VS4-10 Phoenix in Italian sauce

[rockspider]

Hi all,
was looking for a funny title and that was all that came to mind, sorry...

Anyway, here's my Phoenix build, from Italy.

Some of you may have seen in the main Phoenix thread my custom modifications to better seal the guts of dig and OD from environment, basically the stock rubber flap was discarded and some Nitrile glove fingers were cut to size, with a tiny hole for the lever to snug fit inside.
Then the original external flange was dremeled to enlarge the opening, to give the nitrile boot more room to flex around.
Flange is then assembled inside-out for a better press-fit to the boot.

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Yes I know "green" gloves does not look so cool, feel free to use a black glove if you like the mod

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Second thing I modded was servo placement. Personally I always try to keep CG nice and low, and having battery on a lifted support and big servos high mounted didn't look nice to me.

First I thought that a low profile dig servo could be installed below the stock mount. Linkage and servo arm selection had to careful, since space is at a premium at full suspension compression, but was able to keep the upper rear link to barely kiss the linkage at full stroke, without any binding.

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Second I deemed the OD servo did not really need fullsize strenght, so carved a simple L mount from black pvc profile and installed a mini servo. here too linkage needed to be custom.

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Last, the huge battery shelf was ditched alltogether. I will be using mainly 3s 2200 lipos (as most all my rigs) and by pure coincidence this size fits like a glove (gloves, again? ) in the space left between tranny and dig servo, laying flat on framerails. Dig linkage runs below frame level, out of the way.

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Now everything is low and flat

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Really happy how clean the final assembly ended up

[rockspider]

Then it would need a winch.

As stock bumper has the molded hawse fairlead, I wanted to use that. To have a better line placement, I removed the separation between the steering and free servo location, in order to place the winch almost central. Then a scrap brass tubing was bent to fit behind the hawse as a cable guide to the drum.
Here too had to fiddle between linkages at full compression stroke, but finally find the spot where everything fits and nothing binds

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[rockspider]

Ok, time to move to the body.

The far resemblance with a vintage FJ40 was nice but definitely could be improved for a more realistic appearance.

Not sure if fellows in the States had them imported, but here in Europe there were a lot of body variations along the "40" production years
The Diesel version called BJ42 had a nice torquey diesel engine, very appreciated by fans. Externally it was immediately recognizable by the square headlight bezel trim, compared to the classic FJ40/BJ40 round one.

Given the weird shape of the Phoenix one, none of the originals could be exactly replicated from that, but with some dremelling and sanding plus adding the above and below openings, I think the result with a bit of fantasy may resemble the 42 bezel...

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I'd like a well weathered final appearance, so decided for external painting.
The lexan surface was finely sanded with 3M fiber pads

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then a mist-coat / fullcoat of red oxide primer was applied outside, meanwhile the roof was painted white from inside to mimic the plastic Toyota roof

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And thanks to a friend I was able to find the correct metal mesh for the factory grille

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fast forward a couple of week (KoH week spent in front of TV... )
in the last two days I applied a light grey undercoat, and yesterday the final coat of a nice sand yellow
The front bezel got the grey primer and an ivory white topcoat

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Test fitting to see how it will look

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Next will have to profile and detailing, before starting with the weathering...
Wish me good luck...

[B-MOW71]

Nice paint job so far! I like the modifications you've done to the body to make it more like the real one.

I do remember seeing the mod you did to the shifter boots. Great job and idea! I need to do this mod to my Phoenix soon!

Looking forward to seeing more!

[twade984]

Very nice, looking forward to seeing how it turns out


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[durok]

These mods are like what we see well after a crawler chassis has been out for a long while - you are breaking a lot of new ground with this build!

Excellent - and I can't wait to see the final product...

[rockspider]

Thanks for your nice comments !
I wish I had more free time for this build, but job and family have their priorities sometime...

At the moment my attention is on the interior. Sadly the VP dash is nowhere similar to the 40 series, so I'm debating if trying to make the stock one looking better or going full custom...

[rockspider]

Update!

Small update, sort of a teaser more than an update...


I was trying to convince myself to like the VP dashboard stickers, but no way... too far off the real Toyota.

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Started drawing with a pencil on some scrap abs sheets... try to cut this... sand that... let's make it short, I went the full custom way...

That means I have more and more time to spend on it, but I feel it's well deserved...

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and here is the last pic, just a test assembly of the various pieces

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Hope you like it!

Will keep you updated

[indybama]

Thats beautiful! I dont have that much patience lol. I still need to get mine painted n take it for a good run

[smog]

Looks great rockspider! How did you create the decals on your custom dash?

[rockspider]

Those are plain paper, not decals.
I googled the instruments pictures, sized and printed with a normal colour home printer.
I'll stick them in place with some varnish. Little tricky but have done it before, it works.

[rockspider]

Dashboard assembled and completed

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Now let's start painting the rest of interior and driver figure ...

[B-MOW71]

Excellent work on the dashboard! Great idea on printing out the instrument panel! I'll have to keep that idea in mind!

[RNO]

rockspider,

Your shifter boot is genius.

Thank you for sharing. I plan to use your modification.

Grazie Mile!

-RNO

[rockspider]

Here I am again!

I remembered that Harley in one video said the tamiya bruiser driver was a perfect fit for the interior, so went that way.
And it does fit perfectly, indeed!

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The thing that I never liked of the bruiser driver is the head. No, not really the head itself, but the hair... glossy plastered in "Big Jim" barbie style. No way.
It happened I was dremelling some plastic, and by static electricity the plastic dust got sticking to the driver head...

Next I was brushing thinner on his face and sprinkling with abs debris...
And all of the sudden the unnamed driver become the Iliad and Odyssey poet Homer!
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Ok, just for fun, but there was some potential...

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After some more refining and splashing paint here and there...

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a bit more dust and weathering...



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et voilà... we got a driver!




after the driver, gave some attentions to the seats. I would have liked to recreate a worn leather finish... not easy at all... not really happy with result but it's acceptable for the purpose

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anyway it's time for a test fit. Steering coloumn has been lenghtened a bit, and also VP fake VFD tranny levers were added as a transfer case twin-stick mod

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All in all I'm happy with result. It's well proportioned and realistic enough for an RC vehicle

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with this I'll consider finished the interior, and finally will move to the body exterior weathering

Stay tuned!

[durok]

Definitely one of the BEST driver figurines I have EVER seen...

And the rest of the interior is excellent, as well!

Love the colors.

[indybama]

U knocked that interior out of the park! This rig is comin along nicely. Cant wait to see wat u do with the body

[smog]

Originally Posted by rockspider

Those are plain paper, not decals.
I googled the instruments pictures, sized and printed with a normal colour home printer.
I'll stick them in place with some varnish. Little tricky but have done it before, it works.

they came out sharp man! It’s a nice detail.

I really appreciate your creativity on adding the beard to the Bruiser driver as well. The versatility of the Bruiser figure is priceless(as evident in my avatar)

Great build, fun thread. Driver kinda looks Italian too...

[B-MOW71]

Love it! Excellent idea on the driver head! I often wondered how to change up the look in other ways other than paint.

The entire interior looks awesome! Great job!!

[RNO]

rockspider,

That’s a really great idea. Your driver’s hair and beard look great! I’ve seen that idea for carpet but never thought to use it for a driver. Very clever.

I am using this idea, in addition to your shift boot idea. Excellent tips for my Vanquish Phoenix.



Thank you,

-RNO