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#BRODOZER - Class 3 F350 - Diesel brothers rock buggy Replica

The body is now finished cutting and gluing. It looks kinda off as there is part painted and part not. I don't want to lay down the first coats of paint until the chassis is further along as it's nice to be able to see thru the lexan.

It's hard to tell from these pics but it turned out really good. I'll glue in the windows for the rear after the first coats of backing paint inside.

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Mocking it up on the chassis

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Got the rear axle thrown in and used some stock wraith links for mockup. Only at 13.75" wb so I might extend the rear with some custom mockup links.

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After getting the fenders trimmed to match as close as I can I did some reality check on tire size.

This is the only side shot I could find for the 1/1

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I threw a pitbull rb2 on there and then the Mickey.

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I think a 5.75" tire is too big to match the scale of the real rig. For this reason, I'm pretty sure I'm going to use pitbull growlers. Since they're smaller diameter. The Mickey radials are going to be way too big.

Oh yea...some led goodness was delivered. Maddogrc slim and standard light bars

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The RB2's look good!

Wes


I agree the rb2s look good. However I want to keep some tie back to the 1/1.

Gonna order the growlers here soon. I have some dueces wild standard and some 5.5 double duece foams just sitting around anyway.

Started cutting and fab last night. The foundation always takes the longest so I didn't make a ton of progress.

The 1/1 has some really thick nerf bars so I went with 1/4" tubing and then used 3/16" tubing and 1/8" rod to make a truss structure to somewhat resemble the 1/1.

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Then I put the first tube of the stinger on before I called it a night.

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I'm debating how I approach the exocage as I want access to the inside for batteries, etc. I plan to mount them side saddle just in case I put a full interior in this thing, prob just use a yeti or exoterra interior at first.
Maybe a hinging cage or maybe screwed in. Need to decide and start fabbing ;)


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Small update tonight. Been a busy weekend but had a couple hours to spare.

The pitbull growlers should be here tomorrow so I can't wait to get them mounted and test fit everything. Can't wait so I took all the wheels apart. If anyone ever wondered how many dang screws the militant have for mounting a tire and mounting on the truck...it's no joke. Ah the price of being scale.

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I threw on some tsl standard size tires as they're closer to what the pitbull a will be. I need to extend the front axle about 1/4" and the rear axle about 1/2". That'll put the wb at 14.5" overall. Need to make some custom links for fit up.

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I decided how I will do the body/exo cage. I'm going to make the C pillar fixed to the chassis and rear truggy portion. The roof rack will pivot on the c pillar and connect to the a pillar tubing. That tubing till go down to the frame and to the rock slider. Ther it'll have two bolts on each side holding it. Then I'm going to cut the front clip off and have that easily removable for batt changes...just need to figure out how I want to do it...

Anyway...time for the rear truggy section to start.

I'm going to build the lower truggy rails in halves and join in the middle. With all the bends it's just not practical to try and make each hoop one continuous tube.

This took a lot of bending and re bending to get them looking right.

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My evening is free tomorrow so I hope I can get some fab time. Need some new dremel bits and mapp gas!


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My growlers showed up today...Yes!!!

These are super sticky even with the new compound that's more durable.

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They were a bit of a pain to mount on the militants. Mostly because of the militants design. Either way they look great. I think I have a bead or two to redo before I lock these down for good.

I got three solid hours tonight to crank away on this rig. Definitely made good use of it. I got the rear truggy tube frame all matched and joined in the rear. Then did the down tubes from the roll bar and some more on the rear truggy. Including rear shock mounts and sway bar mounts. Thank goodness for rc bros fab tab coupons. All kinds of tabs to choose from.

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Just threw it on the chassis for a look. Still need to make the links to get the wb where I want it, but it's coming together.

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Love those growlers

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Also my 3racing winches showed up from rcmart. Takes forever to get but at more than 50% off, it's worth the wait.

The rear is going to be mounted upside down in the rear cage. Just enough room to clear the servo.

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Luckily I had some more time tonight to crank away on this rig.

Before I got down to the shop, I took my ess sound box and reprogrammed it. Found a pretty nasty sounding Diesel engine and a turbo sound that seems pretty cool. We'll see how it sounds once I have some electronics installed. I took it apart and conformal coated the circuit board to make it somewhat waterproof. I don't expect to submerge the rig with this in but it will definitely get wet.

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The 1:1 has down tubes on the rear truggy that tie into the internal cage. I took a different route and attached the. To the roll bar. I'm going to tie the internal cage to the roll bar through the body using some 3mm bolts and spacers. Had to braze on the threaded bosses.

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Started putting the rest of the internal roll cage together. Will be minimizing the tubing in here due to weight but want it to be solid

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I got tired of looking at the clear/colored can so I sprayed the inside grey like part of the donor rig. That way most scratches will show the same. I'll be praying the outside with duratrax black and then coating with Cat Yellow. I have a sample piece for testing adhesion. I can bend it all day long and the paint is still sticking. I have to thank superdrty for that trick. Using lexan paint as a primer you can spray almost any auto or normal spray paint on the outside.
I got the front shock hoops mounted so she could sit on her own feet if I had everything hooked up.

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I cut out the fenders from the donor body as they'll be the rear bedsides. Mocking up on the chassis.

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Some overall shots. I adjusted the links to add 1/4" up front and almost 3/4" in rear. It's a little over 14.5" now. Looks just right IMHO.

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Lots of progress, but lots left to do...


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Very NICE!

I only saw a clip of this rig on the show and hoped I would see more. Even better that someone is building a scaler! Keep up the good work. So far you're nailing it!8)
 
Figured I'd tackle the cab tonight.

Reinforced the internal cage a little.

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Laid down the "primer" coat of black

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Then it was time to cut the hood off. With the exocage I still wanted to be able to get on and change a battery quick.

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The roof rack and exocage will pivot off the rollbar.

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Then I made the outer A pillar bars so they could bolt to the frame.

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Then added the tube that goes down to the rock rail. It bolts to the rail thru the bottom.

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Some glamour shots with the body installed.

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Also ordered the links from vanquish tonight now that the wb is established. She's coming together!

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I had this wonderful idea. Let's try to replicate the sound system hanging off the real deal. At least in spirit. Thought it'd be cool to run down the trail with some listening music ;)

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So off to eBay looking for a Bluetooth speaker that has some smaller speaker dia.

Viola

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It looks like it has 4 speakers but it only has two. They are pretty close in dia to what I wanted...a little too big.

Sadly it took all of 2 minutes once it was disassembled to stop working. Not sure if it's something I did or not. Going to try and get a new one coming my way if I can convince the seller it's a defect. But hey, what do I expect for $12

Spent some time getting the electronics working on the bench. I picked up an rx451 receiver for my mt4. Have t used one before. It's nice to find a 4ch rx that isn't $100 for my radio. Binding was easy and we're off.

I'm using the lever for rear steer rather than the 4ws mix. Running the winch esc (castle sidewinder decased) off the dial. Kind of a cool feature of the mt4 is that you can have a button arm an aux channel. However only the dial or the trim switches can actuate, not the lever.

Everything working and calibrated, including the ess sound card. Tzi world winch is working great as well.

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Now it's time to knock out the front bumper.

Lower winch truss and light bar cross bar.

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I used some 3 hole shock tabs to mount the winch. They add more contact area for strength and give me options if I want to mount a different style of winch.

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Two tabs and the maddog 2" light bar is mounted.

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Now the rest of the supports and bars on the front bumper.

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Closeup of winch, light bar, and Fairlead all mounted. I know the 1:1 uses a warn winch. I could have put a 3racing up there however I wanted some function. With the winch at this angle, it gives a good appearance without looking so big. I like hawse style fair leads better than roller style. Just more reliable.

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Now the challenge of the extra front light bars. On the 1:1 it's pretty easy as light bars are getting smaller and smaller. In rc the smallest bars are still pretty big. I have some 1" bars from maddog. Planning on mounting the 1 side and cutting off the other mounting tab...should work once I add the bar that goes over top.

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That's a problem for another day.


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Quick update on the front. It's all done now with mounts for everything.

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Now I think we have enough LEDs ;)

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Fabrication involving the body panels is now done soooo, it's time for paint. I try to take many thin coats when painting exteriors. It tends to give a more durable finish.

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Mostly just trinket stuff to finish up. For now the rear speakers are on hold.

Vanquish links should show up tomorrow !!


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Decided to take it easy tonight. Only did a little fab on the chassis to add some little trinket pieces. Need to tackle the roof rack soon.

I got my inkjet vinyl and clear sticker sheets on Monday. Decided to play around with making decals for this rig.

Built up two test sheets to gage size on the body before printing on the special paper. Some of these I made and some I was able to get from directly from the Internet. After the dieselsellerz logo I decided to sneak in some Rc suppliers instead of the 1/1 just for my twist.

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Once I settled on the size of the skull for the hood (I'll use it as a mask when I paint the black part of the hood. I wanted to do a test. So I spent a decent amount of time with a hobby knife and then used some painters tape as a transfer device. I didn't do the best job of cutting on the first try but I think it'll work well. Plus I made extras just in case ;)

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The body is almost done in paint. Many many coats. Tomorrow should be clear coat. The hood will be finished like the 1/1 before clear.

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My vanquish links showed up today.

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So I got them installed and did a final assembly on my shocks. Went with the softer purple code springs all around with the rears having more preload. 40wt up front and 55 in rear. The sway bar will help handle the softer springs with torque twist.

Here she sits...ready for some finishing. Wb ended up at 15" which is about 1/4" longer than plan. I know the upper links being straight could be a driveline interference issue. With the multiple holes on the Cbe chassis rails I think I can raise them enough to be out of the way. If not, just put a little mend in them.

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I threw all the components in the center and weighed it. 8lb 11oz without having the body, battery, and driveshafts. Batt is 8oz, body is prob 4+. Driveshafts are ? So she'll probably be just under 10lbs all rtr at the end.


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I finished up the rear of the truggy bed. Filling in all those little pieces is a pain. Reminds me why I don't build rock bouncers.

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Since this has a steering servo that goes into the bed area the rear undermount winch isn't going to work. I put it upright between the shock mounts.

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Next was to tackle the roof rack. Cutting a bunch of little pieces...always fun.

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And some more LEDs

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All the accessories installed.

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Body is still in paint but got one of the coolest features done and painted tonight. Not perfect but as close as I can get.

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Should start sandblasting the chassis on Sunday if I have time.


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I had a little mishap with the paint on the cab :(

Some tape I was using to mask while detailing a feature left residue I couldn't rub off. So I sprayed some clear coat over it and it looked great. Then I removed the new mask and it took the a pillar paint with it.

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So I took my exacto knife and tested a couple of areas. Some paint is bonded like it should be and scratches off...other areas peel off in small chunks.... :!

The cowl is one of the worst.

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Needless to say, the whole body is getting sanded ....aggressively...and repainted. I need to take off 3 clear coat layers to get down to the base paint to sand.

The hood and the rear bedsides seem fine.

It's got to be either a lack of surface prep or some oil or something on the body that I missed. I've painted exterior lexan before without this kind of issue. Superdirty does it all the time with rattle can after a layer of polycarbonate paint also without issues.

Fingers crossed this works.


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Here is the cab after a lot of sanding (a lot of sanding).

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Resprayed tamiya ps5 black and coating again with Cat yellow.

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Also go the chassis buttoned up and sandblasted.

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Sprayed with a semi flat rustoleum.

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I need to install the axles again and get the links in final position. Trans and drivelines so I can get the battery tray and the electronics trays built and mounted.


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