My 1/16 scale Jeep Wrangler build using an old Toy body & WPL parts

[TheSubaruJunkie]

A few years ago my parents bought my children this toy R/C jeep... and within a day it was broken. So I set the Jeep in my garage thinking one day I would get around to repairing it, or doing something with it.

Then my obsession with WPL 1/16 scale R/C trucks began. And I remembered having that Jeep and quickly dug it out of the garage!


The body appears to be the same "scale" as my WPL Toyota. The wheelbase is much shorter than the pickup:


And it looks like it would make a great addition to the fleet!


Obviously the WPL frame is not going to drop right in. I need to come up with a custom solution for the perfect wheel base.
So I ordered a bunch of parts and waited a month or so for them all to come in. To build the frame I started with a pair of WPL 6x6 frame rails. I decided to go with the aftermarket leaf springs with aluminum hangers and brackets.

I mounted axles to the springs, and then screwed the front hangars into place. Then I positioned the front wheels and loosley placed the rear springs on the frame so I could mark where the rear springs would need to mount.




At first I had the axles mounted under the leafs, but this made the Jeep sit too high and it also made my driveline angle too extreme.



So I moved the axle so it sat on top of the leaf's and the Jeep looked a lot better and so did my driveline angle.




A shot of the frame completed:


Quick little flex shot:


I think it will do just fine! And the rest of the trucks are happy to have a new friend!

 

[TheSubaruJunkie]

The next step is to pretty up this body! I know there will be a lot of you out there who love the Jurrasic park theme, but it just doesn't fit in with my style. So I had to plain things up a little:



You can see I also mounted a bumper I had from my JJRC Q60 body. The bumper fit perfect but just didn't look right.

Maybe if I....


The white is too plain, getting the body ready for a coat of flat black:


There we go thats much better!




The trimmed corners on the bumper really transform the way it looks! Its perfect now.


I am impressed with the amount of articulation this thing has!


To mount the body to the frame, I took some of my kids erector set pieces and mounted them to the body and to the frame. The frame side has magnets epoxied to them which hold the body in place.


Next step was to install a driver and some scale accessories. I also used a sharpie fine-point marker to trace the body panel gaps, hinges and wheel lugs.


And then the finishing touch was to figure out the headlights. Luckily I had an old decal sheet from a VW Bug Body and it had extra sets of headlight decals. So I just cut those out and put them on the jeep




And thats about all for this build! I do plan on adding a couple more accessories. But not anytime soon.

If you want to see video of this baby in action. You can find her maiden run here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-h2LXyxM-I

Hope you enjoy

 

[nomudpls]

Wonderful! That short wheelbase really works out with the WPL stuff. Very nice job! IMO this is the best WPL mod out there... the short driveshafts kill it for anything else.

 

[Druxus]

Yeah I like it better without the jurassic park stuff on it.