Stampedekids Micro Scaler: BUILD

[Stampedekid]

Going to take a few weeks or so to do this, getting a very large blizzard(yeah for Long Island this early, its crazy) this weekend so can't get my aluminum. Tried using Google Sketchup to design a chassis, first time using it, failed completely. Had a good friend from a different forum make up a chassis design for me. Seems about right, made it 8.5" just how I need it. Gonna show some mock ups of it, he made it so the included model kit chassis will work possibly so I can go extra scale with it all. First crawler so first time ever doing a scaler. Got my kit the other day, Kevin VanDam's ProFish Chevy Silverado 1500 and came with a little 1/64 truck. Box was beat up but everyting inside was good and the box was sealed. As can be seen in the mock ups, it was much larger than the stock chassis. Going to fab it up out of 1mm aluminum, gotta line it up so i can mark off the holes on the paper cutout before I do anything. Going to show the box, some mock ups, as progression went on and the plan for the chassis. Any suggestions. Styrene, derlin or aluminum? Also for paint, I got black metallic(supposed to use gloss but metallic I prefer) and clearcoat, going for that look on the 1/64 and how it is supposed to because it looks cool



What it should look like in the end






Now for the mock ups

Ones where chassis is shown is just the base for the chassis design, just to show the length etc..the final chassis will be 8.5" in the end approximately. I need ideas for how to extend the shaft and the rear links though, front will stay roughly the same. I have this really good superglue that has 2 steps for really fast dry time, was gonna glue some shafts together to go the length I need, holds my Nitro Stampede plastic chassis together. Any other ideas? Also with the links, much appreciated.




Below, just to show the size difference.

How the battery will be mounted on the actual chassis


And the chassis design.

[Voteban]

Looks like a fun project, GL!

And for the chassis I personally prefer aluminum.

[Gizmo]

I was panning on building a micro silverado at some point too. I'm looking forward to this build! good luck

[username]

me too. anyone know of a work shell that would fit? I drive a silverado, regular cab for work. i would love to have a scale directv 4x4. with a couple ladders on top! I live in North Idaho and get sent places I would not make it in the 2wd vans most of the guys get!

maybe a 1/24 scale satellite dish too?

[Stampedekid]

Originally Posted by username

me too. anyone know of a work shell that would fit? I drive a silverado, regular cab for work. i would love to have a scale directv 4x4. with a couple ladders on top! I live in North Idaho and get sent places I would not make it in the 2wd vans most of the guys get!

maybe a 1/24 scale satellite dish too?

I dunno. I bought the crew cab because I love the look of it. Not sure if Silverados come any other way, was really wanting to do a Tundra or F-Series truck but there were none in stock and this looked pretty cool. Scalerlover told me on another forum to use the included chassis and just modify it, either its my connection or the other forum is down like they said it would be for making it better so expect me to be on here a lot. I'm thinking of getting maybe a ladder(probably not though), a cooler, an axe and a few other goodies off this guy on eBay I'll try to find it again.
EDIT: Heres the guy I was looking for, stuff like this
http://cgi.ebay.com/4-Coca-Cola-Red-...#ht_1686wt_939

http://stores.ebay.com/Diorama-Scale...34Q2ec0Q2em322
etc.. Will be ordering in some of those for the crawler

[leftcoastminis]

Originally Posted by Stampedekid

I dunno. I bought the crew cab because I love the look of it. Not sure if Silverados come any other way, was really wanting to do a Tundra or F-Series truck but there were none in stock and this looked pretty cool. Scalerlover told me on another forum to use the included chassis and just modify it, either its my connection or the other forum is down like they said it would be for making it better so expect me to be on here a lot. I'm thinking of getting maybe a ladder(probably not though), a cooler, an axe and a few other goodies off this guy on eBay I'll try to find it again.
EDIT: Heres the guy I was looking for, stuff like this
http://cgi.ebay.com/4-Coca-Cola-Red-...#ht_1686wt_939

http://stores.ebay.com/Diorama-Scale...34Q2ec0Q2em322
etc.. Will be ordering in some of those for the crawler

that store has some rad stuff

[Stampedekid]

Small update, got the chassis painted a few days ago in freezing cold weather. Currently it is snowing again so no painting for a few days on the body. Haven't had a chance to work on it because of being with family/friends then yesterday we went out to NYC to get my cousin and just go there..etc... Well anyway I was hoping for it to come out flat black like it had 2 years ago when dad and I painted an XMOD body back when I was into them. Well I guess sitting for 2 years made it glossy? Oh well it looks pretty cool, this was right after I had painted it



My hand was in here to hold down the paper towel that it was sitting on after it had dried(painted it on a cardboard box)

[Stampedekid]

Sorry I wasn't keeping you guys updated, if you wanna see the full build, please go here, below is what I posted word for word on the other forum
http://beatyourtruck.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63049
Looks more MT than a scaler, but I love tall, lifted trucks so its all good, performs very well too.
Well guys, another BIG update. I got the chassis finished today, made up the other rear links and all, ran it, glued down the hood, dremeled out the bed and all. Accidentally cut all the way through the bed before so just gonna cover the entire bottom with a sheet of aluminum, and friend is making me a Toolbox out of my aluminum because he wants to, for the battery to sit in. As for droop, I got it sprung just right and it performs great, just finished about a half hour ago, and it runs just how I wanted it to. It lost some travel compared to stock but it looks great while flexing, so its all good. As long as it doesn't rain tomorrow, the body will be painted, detailed and then get a layer of clearcoat and best of all, no school on monday so a full day of running this little bad boy. The links needed a LOT of adjustment to get it straight and with no play, and had to redo the shock mounting position on the rear AGAIN, still has a little bit of play, gonna get that solved out tomorrow or may just leave it as it performs as well as I wanted it to.

This morning, after breakfast



Size comparison with my BL/LiPo Micro DT with a wheelie bar

Size comparison with the DT, and the XMOD F150 with lift kit and body lift

Size comparison with the F150, DT and stock body



Just about a half hour ago, after finishing the chassis

Hacked up a pen tube with some rod cutters, a dremel and an electric drill, yesterday and today, then used shafts from Horizon Hobby to connect to the original ones



Bed after first day of dremeling, did it last night now it looks worse, but works

Also got some more pictures, after the first run with the scaler setup. Might lower it just a little bit, but not much gotta see how I like it or dislike it sitting lower..actually I like it lower but the problem is one of the shocks is impossible to get to the screw, so may just dental floss/rubber band to get droop

[Gizmo]

wow thats not what I was expecting at all. But if that what you like then great! I need to see a micro mud bog video of that thing!!

[Stampedekid]

Originally Posted by Gizmo

wow thats not what I was expecting at all. But if that what you like then great! I need to see a micro mud bog video of that thing!!

That was kind of the idea, a mud bogger/lifted truck/crawler all in one. Definitely going to do rubber band droop as one of the shocks screw is not accessible due to the front shock mount aluminum and the chassis being in the way. At full compression it looks nice only now did I wish I had done that. I may dremel the hot glue off the front and setup the shocks in full droop, then re-glue it back on I'll have to see how well it performs with rubber bands

[Stampedekid]

Well went searching around the house and found some rubberbands that dad uses for the fish tank filters, tried them out(very tiny, fits over my thumb tightly) and it runs perfectly, flexes nicely, better than I imagined and sidehills very nicely. Sits at a good looking height too. Enough talking, onto the pictures.
Sorry about the quality it was around 11:50PM when I took them




Hopefully I can get it out on some rocks tomorrow in the front yard(please wish for no rain!).

[Gizmo]

definitely like that ride height better. If you want the truck to sit at that ride height but still have upward suspension travel you can just make some shock hoops on the chassis to raise the upper shock mounts. just a thought

[Stampedekid]

Originally Posted by Gizmo

definitely like that ride height better. If you want the truck to sit at that ride height but still have upward suspension travel you can just make some shock hoops on the chassis to raise the upper shock mounts. just a thought

Actually, I like how it performs and looks with the rubberband droop, so I think I'm just going to leave it like this.

[theholybull]

it wont be long untill there are bugger tires for these things hitting the market and you can fill up theose wheel wells alittle better. right now its a little to high for my liking.

[Stampedekid]

Originally Posted by theholybull

it wont be long untill there are bugger tires for these things hitting the market and you can fill up theose wheel wells alittle better. right now its a little to high for my liking.

Well Aoshima has tires that someone on here is using on his range rover, theyre $10 for them and then I just have to mod them to work. Also saw some scale 44" ones for 9.95 on RPPhobby and they're said to be very soft.

[Gizmo]

i believe the swampers that were on that aoshima range rover were actually a little smaller diameter than the stock just to let you know

[Stampedekid]

Originally Posted by Gizmo

i believe the swampers that were on that aoshima range rover were actually a little smaller diameter than the stock just to let you know

Yup, thats what I'm goin' for actually. Took it to the lhs today to show them, they all liked it but then the motor wire disconnected, so they soldered it back on for me. Then had more trouble, it wouldn't accelerate but plugging the pack directly to the motor worked. So left, went to sears with mom and dad, got a nice flannel jacket/shirt, looked at snowblowers and got a new soldering iron(had a cold heat before, nothing compared to this) that has between 850F and 950F so really nice. Soldered it up, first time didn't let it cool so it just slid off, second time, let it cool, but didn't use enough so it slid off again, 3rd time put on extra then evenly spread it out, perfect. Problem was the stock solder would not heat up so I used the included solder, its an iron for like computers and micro electronics so perfect. Ran it and it works, didn't paint today..it rained :( but definitely going to tomorrow. Also got the "toolbox" from my friend, it looked like CR@P but he did it out of his own free time so I just dremeled it up to clean it up, waiting on diamond sheet decals from the LHS now to clean up the look. More updates soon to come!

[Stampedekid]

OK: Some updates from yesterday, before my Math Exam(yaaa no more this week so I'm home!) and before clearcoat. It's all dry now, I just need to assemble it and it will be finished, some of it was very sloppy from bleeding but it looks good far away, did touch up after. If any spots looked smudged, mom tried to touchup with a paint pen for me but we ended up going to the regular color, bright white. Any spots that look pink, are actually red my camera lets in lighting weird and turns it pink. Now, after clearcoat it looks great but that does not mean its done. Also in the pics is the cheapo toolbox my friend hot glued up for me, i told you it looks like poo actually it looked worse till I hit it with the dremel, just gonna do one outta brass tubing and cover it with leather So onto the pics, remember this is before clearcoat. The dashboard is all sharpie except the silver trims, thats silver paint pen, has a more metallic look to it than the silver sharpies. Also the red stripe is 3 separate decals, one for each side and one for the roof. ;)
Also the left side(standing from behind it) NITRO decal ripped in one place, still turned out nice, and the Kevin VanDam decal ripped in 3 so I got it as best as I could, waterslides are easy but they rip too easily!


Next two pics you can see the sloppy ness, sanded that off with 320grit sandpaper and did touchup paint with the real color


The Nitro decal that didnt rip

Below, isn't really as noticeable as shown in the picture, especially after clearcoat

Driveshaft turned out nice

Not actually pink, actually a very nice red


No they aren't that noticeable either, after clearcoat
Chevy Bowtie decal fell off then tore in half, so originally did it orange but it didnt show too much so covered it with red sharpie, looks much better now(not shown in the pics)


Yes the LP is chrome too

Didn't have a superfine sharpie to hit the inside of that vent, oh well

Yep they're both waterslide decals below


AAAND onto the cheap toolbox, it fits tightly but looks like cr@p



Another sloppy spot, see the bleeding from when it was masked? Not too bad after touch ups

The ripped decal below, not too bad right? It had split completely in half

Made it an LT not an LS

[Stampedekid]

Thanks guys, I'm happy to say for the most part, it is done! Had some screw ups where hot glue dripped and when I peeled it, it peeled the paint but it's ok as it will get scratched while out on the rocks. Got everything mounted but as said before, the parts are red not pink, its just how my camera is..yeah I don't know, lets in too much light to the lens. The rear really is level with the front the pics just make it appear different and I know the rear is tilted, needs some adjustment. The stuff I got were 5/8"x5/8" hinges, some thin wood, a mini hot glue gun ($3 works great!) and 18 mini hot glue sticks(also $3 work great too), all from Michael's then some copper tubing, a cutting wheel(with diamond) for my Dremel(35k RPM's dremel) and a soldering set with flux and a brush for copper and brass. Going to make a roll cage for looks out of that as well as a bull bar for the bumper, and maybe some other stuff, time will tell on that one. The toolbox took much longer than expected, cut it while watching Winter X-Games 14, ended up having to cut it thinner(used razor blades for scoring for first time) because it was too wide to fit behind the wheel wells so cut it down with the cutting wheel on the dremel, my room smells nice now The battery took some time to figure out where to mount so it would look good, tried under the roof but it was visible, didn't look too good so got an idea..well you're going to have to see the pictures, its a surprise, and works! All of the snow melted too, by the way >.< and even though its only going to be low 20s tomorrow, this will be getting its first outdoor run in over a month and as a scaler, woo hoo! Sure the windows may look sloppy, but they are held in, so its all good. Once the body is thrashed, its going junkyard beater look..now onto the pictures. The toolbox took a while to do so comments are welcome. And the last 3 pictures were more for a Canadian friend on another forum to show the size compared to the box, but still. Enjoy! And remember, look for that battery, it is easy to spot in some of the pictures, but hard to spot otherwise, and remember it is not pink stuff its all red, not pink ;)





where the hot glue drip was, >.< not too noticeable but still




Beginning phases of the toolbox, I took off the edges with my cutting wheel and a sanding bit








Battery secretly hidden away

No its not pink, but a very nice red actually





Size comparison to the stock body


Pictures of the finished toolbox are to come! Stay tuned---It is finished, but figured I'd hold off for now, to tease you guys :P

[Stampedekid]

Fine, couldn't wait, here it is. Just like everything else, its red. I need to snap pics with moms Rebel, maybe that would let you guys see the true colors.