1/18 scale Range Rover P38

[Unbakedmocha]

Hey guys, I have been working on an rc version of my dream off road car based on the Trekker platform. The Range Rover P38 is the second generation Range Rover and the last one to have a solid axle. I have mounted the suspension and electronics on the die-cast model, but as far as function goes I still need to re-wire some things and attach the motor. I am then going to repaint both the exterior and interior and add lots of detail: a new bumper, roof rack, ladder, fender flares, jerry cans, hi-lift jack, floor mats, snorkel, working lights, etc. Another thing I am going for with this project is to have the car react realistically to terrain, and hopefully the model being made of metal will help the look of the car when flexing.

This is the model I started with, a very detailed model by auto-art.



My ideal interior is tan and this is a shot of a tan version. Unfortunately these models are hard to come by so I am going to paint the interior of the model I have.


These are a few beautiful off-road versions of the P38 that I am drawing inspiration from.










Now onto my build-
Lining up the body with the Trekker frame





The width of the axles are basically perfectly to scale.


To scale these tires are the equivalent of 35" and fit very well in the wheel well.


This is where I realized I needed to ditch the Trekker frame so that the interior will be unobstructed.


I attached the Front springs to the connection point between the hood and the chassis.


The steering servo happened to fit perfectly under the engine bay. The P38 had two generations of engines and so eventually I want to replace the engine bay with the 4.6L Thor engine.


These are some shots of the interior my model has, with the standard Losi wheel for scale. Eventually this will all be painted tan.




This is how the frame is set up, the metal "exoskeleton" if you will, this interior layer and a black bottom frame.




This is where the battery and esc will be kept, in the trunk (also my first attempt at building a ladder out of styrene.




This is the underside currently which has taken me quite a while to do with styrene (this is my first time working with plastics really).


And finally some poser pics of how it looks flexed. I managed to get some more flex out of the rear axle by removing some styrene that got in the way but I haven't taken pictures of the more amount of flex.




I have some more pictures of the build but I didn't know if anyone wanted to see them, so if not I'll just keep moving on. I am currently changing the springs to HR air springs and working on mounting the motor. There isn't much room to mount it so this part will probably be the hardest of the build. Anyways thanks for looking at my long post .

[mathcanbefun]

Great job man that's a nice looking rig, and very scale! Love how you mounted the shocks, and the battery location!
You should try getting that servo a little higher or maybe angling it up so we can't see it at all!
That would look really scale and it looks like it's already pretty high up there shouldn't be too much work!
Great build my friend!

[jpmurphy]

That looks great, I will follow this build as long as you keep posting em, and a video of the finished rig would be awesome, I want to see how well it runs with the heavy body on it, is it die cast or just thick looking plastic?

[RootBreaker]

wow that is nice.. if you keep this up you will be able to post it in the... OH that is an RC thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Unbakedmocha]

Thanks guys! Right now I am changing the shocks to HR air shocks and changing the suspension set up a little.
Mathcanbefun- good point, and not only will it make it look better, I think it will steer better too .
Jpmurphy- I'm definitely going to make a video, most likely when all of the working parts are finished then a few more in between all the accessories being finished. The body is fully metal and is quite heavy which hopefully will help make it look unique when crawling.
And thanks RootBreaker, the trekker turned out to just be the perfect platform for this diecast model.

[mathcanbefun]

Oh yeah! Didnt even think about that.
Let me know what you think of the hr shocks I've been curious about them!
Keep it up man!

[jpmurphy]

I have a set of the HR shocks and with a little modification to em they work great, there is a nylon bushing on the bottom of the shock housing that is just to tight for the rod to move through it smoothly, so just drill it out a bit until the rod moves right and throw a bit of lube on it.

[jpmurphy]

and what happened to the video?