Kyosho Blizzard goes Unitrac

[Stollenritter]

Originally Posted by roksloski

Great Thread...
and Awesome Work....

Hurry Back...

Thank you for the compliments!

Originally Posted by 1BadJeepBruiser

Love the mods so far! I am still waiting for some snow to get my blizzard out this year

-Mike

I am very pleased my build makes you feel the urge to bring your Blizzards back into action. Please feel free to post a pic of yours here!

As mentioned before, this will just be a tad slower, not on hold. As you can see, my work space is a mess and I have to find some place between the MRC parts to show you the paint I got for the Blizzard body / cabin today.



I am not sure which will be the best. AS-29 is to light, TS-78 to dark and more kind of grey than green. PS-25 will be the primer for the lexan body. XF-71 would be a good match, but I would have to buy an airbrush gun first
Maybe I find the opportunity to spray a first layer of paint on the Blizzard chassis tomorrow. I will start with flat black and add some brown and rusty red later.

[rockhugger]

This looks awesome

I can't wait to see it come to running status with a body on. The Bruder 1400 mog cab & bed would probably fit this perfectly.

How do you cut your aluminum so clean, it looks sheared ?

[Stollenritter]

Originally Posted by rockhugger

This looks awesome

I can't wait to see it come to running status with a body on. The Bruder 1400 mog cab & bed would probably fit this perfectly.

How do you cut your aluminum so clean, it looks sheared ?

Thank you, well spotted! It is indeed sheared
I have access to some metal shears in different size and style. This helps a lot.

Got some paint on the wheels and chassis today. That was fun
I am happy with the result, even if the pics cannot show the real colors. I will take some outdoor shots next days (when it stops raining )







Ball bearings for the wheels:



And the wheels on:





Flex shot



And couldn`t resist throwing the tracks on:





The tracks will need some more paint somehow ...

[TrailDawg362]

That looks amazing! I like the idea of the metal tracks but I don't run mine enough to justify the price.

Here's a link to a previous Blizzard thread for ideas, inspiration and amusement .

Blizzards

[Stollenritter]

Originally Posted by TrailDawg362

That looks amazing! I like the idea of the metal tracks but I don't run mine enough to justify the price.

Here's a link to a previous Blizzard thread for ideas, inspiration and amusement .

Blizzards

Thank you! The metal tracks are totally different, I like the way the upper run is hanging on the wheels due to its weight. Anyway, in my opinion the plastic tracks will be a good or even better choice for speed runs.
Thanks for the link, very entertaining and a full of good info, although I`m not through it yet

I am going to paint the remaining parts of the tensioner and the drive sprockes next days before putting the drive train alltogether.
And then it`s time for a test run. I am going old shool with a stick radio, as I do with all my trucks. I plan on doing two setups, first with two throttle sticks (one for each side - same as stock) and a second setup with one stick for throttle and one stick for steering. I will try to mix channels for the two escs to make this happen. How do you guys command your Blizzards?

[fyrstormer]

Probably the easiest way is to buy a V-Tail mixer for an airplane. It allows a throttle input and a steering input to be converted into outputs that can drive two separate ESCs -- or in its original intended context, it allows a pitch and yaw input to be turned into outputs that can drive two V-tail control servos.

[jebster]

This thread is evil. You made me go out and buy a sr off of eBay!

As far as controlling the dual ESC setup I had an idea I'm going to try on my rig once it arrives. MT-4 and kyosho blizzard: channel mixing

[Stollenritter]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

Probably the easiest way is to buy a V-Tail mixer for an airplane. It allows a throttle input and a steering input to be converted into outputs that can drive two separate ESCs -- or in its original intended context, it allows a pitch and yaw input to be turned into outputs that can drive two V-tail control servos.

Good note on the V-Tail mixer! This could be my plan B

Originally Posted by jebster

This thread is evil. You made me go out and buy a sr off of eBay!

YES! Another soul is lost! Welcome to the Dark Side of Crawling, where metal tracks are the new sticky compound!!!

Originally Posted by jebster

As far as controlling the dual ESC setup I had an idea I'm going to try on my rig once it arrives. MT-4 and kyosho blizzard: channel mixing

My plan is to use the mixer inside my Spectrum DX6i. Throttle from my left stick will be mixed 100% to the second esc. Steering will be mixed to add power to one esc and reducing power to the other esc. Not tried it yet, but hope it will work.

[roksloski]

Doesnt seem to be much different than setting up a stick radio for an MOA..
I know when i setup a dx6i for moa, the radio had to go to spekrum to put in a return to center stick on the left side and to flash the program so the radio knows the left stick is a return to center....

Good luck

Keep up the great build..

[Stollenritter]

Originally Posted by roksloski

Doesnt seem to be much different than setting up a stick radio for an MOA..
I know when i setup a dx6i for moa, the radio had to go to spekrum to put in a return to center stick on the left side and to flash the program so the radio knows the left stick is a return to center....

Good luck

Hhmmm, I had to call Spektrum to get a self-centering kit, but they didn`t mention to do a software upgrade ...

Originally Posted by roksloski

Keep up the great build..

Thank you, I will give my best!


Did some work on the tracks. I covered the bare metal spots on the inside with dark brown paint:





Did some light covering with dark brown Tamiya spray paint on the inside and outside of the tracks afterwards to give them a muddy look. Because after covering the metal spots the black rubber between was to shiny
Pics will follow ...

Painted the remaining parts of the drivetrain:



And reassembly:





I shimmed the sprockets with some steel washers to remove the slop / play:



The tensioner is still giving me some problems. Due to the awkward leverage it is hard to give a light initial tension without allowing it to suddenly slacken by flipping backwards (I moved the tensioner upward, so my system is pushing, not pulling). What I came up with is a pushrod which has a hard backstop to limit travel for increasing tension and a soft stop (rubber rings) for slackening. This should allow the first wheel also to give a little when climbing obstacles. The blue tubing is just a quick selfmade spacer:



This is a working model which allows me to make quick corrections. If it proves ok, I will do a final version in a more scale manner. Maybe I go back to the Tamiya shocks.

[Stollenritter]

Managed to get it run now. Rattling and clanking like the big one
I tried different options using the radios mixers, dualrate and v-tail mixer. It is still running very bumpy, so it`s asking for a lot of fine tuning. The ESCs are running in original condition, so they refuse to go backwards without stopping before, which is very annoying because there`s frequently one track on hold when moving straight after a tight turn, which leads to another turn ...
I am waiting for the programming cards now ...

Some outdoor shots in daylight may give you an idea about the colors:






And now to the next big step: The Body:

[fyrstormer]

The rubber won't stay shiny for long if you run it in dirt. Even if you wash the dirt off, the tiny abrasive bits in the dirt will degrade the shiny finish on the rubber. No need to worry about it looking new for long, as long as you actually use it outside.

That being said, your paint work looks amazing. If my Star Trek starship models looked half as good as that, I could get a job building them for lazy rich people.

[Stollenritter]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

The rubber won't stay shiny for long if you run it in dirt. Even if you wash the dirt off, the tiny abrasive bits in the dirt will degrade the shiny finish on the rubber. No need to worry about it looking new for long, as long as you actually use it outside.

Ok, maybe this wasn`t a problem. But it bothered me and it was was fun to fix.
And I can put the Blizzard on the shelf now and without making it dirty

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

That being said, your paint work looks amazing. If my Star Trek starship models looked half as good as that, I could get a job building them for lazy rich people.

Thank you very much for your kind words! I am happy with the outcome even if it is far from being perfect.


I started cutting out the body. It is looking nice up front, ...



... but removing the cargo bed left a large opening on the backside of the cabin, so I started my first styrene work:











Detail of the inside. I reinforced the adhesive area with some gauze bandage:



Joining the styrene plates with the lexan film is tricky. I`m afraid I have to cover up the mess with body filler afterwards ...

[Stollenritter]

Got a little work done. Started with body filler on the cab and a lot of sanding.



Next was the floor plate. Made some wheel wells and a mounting bracket for the cab.

[Stollenritter]

The cab was sitting to high, so I had to lower the front bracket. Cutted also the floor panel for the headlights. Final, unpainted version:



And with cab sitting on the chassis:



The floor plate will be attached to the chassis cover permanently using M3 screws. The cab will be fitted to the floor plate with body posts / clips.
Started with some leftover Losi body posts:



Cutted, drilled and tapped, using leftover srews from the Blizzard:





Floorplate fixed on the chassis:



Holes for the body posts drilled through the floor and cover:



Mounted:



Bottom side:



Detail from the front (upside down): The black jackets from the body grille plug into the aluminium bracket on the floor pan:

[Stollenritter]

I jumped the chance to take some poser pics out in the sunshine today. Even if it`s less than half done, it was fun to see her (or him?) in the snow (ok, not that much snow).









Some detail shots:







I hope you enjoy

[fatcalves]

Looking good!

[Stollenritter]

Originally Posted by fatcalves

Looking good!

Thanks, I`m glad you like it!

Started on the fuel cell today:





Reinforcement of the bottom for the screws:



Holes in the cover for attaching the fuel cell:







Next will be body filler and sanding again

[fyrstormer]

That's a heck of a custom-made body. Just don't ever roll the vehicle over, or those glue joints might break apart.

[Stormin2u]

Just keeps getting better.