardware. I drilled out the faux lugs that are molded into the 8 Hole's and used the acorn bolts in their place. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...81859a_HDR.jpg http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181859_HDR.jpg Then the body and paint showed up. Going with the Pro-Line 66 Bronco that's meant for the Deadbolt. Still haven't fully decided on a paint scheme, but I'm gonna keep it fairly simple with a two tone and some accents. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...81858a_HDR.jpg Got the wheels all finished up. There's a little touch up painting to do on them since the paint is old and I don't think I prepped them that well. I've got new Crawler Innovations Lil' Nova foams that should be here this weekend. Was only running a 2.2 CI inner with the 2.2's and stretched 1.9's. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181858_HDR.jpg I trimmed the fat off the front bumper, sanded it, and repainted it. I figured out a great way to bring the plastic back to pretty much it's stock color after sanding without really painting it. I'm sure I'm not the first to do this, but I basically took a paper towel dipped in some Testors semi-gloss black and just rubbed it on the bumper in a couple light coats. It's more like staining the plastic I guess. Works great though. Much faster drying times than a traditional brush or spray. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181921_HDR.jpg The Pro-Line 5" light bar I snagged for free with a Wal-Mart gift card and some Savings Catcher bucks, showed up yesterday so I messed around with a couple different mounting options. It's much more scale than the GearHead one I've had for a while, but it's also not waterproof, yet, and I've been noticing some voltage drop with it, but it could be a battery issue. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...182023_HDR.jpg http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...82023a_HDR.jpg Tonight when I got home I got rid of the old panels and started sanding the cage to smooth up the years of abuse, then gave it the semi-gloss stain treatment. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...182134_HDR.jpg After that I cut the interior out of the Bronco body and trimmed it and the dash out. I'm hoping I can somehow make this dash work with the Wraith interior because it's a really nice mold and I'd hate to waste it. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...82114b_HDR.jpg This was as far as I got tonight. Still a bit of trimming left to do on the body before it will fit properly. Hoping to at least get it painted this weekend. There's still a lot left to do on the build, but it's going pretty well so far. I still need to repaint the links because I never did when I made the uppers and lowers for the conversion, as well as where I robbed the axles from my SCX10 rebuild that stalled out. If it goes according to plan, this should be one nice looking budget friendly rig when I'm done. Stay tuned kids. "thumbsup" |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) Sounds good. |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) Quote:
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Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) Update? |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) Minor update. Wasn't able to get any painting done this weekend. It's been raining the whole time and the Honey Do list kept me outta the garage most of the weekend, but the Crawler Innovations Lil' Nova's showed up this afternoon and I was able to at least swap the foams out in the Growlers. Hopefully this week I'll get some time after work to get the body trimmed and painted. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181514_HDR.jpg I ordered some CI Lil' Novas in 4.50" with Comp Cut inners. Went with soft outers up front and medium in the rear. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181515_HDR.jpg Before with just the 2.2 inners. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181542_HDR.jpg After installing the new foams. Like I said, not a major update, but at least I got to spend some time on it. Stay tuned kids. "thumbsup" |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) VERY nice!! "thumbsup" Definitely following this, as I was planning to use the same Body on my Wraith, when I'm able... This will be really good info, from a sweet Wraith! |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) Another minor update. Was able to get a little painting done last night. Now the truck no longer had multicolored links. Also cleaned and rebuilt the shocks, so now she's sitting at her proper height. Hoping to bee able to get some more done this week after work. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...182223_HDR.jpg Got the links all painted in a semi-gloss black. Need to order a new servo horn. Tried trimming the current one down and trimmed too much causing a bit of a clearance issue. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...182355_HDR.jpg Cleaned and rebuilt the shocks. Running 20wt in the front and 30wt oil in the rear. I'm looking into either painting the shock bodies in a gold anodized, or going with some aluminum components. Stay tuned kids. |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) Another small update on the facelift. Didn't get any time over the weekend to work on anything, but got some stuff buttoned up last night. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...80019_HDR2.jpg The Axial gold anodized clamping servo horn showed up yesterday, so I got it installed and made a new drag link. Still need to paint the link. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...0019a_HDR2.jpg http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...80020_HDR2.jpg Finally got the new Pro-Line 5" light bar mounted. Need to still run and secure the wire. Had to modify the mounts to get them to work where I wanted, but I think it turn out close to perfect. I've got some items showing up today so hopefully I'll able to get those mounted up tonight. Drove the truck around a little in the garage and noticed a few little things that need attention, but other than that it's looking good. Stay tuned kids!"thumbsup" |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) anxiously waiting on body pics, that's the body I've been debating on for my wraith build, or the TFL bronco fiberglass. |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) Minor update. Had some "new to me" goodies show up in the mail yesterday. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...104629_600.jpg Picked up some gently used Pro-Line 95mm Scaler shocks and got them cleaned up, re-oiled, and mounted last night. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...104629_598.jpg http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...104629_599.jpg http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...80629b_HDR.jpg Curious to see how they'll perform. I added the bump stops from the stock Wraith shocks to keep them from bottoming out. Also used the longer rod ends to make them 95mm so I won't lose much ride height. Thinking I'll have to adjust the preload to get a little more clearance, once the body is on, so that the Growlers won't try to snack on the Bronco fenders too much, even though I've heard they're quite tasty. Hoping to get time to start on the body this weekend. Stay tuned kids. "thumbsup" |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) Very nice looking Wraith! "thumbsup" |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) Moderate update. Was able to get some things accomplished between last night and today. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181125_HDR.jpg Was able to get the new light bar wire routed and plugged up last night. Now all the lights are fully functional. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181126_HDR.jpg http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181127_HDR.jpg Had all the lights off in the garage and the door closed, so the only light source was coming from the truck. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181501_HDR.jpg Today I was able to get the body mounted. Had to do a good bit of trimming to get everything to fit properly. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181503_HDR.jpg I was a little skeptical at first that it wasn't going to fit right, but I kept trimming certain areas and refitting it. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...81503a_HDR.jpg I initially wasn't overall happy with the position of the body, so after dinner tonight I came back and repositioned the body a little lower on the chassis. I'll definitely have to add some preload to the shocks to raise the ride height, otherwise the Pit Bulls are gonna start violently chewing on the fenders. I didn't get any pix of the adjustments I made afterwards, but I'm excited that I'll be able to make the Bronco dash work as well, as long as my plan works. I'm heavily debating cutting the hood for a hinge mod because I'm concerned that once I do the fenders won't line up and it will look bad, but since the battery is up front it's gonna be a pain removing the bumper and all the body screws just to pop a battery in. There's still a good bit left to do, but I'm in the home stretch now. I doubt I'll get any time tomorrow to work on it since the Honey Do list has me scheduled for most of the day. I'll try to make some time in the garage looking for a tool we need so I can get some update shots. Stay tuned kids. "thumbsup" |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) You had my attention at Bronco body and (Pic Heavy) "thumbsup" |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) Update time. We finally have some paint! Wasn't able to work on the truck until towards the end of the week, but I managed to get a little bit accomplished. Follow along, won't you? http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181941_HDR.jpg I played around with some colors to try and find a shade of orange I was satisfied with. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181955_HDR.jpg http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181650_HDR.jpg I ended up laying down a few layers of the fluorescent orange, then a couple layers of copper, and finally a backing layer of silver. The end result gave me close to the shade of orange I was after. For the actual color on the truck I'm probably only gonna use one layer of copper to help keep it a bit brighter orange, yet still slightly metallic. I was able to get a little more done tonight. I finished sanding on the body and got the first stage of paint on. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...182035_HDR.jpg All masked up, for the most part, and ready for some color. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...246a_HDR_1.jpg http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...182247_HDR.jpg Painting stage 1: Successful. The gunmetal turned out really well backed with silver. I decided to stop for the night because I didn't want to rush it. In between coats I set the preload on the new Pro-Line scalers, so once the body is finished I'll be able to see if it's enough. Kinda just went with a baseline of 1cm all around. That's all for now. Hopefully I'll get time this weekend to at least get another color on. Still a good bit left to tackle. Stay tuned kids."thumbsup" |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) A little more progress today. Painting stage 2 mission status: Successful. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181202_HDR.jpg I started with a Tamiya fluorescent orange base. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181220_HDR.jpg Then added a couple light coats of Tamiya copper. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181249_HDR.jpg Then finished it off with some Tamiya silver. I'm pleased with how it's turned out, but I won't fully be able to appreciate it until the overspray film is gone and the stickers are on. I've still got one more color to add before that happens though. In between coats today I also started messing around with the idea of mounting my Vanquish CMS kit horizontal, but due to holiday obligations, I wasn't able to get it finished. Should have some time tomorrow to get the paint close to done, and button up a few more things. Stay tuned kids. "thumbsup" |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) More updates! Was able to get some painting done yesterday. Painting stage 3 mission status: Major Success! http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181058_HDR.jpg Finalized the paint job with the last color, the Tamiya champagne gold anodized. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...181215_HDR.jpg Laid down several layers of the gold, backed it with black, and then backed the whole body with Plasti-Dip. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...81220_HDR2.jpg Before the Plasti-Dip was fully dry, and before I started removing the overspray film, I had to see what it looked like on the truck. This pleased me. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...81239_HDR2.jpg Removed the overspray film and put it back on the truck for a few more pix. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...1238a_HDR2.jpg http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...81246_HDR2.jpg I'm loving how the body out. There are some minor flaws, but it still turned out great. I've still gotta mount the light buckets and get the decals on. Still debating on an idea for opening the hood. Mocked up the dash, but Haven't given it anymore time. Hopefully it'll work out. Still a good bit left to do before I put a pin in it. Stay tuned kids! "thumbsup" |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) Minor update. Managed to get a few decals on the other night. http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...222445_883.jpg http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...81938a_HDR.jpg Got the side badges and the grill decals on. Need to get the light buckets mounted. I'm still debating n replacing the light pods on the bumper with a 2" light bar. Still a good bit left to do, but that's all I've got for now. Stay tuned kids. "thumbsup" |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) #Wraithlift debate. Had some time to work on the led buckets for the headlights and turn signals, but I've been debating on just using the 2 light pod leds on the bumper for the turn signal leds and just eliminate the light pods. Wanted to sort of put it to a vote. With pods, or without? http://i755.photobucket.com/albums/x...212948_972.jpg Let me know what you guys think. Stay tuned kids! "thumbsup" |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) I ran light pods on one RC and hey weren’t very bright. So I’ve removed them on every RC since. Just my $0.02. |
Re: Wraith Facelift aka Project Wraithlift(Pic Heavy) They look good installed, but I'd be concerned with how durable they'd be up front in the middle of the bumper... Lovin' the paint, body, and wheelset! |
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