Just another Jeep JK

[SpecterXP]

So, there are a few trucks that really like and wanted to build myself.

1: D90/D110
2: LR3/4
3: Jeep JK

It's taken some time, but I finally own all 3 of them! Now it's time to build them! First up was the D90, which I chose to do on a SCX-10. It didn't work out that well so I decided to scrap it and build one from scratch.

Well, those plans changed and here is how:

I'm currently visiting my grandparents (about 90 miles from where I live) and as I'm driving down the road, I look into someone's yard and saw a New Bright Jeep JK sitting on a shelf (with some other RC cars with it). It had recently rained (with 50+ MPH wins) so I know the truck couldn't work after that. I knocked on the door and asked the lady if I could buy that broken RC car (pointed to the Jeep). We talked for a few minutes, and she said I could have it! FOR FREE!!!!!

Here are some pictures of how it was when I got it. The windshield is gone, rear tail lights are missin, right fender is cracked pretty bad and there is a chunk missing from the rear bumper. Bumpers don't bother me because I'll end up using a tube bumper anyway.

I plan to use these parts:
GCM CrossCanyon chassis kit
Axial trans w/ steel gears (locked) / RC4WD 2spd Axial trans (currently unreleased)
Yota Axles
4-link front and rear
RC4WD Rock Crusher X/T's (maybe 2nd gen, but they are bigger)
RC4WD 90mm front shocks
RC4WD 100mm rear shocks
RC4WD Dick Cepec wheels / RC4WD Scale Jeep wheels
Unsure about electronics at this time

 

[theloudone]

you should just go without fenders. i think they look cooler that way "thumbsup"

 

[Modbug]

That what you call the eagle eye, nice find.

JK body is a nice one, realistic.

Agree on the fenders, looks meaner with them slimmed down or cut, personal preference.

 

[SpecterXP]

I was lucky to find it, that's for sure! I was riding by for about a week and thought that's what it was, but wasn't sure. Curiosity finally got the best of me, and this time I'm glad it did.

I'll do a search and see if I can find some that are removed and/or trimmed and see what it looks like. It's too late when there gone, lol.

 

[SpecterXP]

While I'm waiting on parts, I needed to get the body painted so here is my progress. I wanted to paint the exterior Orange, but I don't think it will match my plans for the interior. I plan to have a Black and Tan interior to complete the leather look New Bright has used so I think I'm stuck with some shade of red instead.

I chose Dark Cherry Metallic and here are the results. I'm going to paint the top, fenders and rockers with a flat black. I also plan to paint some diamond plate styrene in silver for the rockers.

 

[theloudone]

what did you do to remove the original color? did you just sand it?

 

[SpecterXP]

what did you do to remove the original color? did you just sand it?

Yea, normal sand paper. I removed every line that the mold hard formed and had to fix some cracks (used clear Gorilla Glue), so I used 80-100 grit paper in those areas. Then I followed that with 150 grit to smooth it out and sand everything else. The black on the body was the worst part, so that's why I used such low grit paper. After that, I shot a layer of Dupli-Color scratch filling non-sandable primer followed by a Dupli-Color sandable primer. I used 600 grit on areas that has some deeper imperfections from the repairs I did, and I wet sanded the other areas that showed lighter imperfections with 1000 grit. Then I re-shot the sandable primer and wet sanded until all the imperfections were gone. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. The color is 3 coats thick with 2 coats of clear. It should hold up to a beating.

 

[johninvb]

Yea, normal sand paper. I removed every line that the mold hard formed and had to fix some cracks (used clear Gorilla Glue), so I used 80-100 grit paper in those areas. Then I followed that with 150 grit to smooth it out and sand everything else. The black on the body was the worst part, so that's why I used such low grit paper. After that, I shot a layer of Dupli-Color scratch filling non-sandable primer followed by a Dupli-Color sandable primer. I used 600 grit on areas that has some deeper imperfections from the repairs I did, and I wet sanded the other areas that showed lighter imperfections with 1000 grit. Then I re-shot the sandable primer and wet sanded until all the imperfections were gone. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. The color is 3 coats thick with 2 coats of clear. It should hold up to a beating.

Thanks for the info... I scored a 4 door with the new bright "mud" on it and was wondering what grit to sand with destroying the body...

 

[SpecterXP]

Awesome! Glad I could help.

 

[SpecterXP]

Finally finished the paint on the exterior, with the exception of the hinges and door handles. I have to detail the interior after that.

 

[danmac]

Awsome find and paint looks great, ive never used gorrila glue how do you think it will hold with a good tumble

 

[SpecterXP]

I've used gorilla glue on styrene and it pretty much fuses the two pieces together if you sand both sides you glue. I found out that both fenders were cracked in the same spot. I'm sure that they are the most common part to get hit so I'll find out as soon as I get it running and I'll post the results.

 

[LDogg]

Looks good, I like the darker red. I used a rc4wd r2 tranny in mine to get body down low.

 

[SpecterXP]

I wanted to use my SCX-10, but the trans was in the way. I'm going to use the GCM CrossCaynon chassis because it puts all the electronics and trans under the hood and that works great with the JK and its full interior. That's cool that the R2 trans would fit under the interior. Good to know. What chassis did you use?

 

[LDogg]

I used an SCX chassis with the r2 tranny and the r2 skid plate. It sits right under the interior perfectly and doesn't need to be cut at all. I also used the body posts and cut them down and made a plate that sits under the hood so that I can attach the front via Velcro. It works pretty well and was cheap to make.

 

[rc kraver]

I used an SCX chassis with the r2 tranny and the r2 skid plate. It sits right under the interior perfectly and doesn't need to be cut at all. I also used the body posts and cut them down and made a plate that sits under the hood so that I can attach the front via Velcro. It works pretty well and was cheap to make.

i have the same setup on my 2 door newbright jeep rubicon (pretty much same story as you got at a yardsale for FREE!) any ways the r2 trans fits perfect with the newbright bodys! looks good i might have to see if i can find another jeep to build

 

[Bulldog]

The paint turned out really nice. "thumbsup"

 

[SpecterXP]

I did think the SCX-10 chassis would work at all so I didn't even try it. I tried to use it for my D90 and that failed miserably so I gave up on the SCX-10 for scale builds. Lol. I didn't even know that there was an adapter plate for the R2 trans and SCX-10 chassis. Learn something new every day! You can get that trans with 2spd or dig too.

Hrm.. I think I'll stick with the GCM chassis though. I hope RC4WD comes out with the 2spd Axial trans soon. I want to use that for this build.

Thanks for the kind words on the build!!

 

[tozrovr]

Building a scaler with the SCX-10 isn't always a bolt on affair, but it can be. Both my last Defender 110 pickup and my first D90 were on the SCX10. The GCM stuff is great but really not much simpler to use unless you need to move the suspension mounts around.

 

[SpecterXP]

I really like the SCX-10, but the D90's interior needed to be heavily modified and it didn't mix with that setup. The trans is too tall and the shock mounts are really big. Mounting the body was easy though. The body posts helped greatly! Great performing truck though!

I wanted something with more weight up front and that will leave the the body (with full interior) lower on the chassis.