VS4-10 Ultra Help

[TwiztidDevil]

Hi guys I'm new to the RC world and recently bought a 2.2 Wraith, and love it so much I decided to buy a VS4-10 Ultra from AMAINHOBBIES Its my first crawler kit, built a few planes couple years ago but anyway. I've really enjoyed the build so far. I'm lost as to what size tool I need to put the wheel nuts on? I mean I have a 5/16 nut driver and an 8mm nut driver they both fit loose but will not fit inside the hub to tighten the nut and wheel in place. Do I need to purchase a special tool to fit inside the hubs? If so, where can I purchase one?

Another question I've got cheap electronics right now an HK servo and a $50 motor off ebay not even sure of the name. Its a 2850KV brushless not sensored. I don't even know the difference between sensored and unsesored. I plan on ordering a castle 2850kv sensored with a mamba x esc, but the more I look and read the more I realize that may not be the best kv for what I'm wanting to do. I've already purchased and installed a RRP 10T pinion and a HR 57T spur gear. I want to use the truck for trail running with some crawling. I will be running it on 3s lipo can you please help me figure out a good motor/esc combo to run? I don't mind spending 300 also looking for a good waterproof servo in the 150-200 range.

Lastly can y'all give me any advice on painting? My first attempt is horrible I've got more runs than an ole ladies pantyhose. I'm going for a totally scale look with this vehicle. I've order Method 1.9 wheels with Mickey Thompson Baja Claw tires waiting on them to arrive. I'll post pics of how its going tonight after work. Appreciate any and all advice you can help a newbie out with.

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[JoFreak]

Hi there, for the wheel nuts you need an 8mm driver that has a small enough outside diameter to fit into the hub.
You can for example get the tools from Vanquish, that 8mm driver would fit.
But I am pretty sure there is a 8mm to 7mm adapter in the ultra kits that is included specificaly for that reason.

For the motor you definately want to go sensored on a crawler type RC, unless it's an outrunner, but that's a different story.
2850kV on 3s and low gearing should be good since you plan on gearing down anyways.
If it feels too twitchy set an exponential throttle curve in your ESC.
Personaly I like to run a combo of Tekin RX4 ESC and Holmes Puller Pro (or Puller Pro Stubby) motor.
The Castle Mamba X ESCs are supposed to be quite good as well, and so are the Tekin ROC412 motors.
As for the 57T spur gear, not sure if that fits the spur gear cover, there are some files out there to print a bigger cover for the vfd though.

Futaba servos are considered to be some of the best available, not sure about their waterproofness.
Tekin has some good servos, I'm still a bit on the fence about them.
I run a couple of waterproof Sanwa servos, while they are great, seems the combination of plastic housing and no-servo-saver results in play in the gear box rather quickly.
Hitec servos are an evergreen, most of them a bit slow for my personal taste.
Holmes Hobbies just released a new version of their servo and Reefs servos seem to gain in popularity, too.
And then there is Savöx, some love them, some hate them, not a fan myself, would maybe consider them as a budget solution.

Buy a good servo of any of those mentioned and I would expect you to have little to no issues.
This whole servo topic can become almost religious to some, so I won't tell you "get THAT servo"...

Can't really help you with the paint other then writing a complete a-z toturial on how to paint (it's approaching 1am where I am, so: NOPE) since you provide us with zero info on what you did on that last paint job, sorry.
Body? Body material? Paint manufacturer? Paint type? Painted from the inside or outside? Cleaned and degreased body prior to painting? Followed instructions on paint can? Light thin coats?

The 1.9 Methods you bought, are the Vanquish or Incision wheels?
Did you get the hubs needed? That can be quite the show stopper for newbs.
As for the any and all advice:
Contact Crawler Innovation, tell them what RC you have, how heavy it is, what terrain you mostly run on, and what tires you use (including dimensions) and ask them for foam recommendations.
And then the most important part of that, follow their recommendation! That should get you a very, very good starting point in foam setup, which is maybe even more important then your actual tire choice.
In 99% of all cases the stock foams are crap.
Oh, and vent your tires (not the wheels). Easiest way is with a hole punch.

Hope that gets you startet, have fun with the kit

[TwiztidDevil]

Here's a couple of pics of where I'm at. Thanks for telling me there was an adapter for the wheel nuts in the kit......feel like a real dumb bass since it's been complete except wheels and paint for a little over a week. I went ahead and bought the aluminum stand offs and the aluminum motor plate when I ordered my kit. The 57T spur gear fits beneath the stock cover just fine. I've got the 10T pinion gear on as well no problems with fit. As you can see I've got the cheapest electronics there is just about right now. I'm working on new ones with your advice.

As far as my paint job goes......
1. The body is the Origin Halfcab that came with the kit.
2. The paint I used is Tamiya Color for polycarbonate.
3. Method is rattle can from about 8 inches.
4. On the outside....never thought of putting it on the outside.

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[JoFreak]

Yes, usually you paint lexan bodies from the inside, gives you a shiny finish, like a properly clear coated and polished 1:1 car.
A lot of people paint parts from the outside, like black for the roof to get a flat finish.
I prefer a coat of PS55 on the outside instead, since I've had black spray paints in the past that don't leave an even flat finished on the side they got sprayed onto, but that is personal preference.

But I have never seen Tamiya PS colour run like that, must have been sprayed way to heavy.
Do really light coats next time, maybe even so light, that you only see minimal coverage on the lexan, just to be on the safe side and then let it dry for 10-20 minutes before applying the next coat, depending on air temperature.

And just to be on the safe side, since you said you were never thinking to paint lexan from the inside, did you remove the overspray film on the outside?
Spraying paint on the overspray film could lead to pretty weird looking results I imagine...
It would also mean that you don't need to get a new body to paint

Fair warning though: I am by no means a paint expert, I am doing RC and painting lexan bodies for almost 20 years by now and usually with acceptable results.
But there is a ton of people who know that stuff better then me, maybe even check the "paint and body" section in this forum if you keep having issues.

[TwiztidDevil]

You are most certainly correct when you guessed I didn't take the film off. Well half anyway....I didn't remove it from my fenders, but unfortunately I did with the body. I did tape all the windows and trim so I didn't paint them as well. The fenders are peeling off in chunks and it's never been driven yet...yep I'm definitely a complete newb. You are also right when you said I had to of put on to heavy a coat......I tried doing it one coat.......d a m n.. OK thanks for teaching me your help is greatly appreciated.

Do you know if a body for a SCX10 would fit this chassis? I've been eyeballing this 67 Chevy C10 body that I'm positive would look better than the International it has now.

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[JoFreak]

Most SCX10 bodies should be possible to fit this, may need to modify things like bumpers, sliders, fenders and the likes.
To make it easy on yourself, get a body with the same wheelbase.

[Lashlee]

The info posted above about the electronics is spot on!! I've got a Mamba X, PP 3500kv and a HH 500v3 servo in my Ultra. Tekin and Castle both make good products, and I'm not sure if there is a clear winner if you compare apples to apples. I'll run 3s or 4s in mine.

[Shinook]

I had painting issues with mine, also, it was my first time painting in a long time and I tried using a paint that didn't work out very well (Duratrax Pearl White). It seems like the metallic finish paints are a bit more difficult to get right. If i had known that, I would have stuck with flat colors for the time being.

I was able to use rubbing alcohol to remove most of the paint. It didn't end up looking all that great, there are some smudges of old paint left, but between spraying a new darker coat, backing them with black, and covering up some of the nastier spots by painting on the outside, it doesn't look horrible unless you get up close. If you didn't remove the overspray protector, remove it, I'd be curious to see how much it kept off, because I've considered using it as a mask and am interested in how much got through.

I reached out to Vanquish to ask about replacement bodies, they said that some would be in stock in May.

[el_Fernando]

Thumbs up to JoFreak for helping this dude out with some spot on info! Twiztid, you owe him a case a beer!

As for bodies and the like, I think only 10% of people are good with painting so don't get yourself down. One thing I do know about paining, patience is key. For your 1st crawler kit you picked the best of the best for sure. Good luck on the build and post up some finished picts.

[TwiztidDevil]

Originally Posted by Lashlee

The info posted above about the electronics is spot on!! I've got a Mamba X, PP 3500kv and a HH 500v3 servo in my Ultra. Tekin and Castle both make good products, and I'm not sure if there is a clear winner if you compare apples to apples. I'll run 3s or 4s in mine.

How does the 3500kv motor do in your Ultra? I'm going for a good trail rig. I've got some good trails around me that would require some crawling.

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[JoFreak]

Originally Posted by Shinook

I had painting issues with mine, also, it was my first time painting in a long time and I tried using a paint that didn't work out very well (Duratrax Pearl White). It seems like the metallic finish paints are a bit more difficult to get right. If i had known that, I would have stuck with flat colors for the time being.

I was able to use rubbing alcohol to remove most of the paint. It didn't end up looking all that great, there are some smudges of old paint left, but between spraying a new darker coat, backing them with black, and covering up some of the nastier spots by painting on the outside, it doesn't look horrible unless you get up close. If you didn't remove the overspray protector, remove it, I'd be curious to see how much it kept off, because I've considered using it as a mask and am interested in how much got through.

I reached out to Vanquish to ask about replacement bodies, they said that some would be in stock in May.

I think I saw your post about that pearl white but forgot it before responding.
So forgive me if you already got a response to it, if not:
I never tried Duratrax colours since they aren't really available here, but I did use pearl white from LRPand RC Car Colour.
When you paint those colours, mainly pearl white, you only get the effect part.
You have to spray pearl white first, which can be a b***h to figure out if your coat is sufficient since it's not too clearly visible, and then back it with regular white.
The name "pearl white" is a bit missleading, it should be named "pearl effect for pearl white (must be backed with regular white)".
But that's a bit of a mouth full...
Fun fact about pearl effect, the ones I used also work great to turn regular colours into metallic colours, regular yellow into metallic yellow for example.
As for the issue of coverage of the pearl effect, use some scrap lexan and do a few test shots how many layers you need to get the effect you like.


To get the paint off after a paint job gone wrong, there are lexan paint removers.
I know Carson, I think that's a Tamiya sub company in Germany, does a paint killer.
Tried that once, did remove most of the paint quite easily, but left me with a few flat spots in the lexan body.
However, Hemistorm did a video where he removed the paint from the Scout2 body that comes on the Redcat gen8.
In that video he sanded the lexan from the inside to get the paint out and then polished it, that could be a solution for those flat spots.

[TwiztidDevil]

Thanks for the help guys y'all are awesome!! I'm going to get some lexan paint remover and try it again. With better results this time. I decided to switch out the 2850KV motor I was running and put in a 3500kv. Its a lot smoother now.

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[JatoTheRipper]

I've been doing models and RC on and off for over 30 years and I still struggle with paint. If you haven't already, watching a YouTube video or read and article about painting Lexan/polycarbonate bodies. You can learn certain things from them.

Tamiya does make the best rattle can paints for our bodies. They are expensive though. Duratrax is a good second.

BTW the photo sizes are perfect on this thread. So however you did these should work in the other thread as well to get those correctly sized.

I don't know if you've settled on electronics yet, but for wateproof brushless is probably best. I'm running the Mamba X ESC with the Castle Slate motor in my Ultra. I haven't run it other than testing inside the house. I'm not convinced on the motors, but the Mamba X is my favorite brushless ESC. It's good for brushed too - just larger than necessary.

[Shinook]

Originally Posted by JoFreak

I think I saw your post about that pearl white but forgot it before responding.
So forgive me if you already got a response to it, if not:
I never tried Duratrax colours since they aren't really available here, but I did use pearl white from LRPand RC Car Colour.
When you paint those colours, mainly pearl white, you only get the effect part.
You have to spray pearl white first, which can be a b***h to figure out if your coat is sufficient since it's not too clearly visible, and then back it with regular white.
The name "pearl white" is a bit missleading, it should be named "pearl effect for pearl white (must be backed with regular white)".
But that's a bit of a mouth full...
Fun fact about pearl effect, the ones I used also work great to turn regular colours into metallic colours, regular yellow into metallic yellow for example.
As for the issue of coverage of the pearl effect, use some scrap lexan and do a few test shots how many layers you need to get the effect you like.


To get the paint off after a paint job gone wrong, there are lexan paint removers.
I know Carson, I think that's a Tamiya sub company in Germany, does a paint killer.
Tried that once, did remove most of the paint quite easily, but left me with a few flat spots in the lexan body.
However, Hemistorm did a video where he removed the paint from the Scout2 body that comes on the Redcat gen8.
In that video he sanded the lexan from the inside to get the paint out and then polished it, that could be a solution for those flat spots.

Thanks for the info. I discovered exactly what you said is true about the pearl white, it's basically an outer finish and doesn't provide much color. They should call it spray on glitter. The other two metallics I sprayed went on fine, but weren't as vivid without a similar color backing it, like you said.

I was able to get most of the other paints off, but the 'pearl white' would not come off easily even with sanding/firm brushing. I decided to just paint over the outside of the body, I pained those areas black and it mostly masked the error.

The rest of the paints I used went on fine, I just think that pearl white color is difficult because it's hard to gauge how much you've sprayed since it doesn't have any real color. The other metallics were somewhat similar, it was easy to over spray if you expected them to go on like the flatter colors, but definitely to a lesser degree.

[Lashlee]

Originally Posted by TwiztidDevil

How does the 3500kv motor do in your Ultra? I'm going for a good trail rig. I've got some good trails around me that would require some crawling.

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it worked great! I used a 12 tooth pinion, and could possibly go up to a 13 or even 14 tooth. Most of the terrain where I crawl is rock, with all sorts of differing variations but it has enough wheel speed to get me out of trouble when I need it.

[TwiztidDevil]

Originally Posted by Lashlee

it worked great! I used a 12 tooth pinion, and could possibly go up to a 13 or even 14 tooth. Most of the terrain where I crawl is rock, with all sorts of differing variations but it has enough wheel speed to get me out of trouble when I need it.

I agree I decided on a 3500kv myself however I decided to gear down. I went with a 57T spur gear and a 10T pinion gear. It's a little on the slower side but I don't lose power at a slow crawl and I'm running on 2s. The speed is a medium pace walking and works great on the trail and in the rocks!!

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