Ford Atlas Ascender

[2mtech]

Finished the new body. #4, but I'm actually a bit proud of this one! Ford Atlas body from JConcepts. Much stronger lexan than the original Blazer body, supposed to be .060 GE material. Shot it with Spaz Stix purple for the girl, but since it turned out to be almost exactly Mopar Plum Crazy I can live with it First time I used the exterior clear matte for the black parts but I love how it turned out.

[Itali83]

Looks good. I was hoping to be first to post a finished one as I'm literally masking for paint today lol. I didn't like it at first but like how fat it is to tuck the tires completely. Even with the flat iron xl's on there. Glad you posted though because I was thinking of painting the bed with Berliner like a real truck to break up the paint and I like yours like that.

Ben

[svt923]

Good looking truck right there.

I had the same feeling when I painted a truck for my wife, her truck ended up looking much better than mine.

Its nice to see so many Ascenders running around NC these days.

[2mtech]

Thanks for the compliments! We took it out crawling Sunday and I can testify it makes the Ascender even more stable than it already was...wide/low rather than narrow/high with the Blazer body. She spent a lot less time upside down lol

[Power to Satisfy]

Nice, I have had one for a while now but in blue. Haven't had the chance to finish the lighting on it yet. RL got in the way of okay and fun time. I only used straight black paint but think yours looks much better with that. Looks like a real bed liner

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[2mtech]

Originally Posted by Power to Satisfy

Nice, I have had one for a while now but in blue. Haven't had the chance to finish the lighting on it yet. RL got in the way of okay and fun time. I only used straight black paint but think yours looks much better with that. Looks like a real bed liner

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Thanks! I have three different lighting systems in the mail, will have to pick one. And I know what you mean about RL getting in the way like a mother-in-law on a honeymoon...I had to take vacation to finish this one

[johnvickery864]

Looks awesome. How does it do. Is the body heavier. I know the blazer was top heavy and tipsy. So advice would be great. Thank you.

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[2mtech]

Originally Posted by johnvickery864

Looks awesome. How does it do. Is the body heavier. I know the blazer was top heavy and tipsy. So advice would be great. Thank you.

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Thanks! It does awesome! The body is a little heavier because it's heavier lexan, but it's still not heavy. The wide fenders allow lower body mounting without hanging on the tires during articulation, adding to stability. I've been on the fence about the Vaterra chassis, always seemed stiff and tippy to me. I upgraded the shocks to the Vaterra aluminum ones and didn't like it any better. But I drilled out the piston holes to 1/16" and replaced the stock oil (35W I think?) with 17W. Now it's much more responsive and rebounds much quicker. That, combined with the Atlas body, finally won me over. See for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKgWgkITspU

[johnvickery864]

Dude that looks awesome. Yeah that would win me over too. I been on the fence between an scx10 2 and the ascender. I've drove both thanks to my buddies. I love the tight turn of the ascender. Both have there pros and cons. But thanks for the info. I appreciate it. It'll definitely way in my decision

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[2mtech]

Originally Posted by johnvickery864

Dude that looks awesome. Yeah that would win me over too. I been on the fence between an scx10 2 and the ascender. I've drove both thanks to my buddies. I love the tight turn of the ascender. Both have there pros and cons. But thanks for the info. I appreciate it. It'll definitely way in my decision

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All I can say towards your choice is the Vaterra crawls and trails every mile my SCX10 does. After every outing I blow the dust and mud off the Vaterra and put it back on its stand...then I fix whatever broke on the SCX10. I have yet to have anything break on the Vaterra....

[Natedog]

Great looking truck, plumb crazy purple is good and the body looks right at home!

[2mtech]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Great looking truck, plumb crazy purple is good and the body looks right at home!

Thanks! Means a lot...your build thread was a great source of information and inspiration before I did the initial build on this one