Toyota lexan crawler #9, Dark Blue Metallic LC80 TRX4!

[Goro Majima]

Realizing I haven't made a thread on this yet, here's #9, this 80 series Land Cruiser of the 10 Toyota lexan crawlers.






I've had the kit built and tested it out but I put it to the side after fitting the body to complete a few other builds that came beforehand which also need updating. I haven't crawled it yet as I want to do so when the body is completely decaled and fully painted but I know this will be really fun to drive especially with having the smaller 4.35 Proline BFG All Terrains (probably my favorite 1:1 truck tire). I have a white tire marker to paint the letters so that'll be a nice scale touch.



Other than the tires, here's the rest of the parts I used/to be installed:
- Boom Racing S100 beadlock steelies (kinda resemble an OEM wheel)
- Yeah Racing Hackmoto brushed 12T (newer and inexpensive product so figured I'd try it out)
- Castle Sidewinder 4 ESC
- Stock TRX4 pinion
- Stock servo (I have a few other kinds of new ones on hand to test out once this one breaks)
- Red ARB diff covers front and rear
- Window visors
- Spare tire mount (will house a plastic black steelie with another BFG A/T)
- HPI Venture white springs (rear doesn't have short spring installed)

Relating to most of my other builds, this will get an OEM type paint job/scheme. Both bumpers will be a dark gray, as well as the side steps, or as in this case they are also the rock sliders (slider covers) since I trimmed down the sliders to fit under the lexan.

Here's how the body fit onto the chassis without any modifications (spare wheels fitted at the time):



And here it is fitted with trimming of the front inner fenders and the sliders trimmed (S100 steelies and BFGs on):



Body mounted and painted:





As of today, I currently need to finish the masking job for the bumpers and side steps for paint, and masking of the windows and window trims to paint the moldings black. The window visors will be painted smoke if that wasn't obvious. And lastly I can put all the decals on and go drive it! Idk if I will tint the windows or not. I kinda like having contrast with darker colors and the windows.

Further progress to be posted hopefully sooner than later!

[ScaleLifeNewbie]

Looking good Goro!

I gotta know where you’re finding all these awesome Lexan bodies!


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Amain Addict

[Goro Majima]

Originally Posted by ScaleLifeNewbie

Looking good Goro!

I gotta know where you’re finding all these awesome Lexan bodies!


__________________
Amain Addict

Thanks bro! These bodies are courtesy of Team C via Asiatees. You gotta eat the shipment fee and wait period but I bought 4 to make it worth while.

[durok]

Awesome build!

Wheels are a perfect choice, love how Boom Racing has stepped up its game and come out with such a wide assortment that are not available from anyone else...

[Goro Majima]

Originally Posted by durok

Awesome build!



Wheels are a perfect choice, love how Boom Racing has stepped up its game and come out with such a wide assortment that are not available from anyone else...

Thanks! And I agree. The S200 steelie is also a nice looking stock wheel too which I almost chose.

[durok]

I'm procrastinating on assembling them (so many tiny screws!), but have the ProBuilds with matte black rims and matte silver Jelly Bean 5-lug faceplates.

They won't be quite as scale-oriented, but should look good on my RC4WD C2X when it is done.

I also have the Narrow Classic 16-hole Steelies in white - they are much more on the scale-style of things.

The way they include tools and center caps makes them a great value.

[Greatscott]

Great looking rig!!!

That battery is a monster, even for 3S. You should have a ton of wheel speed and hours of run time.

The only thing I would have differently on the body would have been to paint the fenders black.

[Goro Majima]

Originally Posted by Greatscott

Great looking rig!!!

That battery is a monster, even for 3S. You should have a ton of wheel speed and hours of run time.

The only thing I would have differently on the body would have been to paint the fenders black.

I love these Spektrum batteries and that's all I run. I'm kinda OCD on battery choice with the crawlers I've built, and I like to use a battery size relative to how large or how heavy the actual 1:1 vehicle is lol.

The bumpers and side steps will be painted a dark gray, as that's what a stock FJ80 looks like. Maybe I'll paint those too once I see how it looks finished.

[Goro Majima]

Ready for spraying tomorrow. Once these parts are all painted, I'll mask the front end components off to paint the headlight bezels and part of the grill chrome, and the rest of the grill dark gray.

[durok]

Out of curiosity, what is that paste you are using for masking material?

[Goro Majima]

Originally Posted by durok

Out of curiosity, what is that paste you are using for masking material?

It's called Peel-Tek Liquid Mask, green quart container (~$30 US).

[durok]

Thanks!

I still have some old Bob Dively 3000 Liquid Masking Film, but it's drying out - and is sometimes hard to use. Also, seems to be discontinued.

(posted your answer about this stuff over in Paint & Body, because there's a recent thread asking about masking materials)

[Goro Majima]

Minor update of the black masking. I painted the bumpers and sides initially a dark gray. Turned out it wasn't dark enough for my liking, so I sprayed a light coat of Rust-Oleum's trim and bumper paint and followed it with another light coat of polycarbonate flat clear and it's pretty close to what I wanted. Not OEM but close enough for me.



Next is to mask the front end for the chrome headlight and grill parts, using a chrome marker. That will probably get done tomorrow or Sunday. Then slap the decals on and install the spare tire carrier.



I would call it done there but I decided to purchase the RCRun LC80 interior since I'm gonna keep the windows clear. So that update will probably be a month from now...

[B-MOW71]

Hey that paint job came out great! I was wondering what it would look like once the liquid masking was removed.

Looking forward to seeing what this Toyota's gonna look like completed!

[Goro Majima]

^ Thanks man.

Shorter weekend than expected. Painted the grill with the same Rust-Oleum black. Masked it again to paint the middle bar of the grill gunmetal (unfortunately didn't apply polycarb flat clear after the black so the gunmetal started cracking but whatever). I'll round out the necessary areas with a knife next, then use the chrome marker.

[durok]

Damn fine detail masking tape work!

I just recently bought a pack of the Tamiya stuff that contains 1 roll each of 3 different widths, hope I can get somewhere NEAR this good in my next couple of bodies...

[Goro Majima]

Originally Posted by durok

Damn fine detail masking tape work!



I just recently bought a pack of the Tamiya stuff that contains 1 roll each of 3 different widths, hope I can get somewhere NEAR this good in my next couple of bodies...

This is what I also do before applying the liquid mask so I get the straight edge.

[Goro Majima]

I realized I need to also paint these black so here's to further masking. I'll mask the bottom once this is dry tomorrow and then spray, as well as spray tint the window visors. Hopefully tomorrow evening I can continue to apply the decals and install the rear spare tire mount and this will basically be finished besides the interior on the way.

[Goro Majima]

Finally took some proper pictures of this thing in natural lighting. The chrome decals are from eBay. What's left to receive are some SSD brass for the front portals and the RCRUN right hand drive interior. The stock servo is a bit buzzy so I may swap in a Powerhobby 633MCW that I have on hand for a spare.

Also I wanted to get rubber mirrors for this model but unfortunately Loops (rc4x4-shop) has ended business? I have spare RC4WD Tacoma chrome mirrors that I may slap on. Anyway, enjoy the pictures and I'll try to get running footage as usual, whenever.

[durok]

Simply INCREDIBLE!

Damn, that came out so sweet - those pics look as if they were of a 1:1 parked in a driveway.

Hey - are you going to try out the new RC4WD FJ55 body next?

They went a different direction, and are releasing it in Lexan, with a 12.3" wheelbase.