OGmicromonster
Rock Crawler
Well this is going to be my first attempt at a scale crawler and second crawler of any scale (I've build several other custom RC's before). What inspired me to build this "Desktop Crawler" was a set of Proline Dirt Hawgs for the Mini-T/RC18T. I know I'm probably taking on a huge project (though it's small in scale) by building a scale rig at a smaller scale. It's hard enough to build a scaler that looks half as good as some of the ones I've seen on here. AND I'm sure it's going to be quite a bit tougher building one this size, but what can I say? I like a challenge.
Well we'll see how it turns out. It's going to be a bit of a slow build since most of the stuff will have to built from scratch and I'll be learning along the way. But I'll post plenty of detailed photos along the way. So with that said... ON WITH THE BUILD!
The first thing I did was narrow a set of RPM revolvers for the RC18T. Using a cut off wheel mounted in a drill press I set the height of the cutter and hacked nearly half the back side of the rim.
As you can see I made the back edge slightly lower than the center mounting hub.
Here is a comparison with the stock setup. (Stock is on the left, narrowed on the right... obviously )
I still need to make some rock rings for the rims, but I'll leave those for another post... when I actually make them.;-)
Next it was onto the center output gear. I like to figure out how I'm going to get my vehicles moving first before worrying about other stuff. I figure the drive train is the hardest part when configuring one from different components. I'm using an Xray M18 spur gear. It's small enough and fairly easy to get a hold of should I strip it, but I don't see that happening... I hope.
To make the output cups I cut the center mounting hub from an old set of Mini Quake rims. They fit perfectly inside the spur gears center hole. Almost as if it were made to go in there. But as you can see in the photo above, the spur gear has a flat spot to grab the shaft it's made to go onto. So I cut a notch on the ends of the drive cups to match up with the flat spot on the spur.
The using a 3x10mm grub screw I fastened the two output cups on either side of the spur gear.
Now onto the drive shafts. Since I was using Mini Quake rim centers for output cups, I figured I should use the sliders from the Mini Quake for drive shafts. They look pretty much like the real thing.
So the short end goes into the output cups on the center gear and BAM! Center drive train is set and ready to go.
This will give you an idea of the wheelbase I'm thinking of working with and how big this thing is going to be.
At first I was thinking of just soldering some brass tubing together and making a buggy type chassis, but then I got word that PTI Racing was making a 1/18-scale Jeep body. So things changed. I had been browsing the scale forums and saw DISTURBIN' THA PEACE'S Evil Bastard build (and the link within his post) and was immediately inspired by the awesome work. So I got a hold of a clear PTI Jeep body for the Goliath MMT and cut out the hood.
Here is the body as it comes stock (unpainted of course - this one was used for their press release that I painted up for them)
Here is the hood cut out and ready for mock up.
Next on the list of things to do are the axles. I'm planning on modeling them after Bruiser axles. So it's a good thing I have my Bruiser to reference. For the crown and pinion gear in the axle I'll be looking at some metal slot car gears.
Until then if anyone has suggestions on how to make things easier or on where to get parts and materials, I'm all ears.
Well we'll see how it turns out. It's going to be a bit of a slow build since most of the stuff will have to built from scratch and I'll be learning along the way. But I'll post plenty of detailed photos along the way. So with that said... ON WITH THE BUILD!The first thing I did was narrow a set of RPM revolvers for the RC18T. Using a cut off wheel mounted in a drill press I set the height of the cutter and hacked nearly half the back side of the rim.
As you can see I made the back edge slightly lower than the center mounting hub.
Here is a comparison with the stock setup. (Stock is on the left, narrowed on the right... obviously
)
I still need to make some rock rings for the rims, but I'll leave those for another post... when I actually make them.;-)
Next it was onto the center output gear. I like to figure out how I'm going to get my vehicles moving first before worrying about other stuff. I figure the drive train is the hardest part when configuring one from different components. I'm using an Xray M18 spur gear. It's small enough and fairly easy to get a hold of should I strip it, but I don't see that happening... I hope.
To make the output cups I cut the center mounting hub from an old set of Mini Quake rims. They fit perfectly inside the spur gears center hole. Almost as if it were made to go in there. But as you can see in the photo above, the spur gear has a flat spot to grab the shaft it's made to go onto. So I cut a notch on the ends of the drive cups to match up with the flat spot on the spur.
The using a 3x10mm grub screw I fastened the two output cups on either side of the spur gear.
Now onto the drive shafts. Since I was using Mini Quake rim centers for output cups, I figured I should use the sliders from the Mini Quake for drive shafts. They look pretty much like the real thing.
So the short end goes into the output cups on the center gear and BAM! Center drive train is set and ready to go.
This will give you an idea of the wheelbase I'm thinking of working with and how big this thing is going to be.
At first I was thinking of just soldering some brass tubing together and making a buggy type chassis, but then I got word that PTI Racing was making a 1/18-scale Jeep body. So things changed. I had been browsing the scale forums and saw DISTURBIN' THA PEACE'S Evil Bastard build (and the link within his post) and was immediately inspired by the awesome work. So I got a hold of a clear PTI Jeep body for the Goliath MMT and cut out the hood.
Here is the body as it comes stock (unpainted of course - this one was used for their press release that I painted up for them)
Here is the hood cut out and ready for mock up.
Next on the list of things to do are the axles. I'm planning on modeling them after Bruiser axles. So it's a good thing I have my Bruiser to reference. For the crown and pinion gear in the axle I'll be looking at some metal slot car gears.
Until then if anyone has suggestions on how to make things easier or on where to get parts and materials, I'm all ears.
