Father son BACKYARD crawl

[shopteacher]

my son and i got hooked on the losi nightcrawler then decided to buildrt our own crawl after we spent a couple hours at D's Hobby indoor crawl in Bend, OR
we started with this

then to here

then he wanted to build a suspension bridge

added some lights and some rocks stacked onto cord wood to make the approach (drag brake mountain)

then the neighbors started giving him rocks... and more rocks

after some serious though.. we redesigned the approaches both north and south... safer for all the crawlers and a thrifty use of the rocks we had

thanks to all on this site for ideas on how to make our cars crawl better and to build this crawl (it has become pretty popular with the neighborhood) sit in the shade and crawl...beverages optional... we had 4 crawlers comfortably playing
the ax10 with the vw body is in the images for scale.
no mud... but there is a dirt hill climb on the south end.
we crawl with a ax10, LNC, ridgecrest, and losi mini comp. neighbors bring their toys too... and sometimes "enormous donkey" rocks
then we shuffle... lol


scrap cement chunks make a great course



BRIDGE

WOODPILE (no north exit yet)

flat plate basalt step up to the carport with wood stick bridge in distance

[Erbing]

Its always nice to have a backyard setup.

[shopteacher]

thoughts? suggestions? input is appreciated.

photobucket album share
RC CRAWLERS and CRAWLING pictures by shopteacher - Photobucket
this also has images from D's hobbies in bend, or as well as the complete shared image collection of our crawl's progression

this crawl a "prototype" test of concept for a school project next year. i have a student who will be building a scale/kit then an RC crawl
we will invite "local" crawlers in for a bbq and share session as well as some full size crawlers to compare.
he will build his own chassis then go full size (YES!) 2 year project including the marketing of the finished product and a full digital portfolio he can take
to his next level
i love my job!

The mini works well.. surprisingly. It has weights in the wheels and some other mods, I can make a 5 point turnaround on the bridge. The north approach is very doable and the dirt climb on the south end is sketchy, but doable.

[kicker1solo]

Looks good. Where are you from?

[finishline]

Course looks really cool, seemed like a cool father son project. Have you tried running any mini comp rigs on it?

[crawl-o-matic]

get a spray foam kit and shape out some rock like formations. When it's dry, apply a poly based glue and add a layer of sand (do this a few times to add strength)

now you have sandstone!

[shopteacher]

Cool... that would make it easy to build up the approach. Might shape the formation with chicken wire. Sprayfoam kit? What is that? All we have here is cans of expanding foam. Great sandstone effect idea!

[johnnie walker]

Originally Posted by shopteacher

Put some rocks on the tabletop so it's a harder approach to the bridge.

I'd love to have a practice spot in my back yard.

[shopteacher]

Originally Posted by johnnie walker

Put some rocks on the tabletop so it's a harder approach to the bridge.

I'd love to have a practice spot in my back yard.

good call.. we ran out of the pocky lava rock and the cable from the suspension bridge support makes the corner more of a challenge. if we had some thin sheetlike shale or blade basalt that would work great!

right now our 1:10 crawlers have a challenging time making the corner without tangling in the cable support or hitting the "fence" on the back of the platform. we thought about using some spray foam to make some features on the platform.

how much height should we shoot for in the main crawl area? the stepup box really allowed us some great vertical without a lot of rock used. what could we expect if we went to another crawl or comp?

is there a "have this in your practice area to simulate the comp arena features" list somewhere? right now we are recreational, but the school project will involve at least one comp to see how close our vehicles/drivers behave in a competitive arena.

we love to host local crawlers, it a great hobby for my son and i (even my wife)

[OTHGbronco82]

That's better rhan my pile of crap and rocks. I mean piles of crao, the dogs decided to use the "garden" as a craping grounds.

[shopteacher]

electric fence? got to protect the crawl

[Olle P]

Originally Posted by OTHGbronco82

I mean piles of crap, the dogs decided to use the "garden" as a craping grounds.

See those piles as gate markers.

[DRW-FJ40]

Nice looking course. I don't have much experience with shaping the rock as all my rock in my course is natural (And I still went through several bottles of Ibprophen) & mine is more scale than comp but this guy, All_Scaled_Out, did a lot with building wood forms, covering them with wire & then conrete. May be an option for you.

keep up the good work!

[shopteacher]

there seems to be a big difference between the scale and comp crawlers when it comes to crawl areas... is it as much of a difference as skis and snowboards?
some friends have brought their scalers over and put putted around, then pulled out the comps and rip/teared all over the course.. hmmm... best of both? is that possible?
full size at OHV parks have piles of rip rap for crawling and jeep trails for expedition... sometimes both for the tim cameron rock bouncers... lol (we bounce a bit too)

the scale crawl at wolfcreek(amazing realism) looks like a small version of the real thing. where some comp crawls are made to push the limits of gravity, articulation, and traction.
(the cars are sold this way too right? you want a scale model of the real thing or a futuristic chassis with 90 degrees of articulation.)

our natural rock boulder park seems more of a comp course style with a scale based bridge. multiple lines to cross-thread and a circuit now that the bridge is passable.
when we shuffle or build an element, then go get the LNC to see if it is crawlable.

my goal is to learn/experience as much as possible, experiment, and network... so that when we start our school project in the fall we can show the progression from scale/comp to full size (ideally the RC will look like the full size)

has anyone ever made a crawler that was scaled by weight too? it was a discussion we had yesterday with a crawler enthusiast. curious what that would be like.

[Docwolf]

i have never precisely scaled the weight oz. for oz. but I try to get the distribution as close to the real thing as I can on my Bronco. now the tuber, that will be no limits.

[DRW-FJ40]

Well, I guess I can only speak for myself but I had a comp crawler for a while and I enjoyed it but I found that what I enjoy most about the hobby is building things that look real and detailed and watching a model move and look real. I like to see it up close too. I discovered that when I was given a plane kit, got all fired up & went to a local AMA field & realized I wasn’t as interested in the challenge of operating the model as I was looking at it. Once the plane got up in the air and I couldn’t see it well, it lost some of the appeal.

I have some good comp terrain and I had more that I "tamed" down for the smaller 1.9 tires and for the fact that my detailed styrene bodies that I had put so much time into, get trashed in seconds in a comp style course.

In an ideal world where money is no object, I would have both comps & scalers.... and some scale hard core rock buggies and a scale ocean with genetically modified 1:10 scale great white sharks, an airport.... and..... well, you get the idea. For me at least, it’s not about liking one & not the other, it’s just the reality of working within a budget and making choices.

I do find it interesting the amount of work that we go through to make flat ground more challenging contrasted with the work I've done to make challenging rock more flat.

As to the weight comment, I know of some people who have intentionally added weight to make the truck look more realistic while driving but don't know that they were actually "scaling" the weight of a real truck.

But, enough rambling… you have a lot of enthusiasm and a great course, keep up the good work! I have my boys involved too. Good fun.

[shopteacher]

flat course more challenging.. absolutely.. we added a bunch of cultured stone(fireplace wall rock?) to make our flatland more than just dirt... and our gnarly rock areas as crawlable as possible (connor calls the additions "cheater rocks" lol)

i love the idea of 1:10 scale sharks.. would they have frikkin' laser beams attached to their heads?

scale weight? 1500# scales to 15# hmm.. that is heavy for a 1:10 crawler... very heavy.

build ups... yeah, when we have our large rail projects done it is more of the process to the product than it is the driving.

[DRW-FJ40]

laser beams, I like that. Could be tied in with a miniature miniature golf course complete with errupting volcano (with 1:10 scale scale road to the top of course)

[shopteacher]

We were toying with the idea of a drawbridge that you drive up and it lowers using a piston from a hatchback then returns when you roll off. Could be par of the volcano... when you roll past the crater a pressure switch opens a valve to blast smoke into the air.

[Levesque87]

Thats an awesome set up. I like it, some good father and son time.