Don't player hate...Navigate. Part 1

[METALHEAD]

So I've had this idea kicking around in my head for quite awhile and I finally decided to act on it. Some of the best builds we see are also the most radical in terms pushing the look of a "stock" rig. While I thing that those have their place, I've always been a fan of the rigs that look bone stock too. Well, for Part 1 of this project I wanted to see exactly how true to scale (and stock) I can make something using just a TA-02 chassis. As most of you guys know, a stock TA-02 can be fun, but isn't very capable of crawing or hardcore trail cruising...much like quite a few 1:1 rigs that are out on the street.

The TA-02 in question has seen some transformations since I bought it. I won't go through all the incarnations, but last year I was drinking (a LOT ) when I came up with this demonoid piece of dragon shit:



THIS IS JUST REDICULOUS!


This was a boredom-induced P.O.S. that occured while I was house-sitting in Bumfawk Montana. Needless to say, I was limited on materials. The front F-350 part is a hacked up lexan 4 door body that I used to run on my Duratrax Thunderquake and the rear end is made up of (don't laugh) a cardboard box, duct tape, some lexan pieces, and drink straws. The "tank" is an unopened can of generic cola duct taped to the bed. The duallies in the back are just ziptied together. It was a bonafide piece of shit, but I had a blast running that top-heavy bastard. The sheer weight and body roll made it seem pretty realistic in the way it handled.

After that, I stole the transmission to make METALHEAD'S 1.9er for Unimoger's 2007 Scale Meet. Since then, my old TA-02 just sat in a dark corner until I resurrected it for this current project. I dug up the parts needed to make it whole again and from there I was ready to begin.

I bought a body for it and decided to make what could possibly be the most useless RC vehicle in my fleet. Useless, maybe, but Part 1 promises to be the most outwardly scale looking of all my rigs too. True, it's missing the purpose-built custom ladder style frame. But, it has full independant suspension just like the vehicle it's being scaled after. Okay, it won't be a rock crawler or a totally badass trail rig, but it won't be completely without off-road credibility. It has a locked rear differential and a fairly stiff, but open front diff.

For Part 1, I intend to keep the body at least "mostly" intact, if not completely. I might trim the front and rear bumpers a tad, just to improve the approach angles and give it more capability on the trail. The wheels and tires I have lined up for it will not require my trimming the fenderwells at all.

To round out the completion of Part 1, my plans are for LED lights all around, maybe an upgraded motor, and possibly some upgraded shocks, but we'll see.

On to some pictures.



This just "Kickers" ass.


Those are scale 12'' Kicker drivers and amps in there man. I'll keep the rear deck because it's a nice scale touch (read as: didn't want to build a new rear deck yet ). The toy rig I pirated the body from had scale 35" rims with spinners. Now that's just too much. Don't wanna be no poser...



These guys would roll deep with their crew on 35" wheels. They are posers.


Speaking of scale details, I like this touch.




I figured since I was taking parts off the toy chassis, I'd go for it. The wheel wells are a nice addition and they really add to the detail of things, in my opinion.



Here's some "body on" shots. The body isn't completely mounted in these pics, but this is what it's gonna look like in terms of ride height. Obviously changing the suspension, springs, spring preload, etc. may have some bearing on that, but here it is for now.





Pretty freakin tame compared most of the rigs on here, but I like it for what it is. See now what I meant by it's limited offroad capabilities?

Chime in, thoughts?

[JavelinSST390]

A friend of mine has that same R/C (a broken one) sitting in his living room... I keep trying to convince him that I need to make it a 1.9 scaler...

Good work! Keep it up! But I'd say youy need to cut the ground effects off that (unless you are planning on putting some more "bling bling" rims on it?)

[METALHEAD]

I don't mean to be argumentative or second guess anyone, but I have a question. Why did this thread get moved from the "1.9 Scale Rigs" section? By definition on the Bulletin Board it says:


1.9 Scale Rigs
All Scale rigs using 1.9" Wheels


How is this project not a scale rig using 1.9" wheels?

Again, I'm not trying to be difficult, but I'd appreciate an explanation for future reference. I was just trying to do something a little different for "Part 1" of this project and make something that looked like a 4WD rig, right off the showroom floor. I realize it doesn't have a ladder chassis and isn't as capable as some, but I see a lot of other projects with tub frames like CC-01's and other TA-02's in the 1.9 section. I was just trying to take a different approach to the build up process and think outside the envelope a little with my build.


I guess I'm just confused.

[METALHEAD]

Thanks Javelin! Regarding the project, my thought was for this part (Part 1) I'd build it up to a legitimate, hobby grade RC rig, but one that looked like it just rolled outta the showroom. Believe me, these first mockups and shots for Part 1 are just the beginning. I have some ideas for Part 2...

[METALHEAD]

Here's where I'm going with mounting the body. The is body held into place with the four standard Tamiya body posts and some mounts I epoxied to the underside of the body. They aren't necessarily pretty, but they are solid. This mounts are brass tubing that slides right over the stock body posts. I have the same thing going on for the back end, with brass tubing just sliding right over the body posts.






So with that done, the body holds on pretty well and will not slide left/right, or forward/backward but it it needs something to sinch it down. My initial plan was to use velcro, but I wasn't real keen on using it for this. Here's a pic of the body just held in place with the body posts/brass sleeves.






Then, I built some guards for the undercarriage to cover up those huge gaps between the sides of the body and the chassis. The guards are made from styrene. I cut out the basic form, then shaved, sanded and fitted them. From there I heated them up (very friggin carefully ) to make a nice clean bridge that contours between the body and the chassis. From there, I sanded them and shot them with some truck bed coating that you can buy in a foof can. I love that shit. :P See:






The guards are mounted to the chassis with aluminum brackets that I drilled and tapped so I can just screw them to the underside. They also mount to both wheel wells, so they tie everything in and sinch it all up nice and tight. Here's a pic of the aluminum mounts:






And here it all is, screwed down, sinched up and tight:

[Crawler Noob]

nice man, looks cool.

[usa1man]

well that looks really good so far i like it

[Robb]

Originally Posted by METALHEAD

I don't mean to be argumentative or second guess anyone, but I have a question. Why did this thread get moved from the "1.9 Scale Rigs" section? By definition on the Bulletin Board it says:


1.9 Scale Rigs
All Scale rigs using 1.9" Wheels

By 1.9" Scale rig, it is assumed RCC Crawler 1.9". My drifter car runs on 1.9" wheels..................do you think it should belong in the 1.9 Forum of RCC?

And honestly, your rig runs on low profile tires, and isn't a crawler or trail rig......................why would it not belong in Non Crawler RC's?

[JavelinSST390]

I don;t see him saying anything about that being the final wheel/tire combo, do you?

I think a set of high-lift tires/wheels would look just perfect on here... almost like it came from tamiya that way.

[METALHEAD]

Originally Posted by Robb

By 1.9" Scale rig, it is assumed RCC Crawler 1.9". My drifter car runs on 1.9" wheels..................do you think it should belong in the 1.9 Forum of RCC?

And honestly, your rig runs on low profile tires, and isn't a crawler or trail rig......................why would it not belong in Non Crawler RC's?

I think we can all agree that there is a world of difference between a drift car and my project. And just because I'm using "low profile tires" that shouldn't necessarily disqualify it as a trail rig. Did you happen to notice the tread on the tires? The tires you are referring to have better traction than the stock "Bridgestones" that come with a TA-02. Not that it matters anyway, because these won't be my final tire choice. I guess I could have made that clearer.

"And honestly" Robb, unless you are a mod, the person that moved my thread, or can quote some forum rule that I may have missed, I really wasn't asking for your interpretation. I was simply asking the powers that be for an explanation. If you disagree with me, that's fine. The fact is, I didn't pose the question as an invitation for you to clutter up my build thread with your opinions.

usa1man, Crawler Noob, and JavelinSST390...thanks for the input, I appreciate it. Hopefully I can get some more done this week.

[ferdinandy]

I wish could see the pics. From the descriptions, it looks like an interesting build.