My First CC01 (and first RC)

[Honger]

I’m a new CC01 owner. I bought the FJ40 kit and I’m having a blast assembling it. I haven’t even finished yet but I’m already eyeing the GPM aluminum parts. =)

My goal is a super-detailed scale rig that represents my dream FJ40 (I would love to buy and restore a 1:1 FJ someday).

I noticed on the site a guy named “Fracture” is doing a much more true-to-scale frame and plastic bodied FJ40 through RC4WD. I may end up going that route depending on price. I’d much rather work with the plastic (ABS I’m assuming) than this lexan crap. I’m a model railroader dabbling in the RC world and the lexan just baffles me (I know it’s a weight issue, but still). If I pursue the RC4WD FJ then I’ll convert the CC01 to a super-detailed scale model of my 1:1 FJ Cruiser.

In any case, I have some questions based on my reading around.

1. What color paint have you all used to represent the blue FJ color? Is this a Tamiya color, a custom mixed color?
2. I have to use a special paint for the lexan right? Polycarbonate paint?
3. Manual says to paint on the inside, though I notice some of you painting on the outside as well. Any advantages either way?
4. With the stock Tamiya motor and ESC, what kind of speeds can I expect? From comments I’ve read it sounds like it will run too fast and not have very fine-tuned control of the speed. Is that the case?
5. Do most of you lock the rear-diff when you assemble the kit? I was thinking I wouldn’t, but was curious what others are doing. On a 1:1, a full time locker causes a lot of wear on the drive train.
6. I’d rather not have my antenna sticking out of the body in that plastic tube included with the kit. Any advice on hiding the antenna or making it look more true-to-scale?
7. Any advice on a servo? Tamiya?
8. Do my receiver and transmitter have to be purchased as a matching pair? I noticed these recommendations for getting started and wondered if they are just as applicable to me. Can I pick up this radio and servo and get running?

Okay, so that’s quite a few questions. Would appreciate any input on one, some, or all of these questions. I've done a lot of searching and reading before posting, so hopefully I haven't missed too many obvious things. Thanks for helping an RC Crawler noob.

Regards,
Joel

[BGGruff]

First off you've picked a cool project to start with!
Tamiya makes some great stuff and stock this kit is more of a trail rig, meaning it's not a real capable rock crawler out of the box. With a few strategic mods it can become a very capable rock crawler.
The GPM parts are really nice. I just recently upgraded my whole front end with their parts and am very pleased.
Here's a link to my build
BGGruff's Pajero


To answer your questions:
1. Yes it is Tamiya, it is most likely one of the blues in this section

http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/cat...d=61700&page=1

2. Yes polycarbonate for lexan bodies.
3. Yes paint on the inside. You can paint on the outside and paint a rust color on the inside so when it scapes the outside of the body it exposes what looks like scale rust.
4. Stock speed controller is ok if you can't afford to get a new one right now but you will want to upgrade to a 55T motor or higher to get some better low end torque and better crawler control. I currently run a 65T with the 20T pinion but will soon swap in the 16T to slow it down a little more. I'm using a Tekin BR1 esc.
5. Yes lock the front and rear if you plan on more challenging trails.
6. There are ways to make a funstional scale antennae but I'd just hide it under the body wrapped around a piece of lexan and secured to the chassis. I'll find a link to show how that is done.
7. Hitec 645 or 5645 are good servos. I'm running a Traxxas 2075 b/c it's h2oproof, digital and has a 125 oz/in torque.
8. YEs the Tx/Rx will be together most of the time. Most of the time the pair should be the same brand so that they operate off the same channel. Depending on whether or not you get AM or FM or digital and how many channels you need you can get some decent radios for reasonable prices.

Corey at RPP is a great guy to deal with and has a good selection. Spektrum is a good choice b/c it's digital. Here's a link to Tower and all the Traxxas stuff they have. TQ3 is AM and is very cheap but works well. They also make digital now.
http://www.rpphobby.com/category_s/32.htm
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...VSEARCH=RADIOS

You're on the right track. Keep searching and reading this forum is a wealth of knowledge. I've just recently got back into my CC01 and am enjoying it. I currently have a few different types of scalers and for what it is the CC01 is a pretty cool rig. Enjoy!

[Positronic]

^ all good advice, I have nothing to add except dont worry too much about the body being lexan, if you put the time in you can get the body look pretty real.

[Honger]

Thanks for the answers and encouragement guys. I'll be sure to post some photos as I go.

Positronic,
I love your FJ, it looks great. That's on an Axial chassis right? A few questions on your detailing.

1. How did you paint the details (gas cap, door hinges, hood latches)? Did you paint those from inside the shell or from the outside?
2. Did you just use a fine-tip sharpie for the body panel seams?
3. It appears that your spare tire is mounted to the bumper not the body, is that correct? Any tips for mounting a spare to the body like the 1:1?
4. How did you mount the roof rack?
5. What kind of wheels are those? They are super nice!

Thanks,
Joel

[Positronic]

Originally Posted by Honger

Thanks for the answers and encouragement guys. I'll be sure to post some photos as I go.

Positronic,
I love your FJ, it looks great. That's on an Axial chassis right? A few questions on your detailing.

1. How did you paint the details (gas cap, door hinges, hood latches)? Did you paint those from inside the shell or from the outside?
2. Did you just use a fine-tip sharpie for the body panel seams?
3. It appears that your spare tire is mounted to the bumper not the body, is that correct? Any tips for mounting a spare to the body like the 1:1?
4. How did you mount the roof rack?
5. What kind of wheels are those? They are super nice!

Thanks,
Joel

thanks joel, It's a custom made chassis to get it so short, shortened driveshafts/links etc, the black seam lines are done with an ultrafine sharpie and a icecream stick, sometimes masking to keep the lines straight, the silver is paint texta (not sure what they called in america, paint sharpie?). All done on the outside.

roof rack is just drilled and bolt as per instructions. with more holes drilled for the light loom to go through.

to mount the tyre directly to the body you would need to build some sort of supports since I'd be worried about the lexan. Lots of after market bumpers for the FJ have the tyre carrier on them if I recall correctly.

The wheels are plastic landies from ebay, other tip is you can lightly sand the outside of the lexan to make it look more realistic. wish I'd known that before I did mine.

[Honger]

Originally Posted by BGGruff

First off you've picked a cool project to start with!
Tamiya makes some great stuff and stock this kit is more of a trail rig, meaning it's not a real capable rock crawler out of the box. With a few strategic mods it can become a very capable rock crawler.

This suits me just fine. I'm actually more a trail type guy than a crawler. At least when it comes to 1:1. I may still leave it open diff for prototype realism. I'm a sucker for as close to 1:1 as I can get. I currently live in Abu Dhabi, UAE as it is. I'm more likely to take this out in the dessert than to a rock garden. Although I guess running the the sand opens a whole host of other issues.

Originally Posted by BGGruff

The GPM parts are really nice. I just recently upgraded my whole front end with their parts and am very pleased.
Here's a link to my build
BGGruff's Pajero

Funny you should highlight your build. Where do you think I got turned on to the GPM parts? I love your build and the look of the GPM parts. As I live in the UAE I'm going to contact GPM directly about ordering them to ship here.

Originally Posted by BGGruff

To answer your questions:
1. Yes it is Tamiya, it is most likely one of the blues in this section

http://www.tamiyausa.com/product/cat...d=61700&page=1

2. Yes polycarbonate for lexan bodies.
3. Yes paint on the inside. You can paint on the outside and paint a rust color on the inside so when it scapes the outside of the body it exposes what looks like scale rust.

Thanks for the input on paint. I went to the only hobby shop in Abu Dhabi and they have Tamiya Polycarbonate paint (a rare stroke of luck here!). I got all the colors I needed except for the blue. I think I'll need to run to Dubai for that.

Originally Posted by BGGruff

4. Stock speed controller is ok if you can't afford to get a new one right now but you will want to upgrade to a 55T motor or higher to get some better low end torque and better crawler control. I currently run a 65T with the 20T pinion but will soon swap in the 16T to slow it down a little more. I'm using a Tekin BR1 esc.
5. Yes lock the front and rear if you plan on more challenging trails.
6. There are ways to make a funstional scale antennae but I'd just hide it under the body wrapped around a piece of lexan and secured to the chassis. I'll find a link to show how that is done.

I like your hidden antennae idea. I'll do that for now until I've got enough figured out to make one of those heat-shrink-tubed CB antennas. Those look super nice.

Originally Posted by BGGruff

7. Hitec 645 or 5645 are good servos. I'm running a Traxxas 2075 b/c it's h2oproof, digital and has a 125 oz/in torque.
8. YEs the Tx/Rx will be together most of the time. Most of the time the pair should be the same brand so that they operate off the same channel. Depending on whether or not you get AM or FM or digital and how many channels you need you can get some decent radios for reasonable prices.

Again, living in Abu Dhabi limits some of my options. I can mail order anything and have it sent, but that greatly inflates my costs. The LHS here has a Hitec 3-channel Tx/Rx combo for about $80US. That will let me control the LED's. They also have Futaba S3003 servo's for dirt cheap. This appears to be a standard, entry-level servo with mediocre torque. It'll get me started until I can pick something better up from the States.

Originally Posted by BGGruff

Corey at RPP is a great guy to deal with and has a good selection. Spektrum is a good choice b/c it's digital. Here's a link to Tower and all the Traxxas stuff they have. TQ3 is AM and is very cheap but works well. They also make digital now.
http://www.rpphobby.com/category_s/32.htm
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...VSEARCH=RADIOS

I've poked around with these links. Once I move back to the States my wallet may have problems with so much readily available mail-order stuff.

Originally Posted by BGGruff

You're on the right track. Keep searching and reading this forum is a wealth of knowledge. I've just recently got back into my CC01 and am enjoying it. I currently have a few different types of scalers and for what it is the CC01 is a pretty cool rig. Enjoy!

Thanks for your thorough response. It's been very helpful.

[BGGruff]

The help is no problem. Going with the Hitec Tx/Rx is just fine. I started out using cheap Futaba stuff and it worked just fine. The 3003 servo is really weak, if you can find a cheap metal gear servo with higher torque at your LHS then try to get it. There are actually a shit load of different brands of servos that probably work just as good as Hitec and cheaper. They're just the most common. Towerpro, Orion, Hobbico even Futaba makes some nice MG high torque servos for fairly cheap. No doubt when you get to th US and have access to everything RC you're wallet will feel it. RC Crawling is very addictive and extremely fun! Also remember to support the vendors here. I think I've bought something from each one and some a lot more.