After 14 years out of the hobby, BoilermakerFan is back! And building an Enduro Kit

[BoilermakerFan]

I installed the 11% OD right out of the box. With all the aftermarket parts I have on mine for durability, I have a very front biased CG, even without a battery installed. Since the Samix brass knuckles are a little lighter, I'm going to use the brass hexes instead of aluminum on the front too. If I need more weight after that I will add the SSD brass inner rings on the front.

I'm sure some suspension tuning will help finish out the rig performance, but I'm impressed that the shocks are the limiting factor to the axle flex as it is right now.

[BoilermakerFan]

I tried to mask out the F150 body tonight...




I taped my guides on the outside, but trying to tape it off on the inside is beyond my abilities to manipulate and trim tape. So I need to either order liquid mask or just spray it with one color and use the decals.

Or I make this body the basher body with my signature purple-->blue fade, and then wait to paint the stock scheme this spring on another body.


I dropped my old comp body on the chassis for fun:

[BoilermakerFan]

This past week I was out in SoCal for business. Most of my time was spent east of LA in the Anaheim/Ontario area. I was hotel hopping most of the week to make sure traffic didn't cause me any issues making it to my client meetings. It didn't. It was surprisingly good all week. I've had much worse traffic all over Chicago and the greater Chicago suburbs.

While out there I remembered that Coast Airbrush was in Anaheim, so I made sure to swing by on the way to my next hotel in the afternoon on Tuesday. I was looking for a couple of upgrade parts for my old Paasche VL airbrush and was kind of in the market for another budget friendly airbrush...

I found the parts I needed for my VL and grabbed QDs for it too:




And then I found this cool little dude:




It uses the same bottles as my VL and came with the #2 and #3 setups. A super cool feature about it though is that there is an optional #3 fan cap for the front that allows the TS to spray a flat fan pattern about 3" wide. So I picked that up too. Perfect for painting the main colors on RC bodies! And with the QD on the airbrushes and hose, I can swap between the VL and TS very easily, plus now I have a spare hose and a spare siphon feed cup.





I had actually forgotten to grab the fan cap on Tuesday so I stopped back by Coast on Wednesday afternoon later in the day. The owner Dave was there and helped me get the fan cap. I also wanted to get a different trigger for the TS since it could use the trigger from the Paasche Vision model. Unfortunately they were out of stock. Dave asked me what I was primarily painting and I told him RC bodies and I told him how disappointed my son was that we were going to have to paint our bodies with rattle cans. That kicked off almost an hour conversation of Dave giving me tips and tricks for us, as well as telling me how to spray automotive paints on Lexan bodies without having to use a clear coat inside them first. I am truly thankful I forgot the two accessories the first trip and stopped in again. At the end of our conversation, he said to just call in about a week and a half; they should have the trigger in stock by then because he was going to order them for stock on Friday.

I stopped by Pegasus hobby shop in Pomona to grab some parts for my build and they had some liquid paint mask in stock so I grabbed that too.





Today the weather was beautiful and very warm. I helped my son prep his VW Beetle body for paint and we got to it!








We finished right at 5:30 when the Super Bowl was starting. Once the paint is full cured Monday afternoon or Tuesday, we can peel off the window masks and the over spray film to see the final result and a proper glossy finish. He's super happy with the color though. We have to attach all the chrome bits and apply about 4000 decals to finish the body. Well, maybe not 4000, but there are a lot of decals to apply.


After the Super Bowl, I applied the first coat of the liquid mask to my body.




Tomorrow night when it's fully dry, it will get a second heavy coat. Then I should be ready to start trimming the masking off for the side stripes, roof, and rear center section of the tail gate.

[durok]

That looks great - can't wait to see the finished product!

[BoilermakerFan]

Originally Posted by durok

That looks great - can't wait to see the finished product!

Thanks durok. After school we peeled off the overspray mask. My son became overwhelmed by all the decals and the fact they weren't die cut, so he asked me to work on the decals. I have no problem doing that since almost all of my trips to the ER while in middle school involved an X-acto knife and stitches. I still have all of my fingers and they all function, but I have a couple of scars still to this day. The front is sitting a little higher, but my son hasn't decided if he wants to lower the front or raise the rear.











I'm putting the second coat of masking on my Ford F-150 tonight. And I forgot to mention that Jeffrey from Club 5 got my custom Hi-Clearance links done last week and they arrived in CA on Saturday or today. They should be shipping out to me tomorrow along with the red diff covers. Hopefully the wheelbase gets stretched this weekend!

Ordering the last of my Samix parts this week too as well as a few other final items for the build.

I'm hoping to have it all finished within 2 weeks. The only things I still haven't finalized are the upgraded/longer shocks and sliders. I'll run the stock shocks for now, but they will be replaced/modded in the future. The F-150 really needs longer sliders so I need to do some research to find ones that will work the best for my longer body and longer wheelbase.

After it's running I have a few scale mods planned for the truck like the PL vintage interior, bed cover, roll bar, and the LED lights. But for now the focus getting my body painted and getting the truck running.

[durok]

Personally, I think Beetles need to have a bit of squat in the back end, just like it sits now...

Perfect!

Paint came out gloriously, too.

[BoilermakerFan]

Originally Posted by durok

Personally, I think Beetles need to have a bit of squat in the back end, just like it sits now...

Perfect!

Paint came out gloriously, too.

Thanks man. When the car is lifted off the surface, the gap in the fenders is identical, so the sag occurs naturally. We tested the steering servo to check center and see if it rubbed. As it is, it's perfect so he's leaving it as it is.

"We" started on the decals tonight. I think I put on 9 out of the 42 or 44 decals.




My second coat of masking on the F-150 is almost dry. There are just a few spots where it's thicker so it's not fully dry yet. I'm going to move the body up to the LR tonight to get it in a little warmer and drier air. Hopefully tomorrow night it will be dry so I can trim my lines for the main body stripes and roof. Hoping to spray the first coat of color on Thursday or Friday over my lunch hour.


Jeffery emailed me to let me know that my links and diff covers shipped today. I should have those Thursday or Friday.

I jumped on a Kickstarter project for closed loop stepper motors for a 3D printer upgrade so I won't be ordering any other upgrades for the Enduro until this weekend. Which gives me time to keep researching sliders.

[BoilermakerFan]

Here's most of our progress from last night...




And I'm still waiting for the last coat of liquid masking to fully dry in my F-150 body. The blobs in the bed are from the skin that was on the masking when I opened up the brand new bottle. Not really happy about that, but I bought it in CA and flew it home in my luggage so I don't know if that caused it or not. Anyway, it wasn't a huge issue, I just plopped them in the bed area since it gets painted last and will eventually be covered on the outside if any paint manages to wick under them. I doubt it will though.







And tracking is showing that my Club 5 Racing package will arrive on Friday.

[B-MOW71]

Great looking Beetle! Love the color!

The body looks like it was molded well and has a nice detailed look to it. Decals look nice too!

[BoilermakerFan]

Thanks B. It's a Tamiya body, so that's to be expected... and it's making me jones for the Karman Ghia now.


My masking is all dry. I started marking all my lines out in Sharpie on the outside so I have references after I start painting.














I can't decide what I'm going to do on the hood yet. Stock trucks did not come with a 2-tone hood. Only the roof of the cab was the same color as the body stripe. I'm torn on keeping it scale and solid color, or doing one of two options in the lighter color. First option would be to paint the two larger panels the lighter color with the center dark. Second option would be to just paint the very center, thin section the light color.

Anybody have a strong opinion on the 3 options?

I do have a non-stock mod I'm planning for the body, but you guys will have to wait to see it.

[durok]

Originally Posted by BoilermakerFan

I do have a non-stock mod I'm planning for the body, but you guys will have to wait to see it.

Could it be...RPM's new blower?

[BoilermakerFan]

That's awesome durok, but I've never seen a trail rig or rock crawler pickup with a blower...

I was looking for a hood scoop or raised cowl hood, but I can always add it later.


And remember how I said I wanted one body to bash and one for the scale points? Also remember the title of my thread? So I haven't painted a body in 15 years or so, and I'm 15 years older, and my airbrushes aren't running yet... It was also 30degF tonight when I was painting the body which caused a couple minor issues with the spray cans, even though I pre-heated them in HOT water for 10-15 minutes each.

So this is going to be my basher body, or one of them.





It's turning out ok, but I'm not happy with the colors and I made a few mistakes trimming the masking. Therefore, it's being demoted to a rocks body. I backed the light green with the dark green when most of the body was masked, so I ended up peeling off a lot of the dark green. When it's all done and revealed, you'll see why, but I noticed the dark green was thin in a lot of spots and I was out of paint. So I'm picking up another can of the dark green tomorrow to finish it. Then I'll spray the black around the windows, bed liner, and back everything else with it.


I'll paint another '76 F-150 body this summer once I have a proper air compressor for the airbrushes and I can order better paint colors to achieve a closer match to the OE paint scheme.

I have about 20 pics of the truck that I used for the inspiration including the interior, so I'll do it again and get it right, plus detail/paint the interior correctly. I'm not going to install the chrome bumpers on this body. Those will be spares for the next one. I am going to install the chrome grill and headlight buckets though. There aren't any decals for the grill, only the hard plastics.

[durok]

That's pretty damn close to the Ford colors!

Yeah, my mentioning the blower was completely a joke - hence the winking smiley-face - that blower was just released yesterday by RPM.

[BoilermakerFan]

Oh, I'm definitely going to pick up a blower! But it's going on a different body than the F-150.


I love receiving packages!








Paint is done... Not jazzed with the light green, but it will do for now. Can you spot the non-stock additions?

[BoilermakerFan]

The decals helped a lot! Still not my best paint work, but I was able to incorporate my signature purple to blue fade in the paint scheme. It is what it is... and this body is now the basher body and not the scale detail body. So no interior and I added my STC sticker on the roof. I may go back and spray tint the windows a little too.

























Finding a rear bumper that will extend out far enough now might be a challenge...








And yes, I have my high clearance links on backwards... I need to adjust them anyway, so I'll fix them tomorrow. I have to build and install the front set as well. I just wanted to stretch the wheelbase so I could set the body on the chassis to see how it looked and fit.

It's pretty crazy how close the color of the side trim and the wheels match. Now I just need longer, steel sliders and the neodymium chamfered ring magnets to mount the body.

[BoilermakerFan]

I assembled all 11 pieces of the grill the other night:




Huge improvement on the truck:












And slowly making progress on the Beetle's decals as well:









Assembled the HR Rock Racer buggy chassis:

[soze]

Nice job on the Element!

[BoilermakerFan]

Thanks soze.


I haven't wrenched on the Enduro any more this week. Caught a nasty head cold on Tuesday. It hit me in the afternoon and I was pretty much wiped out at night all week.


I need to build the front hi-clearance links, install the front diff cover, and flip the rear links. I'll probably work on that tonight.


I found my solution for my rear bumper though...

RC4WD to the rescue:






Based on the dimensions given, it's a perfect fit and the exact length I need to extend my rear frame for a bumper. A nice bonus is the integrated mount for a rear winch servo if the mood ever strikes to add one back there.


And I think I found the perfect sliders for my longer body too. RC4WD again FTW:









I can't decide which color I want to go with... the matching bumpers are also available in black or silver. And with the extended frame, I can add the RC4WD Bronco exhaust tips if I want more scale details.










I haven't even run the truck yet, but I'm already thinking about picking up another body for the truck...


I love the Veterra F-100 setup and the body is sold separately from the rear tube frame so I could buy the Veterra or possibly go with a RC4WD setup... I'd have to buy the Veterra fuel cell for the rear or 3D print my own. I'm leaning towards the RC4WD work bed if it will fit my wheelbase, but it's significantly more expensive, so I may just wait until I have the CNC mill in my garage and machine my own after a bit of time.











I may just have to wait until I get the Vanguish Origin Pro kit and run the F-100 body on it. Time will tell, but I plan to buy the body and rear cage so I at least have it on hand.


I've also resisted buying more beadlock wheels. There are 4 sets that I really want to add along with 3 more sets of tires. I have the set of PL Hyrax Class 1 tires sitting in the Enduro box right now. So I need a new set of wheels for them, but I also want a set of the 4.75" RC4WD Wranglers, a set of Swampers, and another set has my eye.


I see an Enduro in my son's future too... maybe not until October for his birthday, but I do see one in his future.