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XV Pilot

TL01 Range Rover Evoque

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As some of you already know from my posts in the postie and daily activity threads, I had a spare TL01 chassis under the bed, which I decided to turn into a Range Rover Evoque for light trail use. A couple of folks asked about a build thread, so here goes.

Firstly, a photo of my inspiration:

Range-Rover-Evoque-5-Door-widescreen-wal

I started by doing a rough trim of the shell, which comes in multiple parts. There is the main body, front bumper, rear bumper, spoiler and six light buckets. Here is the main body with bumpers and spoiler attached temporarily:

20140511_215756_zpsl4ruk0ye.jpg

Those familiar with this shell will notice that I have enlarged the wheel arches a little. The shell seems designed for use with rally tyres, but I wanted to use the bigger CC01 ones for a bit more ground clearance.

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When modding my CC01 Pajero, I bought it a set of Fastrax Kongs that came fitted to rather attractive beadlock rims. I preferred the look of the stock wheels on the Pajero, so the beadlocks and stock Pajero tyres went on my wife's Stadium Raider. She preferred the stock wheels and buggy spikes though, so they didn't see much use, and have been sitting in the spares box for the last year or so.

Time to bring them out and put them to use:

20140522_181835_zpssidxs9iw.jpg

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The keen-eyed amongst you will have noticed something lurking behind the beadlocks. Yes, there are brake disks back there!

I bought these for my TT01 drift car, but ended up fitting FXX long axles and hexes to it instead, so these stayed in the spares box.

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They fit in place of the stock wheel hexes, and seem to work quite well, not interfering with the chassis or the beadlocks, and providing a little bit of extra visual interest in the hub area.

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I am sure most if not all Tamiya enthusiasts have at least a passing familiarity with the TL01 chassis, so I won't bore you all with a write-up of how it goes together. However I will share a few little things that I did to make this one better-suited to the current project.

The TL01 doesn't have many gearing options, and there isn't really room to fit a GRU, so unless you fancy slotting the motor mount, the best way to give it the torque required for trail driving is to fit a high turn motor. The Ansmann 80T truck puller motor is both torquey and affordable, so it seemed the obvious choice for the project.

20140522_181933_zpsdznkimmz.jpg

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I also locked both diffs for better off road performance. The TL01 has plenty of steering lock, so I don't mind sacrificing a bit of turning circle to gain climbing ability.

The diffs are locked using the popular 4th cog method, and balanced using strategically placed blobs of blutac.

download_zps9z0ortpg.jpg

(I neglected to take a photo of the TL01 diff innards, so the above pic is of the front diff in my Pajero, which is locked using the same method.)

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The chassis has been fitted with rubber-sealed bearings and a waterproof ESC, and the RX has had its PCB plasti-dipped. The steering servo and servo winch are basic Futaba units that have been grease-sealed. This should keep the vehicle operational in all weathers.

20140522_181919_zpsnf2scqyl.jpg

The TL01 lends itself very well to the fitment of a servo winch, as it dates from the days of the MSC, and has provision for the fitment of a second servo. The winch cable is taken to the front of the chassis by a piece of antenna tube.

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Which brings us to where we are so far:

P_20140522_180132_zpsmmzknobp.jpg

The shell has had its final trim and sanding, and the body post holes have been drilled so it can mount on the chassis. The wheels, tyres and brake disks are fitted to the chassis and have been checked for rubbing. The radio gear has been installed and tested, and the vehicle can move under its own power.

Next step will be to mask and paint the shell as per the full size colour scheme pictured at the top of the thread, then to attach the bumpers, spoiler and light buckets, and do the decals. I am also hoping to adapt a CC01 front bumper/bullbar to carry a pair of spotlights, and I need to sort out a fairlead for the winch.

However painting is on hold until the weather improves, so I shall update the thread when there is progress to report.

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Looking great XV Pilot I love this chassis. What length shocks did you use to get that ground clearance and what diameter tyres did you go for? Looks spot on scale wise and the clearance is excellent.

I've been getting back into my rally cars and been toying with converting my TL01B into a standard TL and fitting a Bowler Wildcat body on it. Seeing how yours sits I think it'll have the right look and performance to match.

Keep the photos coming mate.

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The shocks are good old Mini CVAs, with the long shaft ends fitted:

20140523_094751_zpsl4a3uh6w.jpg

They measure a smidgin under 65mm in this configuration.

The tyres are stock CC01 items from my Pajero. They fit standard touring car rims, and have an outside diameter of 86mm according to my measuring tape.

I have seen pics of a few different TL01-based Wildcats - the chassis and shell seem to work well together, and while the tall gearing of the TL01 may not be ideal for a slow crawler-type scale vehicle, it seems quite apt for something with a turn of speed such as a Wildcat (or Evoque). Good luck with the project!

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Really enjoying this build. I actually have a 1:1 Evoque and love it. Amazing piece of kit with quite staggering off-road capabilities but on the road it handles like a really fast Audi S4 or something like that.

Where did you get your body from? What sort of quality would you say it is?

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Really enjoying this build. I actually have a 1:1 Evoque and love it. Amazing piece of kit with quite staggering off-road capabilities but on the road it handles like a really fast Audi S4 or something like that.

Where did you get your body from? What sort of quality would you say it is?

Good choice! If I had the budget for a fullsize, I would have one too. They certainly look striking, and I like the idea of a vehicle with car-like comfort and handling that doesn't wimp out when the going gets rough.

I bought the shell from Radshape. It came in their own branded packaging, so I don't know the manufacturer I'm afraid.

I am pleased with the quality of the moulding. The polycarbonate is nice and clear, and does not appear to have been stretched overly thin anywhere, so it should take a beating. It is quite nicely detailed too. Not quite Tamiya level, but certainly not a shapeless blob either. You can certainly recognise it as an Evoque.

It comes with polycarbonate light buckets that you have to paint yourself, rather than chromed injection moulded ones, but the decal pack is quite comprehensive so it should turn out quite nicely.

Are you thinking of doing a 1/10 replica of your fullsize?

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We have paint!

20140526_114533_zpsdmkzxmen.jpg

The decal pack is quite comprehensive, with numerous small detail pieces to add, so we are still a way off completion. However I am quite pleased with progress so far.

Anyone know a good source of Shoo Goo? I have read that it is good for assembling multi-part shells such as this one. I just hope it doesn't attack the paint like some glues do...

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That looks really good . i have the same wheel/tire combo on my CC-01 New Bright Jeep scaler . They really do add to the scale looks with good grip too . This should be a very capable on/off road tool indeed

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Getting very close to completion now:

20140531_180535_zpsdylz6bwt.jpg

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Today I painted and fitted the light buckets, bonded the bumpers and spoiler in place, attached the wing mirrors and applied a few more decals.

Tomorrow when the bumper glue is fully set, I will attach the bullbar and spotlamps, and take it for a test drive.

At some point I would like to have a set of scale number plates made for it, and there are also a few more decals that I need to figure out a place for, but I reckon it is close enough to completion to enter service.

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Today I attached the bullbar and spotlamps. A scaler is seldom if ever truly complete, but I am declaring this one sufficiently finished to move from the building table to the display shelf.

Here are some pics:

20140601_171701_zpsapl32edk.jpg

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Future plans include plates, a few more decals, exhausts, a roof rack, a winch fairlead, and possibly other scale accessories. They will have to wait a while though, as I am now shifting my focus to prepping cars for next month's A1 Revival meeting.

Will update if anything changes!

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It has been a while since I did anything to this model, as I finished it to the point of driveability, then popped it on the display shelf and got on with other projects. However with said projects complete and looking great, the relatively un-detailed Evoque is crying out for a bit of attention.

One of the things that I wasn't completely happy with was the way the tyres don't quite fill the arches widthwise. The track looks a bit narrow. The hard ex-Pajero tyres also don't grip too well. The other day I tried it with the wider Fastrax Kongs from my CC-01, and the effect was far more pleasing, so today I ordered it a set of these:

fast0062w.jpg

The white wheels should tie in nicely with the roof and mirrors.

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I also thought it high time that the Evoque became street-legal, so I ordered it some 1/10 scale UK plates from a chap on EBay. I haven't used him before, but the feedback looked good, as did the sample photos, so hopefully they will look the part.

Mounting the rear plate will be easy enough - I will probably just stick it directly to the shell as there is a flat moulded location for it above the rear bumper.

DSC03377_zps1refzc3j.jpg

However the front plate will be more of a challenge as all the surfaces are curved. I think I will stick it to a rectangle of scrap Lexan, and then glue this in place using rubbery glue like I did on the front of my S15 drifter.

20140608_195444_zpsjznzp0uq.jpg

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I am also contemplating adding racing numbers and sponsor's decals to the shell, giving it a privateer rally theme, since with the bigger tyres, bullbar, spotlights, etc, it doesn't look much like a stock daily driver.

What are your collective views on this?

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The Evoque doesn't look very 'rally-ready' - it's more of a support vehicle IMO. Have you ever been to Goodwood? I'm pretty sure they use a combination of Range Rover Sports and Evoques to ferry important people around the various events. They even had the little warning sirens / light bars on the roofs in some instances....

Have you received the Kong tyres yet? They're what I'm running on 2 of my CC01s and I think they're fantastic, especially for the money.

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I know what you mean - the Evoque looks more "street" than "rally". However at the same time, the model doesn't look stock, so I think it needs something to indicate that it is meant to be custom, and is not just a poorly-executed attempt at a stock scaler. I shall have to think further on the subject.

I ordered the wheels/tyres this morning, and they are shown as despatched so they should be here soon. I have been using them on my CC-01 for a few years now, and they have given excellent service so far. Well worth recommending.

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How about a set of rally tires and then lower the body a bit?

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How about a set of rally tires and then lower the body a bit?

I could do that - the shell was originally designed for touring/rally size wheels and tyres. However then it would handle like a rally car, and I already have a few of those.

My aim with this build is to end up with something that sits between my rally cars and my CC-01 Pajero in terms of performance. I want it to be quicker than the Pajero, but more capable offroad than my rally fleet. The bigger tyres are an essential part of this.

On the subject of which, they arrived this evening! I had a quick go at test-fitting them, and found that they rubbed on the front uprights due to their extra width. I thought this might happen, so I have a pair of TL-01B uprights on standby that should solve the issue nicely. Hopefully I'll get a chance to fit them over the course of the next few evenings.

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The new wheels and tyres are fitted and looking good!

DSC04766_zpsksz1lap8.jpg

I had to fit TL-01B front uprights to provide clearance for the wider tyres, and shorten the tie rods accordingly.

DSC04770_zps35e9ijzv.jpg

The kick-up front bumper also needed a bit of trimming, which was accomplished quickly and easily thanks to our new Dremel.

DSC04767_zpssf8whnx4.jpg

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