Karlp's D90 Truggy **Photo Heavy**

[KarlP]

So after reading everyones build threads and checking out all the stunning photos of all your rigs i've decided to finally take my SCX10 and make it my own. Just to warn you all this is the first time i've ever tried anything like this so if you spot any foul ups or mistakes go easy on me

I've always loved the look of land rovers so the body was always going to be something landy based, so after some searching on the interwebs i came to find a few photos of some modified land rover which i really like the look of see below:

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So we started with this although cutting this shell did make me a little nervous lol

And after some research i saw using cotton thread was a popular method for cutting hard bodies, so i got myself some and gave it a try, i liked the method was slow but gave you lots of control and arm ache lol it went pretty well and i got it pretty square over all, only had a tiny curve on the roof section.

A quick shot of it on the chassis

I need to sort the body height and decide if i wanna cut away the wheel arches and some of the wing or if just the arches will be enough. Maybe i could cut them and fit the dingo ones? /ponder

I was not sure how to do the rear of the cab so i decided to keep simple for my first time at this and i kept it a flat panel, i then cut out two sections of styrene one to fit inside the body and one to sit outside the body, i then laminated them together to give it some strength i don't know if this was needed but i can't see it hurting. Also i was thinking about of reinforcing the inside with styrene angle strips or would that be overkill?

Then i set about cleaning it up with various sharp things, files and wet'n'dry of various grades, Then i went about using some filler to smooth it all out, used some Squadron white putty to fill all the little spots in, bloody stuff dry's dam quick so best to only use a little at a time.

So thats about where i am up to at the moment i've cleaned up some of the mold lines and trimmed up some other stuff on the body tonight, now its time for some beer and dominos while i research some more stuff on the arches and mounting height

 

[nitro_star]

looks like an interseting build. looking good thus far, will be watching this one for sure.

 

[KarlP]

So i had a play in Photoshop and i mocked these photos up tonight to see what ya folks think of cutting the body more so it looks like the modded landy in the second photo, this one has just the arches cut out,

And this one has a lot of the wing cut more like the photo, which would also mean having to sort the front end out somehow, maybe cutting it round the front to the grill in the middle

 

[Rook82]

I am thinking that maybe a mix of the two. The wheel section cut like the second picture, but leave the grill and some of the light area. Work from the fender cut height on the side down to the grill at an angle. So as to leave some of the area for the head lights. Similar to the Second (white 1:1 rig) rig. There is a build thread on here somewhere of someone who did do a pretty good copy of that same 1:1.

Found it:

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/1-9-scale-rigs/296439-land-rover-defender-90-truggy.html

May be good for some ideas. Side note, I do not think you can go overkill for strength of the styrene and body. Unless it is a shelf queen, build it as strong as possible"thumbsup"

 

[northernerbill]

Hey up mate!!, long time no speak"thumbsup"

This is gonna be cool

The white1;1 for sure

 

[KarlP]

So had a quick play in photoshop again to mock up the front to get it more like the 1:1, i'm like the idea more and more, i was thinking of doing the front something like below, probably blanking the front light areas off, also thinking of maybe curving the bottom as it meets the grill, just not sure if i should leave them plain or attempt to move the lights up there not sure if i could do it justice, i've marked out the side ready to cut which i can hopefully get done tomorrow night if i can come up with a decent idea for the front.

 

[The-Blacksheep]

looks good so far man, i think you need to come up with a combination of the second and third photo maybe with rounded cuts on the front grill and maybe chopping te wings in half horizontal or something like that

 

[KarlP]

So i broke out the cotton again lol As you can see i've cut away some of the wing and the front to make it more like the 1:1 i need to give it a final clean and square up but 85% of the works done i just need to make it look pretty, next job up after the beauty treatment is to reinforce the body where needed, just need to some source some decent sized right angle for the back panel and i reckon i can cut strips or styrene for anywhere else i need to.

 

[Rook82]

Like it"thumbsup" That is just how i was trying to say that I think would like best. I'm working on a simpler Pickup right now. Cut the back and Plastruct Plastic Welded it in place the other night. I was nervous going into that but it has been turning out well. First time I have had any luck with getting that stuff to work. And it is solid when done right. Clean plastic and no paint is a must it seems. Working on the cage right now. I ordered some flares from SDI a few weeks ago. It took 2 days from when he shipped them to go from Spain to NY. And then 11 days to go from post office in NY to NH:shock::roll:

 

[KarlP]

Ah nice you got a build thread for your truck? Yeah cutting a body is not to bad as long as you take it slow and steady I found it ok, although I was bloody nervous when I started lol I am very much looking forward to getting it done, you brazing your own cage work? Lol yeah I love how I can order stuff from around the world quicker than what I can get it delivered from in the uk and when it finally gets here customs like to hold it up as much as possible -.- Tonight's mission is to clean it up and smooth out the arches and work out the front a little more.

 

[carried away]

Looks like its comming along well. I just braised my first tube work. Went well, brakines fun. Just make sure everything's really clean.

 

[KarlP]

Ty Carried,

So i think i will black out the windows just to make it easier for me, Also bill gave me an idea if i black the windows out i can reinforce the inside with some metal, i shall have to make some windows for the sides, hmm might make them out of styrene and paint em black.

So tonight i've cleaned up the arches and got them pretty square i think, also cleaned up the front and had a play at cutting some styrene out to fill the gaps where the lights would sit, but i've had a long day so called it a night before i loose a finger or ruin the shell lol.

Next up is looking to sort the reinforcing out and the side windows

 

[Arctic Fire]

No need to black out the windows completley, I like using the tamiya smoke paint and going with a real dark tint (5-10 light light coats..) It looks way better than shiny black, but you can't see in to the interior. I do this on all my onroad scale cars and it's a great solution.

Here's the only pic I have on hand of the window tint treatment on my hummer-pede

I'm watching this build from now, this is awesome so far!!

 

[KarlP]

Ah id not thought of tinting thanks for the tip!

Not had a chance to do much this weekend as i spent most of yesterday building my new pc , Right back to the body, i cut and shaped some styrene and glued it in place to strengthen the front light wells up

Next i cut some of the chequer plate Gaz gave me (ta for that fella) and put it in place to get some thoughts on it,

i kinda like it, next up i need to reinforce the shell along the door seals and round the back then i think its done for now

 

[Arctic Fire]

Looks awesome, buy a vacuum former and pop a few of those off when it's done would you? Does this kit come with lexan windows? I really like what youve done with the front now and the diamond plating. Are you planning on punching through headlights? On the white one above it looks like plating with the headlights just under. I think it would look great if you set some into the diamond plate. whatever you decide it's a great detail.

 

[KarlP]

I have been toying with the idea of adding lights but this is my first try at a body and i was trying to keep it simple but i am getting carried away lol i do wonder if less is more? But i shall look into the light idea, id have to move them up more and into the centre as right now the current light holes are cut through.

lol i think my mate has a vacuum former where he works lol, yeah it comes with windows for the front and rear sides and roof, but none for the door panels which is on my todo list

Not done much today i bought some right angle pvc strip to possible reinforce the inside the shell at the back but its only a 1mm wall so i'm not sure if it will add any strength worth using, also got some alu angle with a 1.5mm wall which would add the strength id like but i don't want to make the shell to top heavy so i have cut a section off and am trying some contact adhesive on the rear of the shell to see what it sticks like, I did also ponder with the idea of cutting some strips of styrene and laying it across each side which would form a Triangle shape, And a mate on a uk forum suggested something called Tigerstripe in the corners from what i can see it sticks like to shit to a blanket and is pretty strong so once i've worked out what id like to do i may get some.

 

[KarlP]

Hey folks not had much chance to do anything this week what with work being crazy and some other stuff, managed to reinforce the inside of the shell with some styrene strips seems a lot stiffer now, also made a crate to ship it off to get the cage work done so that will be sent early this week, then its onto the chassis might strip axles and tranny down re grease everything and new bearings maybe

 

[KarlP]

Right UPS picked it up so its off for its metalwork fitting, so i might as well strip down the axles and tranny while its sat doing nowt, any worthy upgrades to do while they are apart? also does anyone know of a bearing kit or should i just write the sizes down and nip down the local engineering place?

 

[Soulo747]

Can you elaborate a bit on the cotton thread method? Do you use it like a "string aw"... erm... like dental floss or what?

 

[Die-Laughing]

Lookin good! you did some nice work with that styrene"thumbsup"