Ambush - Land Cruiser 80

[ElChupoCabre]

Been a while...

Bagged an Ambush, played with it a bit.



I've always wanted a 1:1 LC FJ80 (maybe one day) but, until then...



Contemplated using the chassis from the static model but honestly did not want to go through that much custom fabrication. It has been a while since I have built anything so I wanted to start off easy, and get to play'n with my toy truck. My intention is to use as much from the model as possible and cut as little away from the floor as I can.

Started to fit the tub for the interior tub and size up the body's height etc.





Started to do a little paint for the interior.







Had to get rid of the stock battery. Found this one, only 50mah less than stock but only about 1/3 the size! Fits under hood perfectly.



Magnets for to hold down the hood. (super tiny, about 100ea in this bag!)



Works Great!



Made a scale Hi Lift Jack out of styrene. It will hang from the roof rack later.



In order for interior and body to fit right. I had to lower the skid plate, shave some material from bottom of transmission case to gain about 4mm. Then I shaved about 2mm from the perches that hold the leafs to the axles. With a lil' bit shaved from the floor on the interior's tub I was able to drop the body about .5" from original stance. This greatly improved center of gravity, and improved drive shaft angle from stock. Only lost about 2mm clearance from skid to floor.



Started to mock up some of the scale goodies. Made a Fire Stick antenna out of a piece of wire.



Done. Pics from 1st run.









Later I added some rock sliders, chain on the front bumper and painted the side blinkers.







Made some fake rocks for some couch crawl'n action.





After it dried, I tested it out a bit.









Thanks for looking.

[soze]

I think this is my favorite ambush so far! What scale is the Tamiya kit?

[crashradius]

Nice work, makes me want to resurrect my Ambush

[ElChupoCabre]

Thanks guys! I believe that the Landcruiser Tamiya kit is 24th scale.

[cleanandserenesteve]

Wow! That looks great! I wish those had more suspension articulation. They seem so stiff...
excellent job!

[ElChupoCabre]

Visited my grandfather for Easter... I told him I get 1st dibs! (He got a kick out of the lil' rig that looked like his.)

[06ToasterBox]

What did you use for electronics? Noticed the battery isn't the stock one.

[ElChupoCabre]

Originally Posted by 06ToasterBox

What did you use for electronics? Noticed the battery isn't the stock one.

I just used the stock electronics with the exception of the battery. I placed them between the frame rails above the rear axle.



Pretty much in stock location. I removed the plate that it was taped to, then I just drilled two holes in the case on each side. There are screws from the chasis that protrude where the shock towers are mounted. These screws go into the holes in the plastic electronics case and it is pinched and held in place by the frame rails. Still plenty of room for flex. and travel.