OS's Wendigo kit

[OSRC]

Whoops! The overspray sticker was on the inside of the body....I never even thought to look and never noticed until I painted it. Painted it and flipped it over and there it was! That's a new one on me.

Could have stripped and repainted it I guess, but just decided to flat black over it since it was on the hood. Came out ok in the end.

The drivers are way cool...tinted visors. Working with a larger scale is nice, you can really cram in details.

Didn't do much to the interior, just tried to keep it neat.

Flat backed the center of the grill hoping it would stand out more, though it's tough to notice.... The headlights take 2 5mm LED's each - I don't have any handy but I do plan to add them later.

Skipped some of the stickers and just left it clean. Tons of room here for detailing. I have to track down some fuel tubing for the fuel tank, I've got some stashed here somewhere.

Gave the molded in radiator a silver wash. Came out pretty decent! Have to do a bit of touch up yet.

And a few poser shots... I like it, though I have to say the shocks are going to be swapped out before the tires see any dirt. This short/long shock setup may be great for a basher, but it's way, way off for a trail truck. I think the pewter paint looks great though it would look better with black wheels.

Electronics finally showed up today too. Time to break out the hotirons!

 

[tuxstang]

Really nice ... will look better with the same shocks length all around.

 

[OSRC]

Really nice ... will look better with the same shocks length all around.

Thanks! I've just swapped some over and it looks (and feels) much better. "thumbsup" Pics to come!

...these axles with Dethrone the AR60's in the MT World.

Very possible, they are pretty beefy. I forgot to count the gears, I'll have to track down the axle ratio.

EDIT 1: 2.91 ... Hmm....interesting.

EDIT 2: Redcat is selling the axles alone for $80. Not a bad deal!

 

[FormallySkullking]

Looks great I went brown too[emoji23]

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[OSRC]

Gearing looks to be interesting...

Looks like the stock ratio is a rather high 16.51:1 ... assuming that's a good ratio for a rock racer. Lowest I can go with the stock spur is a 9t pinion and the FDR is then 31.19:1. That's still pretty high...especially with 2.2's. Standard Wraith ratio is right in that ballpark and It's a bit on the tall side. I'm thinking the Gen8 chassis was designed with portals in mind and without their gear reduction, the FDR is pretty high.

In any case, I'll bolt up the motor with a 9t and see how it drives.

 

[OSRC]

Mini update...the rake and shock setup was really bothering me. Nothing wrong with it per-se, I just wanted to see how a more crawler/trail setup worked out. I dug around in my parts piles and found some old XR10 shocks (and a pair of Gmades) - the XR10's are probably the nicest shocks Axial has made - I've never had a leak and they are super smooth. Swapped over the lower rod ends and on they went!

Before pic of the way the truck sits currently:

Size comparison between the stock and XR10...about the same length of the front shocks. Probably could have just put the Gmades on the back and called it a day, but I have a lot of pistons/spring options for the XR10's so I put them all around.

and after... much better stance and still has plenty of flex. I like it!

 

[Bob_in az]

I gotta say, it's one of the best looking (aesthetically) trucks out there right now in my opinion. That body is a home run. I love the pewter paint job on yours. Well done!

 

[OSRC]

Thanks! I like the color too, it came out pretty decent.

Got the electronics installed...nothing fancy. 1080 and a Brood 10t 550 5 slot.

Trimmed the battery tray and it works fine for my smaller 2200 packs. Do think it sits a little high though.. I found an 8t pinion in my stash and it fit in no problem.

Test drive time! Only took it out in the backyard for a bit... it's got a lot of potential. It's like a Deadbolt on steroids! Ran very quiet and smooth, the t-case gears felt notchy on the bench but seemed to spin very smooth.

Seemed to sidehill decently well and felt pretty stable front to back - it's in the ballpark certainly and good enough for a full trail run. The only issue is the steering. Wow, either I'm spoiled or it's just that bad. CR01 territory. Yikes!

Came in and immediately started messing with it. Kids are have some friends over, so dad's hiding in the basement. First thing I did was push the rear bumper all the way in...tucks up perfect to the body.

Speaking of, I thought the body sat a little high on the chassis. Rear posts are already in the lowest hole so I lined them up with the shock towers, drilled some new holes and now it's as low as it can go without some serious trimming. It'll need some holes for the shock towers before it can go any lower.

Before:

During:

After:

I had to do something with the steering...since the front C-hubs are held on with 5 screws, had no problem filing down the front a little bit where the knuckles hit and then countersinking the screw. Plenty of meat there... It helped get a few degrees but not a ton. Really, it's going to need some custom knuckles before you get a lot more out of it.

Also I moved the upper link back a hole to rotate the axle for a bit more caster. Not happy with the pinion angle per-se, but it should be ok.

Thinking forward... AR60 axles are the same width, and with OD gears the same ratio. Hmmm...far better steering...

Future conversion... but I'll run it at least once with the stock axles to see how it does.

 

[FormallySkullking]

Nice! I think the steering is fine. It's not really a technical crawler. Ofcourse I'm running balls out sliding into corners[emoji1787]

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[OSRC]

It's perfect if you are running high speeds, which is what it was designed for. I don't think you want any more or it'll barrel roll.

Mine tops out at about 6mph though.

 

[durok]

Gotta chime in and say that Wendigo is stunning in the color you chose - so much better than the flashy red graphics it's been advertised in!

This thread is great advertising for picking one up... "thumbsup"

 

[alexleblanc]

You’ve got me excited about this kit, just ordered one for myself. It will be a great kit to break in the new RC shop at the new house.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

The photos look good. Cellphones can't handle bright lighting for some reasons. Even the flash messes up cellphone photos IMO.

The truck looks good. And it looks much better with the new shocks.

 

[johnnyluv]

Hey, OSRC. I like your idea of making the Wendigo a 2.2. Trail truck, so I'm thinking of using a brushed system on my Wendigo kit build. Do you by chance have any running videos of yours? I'd like to see & hear it run on a brushed setup, if possible.

 

[OSRC]

No, I don't. Haven't had the chance to run it yet other than the quick test in the backyard. Seemed fairly smooth and quiet.

 

[sportbikeco]

I read this then built it by the book, ended up flipping the links as posted here lol.


What motor you guys going with?

I have ordered a China 3660 2600KV but also have a HH 550 5-slot 8-turn that could be fun in this (i found it too fast for my trx-6).


How is gearing on this truck? The included pinion seem HUGE as usual lol. I'd start with 9t most likely.

 

[OSRC]

Welcome to the club! "thumbsup"

What motor you guys going with?

How is gearing on this truck? The included pinion seem HUGE as usual lol. I'd start with 9t most likely.

Got the electronics installed...nothing fancy. 1080 and a Brood 10t 550 5 slot. ..... I found an 8t pinion in my stash and it fit in no problem.

 

[sportbikeco]

 

[meatmonkey]

You had me going until you showed the max steering angle. That just isn't going to work for me. Will the axles allow more angle than the knuckles allow?

Otherwise it looks like a decent enough kit. The housings sure look beef enough. Digging the c-hub attachment method. I've had lots of issues with the axial 2 bolt retention method.

What size are the wheel bearings? That gives me an idea of how jump rated these will be.

 

[OSRC]

Looks great sportbikeco! Love that color!

The CVD's look like they have more travel in them, but the knuckles would need major mods to get more angle. I don't know the size of the bearings offhand, but I don't recall them being monstrous or anything. The manual is available for download off Redcat's site.

I built up an AR60, looks like it'll be a simple swap. Due to some family issues, haven't really been doing much with RC lately. I'm hoping to get out this weekend though and give it a good long shakedown run.