1/4 scale Landcruiser

[BJ40Fin]

As a huge FJ/BJ40 fan I've always wanted to have a 1/4 scale cruiser also, so I decided to try to build my own from scratch and as detailed as my skills allow me to. It's going to be a very challenging build since I will have to make my own axles and gearbox/transfer case also but nothing is impossible with a bit of patience


Started off with the chassi rails, square tubing that I found laying around matched perfectly with 1/4 scale blueprints






Now when everything is welded up I just cut the tubing in 2 pieces and voilà I have 2 identical rails


Time to get started with the hard part, the body. Cut from 0.7mm sheet



A little comparison with the 1/10 scale

[RødeDK]

Damm ... That's a thread I'm looking forward to following.

[BJ40Fin]

Originally Posted by RødeDK

Damm ... That's a thread I'm looking forward to following.

Thanks, I promise that I keep you updated as much as possible But time is not really my friend right now so it won't be a fast build

[rs10man]

Looking forward to this, it’s a time consuming process. Like you I haven’t got much of it either. Well done and keep up the great work when you can.


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[BJ40Fin]

Originally Posted by rs10man

Looking forward to this, it’s a time consuming process. Like you I haven’t got much of it either. Well done and keep up the great work when you can.


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Thanks man, yeah I wish we could have more than 24 hours a day

[BJ40Fin]

Not much done today but a little bit of bodywork made. It's getting a lot easier to work on the body now since it's not so wobbly anynore with the supportive parts welded on









The rails will be cut to the right length later when I get it properly mounted to the body

[HumboldtEF]

Very cool!

I just pulled a giant motor out of an old cordless drill and was wondering where it could go, 1/4 scale seems like the right place!

[BJ40Fin]

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

Very cool!

I just pulled a giant motor out of an old cordless drill and was wondering where it could go, 1/4 scale seems like the right place!

Thank you! Haha sounds like a great idea actually I was wondering myself what kind of motor should I put in this beast

[BJ40Fin]

Got some time this evening to continue on the project, interior floor is beginning to take shape now.







Not so easy to do good looking welds on a such thin material with the MIG but it will be smoothed out later and filled with bodyfiller or something

[BJ40Fin]

tried making the front fenders but it was a pain in the a**. A 1/4 scale English wheel would've been perfect for the job but I had to do it with a set of pliers only, didn't turn out great. I will have to find a solution to somehow make them smoother.

Template


Fenders are made out of one pice of sheet each, just bent to shape








Edit: Oh by the way just the body and rails alone weighs in about 4kg already!

[Gula]

Skill, you got there! Have you thought about using Kyosho Mad force axles?

[BJ40Fin]

Originally Posted by Gula

Skill, you got there! Have you thought about using Kyosho Mad force axles?

Thanks! No I'm going to try to make my own yota axles but in 1/4 scale with locked diffs I have an old lathe at home so it should be possible.

Haven't had time to do much this week but I decided to cut up the rails and make them curved as the real BJ40 frame.


comparison between straight and curved


Also a bit more curve added to the rear




Those square tubes at each end are just tack welded to keep the frame together for now

[rs10man]

Well done. Was wondering if you would make the curved chassis. Very neat work


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[BJ40Fin]

Originally Posted by rs10man

Well done. Was wondering if you would make the curved chassis. Very neat work


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Thank you very much!
Yes I noticed a straight frame wouldn't fit with the body so I had to make it curved, otherwise it would look very goofy.


Managed to get a little bit work done today on the rear end. Since the corners are also curved on the 1/1 cruiser I had to re-do them.

Original


Modified



And just for fun I had to see how it looked with some random wheels I found laying around


The weld cleanup work is going to be a pretty big project itself..

[TheLetterJ]

Wow! Those wheels really put the size into perspective!

[BJ40Fin]

Originally Posted by TheLetterJ

Wow! Those wheels really put the size into perspective!

haha yeah it almost brings the beast to life


Here's another shot of perspective Good ol' murray

[HumboldtEF]

Nice progress!

Hopeful you can find some good non hand truck tires for this giant thing.

[BJ40Fin]

Originally Posted by HumboldtEF

Nice progress!

Hopeful you can find some good non hand truck tires for this giant thing.

Thanks! I was thinking maybe the 40 series from rc4wd would fit, they're scale looking and a bit smaller than those that are in the picture I posted

[BJ40Fin]

A little update:
I haven't had any time to build on the cruiser for a couple of weeks now since I've been traveling a lot in work. But I've ordered some wheels atleast Rc4wd 40 series Mickey thompson 3.8's, should be perfect for the project. I will post pictures later when I get them

[rs10man]

Can’t wait to see those tyres on it. Will really bring the size and style to life.


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