The replacement Mamba X came in from Castle so that restarted this build. They even included the XT60 connector from the ESC that I sent back.
On this build, I am going to use a peasant's device - a BEC - because the Sfeer servo that I am using isn't the quickest or strongest on 6.0V. So I'll be setting this at 7.4V to max out the Chinese servo.
I mounted the ESC in this orientation so that wires would clear the interior. I'm glad I took the time to check the clearances before sticking it to the chassis.
I am jealous of those of you who have the talent for clean wiring. I do not. Even when I try it seems like the wires just don't line up to make clean bundles. So I end up with a rats nest like this! :ror: The Castle B-Link is just temporary. I'll remove that after the first trail run or so when I'm happy with my settings. I'm going to have to remember to get this truck too wet or I'll have to come up with another receiver box plan. Or maybe I'll give in and put everything in the fuel cell eventually.
I decided to not use the stock fuel cell/receiver box because it's at the rear of the chassis and I didn't want to put servo extension on everything.
I wasn't sure what to do with the long receiver antenna so I zip-tied a piece of antenna tube to the chassis. The antenna takes up the entire length of the tube so it won't easily slip out.
In these photos you can also see the battery stop that I designed and printed. I wasn't confident that one strap was going to hold the battery in place.
I also replaced the screws that attach the metal side plate to the chassis which is under the battery. I figured button head screws would be safer for the battery than cap head screws.
The rear battery tray is very nice, but if you are using the dig you have to put the battery on the floorboard. For the side-mounted battery, the only provision you get from Vanquish is a single strap to hold the battery. You could use a second battery strap, but there's no slot for it cut into the sheet metal plate.
It felt like spring this weekend so that gave me some time to paint on Sunday. I decided to try Tamiya's Dark Metallic Blue PS-59 backed with Gold PS-13 and then Duratrax Base Cover Black. I may never buy another uncut body again. Pre-cut bodies are so damn nice and cut out so much work! You can tell I haven't painted in a while because I washed the body and was all ready to spray it. Woah I need to apply the masks first. And then I applied the first mask sticker on the outside of the body! Doh! WTH are you doing?! Good think it was the smallest of the bunch - the taillight - so it came off easily. Freaking newb mistakes! :lmao:
It's a little dark, as expected, but I really like it. It is going to need an accent color though. I'm thinking about a white stripe. For the grille, I'm thinking about painting it silver or maybe even white. I'm leaning towards silver though. I think Molotow chrome would be great if I had somebody to airbrush it for me. What do you guys think?
I particularly like this shot. It reminds me of back in the day when I was a kid and my dad would do body work on cars. All the parts and accessories are removed from the body so you have just the sheet metal. To me, the body looks like a sheet metal shell in this photo and I think it's cool.
:ror:
