nicherotors

Maybe this is a better way of illustrating how the battery bay and switch are sandwiched between the two chassis halves (lots better than my pictures!).

Thanks @Willy iine, yes, the standard GF01 is the donor chassis - I prefer the 1/12 Toyota Land Cruiser 40 pick-up (58589) kit because the chassis halves don’t come with the extra pylons on the front found on the Comical series. (I’ve found that when ordering the GF02 chassis halves (10008265) as spare parts you get the Comical version but that might just be here in the U.K.) It is a one-way conversion because both posts that retain the battery cover on the GF01 need to be snipped off (only right one circled in red in pic below). Also, the rear body posts are cut off to allow the Wild Willy 2 chassis rails to be used. Finally, Willy’s right heal needs to be cut (about 5mm) but this is a small price for what has turned out to be a family favourite. The Shapeways parts fit snugly into the Tamiya plastic and are screwed in place with four 3x10mm self tapping screws - no glue. I like it so much I’ve just ordered a complete set for myself to keep my nephew company! More pictures can be found here: https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=139543&id=18923

Am finally happy with all the parts that make up what I’ve called the GF-02 chassis. Best bit for me is that the straight 7.2v battery can be swapped out and replaced without taking the body off making it quick and easy and reduces hangar rash around the body posts with the snap pins. The parts, with no premium, can be ordered here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/nicherotors?section=GF-02+M38+Chassis+Parts&sort=

Am enjoying having the receiver switch in the ‘correct’ place on the new custom chassis designs so thought it would be helpful to have the same feature on a standard WR-02 chassis. This part has been designed to provide good surface area for the thin double sided tape to hold it in place. The part, with no premium, can be ordered here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/nicherotors?section=WR-02&sort=

Thanks @Willy iine for the mention. I too have nephews of similar age and quite frankly the best ‘upgrade’ I can recommend to start with costs nothing - reducing the EPA on the throttle down to about 60%! From there, if interest survives, then bearings and a Sport Tuned motor with a 20t pinion and the EPA eased up to 100% seems sensible but tumbles will be expected so no need to go to town decorating the body. Here is a ‘how to’ converting a Wild Willy 2 to sit atop a standard GF-01 - think the Avante has wider suspension arms which will help with handling and should look cool: https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=137457&id=18923 (Note, my experience with the Comical Avante tyres and the Wild Willy 2 body is not favourable on tarmac - the block design of the tyres digs in at the front exacerbating the chance to rollover. The Comical Frog/ Hornet front wheels understeer with this body so have found wheel/ tyre combos to have a big influence on the performance with this body - your mileage may vary but my favourite for all round fun and speed are the standard GF-01 wheels/ tyres.) We are in the process (near completion) of enhancing the standard GF-01 to allow the body to sit a bit lower as per the 1980’s original. @Willy iine has upgraded to a chassis whereby the two halves have been 3d printed to shorten the wheelbase and lower the centre of mass (7.2 hump pack is upside down) with some tweaks to the camber which all help with stability. The trials and tribulations of designing such things can be found here: While 3d printing is uber cool it is often criticised for being expensive and some of these items can easily double the cost of the Tamiya chassis and might not stand up well to bashing with a brushless - great for your 3rd or 4th model (or 27th in @Willy iine’s case!!) but not necessarily ideal as your only daily basher (partly due to time delay in getting spares printed). Experience has taught me that starting out by reducing the EPA on the throttle is possibly the best ‘upgrade’ to get some trigger happy fingers used to driving a body that is heavier than lexan about. Sorry for the long post but the experience of teaching 9 year olds is fresh in my mind - we are zooming about later today with this - GF-01, Sport Tuned motor with 20t pinion and 100% EPA on the throttle 😃. Will be fun and educational what ever route you choose with a Wild Willy 2 - please come back with an update on how you get on (and pictures).

@photomic, if you want to get the inside portion of the signal lights to be black you might want to try adding a drop of Tamiya panel line accent into the little moat after applying the orange. Or, fill the moat with a drop or two of clean water and use a toothpick or similar to break the surface tension and ensure that the water is only in the moat - then dip in some water soluble black paint with the tip of a paint brush and repeat until you see the water slowly change colour - then wait for the water to evaporate. Both have worked well for me on the front signal lights and the rear brake lights to tidy up any masking snafu’s.

The boxart Willy was a diesel. https://wavianusa.com/blogs/news/gas-can-color-designations

My nephews Wild Willy 2, which has turned into my 4x4 development mule, has started to look nicely weathered and battered - but the windscreen remained broadly clean. So, I thought it would be a good experiment to design a 3d printed paint mask that faithfully replicates the sweep of the wiper. The paint mask was printed in the detailed smooth plastic which is clear - painted white to show up in the pictures. Both the base and the paint mask have been designed to accommodate four pairs of little magnets that have proven strong enough to keep the paint mask located in the correct position. A light dusting of TS-80 is all that was required. Once dry it accepted a bit of weathering around the edges. The final step was to sweep a 3d printed wiper wrapped in fine sandpaper to leave a light smear.

Painting the miniature K&N air filter didn’t take too long and was a fun little project.

Some new prototype parts for my GF-02 chassis have arrived in black PA12 - the black makes it hard for me to photograph. They are close but still a couple of aspects need to be tweaked. With normal suspension travel the chassis sits about 6/8mm too high when compared to the original 1980’s model (but still lower than the WR-02) - this can be reduced by restricting the damper throws but then you start to eat into ground clearance. With my custom wheels - painted orange here - the track front and rear replicates that of the original 1980’s model which was narrower at the front than the rear.

Thanks - also looks good behind a vintage grill but just noticed that the winch was mounted higher on the old design. On the military M38 the fan is behind the radiator and unseen from the front - but drawing inspiration from the community that race these vehicles it’s clear that in some hot locations cooling is of paramount importance.

Drawing inspiration from a modified 1949 Willy Jeep, albeit with a lightweight fibreglass body, I wanted to replicate the air filter sticking out of the bonnet/ hood. Sometimes I think the Tamiya designers used this fibreglass upgrade, which was popular in the 70’s, as their inspiration for the original 1983 model that also lacked surface detail. Note the use of Sand Tires Unlimited front and back on this yellow example. My first obstacle was getting a clean, perfectly round hole cut that was in the centre. This was solved with a 3d printed tool we designed that can be bolted from above and below on the bonnet (locked in place through the body mounting holes and the leading edge of the bonnet). In the first instance it allowed for a line to be drawn for an initial rough cut with the Dremel. Then finer grades of sandpaper wrapped around a custom 3d printed sanding stick of the same radius (accommodating the thickness of the sandpaper) was used to get a really clean edge. Again, I’ve practiced on my nephews basher.

A little while ago I posted a ‘how to’ on opening up the Wild Willy 2 grill so as to utilise the radiator - a leftover on the sprue from the original 1980’s model but not used on the latest release (guide can be found here). The two holes at the bottom allow for access to the screws holding the winch in place (can’t be seen once the grill has been glued in place). A couple of parts have just arrived from Shapeways that can be sandwiched behind the opened up grill to add a bit more detail/ interest. The fan loosely rotates on a 2mm screw. They have just been added to my nephews basher for a test fit.

Shapeways recently offered a discount on PA12 (MJF) so went ahead and got a few prototype items printed in gray. Here are a couple of items with some tweaks - best bit is that the battery can still be changed without taking the Wild Willy body off. Only minor adjustments are now required and one final test print before they can be offered via Shapeways.

Good luck @GeeWings - every mm seems to help to reduce tyre contact with the body. I see Shapeways extended their sale - just after I placed a big order the week before and am now on holiday and don’t need anything else! Will remember to improve my timing next year.

... plenty of space for all the electronics to sit above the battery.

Have been distracted with a new little project - that of augmenting the GF-01 chassis to accommodate Wild Willy but with a smaller number of 3d printed parts - albeit with some compromises. I’m calling it GF-02 given it feels like a Stage 2 set of modifications - leaving the completely redesigned chassis to be called GF-03. Seems appropriate to think of my original conversion using only Tamiya parts as a Stage 1 modification (https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=137457&id=18923). Here are a few pictures of some prototype Shapeways parts (shown in white to help identification): - four body posts that push the body back 3mm so that the front axle is correctly positioned under the body - two rear uprights that shorten the wheelbase by 2mm and place the rear axle in the correct location under the body (as per the original SWB) - two parts that allow for a straight battery pack to be used (in conjunction with WR-01 e parts to retain the battery) I’m pleased that the straight battery pack can be removed while keeping the Wild Willy body on which will reduce hangar rash and speed up changeovers. Not too many compromises: - the footwell can’t be sealed off like the original and the GF-03 - 5mm of the bottom right boot needs to be trimmed off - the chassis sits 4mm too high (which can be lowered by reducing the damper throw but that then eats into ground clearance) The original two battery retaining posts need to be cut off and due to a preference for the chassis rails then the rear two body posts are also removed - this conversion is a one-way trip. A few tweaks still required - with the addition of a box that sits on top of the battery to hold the ESC and receiver while concealing many of the wires.

The Bullhead interior is starting to take shape. The seat is already hollowed out to accommodate a servo to animate the head. With the success of the illuminated dashboard on the Wild Willy we will copy that idea across for this project too. Onwards with the design of a rollcage.

With operational headlights a WR-02 based Wild Willy 2 became a popular choice with my nephew as the sun started to set. At such times, in conjunction with the bikini roof (which is still work in progress), we had the idea of trying to illuminate the instrument cluster given the interior was dark. Given there isn’t much space behind the dashboard I knew that a light box made of thin plastic alone would not prevent light escaping and thus making the inside of the engine bay glow. So, armed with PowerPoint, I designed some brass that, once etched, would wrap around a thin plastic walled light box and sit atop the standard sticker to reduce any stray light escaping - also had a number of US license plates made at the same time. Hopefully the pictures explain. The Tamiya sticker is sandwiched between two sheets of brass - I found the whole sticker glowed without the top one in place. The brass is 6 thou (.15 mm) so when the electrics are off it looks just a regular kit. The last picture shows how the rear view mirror, originally designed for the Wheeler, can be used in conjunction with the bikini roof.

On page 5 of this thread I drew reference to a modern incarnation of the Renault 5. This is another, this time all electric! Amazing colour scheme and provides inspiration for Wheeler projects. https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/renault-5-turbo-3e-374bhp-all-electric-drifter

Attention has recently turned to seeing if Wild Willy could get comfortable on the inside of a Bullhead. The first mock up suggests a tight fit but possible - the sunroof will be kept while the tinted windows will be cut away. Hoping to squeeze in a roll cage in line with monster trucks of this size. The first version of parts have just been sent to Shapeways.

Have continued to evolve the bikini roof first shown on page 1. Only compromise is that the two spot lights need to be permanently cut from the rollover bar. Otherwise, quite like the look for a bit of a change. Shown here in tan, rubber black and olive green on a WR-02 Wild Willy 2 - the model where new designs get thrashed about to destruction by a nephew.

This is great - nothing you do could ruin my day - quite the opposite sir - loving how you are able to fabricate and paint these parts so quickly. … and any project with a NOS bottle inside gets my vote!

Yes - the exhaust has been designed to mount onto the custom chassis. Let us know how you get on with the wheel adapters.