The TRX4 Mini-on project

[xagoras]

So, been a while since I build anything so decided to swap things around a little bit. Budget is tight atm, so I'll try to work with what I have and 3D printed parts mostly.


The idea is to make a more crawling biased 312mm TRX4, as light as possible.



The body I'll use is an old 1/12 generic truck style body, that I've already cut it's fenders for another project.












It's a good starting point. It measures around 40cm in lenght which is on the short side for the TRX4 but I'll probably sort that out by printing a truck bed for it.









I marked and cut openings on the side windows and the front

[King Dork]

Sounds like an interesting project. Keeping an eye on.

[xagoras]

Made the cuts on the rear







Atm I'm 3d printing the truckbed. Should extend a bit to compensate for the shorter body.

I cut a piece out of a clear lexan packaging to make the front windshield





Fits like a glove. I need to screws it in place.

[xagoras]

Time is limited, so progress is slow with this one. I mounted the front windshield on the body using some tiny screws and nuts and secured them with threadlocker




Looks good from the outside





I've been pinting 3D stuff like crazy the last few days. Some are my own design, some I found on Thangs and modifed them to my needs.

The truck bed will consist of 2 parts, or possibly 3 haven't decided yet what to do with the rear part of the chassis.





The top part has a diamond plate pattern on it:





Bottom part with led sockets already there and wheel arches:







The roll bar was easy. I just scaled down the one I used for the Raptor:







Found these discreet bumpers:





And for mirrors, I scaled down the ones I used for my Slash UltiX. They are foldable and seem to be super durable with the Gorilla tape holdng them to the body:





Now I can start assembling the body.

[OSRC]

Some very cool stuff going on here... love projects out of the ordinary! Carry on please!

[xagoras]

Originally Posted by OSRC

Some very cool stuff going on here... love projects out of the ordinary! Carry on please!

Thanks! When budget is tight, you have to make do with whatever you have

[xagoras]

Painted the truck bed with a silver chrome.





About time to start putting everything together.









I 3d printed a front grill. Decided to make it as thin as possible and printed it in two pieces. I'll use gorilla tape to mount it on the body, so that will help with the curve shape it needs.





Also printed front headlights and sprayed them with the silver chrome paint. I'll use gorilla tape to mount them on the inside of the body. I need to get myself some nitro fuel to clear the paint from that area.





And last, but not least, a couple of 3d printed rock rails for the chassis. I've tried a similar design with the Raptor and they hold very well.

[rob5059]

Looks great, can not wait to see the body complete.

[xagoras]

Originally Posted by rob5059

Looks great, can not wait to see the body complete.

Thanks! I'm trying to speed things up, but time is limited atm.

[xagoras]

Finally got to the point where I could wrap the body with the vinyl tape.









Then installed the headlight sockets inside the body with some Gorilla tape.





I used some nitro fuel to clear the paint in that area. Then marked it from the outside and made the cuts with a hobby knife.





Looks OK, but I'll properly test how clean it is when the lights are installed. If they are too dim, I might have to clean it a bit more.

[xagoras]

This is the chassis I'll be using with this one







Got a brass servo mount to move the servo forward and some aluminum shock keys, both from Injora. Still trying to figure out what's the best settings are for the keys. Any suggestions here would be appreciated.







In the heart of it all, will be the Hobbywing Fusion Pro 2300KV





I decided to use magnets for mounting the body. I've done it before with the Ronin and seem to hold OK as long as the body is not too heavy.











Used some vinyl electrical tape to make an urban camo look on the body. Masked the window and truckbed and will clear coat the whole thing.

[rob5059]

Originally Posted by xagoras

Thanks! I'm trying to speed things up, but time is limited atm.

I hear you, it is the nasty 4 letter words. Wife, work

[xagoras]

3d printing continues with this project. Made these hood exhausts and painted them silver chrome





Cut them accordingly and mounted them on the hood to hold the magnets underneath.





Then installed the front grill with some Gorilla tape to keep in line with the front mask's curve





And the mirrors attached with Gorilla tape





Exterior is almost complete





Next I printed a supercharger to go on that hood, painted silver chrome and made some red details





And the heroes of the show 😂

Kevin, Dave & Phill will be going around the wild with this rig 😀









Painting with tiny brushes is definitely not my favorite thing...

[xagoras]

The exterior is ready








The interior has been screwed in place by 2 screws on each side.







Next will be to add some lights to it.

[xagoras]

It's been a while since I did any work on this project, but finally got things going again.

I 3d printed wooden box and some bananas(!!!) for the truckbed