A 1:6th scale '41 Willys build...

[Big Mike]

Originally Posted by brokennib

Jeez.,this is looking better Every Time I check it out. I'm still in awe of how well that cage came out.! You give out quotes.? Have braze will hire?

Thanks nib. One of these days I just may be a "torch for hire". I'd like to, I do enjoy the building part most of all. Many of my friends comment along the lines of "you should make these to sell, nobody can do stuff like you can". I tell them there are lots of folks here who blow my work away. But making custom "RTR's" for sale one day would be fun, and they'd be something you just can't purchase.

More tools today. A heavy hammer and a voyager axe come in handy out on the trail. Same as the shovel, real steel and oak wood. The hammer was easy, it's just a piece of 3/16" steel hex stock with a hole through it for the handle. The axe was a bit more involved, basically carved out of a chunk of steel...



Still waitin' for a transfer case. RC4WD has gotten my order a bit confused I think, I might have to give GCM the nod if this continues...

[reddevildemo]

Great job on those tools. they look very real, full size that is. very nice.
Man, that color, I just can't get over how nice it looks on there with the black. Awesome.

[joeyf]

x2 on the tools they came out looking good. you can take the look of the beeder a little further by wrapping grip tap to the handle, we do this to all are beeders at work.

[BigSki]

I'm blown away at how great the tools look, especially the handles.

As far as dealing w/ rc4wd goes, I've found that the best place to buy their stuff is through RPP Hobby.

[Big Mike]

Transfer case is installed. .75:1 Disruptor. It's like this case was almost designed specifically for Jeep conversions. It's a near perfect fit, after mere minutes of work on the center of the chassis. RC4WD is even kind enough to tap the case all the way through, and then use short hardware. The remaining tapped hole is used from the other side to bolt the case to one of the ribs on the chassis.

It was so fast and easy I forgot to get any images until it was pretty much back together...



All Axial driveline, once again using the "use what is already on hand" method. Metal yokes with 2 set screws each (need to go by the LHS and see if they have the pin type set screws) A real test drive is still needed, but the set screws survived a run around the warehouse. The input shaft needed to be cut down a bit but since it doesn't need to extend/retract with the suspension it wasn't difficult to do. I "stretched" the rear shaft by grafting on a short section of another shaft and sleeving it with 2 layers of epoxy covered by shrink wrap. Seems pretty strong. If anything fails I'll just rework it. (I really wanted some G-Made or Punisher driveshafts, but the cost made it a "luxury" I just couldn't justify when I have so many Axial driveshafts laying around already)

A simple shakedown spin around a concrete floor was very interesting. .75:1 case gearing makes it a bit quicker, but I'm pretty sure I can drop a few pinion teeth to compensate. I forget what I have on there now but I know it's not the smallest I have. It's not like it's undriveable the way it is, it's just a little faster than I was used to.

The size and weight definitely seem to make for an entirely different driving experience compared to even a heavy 1/10th scale truck. I can't wait to run this rig for real, the behavioral characteristics I've seen so far looked incredibly true-to-life...

[OSRC]

Just read the entire thread...don't see many of these in blue for whatever reason - looks great! The extended axials are a nice touch.

[BigSki]

Great job Mike! I'm curious to see how well the OD Disruptor works out. There's a great scale comp in York Pa on Sunday, I wouldn't expect you to drive all that distance but I thought I'd mention it to you.

[brokennib]

I'm real interested in how this thing runs.... any idea as to how heavy it is?
We need some video

[Big Mike]

Originally Posted by OSRC

Just read the entire thread...don't see many of these in blue for whatever reason - looks great! The extended axials are a nice touch.

Thank you. Yes, I picked blue and female driver for the same reason - because I hadn't seen any yet.

Originally Posted by BigSki

Great job Mike! I'm curious to see how well the OD Disruptor works out. There's a great scale comp in York Pa on Sunday, I wouldn't expect you to drive all that distance but I thought I'd mention it to you.

Thanks BigSki. We need to get a few of us together now, I think I'm ready to hit the trail for real. The driveshafts are sorted out. The transfer case end of the input shaft has worked itself loose several times, so this morning I ground the threads off of 2/3rds of a hex-head bolt and made my own "pin screw". Socked it in with a coat of blue Loctite, hopefully that'll do the trick.

I'm happy with the over-drive transfer case. I basically transplanted the axles and transmission from my SCX10/HiLux into this build (10t Cobalt Puller, 87t spur/20t pinion) I was happy with it's performance so I decided the underdrive case would make it too slow. With the over-drive case I dropped to a 14t pinion, and so far it gives me the impression that it's nothing but improvement - it has even smoother slow low-end performance, there doesn't seems to have been a torque compromise. On the high-end side, it seems to still get the same amount of wheelspeed out of 6 teeth less pinion.

I don't have a lot of run-time in yet, but so far the fan seems to be doing the job. Nothing has even begun to get warm.

Originally Posted by brokennib

I'm real interested in how this thing runs.... any idea as to how heavy it is?
We need some video

I only have a pack's worth of experience, but it is already very obvious that the behavior is incredible. Especially at higher speeds, the body rolls and bounces as you hit bumps (but not excessively) it makes it look very true-to-scale.

I just weighed it on my shipping scale, it says 10 pounds. So somewhere between 10-10.5 pounds. I was surprised, it sure feels heavier than that in my hands.

Here's a short piece of cinema. It's tough to drive and film and not trip and fall on your arse at the same time. Even with a little camera bracket bolted to the transmitter...

MOV00802.mp4 video by Mike_Corvin - Photobucket

Still photos from her first shake-down run, in a drainage ditch around the corner...

[BigSki]

Great shake down run, it looks like it crawls very well. I might have to consider using a puller motor, I smoked another HH hand wound yesterday playing in some mud. It just got too hot and started to make the 'magic white smoke', at least I didn't cook any of the electronics.

[ZoSo]

looking good...but those driveshafts will twist
MIP work great..but are pricey ..look in the for sale section
the traxxas drive shafts work great but need the hole in the pinion shaft
like the WK pinions...that way the long set screw runs thru the whole assembly.

keep us posted on how the OD disruptor holds up
and post a video so we can see how fast she is

looking great

[brokennib]

Originally Posted by Big Mike

I only have a pack's worth of experience, but it is already very obvious that the behavior is incredible. Especially at higher speeds, the body rolls and bounces as you hit bumps (but not excessively) it makes it look very true-to-scale.

I just weighed it on my shipping scale, it says 10 pounds. So somewhere between 10-10.5 pounds. I was surprised, it sure feels heavier than that in my hands.

Here's a short piece of cinema. It's tough to drive and film and not trip and fall on your arse at the same time. Even with a little camera bracket bolted to the transmitter...

MOV00802.mp4 video by Mike_Corvin - Photobucket

]

Very cool, was that top speed? It's just cool watching these things run.

[svaras]

Amazin job, congrats !

Ah, Now I put the correct windshield to MB to make it look like yours

[Big Mike]

Originally Posted by ZoSo

looking good...but those driveshafts will twist
MIP work great..but are pricey ..look in the for sale section

keep us posted on how the OD disruptor holds up
and post a video so we can see how fast she is

looking great

Thanks. I just used what I have on hand to get it running. Some black Punishers or MIP's will replace them when the budget allows it.

Before installing I popped the case open. There was some grease put in when it was assembled, but not enough. I added more so they're completely slathered. Hopefully it will have the longevity of the UD cases you guys have been using.

Originally Posted by brokennib

Very cool, was that top speed? It's just cool watching these things run.

There was just one little burst of throttle there, nowhere near top speed. I was gonna gas it on the flat spot at the end, but if you pay attention you can see it hit the LiPo cutoff right before I get there.

The .75:1 case coupled to the Puller motor and 6 teeth smaller pinion seems to have given the whole setup an even greater speed range somehow. It still "crawls" with precise control, but it somehow seems even faster on the top end than before. Maybe it's an illusion caused by the bigger size/mass? Whatever has happened, it's a blast to drive.

Originally Posted by svaras

Amazin job, congrats !

Ah, Now I put the correct windshield to MB to make it look like yours

That's your MB that has been on my desktop the past few months?!?! It sure looks like the same one. That thing is sweet dude.

Thanks for the inspiration...

[svaras]

Originally Posted by Big Mike

That's your MB that has been on my desktop the past few months?!?! It sure looks like the same one. That thing is sweet dude.

Thanks for the inspiration...

Yes Sir !
Well, technically it belongs to my son, but, since he is 5 years old, I told him that I will use it until his 18th birthday

Here you can see him playing around in his MB

Seba Donuts Willys - YouTube

BTW….I bought a GI Joe Jeep and the idea is to make a copy of my 1:1

[Big Mike]

Originally Posted by svaras

BTW….I bought a GI Joe Jeep and the idea is to make a copy of my 1:1

You've come to the right place. Welcome...

Any help we can give you, all you have to do is ask...

What a great video!!! Only 5, and your boy is already showing some skills behind the wheel!! Fantastic!!

[Big Mike]

I love the increased size of 1/6th scale, it makes it easier to make stuff yourself that otherwise would be too small to try in 1/10th.

Today's project was 4 shackles...



1/8" steel rod bent 180*, with a straight piece brazed on top. The mounting brackets are formed from 1/16" sheet steel...

Rears...



I made this jig to form the brackets, so all 4 "hinges" would be the same size/shape without spending hours to make them the same by hand. Place the sheet in, line up the pieces, smack it with a hammer. Quick and easy...

[BigSki]

The shackles look good. I've got my Jeep up and running again, it turned out that playing in the mud got the rear axle pinion bearings full of crud and they seized, causing the motor to smoke. I was able to turn the comm and get it running again, so lets figure out a decent weekend and have a GTG.

[Big Mike]

Originally Posted by BigSki

I was able to turn the comm and get it running again, so lets figure out a decent weekend and have a GTG.

Right on, let's do it. Hopefully we can arrange for a videographer as well.

I'm going by my LHS this afternoon to see if I can pick up another LiPo pack or 2 for it. Other than some quality driveshafts, she's pretty much complete...

[Big Mike]

Well, other than good quality driveshafts, I'm pretty much done.

Here's the "studio shots", before I take her out and start really scratching and dinging things...



I decided it needed some contrasting color, so I threw on these orange rings I got years ago...



















A big Thank You!! to everyone for...

Inspiration and guidance: BigSki, ZoSo, reddevildemo, Tommy R

Parts and stuff: RCP Crawlers, TCS Crawlers, RC4WD