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scale tricks thread

Bed Covers

To make a nice looking bed cover, use some 1/8" ABS plastic, the plastic I picked up had a nice texture to one side of it. It also cuts very very nicely with the plastic blade I have for my dremel (couple of dollars, the cut off wheels will melt the plastic and make a mess!)

It can also be used for lots of other things, I used it to mount the seats in this land cruiser as well.
 

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how about melting the body with a lighter for some scale dents??? just once you melt it, push it in with an object, not your finger. its hot.


KEvIN
 
Just got this in an email, pretty cool if you if you want to make your own dash board, they looks to have some cool looking guages...
dash-decal.jpg


Mike
 
i dont have any pics, but leaf springs look more scale then the 4 link.....and if you put the servo on the chassis, and have a droplink like this in the pic below.........this is not my truck



n35ey.jpg
 
HOW TO: Scale interior build

Hey guys I had a day to myself today...parents away...g.f. at work :) I got lots done on alot of different trucks. I started to build an interior so i did take a few pics and I will move this into the scale tips and tricks thread after a day or 2. I am posting it now incase you have any questions.

Step one: Locate a bruiser interior

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Believe it or not a bare interior will work fine...keep reading and youll see why

Step two: Buy a wild willy parts tree (Tamiya L-parts 58242/ Tower # lxsk57)
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This parts tree has alots of goodies, not only does it have a steering and column but it has a shifter and a really cool winch too 8)

Step 3: Paint it up and install the steering wheel and column

100_0820.jpg


I even picked up a little adjustable wrench from 1:6 depot, I think its a nice touch up on the dash...maybe not to good for when your wheeling because you wouldnt want that flying around in the cab :shock: :lol: .I also used Bruiser decals for the guages, re pro decal sheets go for like 25.00$ or so on the bay or you can print guages off the web to use.

STep 4: Carpet, whats a scale rig with out some sort of carpet or flooring?

I took this here felt kit home from the Toyota dealership when I was a tech, it has stick on felt used for fixing dash rattels in cars OR subs for carpet in your Bruiser interior :mrgreen: im sure you can probably pick up something similar at a crafts store.

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Step 5: Shifters. Well the wild willy shifter comes as the trans and TC case shifter together...for me thats not cutting it...so I cut it :flipoff: I then had some Bruiser shock booting that was 2 short for a shock which serves an exellent shock boot, problem is that the opening is to large for the shifter SOO I took some heat shrink installed that first then the "shift boot" then only heat the top portion of the heat shrink and WALA good to go 8)

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I did the same for the 4 wheel drive shifter too.

At this point you interior should be starting to come along...I also through in a RARE hard to find APM fire extinguisher (made back in the day by APM for clods)

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Step 6: I also picked up some cool flash light from 1:6 depot they look kind of like the lights the fire dept uses on the rigs, they are water proof and very bright.

In the end you should end up with something like this

100_0832.jpg


I painted the 5 speed shifter knob silver just to give it some character, I also added a nissan/pathfinder sticker and mounted up the flash light with a little black screw.

Well thats it for now...I am eventually going to do a cage but I need to get the interior mounted 1st to see how its all going to work out.

Enjoy
Mike
 
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More scale bits

Traxxas part number 1517 contains chrome bed rails, air horns and a steering wheel. Five bucks :mrgreen:

It's off the Villain IV electric boat. For reference, the steering wheel is about the size of a quarter.
 

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to set a scale wheelbase buy two thick yard sticks. then drill two holes on the same increment on each one and put the first alxe in. then put the other ale were you want it and do the same. get perfect link measurements
 
nylints have alot to give.the bumper on a 1/6 can be reused to make a masive front bumper or you can cut everything but the (what would be) pipe off the botom.1/18 nylint jeep rockrails make perfect rockrails for pickup cabs.
 
use 1/8 scale buggy fuel line holders to route battery and motor wires to give your truck a good clean look and keep things out of harms way
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you can always paint the inside of the body silver and then the outside with a coat of primer and then the final color\s you want to give it a realistic rock rash paint removed theme.
 
Scale Acessories

Picture #1 Need an icechest?I used a bottle of pills for mine.Cut the neck off and just wrap the bottle with electrical tape.If you're really dedicated you can fill the hole and paint it.

Picture #2 Need an Igloo water jug?I used a cap from my wifes lotion.Painted orange and the top white.Looks like the real deal.

Picture #3 Need a sleeping bag?Get a peice of webbing,cut it to size and wrap it up.Make secure straps with thread or tape.Tow ropes and regular rope? Use nylon and put heat shrink around the ends.I use a thicker nylon for my tow line and a smaller one for etc.You can find pretty much all this stuff around your house.

Picture#4 Want some racing seats? Use a tin can of Acetone.Trace out a pattern and cut out.Make sure the can is empty before you use a dremel or "Kabloey!!" I'm not finished with these,I'll use some tweed and cover them.Add some nylon for the seatbelts.
 

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Chino63's How to: Get a Bruiser to flex

Here is Chinos how to get a leaf spring rig to flex, Thanks for the write up Dean

chino63 said:
i have been messing with hilux/bruiser chassis since i was a kid and love the look of the leaf springs but as we all know, they flex like crap. over time, usually in the early early a.m. i have managed to make them work a bit better than in their stock configuration. also (obviously), the wider the track width, the more leverage on the spring which equals more flex.

first things first, ditch the sleeve that goes between the bolt and the eye of the spring. this little thing is your enemy. without the sleeve there will be slightly more play than with the sleeve but i think it is well worth it considering the amount of flex you can get.
next, insert a bolt into the eye of the spring. take a pair of pliars or put it in a vice and crush the eye so it becomes an oval (top to bottom). be careful not to crush it too tight. you want the bolt to move freely in the now oval eye.
CIMG5798.jpg


the next step is the most beneficial to this modification. use a die grinder/dremel with a cut off wheel, a sander or a file and taper both sides of the spring. be careful not to get it too hot if using a grinder/dremel/sander or it could damage the spring and weaken it. also, be careful not to taper it too much either, because you want enough material at the top of the eye to maintain its strength.
CIMG5802.jpg


thats it, quick and easy! now the only thing you have to worry about it over flexing the spring. i am using these in the front of my scaler with all 3 leaves and it flexes better than the unmodified ones with only one leaf. less likely to bend the leaves into pretzels now too.

here is an example of the difference between stock and modified.
stock:
CIMG5807.jpg


modified:
CIMG5809.jpg


post up your results and let me know if this works out for you or if i'm just imagining things.
 
real flares

HOW TO: Realistic fender flares

JasonInAugusta said:
I've been bouncing an idea around for a while now, since prior to Moab.

I've got a couple of builds going and was looking for a nice, flat to semi-flat black look for my fender flares.

My first thought was to just spray the flares black from the inside then hit'm with a green pad to dull the surface.

Tried it on scrap lexan, looked decent.

Was at Lowe's prior to Moab to get some metal and swung by the paint aisle.

Found Plasti-dip in a spray can.

Came home, tried it on cardboard and scrap lexan.

Here's what I've found to work best.

Paint the body as normal. Spray the insides of the flares black if you want.

When the body is dry, take a sharp hobby knife and make cuts along the lines where the flares meet the body.

Remove the overspray film for the flares.

Scuff the flares until they're dull with a green pad.

Use glass cleaner and a lint-free cloth to clean the flares.

Let the body air dry or give it a few blasts with an air compressor.

Take the body outside and give the flares a few coats of Plasti-Dip (I also did the winch/front bumper on the Rubi).

Let the Plasti-Dip dry, take the hobby knife along the line where the flares meet the body again then remove the overspray film.

If you don't run the knife blade along the edge of the overspray film/flares the Plasti-Dip will want to peel up with the overspray film.

flares.jpg


So there ya go.
 
Nerf Bars

I don't know if anyone has done it, but the brush guards that protect the clod axles and usually get discarded when building a crawler. Can be used as nerf bars/steps."thumbsup"
 
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