F-100 Boat Puller... the "Grave-Robber"

[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by _sOnGoKu_

how nice!
I liked this thread. You are a great artist.
very good work. Congratulations

Originally Posted by HDMM

Awesome work, awesome F100 !!!

Thank You, guys The little RC-12e is one of my favorites again. It's been a really fun build from the start, and as the videos show, I have a lot of fun "driving" her too.
Thanks again for the interest and praise. I still have a bit more in store for the 'Jockey ..... stay tuned.

[dr frankenstyle]

Well, I've been a little busy the past couple of weeks but I did get a little time in on the 'Jockey.
Other than driving it a bit, I got a 'chute release lever made up and installed. You can see it here, next to the shifter, in the "armed" position....



....and in the "deployed" position.



I went with this design, figuring it's easy access, easy to use, yet out of the way for trips to the lake. I used my usual method for aluminum parts .... find a scrap, rough cut it with a hack-saw, file - file - file, and polish with the Dremel. I just made the pivot/mount from styrene so it would glue into the floor easily.




You can see it a bit better from the other side.



I also swapped out the front tires. I took the set off of the boat trailer, they have a flatter tread, and put the set from the truck (and the spares) with the rounded tread on the trailer. That seemed to make the truck steer and track with a more solid feel. Then I started workin' on a little more "jewelry" for the Drag queen.



I know .... it looks a little "blocky" ....



.... but that's before a little more sculpting and a couple of coats of automotive primer.



It still needs some work ......



... but I think I've got it about right.




Thanks for lookin'


..... stay tuned.

[joe122]

Nice proportions on that scoop! Think I just got wood.....I meant a chunk of wood so I can try some carving. That chute handle turned out very well BTW!

[rerebuilder]

Now that is what I was talking about for a scoop. Looks good on there. Every little detail you add just keeps making this build more and more awesome.

[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by joe122

Nice proportions on that scoop! Think I just got wood.....I meant a chunk of wood so I can try some carving. That chute handle turned out very well BTW!

Thank You, Sir I kind of got a .... special feeling... from it too.
I just grabbed a block of balsa or basswood (not sure) from HobbyLobby, figured that would keep the weight down too, and started cuttin' it up 'til it got the shape I liked. Then filed and sanded a bit. I drilled first, then used some sticky sandpaper around a piece of the aluminum rod in the drill-press as a spindle-sander to shape up the inside of the snorkel. With the right finish it will be nearly impossible to tell that it's wood. I plan to use some more neo' magnets to hold it on when the 'bars are on, and remove it for the "-Street" side of driving.

Originally Posted by rerebuilder

Now that is what I was talking about for a scoop. Looks good on there. Every little detail you add just keeps making this build more and more awesome.

Thanks, bud' I tried to make it round enough to be streamline, but wide enough to fit the hood right.
They say .... "the Devil is in the Details ..." and they said I was a little devil way back when I was a kid, so ......

Oh, and I want to give a to the local O'reilly auto parts store in Buffalo, Mo. I went in there this afternoon to buy some more "Phantom Purple" paint. Well, they were kinda busy, but when they got to me they remembered the boat trailer from last year and ... cut to the chase ... they mixed me up a refill bottle "NO CHARGE" So the hood-scoop paint-job (and any more, for now) is thanks to them. Gotta love a good local business.

[dr frankenstyle]

Well, I've been havin' a classic "guy" weekend .... hackin' off the old lady (for me, the 24-yr old cat ) by spendin' too much time on the hot-rod.
Been sanding an shooting coats of primer on the scoop, and while I was watching the paint dry, I decided to do a little metal melting. I've been wanting to add a third "leg" to the roll-bar, and I recently got that kit for soldering aluminum, so I decided to try my hand at brazing alum'. Wellll, it took me 3 attempts, I'm a rookie, but after making droplets on the SS table .... then sticking the 2 pieces together, kind of , for a minute ...... I finally heated the rods right, got the flux right, and got the *#@!!! thing brazed together.
With practice I'm sure I could do better, but I'll let the pic's talk. Here's the front side, I had it clamped in that position when I soldered it.



Here's the backside, which was the bottom during surgery, you can see where the big drip was, I already filed it off in the pic'. (again .... ROOKIE)



It's not like Codyboy or joe122's (or others ) brazing, but like a lot of my creations, after some filing, and sanding to "brushed", then polishing with Semi-Chrome on the Dremel .....



.... it starts to improve a bit ....



.... and next thing you know, when it gets installed ....



.... it all turns out alright. I ordered a small fire extinguisher from China (remember Chinese fire-drills? ), now I have a roll-bar post to strap it to.

I hope to get some purple shot onto the scoop this week.

Thanks for checkin' it out .....

stay tuned ...

[dr frankenstyle]

I got the scoop all primed and ready today, 2 more good coats, wet-sanded between 'em. So that meant more watching paint dry .... or another little project.
With this project in mind, I recently stepped into the sewing dept. at the Super Wal-ly and picked up an assortment pack of needles. This pack has 4 nice large needles with small eyes.



I took out the 4 big needles and, using a small bit in a pin-vise, opened their eyes a bit wider ....



.... and then I took some of the jewelry wire and bent up some clips. I made one "Q-clip" style, but I like the look of the "key-shaped" clips better, so I made 4 of them instead.



Then I drilled small holes in the corners of the hood, used some stainless washers for "scuff-plates" and bingo ... Hood-pins



I need to get some washers with smaller holes and make some tether-cables from string, but I think they go pretty well with the scoop.




.... and the beat goes on ....

[joe122]

Hood pins are kick ass! Believe it or not I had the same idea, thought about the larger needle as the pin....you pulled it off, very - very cool idea. And that roll bar - polished up nicely, very creative stuff here, fun to follow! That truck is loaded with some killer ideas!

[snapon boy]

Over the top

149 r/c worx team driver

[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by joe122

Hood pins are kick ass! Believe it or not I had the same idea, thought about the larger needle as the pin....you pulled it off, very - very cool idea. And that roll bar - polished up nicely, very creative stuff here, fun to follow! That truck is loaded with some killer ideas!

[QUOTE=snapon boy;5556567]Over the top

Thank You, Gentlemen I learn pretty quickly .... and there are a lot of good teachers nearby.
A guy doesn't have to look very far to find lots of good help and inspiration around here. I'm glad to share a bit back.

[dr frankenstyle]

I slung a little paint onto the scoop today. I decided that I want a little accent on that big, wide hood ... so I'm going with the 2-color scheme for the scoop (3-color if the stripe counts). SO ... I shot the white on the top first.



So far it's laying on nicely, getting a good smooth shine to it.



I think the white on top will make the scoop "pop", when it's done. But I'm giving it extra cure-time before I throw purple enamel over the white lacquer.
My 2mm SS washers came in the mail today, I think they look better too.



Now the clips stand out a bit better and they're not so "loud" without the scoop.

[dr frankenstyle]

Still giving the white more cure time, but I did get the magnets glued into the underside of the scoop.



Tackled another small detail .... used some heavy upholstery thread as cable, then used a small piece of 1mm shrink-tube as a crimp-ferrule (painted silver) to make tethers for the hood-pin clips.



You don't want to lose a clip on race-day, after all.



The temp' and humidity is supposed to drop for a couple of days, so maybe I can get the purp' on soon.

[dr frankenstyle]

The weather turned NICE today, so I got some "Phantom Purple" airbrushed on to the scoop.



I wanted to put a little visual twist to it, so I angled the lines to an almost point. The blue pin-stripes will be even more pointed.



I plan to throw 2 or 3 coats of clear on it in a couple of days, AFTER the purple cures a bit, and I get it striped.

[joe122]

What a killer build, stance is very cool, scoop looks perfect.

[rerebuilder]

That scoop put the crowning touch on the build. Looks great!!!!!!!!!!

[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by joe122

What a killer build, stance is very cool, scoop looks perfect.

Originally Posted by rerebuilder

That scoop put the crowning touch on the build. Looks great!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks guys This truck is just So MUCH FUN .... to build and "drive". I wish you guys lived nearby, so you could drive her too. (and do some racin' )

The white has been on for 3 days now, so I put the pin-stripe on today. Oh, and I finally got some points cut and put on the side stripes too.



I tried to keep the "wave" theme going ....



.... and get a point on top, kind of a "go that-a-way" thing. I'm really likin' the contrasting lines of the paint on the scoop.



A few coats of clear and some flat-black in the snorkel, and she'll be good to go.

Now I need to make a rear-view mirror, and strap the fire ext. in when it shows up.

Thanks for lookin' and likin' .... check bak

[rerebuilder]

IMHO this build is best of show. Really outstanding build. What is next?

[dr frankenstyle]

Originally Posted by rerebuilder

IMHO this build is best of show. Really outstanding build. What is next?

Thank You, Sir that's like winning a show to me.
A few more details, then I want to find a good lakeside spot to get some nice pic's with the boat and trailer. Then I may try to get the whole set in a magazine (like joe' ). I'm old school, and that's still a goal from years back.
Beyond that, I'm not sure..... I've thought about building a little racing trailer, for the "drag" parts. The budget says to use what I got, so who knows. I am about to run out of "build" on this one, gotta come up with something to stave off boredom.

I'll get some new action shots with the scoop, when it's cleared, and then I'll get a new ride-along video soon, with the scoop blocking some of the view.

[dr frankenstyle]

I hope everyone had a Safe, Happy Holiday weekend. I got some clear (lacquer) shot onto the scoop. The weather was beautiful this weekend so it laid on like glass.



Oh, that was the "before" shot That's the Balsa block I started with ....



... and there is the "after". I'm happy with the results.
I also got a rear-view mirror made up. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to use as a lens, and the back, then I decided to just stick with my pattern and use a scrap of aluminum. So I grabbed a piece, cut out a rough shape and filed it into a mirror.



I fine-sanded and polished the flat side ....



masked it, and shot the back with "self-etching" primer and then satin black. Then I took a short piece of sprue from a parts tree and chucked it into the Dremel to round the ends, and glued it to the back.



And with a little touch-up around the face ....



Presto it's not perfect, but I don't think it will hinder my bad driving. Now I just need to make the windshield pad and fasten the wire into the roof.

Thanks for lookin'.

[dr frankenstyle]

Got the windshield pad made and got the mirror ready to mount. I drilled the main stem and glued a wire into it so I can stick it to the roof.



Then the mirror touches the windshield but doesn't have to be glued to it.



And while the clear was drying this past weekend, I carried the boat down to Lake Little-Puddle and burned thru a couple of packs (about an hour and a half ). That led to another little detail project that I've been wanting to tackle. A while back I was digging thru my N-scale train parts and found some really small screws (for the couplers) that looked about the right size for license plate screws. Long story, short ... I drilled the 'Jockey's back bumper and the boat trailer to fit the screws (Micro-Trains #1956) and fine-sanded the heads (they come in black). So then I punched some extra plates I'd made up, like this one.



Now I can swap them out when I want without gluing and re-gluing. I can pair up the truck and trailer, like this ....



.... with this.



The Chinese fire extinguisher showed up this afternoon, so I can get it strapped to the roll-bar soon.



Thanks for the looks.