Another Hilux build, but from the UK!

[Tim_]

Thought I'd cross post this if anyone is interested.

Been collecting bits for this project for well over a year now and as I have reduced my collection of trucks to just my Honcho I decided I would build this up. Hopefully I won't have to sell it along with the other stuff as I enjoy building/tinkering/driving too much but anyway, here we go...

It all started with a set of 4 link trusses...

I trimmed the axles and painted the diffs, trying to keep it reasonably scale looking. The axles are brand new which made a good start - I can get it just how I want...

Before assembling the axles completely

I am using an SCX10 chassis which I have taken from another truck, for this project I think it's the best chassis/axle/body combination for looks and driving capability. I am mounting the servo on the chassis for this truck, I think an axle mounted servo just won't suit the body shell...

I tried assembling the chassis with the Axial bent rear links only to discover that the 4 link set up catches and there is virtually no articulation in the rear axle. I swapped to making my own links and clocking the axle to the right angle.

The shocks were an important decision. I didn't want the usual Axial set up, I wanted something more scale looking. When these popped up on Ebay I wasn't sure, but being hard to come across in the UK and brand new I plumped for them. They're RC4WD internal spring units. Complete with stickers and red dust boots 8)

I have no idea which tyres to use, I want to use the Axial wheels as I prefer them over the Proline wheels however, I need to decide on Flat Irons, Tomahawks or Rock Locks...

But the longest wait by far has been for the body shell. There's only so much I can do without knowing how the shell fits onto the chassis, particularly how much room there is for the battery, electrics etc. After months of searching this arrived today. For the eagle eyed few of you...

Once I had popped the plain & unpainted body on the chassis and had a personal moment I continued to painting. I've never painted a full hard body before but I knew exactly what colour I wanted for this one...

Yep, bright orange :lol: The right paint took some time to find and the pictures don't do it much justice... Anyway, once the paint was dry enough to handle I just had to hold it up to the chassis!

8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)


Looks better in the flesh than in the pictures. I am not going to put a flat bed on the back, instead I am looking at either a tray back or cage - I may even just leave the chassis exposed. I'm going for a scale trail modified truck look with this project.

I have finished the final layer of the orange on the body and started to look at mounting the grille, windows and a few other bits. I've also started looking at mounting the body on the chassis;

The colour doesn't really come out well on the photo's - how florescent orange becomes red is beyond me :lol:

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Update:

I have taken the springs out of the RC4WD shocks and I sourced some of my own springs, Dale has been ever so helpful and I also bought a box of 200 springs off Ebay for about £5. I have used several different springs to get the correct rate, I reckon there is still room for improvement though.

I have also assembled the chassis and mounted the body. I have fitted diff guards and fiddled about with them to get the 4 link set up to work.

I have also fabricated a back panel for the truck as I am not using the Hilux bed.

Pics so far:

The pictures don't do it justice! One issue I am currently having is whether to use the Flat Irons it is currently on, or should I swap to RC4WD Tomahawks...? :?

:|

I've also got the rubber black arches and I don't know whether to put them on. Anyone got thoughts?

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Some mock ups of the cage work and sliders for the back of the truck, the images are courtesy of Scoobbysport.

Can't wait to see this welded and painted!

8)

img]https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/377448_10150963219420705_642705704_21523466_1092249055_n.jpg[/img]

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[Tim_]

Fairly major rebuild tonight. I've painted the last few parts of the shell that needed touching in and I have... well I'll let the pictures do the talking. I remembered to use the camera this time round!

Couldn't have done it without the time a friend put into fabricating the cage for me, a big thanks! I just need to re-make the gearbox cover now - it may even be in the form of a spare wheel 8)

Arriving tomorrow is a light set and once I get access to a hacksaw I'll fit the winch I have to the front bumper. Apart from that it's all electronics underneath which will be changing.

I still have a set of the rubber arches but I'm not too sure if i'll fit them. Opinions are most welcome, can anyone think of anything it needs or should be changed?


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o tonight I added some lights. I like the standard front lamps on the Hilux so I thought I would stick with those. For the rears I wanted something subtle and practical, like the rear Landrover Defender lights. I don't think a huge light cluster would suit the image of a cage back on a "modified" looking truck. I couldn't find anything that would suit so I had an idea, I used the LED's and recessed them into the body so they don't stick out.

Oh and I added an extra set of lights to front too. I wanted some lights to act as "working" lights to give extra illumination when using the winch or driving in the dark - which I sometimes do. I didn't want these lights on all the time so I decided to add a second switch in, therefore I can run the normal lights and turn the extras on as and when I need them. When they're off, they're barely noticeable and protected by the front bumper.

I can't believe just how good this truck looks, the pictures don't even come close! Hard body shells are an absolutely fantastic idea - I'm a total convert 8)

Let me know what you think!

8)

I've devised a nifty wiring mounting system too, it's dead cheap, requires no tools to remove or apply, all the body panels and components can still be separated from one another and it's all neat, tidy and out the way. Oh and you don't need tiny hands either As they say in da hood, I iz well impressed, innit!

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[Tim_]

Update!

After the postman rather kindly rammed an envelope through the letter box he also managed to destroy one of the badges for the shell The front badge now says OYOTA, so i've space the badge to look like a T. Comes out quite well actually :lol: There are also side badges and door locks.

As the badges are rather flimsy I decided now was probably an opportune time to clear coat the shell. With all the bits on I applied three coats. It's a subtle difference - the camera doesn't pick it up - but the truck looks like it has been finished now. There is a slight gloss effect now, rather than matt.

I have put a set of highly cheesy "HILUX" number plates on. I know which registration I want to put on the truck but I don't think brandishing number plates across the internet is a wise thing to do.

The truck really, really, badly needed something doing about the wheel arches and the sides. Being able to see all the gubbins underneath is fine while building the truck but at this stage it was starting to let the appearance down. Plasticard out and I fabricated some arches and sides. I made the sides fairly high to try and act as a splash guard.

After having a chat with someone I stripped the (brand new!) axles off the truck, parcelled them up and sent them off. Today a nice box arrived. The contents of the box are amusing but the best part was the RC4WD T-Rex axles and yes, with the correctness that is aluminium 8)

A quick play around with the four link for the front and rear and I have to say I LOVE the construction of these axles. 4 screws and the axle drops off leaving the link set available, with a ton of room, to play around with. Attention to detail really does suit the truck. The axles are new, theres nothing on them to suggest otherwise. Super impressed.

Oh and I have put the wiper blades on now.

If you want any specific pictures then let me know, for now though I hope these are ok. I intend on getting action shots over Christmas, I want something to put in the Ride Of The Month thread

Oh and one more thing, the very second I get within reach of a hacksaw the front plate is being cut and the winch is getting fitted!

Deliberate fuzzy picture, looks more real...

This next one highlights just how much is hidden by the plasticard...

So the spec list is;

Axial SCX10 Chassis
Custom rear cage
Custom sliders
RC4WD T-Rex Axles
RC4WD Internal shocks
RC4WD Tomahawk tyres x 5
Junfac propshaft
3 racing Propshaft
Axial 1.9 Beadlocks, weighted
Tamiya light kit, individual switched fog lights
Novak Rooster ESC
60T motor
Spektrum Radio
Tamiya Hilux Cab shell

Still no idea what to do with the rear end. There are thoughts though...

 

[List]

That was a long write up :shock: Great build though! Very scale looking. "thumbsup"

 

[Mopar32985]

Wow man looks great. Im in the middle of a gokuzack truggy build myself. What did you use to clean up the welding joints im just learning how to might weld with flux core now.

Chance

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

 

[Tim_]

Cheers folks!

To clean up the welds use a small metal file to get rid of the large lumps, then a soft pad to finish off. I suppose you could start getting really obsessive with Wet n Dry paper of increasingly finer grades but I'd only ever go to that level of detail for a shelf queen. Besides, most of the excess weld will "flick" off with a file anyway.

 

[Erbing]

I like it, nice and clean build"thumbsup"

 

[Bulldog]

My finger has a blister from scrolling down! Holy mega post! Truck looks good! Next time, string us along a little! And get that thing in the dirt!

 

[sj4x4]

wow man, you did a great job on the build"thumbsup"

 

[Tim_]

Right then. This is it, the back end :lol:

I decided on something that would work, rather than just be plain boring. It's a back end with a difference. I've just finished it and it all works rather well 8)

Picture time! The pictures are designed to show "how" I did it, not take the best look.

The wiring. There is a plasticard shield between the wires and the motor, you just can't see it that well.

Just need to touch in the odd detail to finish. I'm waiting on some new wheels and once they're fitted then this is a complete truck :shock:

 

[Tim_]

Well some parts turned up over the weekend, along with a set of 45T motors from Dale. I decided to get them on - I was going to wait and do one big final update on this project but alas, that is not to be :lol:

Arrived

45T Motor
ARB Diff guard
Bulldog Wired Winch - grey edition



Still waiting

Junfac Propshafts - although they can go on whenever, I have tried to get a more scale looking underside to this truck. Just waiting on these parts. I believe they are at home.

Scale hooks - from the US, arrived at home but not actually got them yet. The front hook is an RC4WD King Kong hook, the rear winch will be one of the scale plastic ones.

RC4WD Steel stamped wheels, white - still out of stock I believe, but the Tomahawks will be going on those and I will keep the black set as a spare set.

Front Bumper - RC4WD style but being manufactured by Scoobbysport for a lot less! I'll ditch the Honcho bumper for a proper steel item which will have the mounts for the Bulldog winch, more shell protection than the Honcho bumper and lugs for some scale D-Shakles. Probably paint the same black as the cage.


Anyway, onto the pictures for progress so far!

I realised that the motor is buried right in the middle of the truck. I have only just remembered I could have probably released the transmission from the skid plate but oh well... Lifted off the wheel arches and sides;

Removed the opposite side, the cage (forgot just how many bolt holes there are...) and dropped the skid and transmission out from under the truck;

Re-assembled with the new RC4WD 45T motor. I'll see how I get on with this motor and speak to Igbandy about tuning this motor (unlikely) or replacing with a tuned Ansmann 55T crawler motor (likely) or even a Tekin 45T (only if I can afford it)

As it stands, in a real nice light, definitely orange :wink:

I put a black ARB sticker on the front diff cover. I was going to buy the ARB cover but behind the steering linkages and in the dark area created by the rest of the truck it just seemed to be chucking money at it for no visual gain.

The proper cover on the rear. Just adds that little something to an otherwise plain back end. Once finished I have decided that I will mount a spare wheel and tyre and some other bits and bobs on the back end.

Pictures aren't great but it gives an impression of what I have done.

 

[Tim_]

Wheels and an interior arrived today, so I've been busy! Decided to do the wheels in a Pearl White, so they're like a metallic colour. Looks better than the white I think.

Not a lot left to do now, just a few interior details - like seats - and the front bumper to add

 

[neilus]

Looks good Tim "thumbsup"

Someone likes Toblerone though...

 

[Tim_]

:lmao:

I have had a steady supply since Christmas!

Just putting the last bits of the interior together!

 

[Tim_]

Just sprayed the seats, they'll be in shortly!


The tax disc reads, "I've paid my taxes now fix some f**king pot holes" - bit a sore point in the UK!