2mtech
RCC Addict
So I got this:
20200427_213254 by W2, on Flickr
Some folks have adopted the approach of doing an entire build and then posting the whole thing in three or four consecutive massive posts. Not my style...I grew up with installment serials and still appreciate them! This will be basically a first impression post to start things off.
I posted it elsewhere but I'll reiterate here that I was hesitant about buying a Cross rig. But after emailing Cross RC US inquiring about parts availability and support and getting a response from good ol' Bob an hour later assuring me they carried the full parts catalog and had been doing so for the last five years I figured I'd give it a shot.
I don't know why my trucks have to have cleverly stupid (stupidly clever?) names...same reason my cars have names I guess. Either way...I noticed this saber-toothed tiger logo on a lot of the parts that I hadn't seen before, and Fangfeng was a giant mythological Chinese deity, so there it is.
Starting with the body, hard bodies still make me just a little bit nervous, although not so much anymore. I want to redeem my sense of self worth and confidence following my last project that was kind of halfazzed, so I want this one to be perfect. Ok, I'll settle for excellent. I'm still a bit new to the different-from-lexan process of sanding, filling, sanding, priming, sanding, painting and clear coating. mikemcE will probably get a few PM questions (it's his fault for admitting he has half a lifetime's painting experience) :ror:
Plastic itself makes me apprehensive because it's such a variable thing, and can make the difference between a good kit and an enjoyable build and a frustrating irritant in a NY minute. My GF worked in plastics as an operator and QA for 17 years, so while I look at things I get now first, I hand them to her next. She didn't see anything I didn't with this body, so that's good. There were a couple completely typical and likely unavoidable mold lines near the rear of the bed and across the top of the cab; they'll be dealt with first.
20200503_163134 by W2, on Flickr
20200503_163332 by W2, on Flickr
The only real mold boo-boo is on both sides of the cab at the upper rear corner of the back side windows. May not be a lot to be done about these without making it worse:
20200503_163403 by W2, on Flickr
The short-shot divot could probably be filled, but TBH that Tamiya putty is so fast curing and challenging to shape I'm a bit concerned about being able to maintain, or recreate, the door line. May have to suck it up and try. This defect will detract from perfection OR excellence!
Looking at the pictures of the truck before I ordered, I couldn't really figure out what they were going for with the eight serrations on the fender flares. My original thought was they'd be a bitch kitty to mask around, so I was really glad when I unpacked the kit to see that the fender flares are separate parts added during assembly. Cool!
20200503_164122 by W2, on Flickr
20200503_164206 by W2, on Flickr
But then I looked for the front flares...and realized they are molded into the body. Not so cool. Oh well, not the end of the world.
20200503_163947 by W2, on Flickr
There...I figured I'd go ahead and get the negative out of the way, as those couple things were all there was so far, trivial as they are.
When I first saw the shipping notification I noticed the package was 15 lbs. Holy crap! I get why now. This things is massive, 1/10 or not. This guy is just before 25" long, 11.5" tall and almost 9" wide at the outside duals with a 13.5" wheelbase. Geez. For some reference, here's the front bumper held up to my TRX-4 Sport...
20200503_164536 by W2, on Flickr
And one of the diff covers next to the Vaterra Ascender's...
20200503_165055 by W2, on Flickr
The wheels are pretty standard steelies that account for a good deal of weight too.
20200503_165800 by W2, on Flickr
But to really grasp the brawn of the kit, one has to look at, and heft, the 2-speed transmission/transfer case with the factory installed 27t brushed 540 motor. This critter weighs in at 1 lb 6 oz all by itself, and is ginormous.
20200503_170336 by W2, on Flickr
Tires (all six of them) seem pretty sticky and I like the tread pattern for a scaler. The inner rings are a unique color...recycled pennies/10 fen coins? Foams seem to be packing material foam...they should last at least a month, this will never see water.
20200503_171111 by W2, on Flickr
Here's another one of those extra mile scale details you don't see all that often, at least I don't...tire size on the sidewall! Good to know they're radials. "thumbsup"
20200503_171125 by W2, on Flickr
The included light kit is one of those overly busy sets that ties into the ESC and has headlights, taillights, turn signals and four marker lights that I can't stand...I decided to use it. I finally broke down and bought an ESS One Dual sound module because this truck is begging for some diesel audio, so I figured I may as well light it up too. If the turn signals blink with the steering servo I'll probably throw up though. :lmao:
20200503_165651 by W2, on Flickr
Since I'm not an airbrusher, I wanted to go with a more unique color that I can't get from PS paint, so I'll be shooting mica red Tamiya TS-39 and TS-13 gloss clear over Valspar Project Perfect white primer. I ordered two Hobbywing 1080 ESC's that just cleared customs in country, hopefully they'll be here before I'm ready for one. Steering servo will be a standard DS3218, but I had a Losi LOSB0812 lying around in case I ever got a 2-speed...should work for that. I'll at least try the stock motor before replacing with a HH one.
Since this is a hard body I'm seriously considering doing the body and paint work first so it'll have plenty of time to cure before handling it for assembly, but the other side of my brain argues that if I encounter fitment issues once the chassis is built I may be faced with making modifications, if necessary, to a finished body, which I would rather not have to do. Anybody ever built backwards?
More to come...tune in next time, kiddies. "thumbsup"
.
20200427_213254 by W2, on Flickr
Some folks have adopted the approach of doing an entire build and then posting the whole thing in three or four consecutive massive posts. Not my style...I grew up with installment serials and still appreciate them! This will be basically a first impression post to start things off.
I posted it elsewhere but I'll reiterate here that I was hesitant about buying a Cross rig. But after emailing Cross RC US inquiring about parts availability and support and getting a response from good ol' Bob an hour later assuring me they carried the full parts catalog and had been doing so for the last five years I figured I'd give it a shot.
I don't know why my trucks have to have cleverly stupid (stupidly clever?) names...same reason my cars have names I guess. Either way...I noticed this saber-toothed tiger logo on a lot of the parts that I hadn't seen before, and Fangfeng was a giant mythological Chinese deity, so there it is.
Starting with the body, hard bodies still make me just a little bit nervous, although not so much anymore. I want to redeem my sense of self worth and confidence following my last project that was kind of halfazzed, so I want this one to be perfect. Ok, I'll settle for excellent. I'm still a bit new to the different-from-lexan process of sanding, filling, sanding, priming, sanding, painting and clear coating. mikemcE will probably get a few PM questions (it's his fault for admitting he has half a lifetime's painting experience) :ror:
Plastic itself makes me apprehensive because it's such a variable thing, and can make the difference between a good kit and an enjoyable build and a frustrating irritant in a NY minute. My GF worked in plastics as an operator and QA for 17 years, so while I look at things I get now first, I hand them to her next. She didn't see anything I didn't with this body, so that's good. There were a couple completely typical and likely unavoidable mold lines near the rear of the bed and across the top of the cab; they'll be dealt with first.
20200503_163134 by W2, on Flickr
20200503_163332 by W2, on Flickr
The only real mold boo-boo is on both sides of the cab at the upper rear corner of the back side windows. May not be a lot to be done about these without making it worse:
20200503_163403 by W2, on Flickr
The short-shot divot could probably be filled, but TBH that Tamiya putty is so fast curing and challenging to shape I'm a bit concerned about being able to maintain, or recreate, the door line. May have to suck it up and try. This defect will detract from perfection OR excellence!
Looking at the pictures of the truck before I ordered, I couldn't really figure out what they were going for with the eight serrations on the fender flares. My original thought was they'd be a bitch kitty to mask around, so I was really glad when I unpacked the kit to see that the fender flares are separate parts added during assembly. Cool!
20200503_164122 by W2, on Flickr
20200503_164206 by W2, on Flickr
But then I looked for the front flares...and realized they are molded into the body. Not so cool. Oh well, not the end of the world.
20200503_163947 by W2, on Flickr
There...I figured I'd go ahead and get the negative out of the way, as those couple things were all there was so far, trivial as they are.
When I first saw the shipping notification I noticed the package was 15 lbs. Holy crap! I get why now. This things is massive, 1/10 or not. This guy is just before 25" long, 11.5" tall and almost 9" wide at the outside duals with a 13.5" wheelbase. Geez. For some reference, here's the front bumper held up to my TRX-4 Sport...
20200503_164536 by W2, on Flickr
And one of the diff covers next to the Vaterra Ascender's...
20200503_165055 by W2, on Flickr
The wheels are pretty standard steelies that account for a good deal of weight too.
20200503_165800 by W2, on Flickr
But to really grasp the brawn of the kit, one has to look at, and heft, the 2-speed transmission/transfer case with the factory installed 27t brushed 540 motor. This critter weighs in at 1 lb 6 oz all by itself, and is ginormous.
20200503_170336 by W2, on Flickr
Tires (all six of them) seem pretty sticky and I like the tread pattern for a scaler. The inner rings are a unique color...recycled pennies/10 fen coins? Foams seem to be packing material foam...they should last at least a month, this will never see water.
20200503_171111 by W2, on Flickr
Here's another one of those extra mile scale details you don't see all that often, at least I don't...tire size on the sidewall! Good to know they're radials. "thumbsup"
20200503_171125 by W2, on Flickr
The included light kit is one of those overly busy sets that ties into the ESC and has headlights, taillights, turn signals and four marker lights that I can't stand...I decided to use it. I finally broke down and bought an ESS One Dual sound module because this truck is begging for some diesel audio, so I figured I may as well light it up too. If the turn signals blink with the steering servo I'll probably throw up though. :lmao:
20200503_165651 by W2, on Flickr
Since I'm not an airbrusher, I wanted to go with a more unique color that I can't get from PS paint, so I'll be shooting mica red Tamiya TS-39 and TS-13 gloss clear over Valspar Project Perfect white primer. I ordered two Hobbywing 1080 ESC's that just cleared customs in country, hopefully they'll be here before I'm ready for one. Steering servo will be a standard DS3218, but I had a Losi LOSB0812 lying around in case I ever got a 2-speed...should work for that. I'll at least try the stock motor before replacing with a HH one.
Since this is a hard body I'm seriously considering doing the body and paint work first so it'll have plenty of time to cure before handling it for assembly, but the other side of my brain argues that if I encounter fitment issues once the chassis is built I may be faced with making modifications, if necessary, to a finished body, which I would rather not have to do. Anybody ever built backwards?
More to come...tune in next time, kiddies. "thumbsup"
.