Lance Lucas
Newbie
Hello, still very new here and wasn't sure where to post this. If it is relevant enough to be moved into a real section, awesome...and if not, flame on 
I am a long-time RC and automotive person but crawlers are still new to me. Been having fun with a project SCX10 and lurking the forums as much as I can. I wanted to post up and share my experiences during this project in case anyone else finds it helpful OR has any feedback for how I can improve things!
After getting my rig up and going initially early this month, I found one big problem -- I get off work around 7pm and my rig had no lighting! No way I'm waiting until summer to explore the wooded areas around my place!
I started off by adding the Axial Rigid Lightbar set with the 8 LED bar and pod combo up front. Control was straightforward via the Axial High Output LED controller. I didn't have a use for the 4 LED Rigid bar but had the LED string and controller to run it, so I temporarily tossed it onto the rear of the cage for fun.
Before the next lighting update portion, I spent the first part of the weekend moving the battery to the front and reconnecting all of the electronics in a semi-permanent home. So basically here's what I started and ended with for the electronics relocation portion. I also added the front and rear bumper lighting with an Axial Simple LED controller at this point.
Before (start of weekend!):
After electronics relocation:
Start of weekend lighting situation:
So, now it's time to get some functional headlight and parking lights into this baby. I spent a lot of time searching on the Googlez and YouTubez for various installation tutorials. At the end, I still wasn't 100% sure how Axial intended the factory front light buckets to be used. I found a variety of methods, such as simply glueing the LED into the back of them, using LED bulb clips, entirely replacing the bucket with an aluminum LED bucket, using the Dinky RC front buckets, etc.
Ultimately, I decided I'd just wing it and use the method that seemed to make the best sense to me. I plan to do a new body some day with all of the tricks I learn from this one, so the outcome wasn't life critical to me. In preparation for this project, I had purchased Axial part 80045 (Light Bucket Set). It contains two sets of "Foglight" holders that I decided would be perfect for housing the LED's in the headlight buckets. I figured output would be a bit narrow from the plastic "bullet" housings but that this might end up looking cool, a la modern upscale vehicles with projector HID's. It contains two 5mm and two 3mm sets, which was perfect for the headlights and parking lights.
Word to the wise -- be really careful when making your holes in the Axial lexan headlight buckets. The material is very thin in spots, especially around the parking lights. I started with a reamer and found that I was "tearing" the plastic more than drilling it. I actually had two sets of buckets on hand (friend donated his from his kit) and I ended up destroying the first being over-eager with the reamer. Bucket set #2 worked out I ended up using an Xacto knife to make the rough cutout, then a reamer to finish it into a nice round opening. Go slow and test fit your foglight buckets along the way; if you end up with too large of an opening there will be no material to retain the bucket from the front! Anyways, here's what they look like all mocked up:
The water drops are because I had just washed them in prep for paint. I don't have any pics of the next few steps, but that's because they are straightforward, assuming you've got basic rattle can skills like me. I chose to paint the backs of the buckets in the same color as my body, which is Tamiya Gun Metal. A lighter silver would have likely been a better choice for light output and general visibility but I didn't want to add more colors to my scheme. You can paint either side of the bucket...painting the rear will give them a more gloss shine from the Lexan, painting the front will give a more matte look from the raw paint. Back them well with white to help ensure max forward light output. Pay attention to overspray film mask as it may be on the side you choose to paint. I ended up scratching the paint a few times during mock-up, so my buckets ended up with a a LOT of coats of paint
While those were drying, I worked on procuring lighting for the headlights and parking lights. Axial doesn't make a pre-done string that includes 3mm for parking lights (or with yellow, for that matter), so I custom made my own string from the existing Axial 4 LED white string (Axial part #24258 ) that was previously in the rear-mounted Rigid bar. I popped over to my local Radio Shack and found exactly what I was looking for -- an assorted pack of 5mm and 3mm LED's for a low low price. The two 3mm Yellows are not pictured as they were already soldered into my string at this point, but now I also have a few extras in different colors for any future projects:
I reused the two center 5mm white LED's for headlights and then added two 3mm yellow LED's for the parking lights. I wired it up for correct lengths to span the body and finished the ends with heat shrink. Watch out for polarity as you connect the LEDs in series; look at the way an Axial string is put together if you need a reference for how they go. Here is what it looked like mostly finished:
Next up - now that all paint and solder are dry, assemble it all up. Cut out the light buckets along the lines -- I cut along the "outside" of the cut line to give a bit extra material for adhering to the body. Next, install the buckets into the body. Hold them up loosely to the inside of the body first to get a good idea of how each side should light up. Then, apply them with your choice of adhesive. Shoe-Goo is a popular option but I'm not a huge far for whatever reason, so I chose to cut thin strips of servo tape and make an outer boarder like Axial shows in the instructions. If you take your time, you can create a complete outer ring of servo tape. Take off all of the backing tape and apply them to the inside of the body. Now install the LED's. Putting the lights into the buckets is straightforward as shown in the Axial instructions above.
At this point, we have a rough but functional set of headlights and LED's installed! I went ahead and moved onto wiring cleanup at this point. To dress the LED string wires, I removed the connectors from the end and slide over some 1/8" heat shrink after pre-cuting to the appropriate length. Then just reinstall the connector (watch polarity!), route the wires as desired, then use a heat gun to shrink the wrap. Be careful to keep the heat gun away from electronics/paint/etc. while doing this...you'll easily burn a hole straight through anything it is pointed at for any period of time!
To seal the back of the Axial foglight housings and give everything a bit of structure/support, I used some "SureFlex Adhesive", also from Fry's. It reminds me of plastic model glue from when I built those as a kid. Anyways, turns out that it is NOT good on painted surfaces, and I ended up wiping away paint when I went to clean up a drip on the body :evil: Joke's on me for my dislike of Shoe-Goo, I guess. To touch this up, I sprayed the paint can at a focused spot on a piece of cardboard for a few seconds, then used a Q-Tip to pick up some of that paint and apply it to the body. Didn't fix it perfectly but it's better than a completely clear spot :roll:
Here's a pic of the general products I used while working on wiring. None of this stuff is expensive and was easily sourced at my local Fry's. These types of projects are not costly, just very time consuming. If you appreciate the finer details, nothing is more rewarding than the final product of a long wiring project. Not pictured? GIANT bag of small black zip ties. You can never have enough of these around and they are mission critical to just about any RC wiring project. I used the PET sleeving in one area on the Rigid Pod light string where it was not feasible to use heat shrink.
Thanks to a thread I found about "Pham" and his immaculate work, I picked up some grommets for passing wiring from the inside to the outside of the body for the Rigid bar and pods. Props to him! Anyways, here's what I ended up with on the body side. The little red connector is the power lead for the Axial High Output LED controller:
Phew! Home stretch. Sort of. Now it was time to clean up the chassis lighting and wiring. I did the same basic procedure of removing connectors on the LED strings then finishing them with heat shrink then bundling / routing with zip ties. Same for the servo signal wire, ESC signal wire, motor wires, etc. I wanted to do the wires for the switch but I can't figure out how to remove the switch Also need to decide what to do with battery wires. I plan to add a Castle BEC that sits on the rear H-Brace soon so I left myself some flexibility for battery power wiring.
I also decided to switch over to a Reedy "shorty" Lipo I have around. The bullet connectors allow for the battery to sit upside down in the tray and keep all wiring generally underneath of it. So here we are! The black lead in the back area is the power extension for the body lighting:
Alrighty! Time to see how it looks all finished up. It actually photographs even better than it looks in real life. In person, you can definitely see the light as being focused from a center point rather than the entire headlight housing area being illuminated. No worries, it's the exact "projector" light look I was going for. The yellow LED's turned out as a great match for a 1:1 parking light. I was worried that I'd need to switch to a true orange LED down the road but this is perfect as-is.
FINAL PRODUCT:
Well, there we go! Relocated electronics, functional headlights, functional parking lots and a nice tidy wiring job. I had a LOT of fun on this project and am currently researching how to add taillights to the body. The Dinky RC kit appears to be the most promising for an OEM Jeep look, otherwise I may just do some aluminum LED cups/holders and mount them in the OEM location.
If anyone wants, I can come back and add in part descriptions and numbers for the various Axial lighting products I've used. The controllers are all off the shelf but a few of the light strings have been modified for my exact usage.
Also wanted to say thanks to a couple YouTube channels I have found while researching this project and similar. I appreciate people who are willing to put themselves out there to help the rest of us learn and enjoy our hobby more. RC Endeavors, RC Adventures and Harley Designs, thank you guys!
Thanks for reading along and looking forward to any input!
I am a long-time RC and automotive person but crawlers are still new to me. Been having fun with a project SCX10 and lurking the forums as much as I can. I wanted to post up and share my experiences during this project in case anyone else finds it helpful OR has any feedback for how I can improve things!After getting my rig up and going initially early this month, I found one big problem -- I get off work around 7pm and my rig had no lighting! No way I'm waiting until summer to explore the wooded areas around my place!
I started off by adding the Axial Rigid Lightbar set with the 8 LED bar and pod combo up front. Control was straightforward via the Axial High Output LED controller. I didn't have a use for the 4 LED Rigid bar but had the LED string and controller to run it, so I temporarily tossed it onto the rear of the cage for fun.
Before the next lighting update portion, I spent the first part of the weekend moving the battery to the front and reconnecting all of the electronics in a semi-permanent home. So basically here's what I started and ended with for the electronics relocation portion. I also added the front and rear bumper lighting with an Axial Simple LED controller at this point.
Before (start of weekend!):
After electronics relocation:
Start of weekend lighting situation:
So, now it's time to get some functional headlight and parking lights into this baby. I spent a lot of time searching on the Googlez and YouTubez for various installation tutorials. At the end, I still wasn't 100% sure how Axial intended the factory front light buckets to be used. I found a variety of methods, such as simply glueing the LED into the back of them, using LED bulb clips, entirely replacing the bucket with an aluminum LED bucket, using the Dinky RC front buckets, etc.
Ultimately, I decided I'd just wing it and use the method that seemed to make the best sense to me. I plan to do a new body some day with all of the tricks I learn from this one, so the outcome wasn't life critical to me. In preparation for this project, I had purchased Axial part 80045 (Light Bucket Set). It contains two sets of "Foglight" holders that I decided would be perfect for housing the LED's in the headlight buckets. I figured output would be a bit narrow from the plastic "bullet" housings but that this might end up looking cool, a la modern upscale vehicles with projector HID's. It contains two 5mm and two 3mm sets, which was perfect for the headlights and parking lights.
Word to the wise -- be really careful when making your holes in the Axial lexan headlight buckets. The material is very thin in spots, especially around the parking lights. I started with a reamer and found that I was "tearing" the plastic more than drilling it. I actually had two sets of buckets on hand (friend donated his from his kit) and I ended up destroying the first being over-eager with the reamer. Bucket set #2 worked out
I ended up using an Xacto knife to make the rough cutout, then a reamer to finish it into a nice round opening. Go slow and test fit your foglight buckets along the way; if you end up with too large of an opening there will be no material to retain the bucket from the front! Anyways, here's what they look like all mocked up:
The water drops are because I had just washed them in prep for paint. I don't have any pics of the next few steps, but that's because they are straightforward, assuming you've got basic rattle can skills like me. I chose to paint the backs of the buckets in the same color as my body, which is Tamiya Gun Metal. A lighter silver would have likely been a better choice for light output and general visibility but I didn't want to add more colors to my scheme. You can paint either side of the bucket...painting the rear will give them a more gloss shine from the Lexan, painting the front will give a more matte look from the raw paint. Back them well with white to help ensure max forward light output. Pay attention to overspray film mask as it may be on the side you choose to paint. I ended up scratching the paint a few times during mock-up, so my buckets ended up with a a LOT of coats of paint
While those were drying, I worked on procuring lighting for the headlights and parking lights. Axial doesn't make a pre-done string that includes 3mm for parking lights (or with yellow, for that matter), so I custom made my own string from the existing Axial 4 LED white string (Axial part #24258 ) that was previously in the rear-mounted Rigid bar. I popped over to my local Radio Shack and found exactly what I was looking for -- an assorted pack of 5mm and 3mm LED's for a low low price. The two 3mm Yellows are not pictured as they were already soldered into my string at this point, but now I also have a few extras in different colors for any future projects:
I reused the two center 5mm white LED's for headlights and then added two 3mm yellow LED's for the parking lights. I wired it up for correct lengths to span the body and finished the ends with heat shrink. Watch out for polarity as you connect the LEDs in series; look at the way an Axial string is put together if you need a reference for how they go. Here is what it looked like mostly finished:
Next up - now that all paint and solder are dry, assemble it all up. Cut out the light buckets along the lines -- I cut along the "outside" of the cut line to give a bit extra material for adhering to the body. Next, install the buckets into the body. Hold them up loosely to the inside of the body first to get a good idea of how each side should light up. Then, apply them with your choice of adhesive. Shoe-Goo is a popular option but I'm not a huge far for whatever reason, so I chose to cut thin strips of servo tape and make an outer boarder like Axial shows in the instructions. If you take your time, you can create a complete outer ring of servo tape. Take off all of the backing tape and apply them to the inside of the body. Now install the LED's. Putting the lights into the buckets is straightforward as shown in the Axial instructions above.
At this point, we have a rough but functional set of headlights and LED's installed! I went ahead and moved onto wiring cleanup at this point. To dress the LED string wires, I removed the connectors from the end and slide over some 1/8" heat shrink after pre-cuting to the appropriate length. Then just reinstall the connector (watch polarity!), route the wires as desired, then use a heat gun to shrink the wrap. Be careful to keep the heat gun away from electronics/paint/etc. while doing this...you'll easily burn a hole straight through anything it is pointed at for any period of time!
To seal the back of the Axial foglight housings and give everything a bit of structure/support, I used some "SureFlex Adhesive", also from Fry's. It reminds me of plastic model glue from when I built those as a kid. Anyways, turns out that it is NOT good on painted surfaces, and I ended up wiping away paint when I went to clean up a drip on the body :evil: Joke's on me for my dislike of Shoe-Goo, I guess. To touch this up, I sprayed the paint can at a focused spot on a piece of cardboard for a few seconds, then used a Q-Tip to pick up some of that paint and apply it to the body. Didn't fix it perfectly but it's better than a completely clear spot :roll:
Here's a pic of the general products I used while working on wiring. None of this stuff is expensive and was easily sourced at my local Fry's. These types of projects are not costly, just very time consuming. If you appreciate the finer details, nothing is more rewarding than the final product of a long wiring project. Not pictured? GIANT bag of small black zip ties. You can never have enough of these around and they are mission critical to just about any RC wiring project. I used the PET sleeving in one area on the Rigid Pod light string where it was not feasible to use heat shrink.
Thanks to a thread I found about "Pham" and his immaculate work, I picked up some grommets for passing wiring from the inside to the outside of the body for the Rigid bar and pods. Props to him! Anyways, here's what I ended up with on the body side. The little red connector is the power lead for the Axial High Output LED controller:
Phew! Home stretch. Sort of. Now it was time to clean up the chassis lighting and wiring. I did the same basic procedure of removing connectors on the LED strings then finishing them with heat shrink then bundling / routing with zip ties. Same for the servo signal wire, ESC signal wire, motor wires, etc. I wanted to do the wires for the switch but I can't figure out how to remove the switch
Also need to decide what to do with battery wires. I plan to add a Castle BEC that sits on the rear H-Brace soon so I left myself some flexibility for battery power wiring. I also decided to switch over to a Reedy "shorty" Lipo I have around. The bullet connectors allow for the battery to sit upside down in the tray and keep all wiring generally underneath of it. So here we are! The black lead in the back area is the power extension for the body lighting:
Alrighty! Time to see how it looks all finished up. It actually photographs even better than it looks in real life. In person, you can definitely see the light as being focused from a center point rather than the entire headlight housing area being illuminated. No worries, it's the exact "projector" light look I was going for. The yellow LED's turned out as a great match for a 1:1 parking light. I was worried that I'd need to switch to a true orange LED down the road but this is perfect as-is.
FINAL PRODUCT:
Well, there we go! Relocated electronics, functional headlights, functional parking lots and a nice tidy wiring job. I had a LOT of fun on this project and am currently researching how to add taillights to the body. The Dinky RC kit appears to be the most promising for an OEM Jeep look, otherwise I may just do some aluminum LED cups/holders and mount them in the OEM location.
If anyone wants, I can come back and add in part descriptions and numbers for the various Axial lighting products I've used. The controllers are all off the shelf but a few of the light strings have been modified for my exact usage.
Also wanted to say thanks to a couple YouTube channels I have found while researching this project and similar. I appreciate people who are willing to put themselves out there to help the rest of us learn and enjoy our hobby more. RC Endeavors, RC Adventures and Harley Designs, thank you guys!
Thanks for reading along and looking forward to any input!
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