Maxxmasher's brass buggy!

[MAXXMASHER]

Now don't get all jumpy just yet. I haven't really started anything of any substance. Just ideas and and the purchase of some brass so far. I think, once again, instead of starting from scratch, I am going to gut an existing rig for the parts. I really love how my Army micro Peterbilt looks, but the performance is lacking. With the massive cab, it is just so top heavy. Plus I have my Sonoma working really well. The army rig is collecting dust, and I find myself trimming off more and more parts to get it to work better. I know using brass will make this thing heavy, so I just purchased a Danally predator motor on EBay. I also have a Cirrus MG servo destined to turn the giant MiClaws. I have been studying Fungi's builds a lot. Very nice stuff. THAT would be the way to go for sure, but brass and solder are a lot cheaper than a 3D printer!! My plan is to model the very closely to a Wraith and somehow having some cool painted lexan body panels. Should be fun!

Some supplies on hand!





Donor vehicle....hey, it's been fun...



This truck is working quite well!



Might paint it something like my old Pro-Line tubed AX-10.





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[penneyma79]

Any ideas on frame design? Meaning, leaf sprung all around, coils in front, partially linked? Boxed frame, or channel to let it (hopefully) flex a little? I am defiantly keeping an eye on this! :-)

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[MAXXMASHER]

Gonna be a box frame and four linked. Rock buggy style. Might go with mini shocks drooped. Lots of ways to go with this!


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[MAXXMASHER]

Got a bit of a start tonight. Pretty tired and didn't get too far. Being a night owl usually, and staying up late Saturday, I didn't hit the rack and fall asleep until about 2:30 am. Made this morning's 4:45 wakeup a bit rough! Basically all I got done is some dismantling the running gear from the old Peterbilt.

A start....



Here's what was hiding under the box on the bed. The shape of the esc and the wires left me little option. Yet another reason the cog of the rig was too high.



Just a pile of parts now.




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[MikeChino]

Might try this thread for ideas, and there is a template page also you can scale down to any size you want.

Chassis by Numbers Open for all

[MAXXMASHER]

Thanks for the info! Working a lot of hours lately, so this won't go as fast as most of my builds do. I did pick up some more goodies for the build, though! The servo I had on hand was a backup for something else, and the mounting tabs won't work. So I grabbed a new Hitec 65mg.



I also liked the looks of this piece, and I had always wanted one, so I got a new tranny mount.



For some reason, I was still using the original plastic wheel nuts on the donor rig. Well, they are a pain to get on and off after using the Danally wheel widening mod because the wrench won't reach them. These will just be easier to use, and they dress up the wheels, too. Gonna go with a black and orange theme, I believe.



Wasn't even shopping for these, really, but they caught my eye on eBay, so I grabbed them up. Pretty cool!



And finally, I found one of these on eBay, too!! Been wanting a bit more torque for my rig. After seeing it perform in TGH117's rig, I had to get one of these great motors!




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[MAXXMASHER]

I pretty much got all my goodies for the build, except for the beadlocks, which will be here tomorrow. I actually made great strides tonight. At first it was painfully obvious that I had no idea what the hell I was doing! The first two sessions of this project were spent doing a lot of staring into space and looking at a lot of other builds. After two days all I had accomplished, was mounting a set of bottom rails to the skid plate. I made a few bends, not quite sure if any of them would work out.





Tonight's work session was a lot more productive! It's almost starting to look like something. I am going to add a lot more cross members but it's not looking too bad so far. The funny things is, I probably would have done even more, but I ran out of the size of brass stock I decided to build the frame with. It's funny, because I went riding all day (no work & 72 degrees!!) and I even stopped at my favorite hobby shop and just shot the bull for awhile. I thought I had plenty.....jeez!

Tinning pieces up.



Starting to look like something!



I basically just held pieces of brass up to the chassis at the correct angle and marked the lengths and placement spots with a sharpie. Not too shabby.





Not too bad for just eyeballing everything. I really didn't measure anything or plan it out. Just made it up as I went.



I think I might try to solder nuts in place so I can attatch lexan panels.





Not sure how I'll configure all the running gear yet, but I will figure it out. Still hafta cut all the links, too. Pretty excited with tonight's progress!


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[MAXXMASHER]

Got these beautiful "beadlock" rings in the mail today!



Just awesome!



They look great paired with these Miclaws!!



Really starting to get somewhere!



I also picked up some more brass square tube at Lowes of all places. While I was at it, I grabbed up a new mini torch.




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[MAXXMASHER]

Got a bit more work done tonight. Almost a roller! Just gotta make the upper links and fab up some mounts for them. Not sure if I am completely happy with my design, but without starting over, I'll just have to be satisfied with it. It'll look a lot better when I get some more reinforcements tacked in place as well. Still contemplating how I'm going to attach body panels, too. Diggin' it so far! I really am finding that I like working with brass and solder. I definitely see a micro trailer build in the future!

I kinda wish I hadn't made the cage so tall, but to modify it at this point would so much work to gain a little in the aesthetic department.








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[old man 52]

That's a nice tuber you got going there , How do you get all the electronics in it , Look tight. And where did you find a set of Miclaws , can't seem to find any around.

[MAXXMASHER]

I've had the Miclaws for a long time, and as for getting all the electronics in there, I'll let you know when I figure it out! Gotta cross that bridge when I get there.....LOL!


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[MAXXMASHER]

I really made some nice progress on the tuber tonight! I got the upper links constructed, I installed the Hitec servo & built the steering linkage, and added some more structure to the frame. I also changed the front end and got rid of the point in the front of the cage. I thought it would look cool, but I don't think that was the case. I ended chopping it off and squaring it up. Sort of resembles a Wraith front now. This also gives me a spot to put the 2s lipo. Along with all of that, I got the drivelines done. The rear, I kept as it was, and front, I elongated using a carbon arrow shaft glued around two female ends. I also made a brass tray for the rear to hold the electronics. Starting to really come together!

The front driveshaft.



Just didn't end up like I imagined.



You can see where I chopped the frame.



Beefy steering linkage! Need to tweak it just a bit.



Almost looks like a crawler!



New front end.



Not too shabby.



Some poser action.





Mandatory flex shot!




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[MAXXMASHER]

Did some tedious work on the tuber tonight. I added a few more cross members here and there and soldered tiny nuts all over the place to hold my body panels securely. Not the easiest task, but a set of curved tip tweezers made it go pretty well. I think I ended up using 16 in all. Hopefully they will stay in place once I thread the screws in them. I also got all my body panels cut from scrap lexan I had collected from the many bodies I had painted before. I didn't do an update yesterday, but I hooked all the electronics up and ran it a bit on my course just to see how it would do. Everything worked really well! This Predator motor is awesome!! No stalling whatsoever and the Hitec unit whips the big Miclaws around effortlessly. Should get a lot done tomorrow, too. I get off work earlier, and I'm off on Friday. Should be in good shape by the weekend! Stay tuned!

Tonight's work....










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[MAXXMASHER]

Not a whole lot of fantastic pictures from tonight's work, but I got a lot of monotonous work done. I got all the body panels lined up, did some final trimming, and made all the holes for the screws to attach said panels. Once all that was done, I shot the panels with some fluorescent orange and backed them with some chrome silver for added pop. I also made a new steering link with a bend in it to alleviate some binding caused by the previous one. Next up is to paint the chassis flat black. Should have that done tonight. Then, on to electronic configuration. I know where everything will be placed; just a lot of wiring to shorten up. Can't wait to really run it! This is going to be a fun rig to run on the upcoming cold winter nights in the warmth of my basement crawling course!!

Body panels ready to be mounted.



Improved steering link.




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[MAXXMASHER]

Really making progress now!! I found a little time this afternoon make sure all of my panels would line up perfectly and I also discovered, in my haste, I forgot one panel altogether. I was using an old can of Parma comp orange, and since the can was pretty much empty, I had already thrown it away! Crap!! I wasn't going to try to find another can to paint a postage sized panel, so I dug through the trash and prayed there was enough paint left. I had to shake the can around to get the final bit out and got the panel completed. Jeez!!
Once I got wifey tucked in bed tonight, I was at the workbench again. I stripped all the running gear off the chassis and proceeded to the garage with a FULL can of flat black spray. My trusty hairdryer came along to speed up the process, too. Came out pretty nice! Next, I attached all the panels, praying that all my soldered nuts would hold and line up. Only had to round out two holes to get things to fit. Looks pretty cool, I think! Next up is to get all the electronics in there, which should be no problem. Everything fits; just have to shorten up some wires. I can see the finish line!!

In the heat of building, my workbench always looks like this!



Stripped bare.



Black applied. Looks a lot better with paint. The flat finish hides all the imperfections.





I like it!!











I have a panel for the front, too, in flat grey. Wanna add some detail with a marker before adding it.




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[old man 52]

Now we wait for the video.

[MAXXMASHER]

You'll have to settle for some still shots for now. I got all the electronics hooked up and in place. Still gotta figure a quick release hood, but that shouldn't be too bad. I also need to make some new upper rear links. They are rubbing just a hare. They just missed the frame before adding the panels, but now they won't move too freely. I can already tell; this is the best climbing micro I've built thus far. Most of my rigs were totally focused on the scale end of things. This is geared towards climbing prowess, and I love it so far! Going to add some netting for the windows also. Some pics of the shake down run. Lost a panel already.....






















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[carpediem70]

Looks odd,but crowls fine I bet! What's the weight fully loaded?

[MAXXMASHER]

Yeah, I was aiming for it to look more like a Wraith, but when I added the body panels, it kinda looks almost cartoonish. Crawls really well, though! More tweaking after work, which I am about to leave for.


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[MAXXMASHER]

Ran it a bit more tonight, after making some new bent upper rear links. It really wasn't flexing much in the rear at all. Still not as good as I'd like it to be. Part of it is my fault and part due to the shocks being sticky. I should have dovetailed the rear of the frame to keep the links from hitting. Now the shocks can achieve nearly their full cycle, but only if I move the axle by hand. I think it is the angle that they are mounted at, but I really can't change it now. Anything out there work better? I hear the HR shocks bind up even in the stock position, so I hesitate going that route.

Before running it tonight, I decided to dress it up a bit and add some decals. Looks pretty good now. Climbs awesome, too! I am rolling right up obstacles on my course that I could never make before with any of my micros before!









Added some detail stickers to the front. Is it just me or does this resemble a lawn mower grill? LOL!!



I know these are "poser shots" but this rig walked right up this. Never even thought about making this before!








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