nicherotors

Yes, the ride height can be lowered by reducing the throw of the piston with washers (.5 mm) or one/ two of those spare little pistons/ doughnuts (2 mm) found on the damper sprue.

Good question - I don't see why you couldn't use a set of front rims on the rear axle (with the correct hub Wheeler - rear wheel hub (83C6QTME8) by Nicherotors (shapeways.com)). From testing this 4wd chassis with four identical tyres the rear grip was markedly reduced (as expected) which added to the cartoonish charm of the model. But in the end I preferred the predictability of the handling with the wider rear tyres - just personal choice.

I wanted to keep the body untouched so found it helpful to reduce the track of the front axle; we shaved a mm off each side be redesigning the 'black adapters'. Naturally two will be needed and can be found at cost here: Wheeler - front wheel hub (VCD6AD4MC) by Nicherotors (shapeways.com) One thing to bear in mind is; just because you can compress the front suspension and find rubbing when the steering is turned to the extremes you may find that in real life the car never fully compresses the front suspension under normal driving conditions anyway - with the HCT you are more likely to scuff the bottom lip of the front bumper on the ground. For the custom chassis we also moved the axle further forward (~1.25 mm) relative to the body. Smaller hexes at the back will reduce the rear track too. It's all good fun and interesting to see the difference in the handling.

Thanks for the encouragement. I’ve finally got happy with the design for my M38 wheels and have just painted a set. I found that running them on an old gearbox meant it was fairly straightforward to sand each coat of primer and paint to a smooth finish. Despite looking the same from the outside the offset is different front to back so as to replicate the track of the original 1983 model. The magnets used to hold the hub caps (that hide the 4mm lock nuts) in place are certainly strong enough. In terms of a new chassis design we’ve started work on a 4x4 chassis for the Ford Ranger XLT/ Blackfoot body - if it goes anywhere I’ll start a new thread (leaving this thread for Willy related designs).

Having enjoyed seeing Wild Willy come to life with an animated head on the M38 I thought I’d do the same with the Wheeler given there is space on this custom chassis. The shape of the chest cavity is slightly different between the two models but it was easy enough to redesign the servo mount. I’ve previously seen a Wheeler head animated but only when moved across to being left hand drive due to space constraints on the WR-02c chassis. Again, the mounting hole was expanded from 3mm to 6mm (turning 4, 5 and then 6mm drill bits by hand) so as to accept the first of two 3x6x2.5 flanged bearings. The second bearing was mounted in the servo mount. After roughing up the inside of the chest cavity a drop of epoxy was used to affix the servo mount. While the epoxy was curing there was time to tighten up an M3 bolt with a shim on each side of both inner races (three shims in total). The head of the bolt, preferably serrated, was then pushed inside a short silicon tube which aligned to the output spline of a micro servo (HS-55). Thin double sided tape was enough to hold the servo in place. The front body post had been epoxied in place - the rear two are fine held in place with snap pins. The final picture shows where a surplus NOS bottle found a new home (glued to only one side of the chassis so as not to hinder maintenance). A lighter shade than I would normally choose, otherwise, it appeared too dark behind the tinted windows.

I found these stickers on the internet a couple of projects back and liked both the quality and that they were pre-cut. Being pre-cut especially makes the little round turbo boost gauge easy to apply. Couldn’t come this far and not have a turbo boost gauge - especially since it looks an after-thought by Honda given the way they positioned it on top of the binnacle. So it made sense to design the instrument cluster and header unit to accommodate these specific stickers. The double din header unit is particularly retro with a DVD player! https://www.screenprintdigitalstickers.com/product-page/rc-10th-scale-interior-detail-dashboards-dials-stereo-speakers-stickers-decals I found the air filter logo on another one of their smaller sheets.

Some progress with the paint.

Good question - all the parts are individual at the moment and you are right - they do mount up. This was deliberate so that each scale part and it’s material/ finish/ price can be selected individually since a few items are partially concealed anyway (or behind smoked windows!). The structural/ functional items are kept individual given they are expensive and if replacements are needed you’d probably only want to buy the item that needs replacing. Probably a separate topic on its own but happy to help and feel free to contact me because it’s easy to put a few items on a sprue where some savings can be made. Parts can be found here: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/nicherotors

The end is in sight on this Wheeler project; two hours after opening the Shapeways box was all I needed to strip the previous test mule of the Tamiya parts and electronics and move them over to this new version of the chassis. The silver wheels are both front rims/ tyres but tuck in the rear wheel arch and can therefore sit a bit lower at the back - the white rims, as shown on the left hand side, are as per how Mr T had them set up on the original and re-release. Think I prefer the handling with a wider rear tyre but prefer the look of having the same rim/ offset front and back. Only minor tweaks left - predominantly on the small scale items. Rather pleased with the turbo boost gauge that sits atop the instrument binnacle as per the full size which adds to the comical nature of the model. The exhaust tips are going to be polished aluminium tubes that slide over the exhaust pipes. You can see, especially in the first picture, how the chassis parts are different shades of black; I'll most likely spray that area matt black when I rebuild and paint everything up over the next couple of weekends (will also tidy up the cables!).

We have the choice! As a coincidence, two sets of front tyres arrived today from the Far East. Disappointingly they seem to be getting harder to find. We’ve designed a custom hub to allow the front rims to sit on the rear axle allowing the tyre to just tuck inside the wheel arch. The rear track is slightly wider because we have a custom hub running on the front axle that reduces the track and gives more clearance between the tyres and any of the bodywork. I will build two models - one chassis in this format and another with the original rim/ tyre combo at the original ride height.

A complete set of files have just been sent to Shapeways to be printed in a combination of materials. Several small but subtle updates to pretty much everything; turbo boost gauge added to instrument binnacle, central console is asymmetric like the full size (only just discovered a picture!), more details on the faux engine parts, four exhaust pipes, hole for servo to rotate Willys helmet, multipart seats, flappy paddles, etc etc.

Have applied some paint to the engine parts, interior parts and changed the colour of the seats. Also managed to squeeze a little servo into the drivers chest to animate the helmet (not sure I’ve seen this done before on the Wheeler given the traditional lack of space). I want to make a handful of changes to the design over the next couple of days before getting Shapeways to print a complete set - if everything goes together well then the design phase of this project will draw to a close. Then I’ll return to painting and completing three M38s and two of these Wheelers.

Here is a design @Jamesssb made earlier. Happy to share files if helpful. From Shapeways there aren’t many combinations of appropriate material and colour choices to choose from for this project - closest I think will be PA12 in gray. https://www.shapeways.com/materials/multi-jet-fusion-pa12 In PA12 I doubt the debossed text will be that sharp. Suspect versatile plastic would be a bit sharper but then you’ve really only got white or black as practical colours to choose from. Fine detail plastic would certainly give you the precision but would be too brittle in my opinion and would need painting. These two shells have been designed to be glued together to save space on the inside. Was reluctant to put Ni-Cd on the outside if actually a lipo was hidden inside for fear of someone else later down the line incorrectly charging it. A couple of strange things you only notice when measuring things - the chrome sticker isn’t round (and neither is its recess) and the chamfered top and bottom isn’t at 45 degrees but again I question whether this will be noticeable once printed. I think a commercial hump pack (with the leads on the correct side - we’ve seen them on both sides from the same manufacturer) with the heat shrink removed would fit but this is currently untested. Although, given this thread I’m minded to get a set printed to find out.

Some more Shapeways parts have just arrived for the Wheeler. The front bumper has already been modelled by "RMC Designs RC Parts" and up for sale on Shapeways - the tube is 5mm diameter so the same dimension was used on our roll cage. The fire extinguisher and the fuel filler are modelled on the M38 items. Willy has a sequential gear shift - flappy paddles to follow. A rear view mirror also arrived today but it turned out to be too brittle and broke during fitment - will fix the design soon enough. Only a handful of tweaks remain and then we are done with the design work. I'll paint the fine detail plastic parts next because they don't show up very well in the pictures because they are translucent. Quite like the seats dyed red by Shapeways - they are nice and bright.

In between designing parts for the Wheeler and waiting for prototype parts to arrive from Shapeways I’ve managed to return to the M38. This is inspired by both what @IBIFTKH had done with the amazing Wild Winter Willy (https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=136851&id=34614) and the release of the Toyota Land Cruiser Quadtrack. Have gone for a desert scheme to be a bit different and used the grouser tracks just in case we find ourselves in some sand. A most enjoyable few hours putting the units together. I’ll probably end up lowering the suspension a bit further but this is a start.

Things are starting to find their place on this second test mule. There are compromises with all designs - one with this chassis is that the steering servo needs to be dropped out to get access to the screws holding the motor in place. I doubt I’ll be changing the pinion that often so it’s an acceptable price to pay to keep everything as low in the chassis as possible. Keeping things low both improves handling and creates more space for the interior. (At least I don’t have to upend the front suspension and servo linkage when changing batteries - starting to think my Super Avante will stay in the box for a while!). The clean interior is an open invitation for lots of detailed parts to be designed. Equally, rather than mask off the air vents at the front with mesh (as I’ve done before) I’m thinking of placing some faux engine parts in strategic places to give the illusion of a turbo four pot engine inside - we’ll see. Focus now shifts to the interior with a roll cage, dashboard and fuel cell (modelled on the M38).

… and, asking for a friend, where did you get the wing mirrors?

These cars are so much fun - loving the turbo fan wheels. @Dewin - where did you find them and how do they fix onto the rim?

Maybe we should model some solid 3d printed shocks for you and just let the sidewalls do all the damping. Appreciate all the encouragement.

I started with the ride height of the rerelease and then lowered it by a couple of mm. That should be fine for me but there will be room to lower a bit more albeit with reduced suspension travel. Still playing around with the location of the camber links and am still trying to reduce the track of the rear axle - probably with a custom hexagonal space. I’m probably only going to build one Wheeler for myself and favour the look of a fast street car with some modern touches. I’m looking at what these guys have done with the Renault Turbo, another icon from the same period, for inspiration https://legendeautomobiles.fr/

Attention has shifted to Willy’s Wheeler now that all the parts I wanted for the M38 have been designed (just need some time for painting and building). Here are some pictures of our first 4wd chassis for the Wheeler. The purpose of this test mule was to check the general layout and find the best place for the electronics. Trying to keep the clutter away from what will be the interior so have designed a small tunnel in the chassis to allow wires to connect the electronics which will be located on both sides of the chassis. It runs well enough but there is still much work to do to get the correct ride height and map out the rest of the interior.

There are a number of successful headlight conversions for Wild Willy on here that provided much inspiration. I wanted to leverage an existing Tamiya lens given they are gin-clear and often have authentic looking details on the inside that are hard to replicate with current 3d printing technology. After looking at a few that are readily available including the Bullhead/ Celica Gr.B/ Clod and Sand Scorcher sprues I settled on the same conclusion that @kaindi and @Toykid made over 17 years ago (https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=42618&id=50); that of using the Toyota Hilux lens - which thankfully are readily available as spares today. While it’s a snug fit because there isn’t much height to play with we have been able to replicate the outside ring (with three screw heads) using the smoothest fine detailed plastic and accommodated the locating tabs found on the Hilux lens to lock them into position. We replicated the different diameters of the two locating pins so that the headlight ring can only be inserted into the grill one way with the single screw head at the top (ala poka yoke). The light bucket has been designed to be permanently glued into position on the back of the grill and accommodates 5mm LEDs which are readily available wired to plug straight into a spare slot on the receiver. The LEDs are deliberately facing down to illuminate the ground immediately in front of the vehicle. The luminescence can be subtly adjusted by changing the position of the LED in its socket. Unlike most Tamiya light buckets this is a conical design to reflect the shape of the bulbs used on the full-size. I like using the radiator part (https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=135460&id=18923) included in the WW2 kit and despite it being tight these custom light buckets still fit. Cutting the two holes in the grill turned out to be straightforward enough - and cut in three easy steps, i) rough cut to remove most of the material, ii) sand close to the line and then iii) as a happy accident my bag of general sanding items included a 16mm diameter sanding drum which just needed to be pushed through (from the back to avoid any mistakes) to complete the job. I’ve found the translucent nature of natural versatile plastic used in the light bucket allows some light to escape which does a good job of illuminating the inside of the body and clearly doesn’t look right - an easy step to stop this has been to glue kitchen foil to the outside of the bucket - that way the only light to be emitted is through the lens.

Context and connotation! Original in the Vintage forum = most likely getting the best out of ~40 year old parts. Original in the Design forum = most likely getting the best out of using modern software to design parts and the application of additive manufacturing to make them. As stated before, we remain focused on replicating the i) wheelbase ii) track and iii) height and location of the body (without cutting it up) of the 1982 original by using a combination of a unique chassis and unique wheels with the correct offset. I'd be in the Vintage forum if I was striving for vintage accuracy. Regarding the faux disc brakes, not sure I used the word ‘bad’ - but hear the point you are trying to make. I suspect you’ll be pleased to know that I had previous attempts that didn’t make the final cut. However, in contrast I view the experience as invaluable. For example, take the pocket size for a 11mm OD bearing in the hubs; we have learnt the world of difference between 10.90, 11.00 or 11.20 (and we've tried many others in-between) - all of which could be workable depending upon the materials used and the application. The same lessons have been learnt for self tapping screws and the fitment of metal axles etc. It’s because Shapeways and SLS printing more generally is so consistent that these things matter. I can’t recall if any @simensays designs accommodated bearings, axles or gears but given your huge head start I’m sure this is all very familiar to you. We only started using Shapeways/ SLS printing in earnest six months ago. Our experience is now being leveraged on the development of a chassis for the Wheeler where, amongst other things, we have undercuts that couldn’t be injection moulded. And that’s the message to anyone who is still persevering with this thread - have a go and be inspired by the experience and the endless possibilities - rather than just say ‘why bother’ (see 2nd post). There is only so much that can be garnered from an armchair.

They look interesting and may be fine for some. Lamborghini could have pulled something off the Brembo shelf when they developed the Urus. But they decided to bring the development in-house to meet their spec. As stated before, this was our original inspiration - we shrank the dimensions of the disc to 1/10th scale (both diameter and thickness which are different between the front and rear). We could have bought something off the shelf too but decided to design something to meet our spec - I’ve not seen anything similar on a GF-01 based chassis before but happy to be corrected given your clear head start on the rest of us. A close look at the picture suggests the calipers are screwed to the disc and would rotate with the wheel. Instead, I wanted my calipers attached to custom hubs while the discs rotate with the wheels. I also wanted the hex to have as much surface area in contact with the Tamiya wheel and the one in the picture looks short.