XV-02 Lancia Delta - Tamiya Rally Review - Alejo's Project Thread

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

I ordered the materials a few weeks back, mostly Tamiya beams and boards. Looks like it will be delivered this weekend. Beyond deciding on the color, I haven't started the lexan body yet.

1 hour ago, Busdriver said:

Or either of the two orange’s would look good., is that body finally fixed? I’d love to see how you connected it all together and then mounted it?

Indeed the oranges look great, all colors look great actually!

I'm planning to run two beams along the sides of the cab and secure it with two screws on each side. Haven't really thought about how to connect it to the chassis yet. Today I've started building a quick 3D model to play with some ideas:

[Nikko85 3454]

Corsa Grey or PS7 orange

If you're going for red winch parts I'd go for the grey, otherwise the orange and the red clash a little.

Going to be great either way,

[Busdriver 6209]

That looks good. I tried with the lexan body but found it difficult to maintain rigidity. Mind you I used glue rather than screws. Noting sticks very well to lexan.? In the end I built the flat bed from very thin mdf with aluminium l shaped beams down either side.?I also edged the wood with brass l shaped strip. Th roll bar was a Shapeways “ non specific roll bar” this was fitted to the chassis using body posts at the back and magnetic mounts halfway down the chassis. So I could run it with out the cab or another if I found something suitable. The cab in both lexan  and the Loops hardbody had body posts facing forwards with magnets on. These made contact with body just behind the radiator so easy to fit invisibly.. the back of the cab uses a mash up of bits that makes a catch that fits to the top of the battery holder. So again you could run the chassis with just the cab. The final version ended up being the wooden deck and the loops hardbody. Looked great but boy it was heavy, especially prone to rolling forwards, backwards and especially sideways!!! I am currently working on a plasticard rear deck but the hard body has to stay… so much so that I am thinking of putting a Loops 406 DOKA body with a short bed that they do on my CC02 when I build it. It will be heavy but unusual!! 

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

@Busdriver Shoegoo, Goop, E6000 or similar adhesives bond extremely well to lexan 

Finally got the material delivered.

For the wooden deck, I went to the $2 shop and got 3 different options.

From easiest to more work needed: "good" is just wood panel sticker, "better" wood sticks and "best" is wooden strips cut to length. I will start with the "best" and if it's too hard to cut smoothly will jump to "better".

As far as mounting the chassis, I've decided to go with the traditional vertical posts. What I like about this method is that you can adjust the body height easily if needed when changing tire size in the future.

The wires have been fastened and both the ESS sound module & receiver wrapped in plastic. I would have liked to put the body bed as low as possible, ideally right above the battery cover, but the wires do stick-up slightly further up. Might try to wrap them a bit better.

Stuff to do is piling up fast at work as we near the end of the year  but at the same time I have to clear some vacation , so I'll probably get a chance to build and finish the body during the next few weeks 

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

Good progress over the last few days (took some days off). The main frame of the rear box is built and glued. It's not attached to the lexan body yet though.

That was the easy part, the devil will now be on the detail 

After it dries for another day, I'll get the wheel arches done and also some form of skirt. I'm thinking the skirt should have some stepping to access the cabin and perhaps a gas tank of some sort. A top exhaust pipe wouldn't hurt and will really add a nice touch!

I'll leave sanding to the very end, followed by primer and TS-14 Black. I'm planning to cover the whole thing with TS80 Flat Clear at the end but not sure how the wood paneling would look under it. I'll experiment with a coupon piece first. If it looks good, the wood paneling will go after the black paint, then the whole thing will get TS80.

The very last bit will be some hinges, door locks, etc.

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

I left some forward space to make a cockpit (scope creep?). Aiming to reproduce some of that rugged 60's look:

 

[Lurch 1982 1]

All the trucks look fantastic. I am realy impressed.

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

Skid Plates

The belly of this monster is quite exposed, plain plastic through-out. More critically, the belly is formed by the two halves of the chassis and if these crack, it would be quite the hassle/cost to replace.

The above picture shows the chassis on its stock form with the "U" shaped suspension holders on the front. I ended up swapping this arrangement to the rear, and the rear (which had long screw-pins) to the front.

This is quite a unique body, leading to a fairly unorthodox skid plate to match. I couldn't find a good way to fasten the skid plate along its length so I resorted to using double-sided tape all the way. On the front and rear it is fastened under the front/rear face plates. The aluminium sheet I had was not long enough to cover the whole length, thus two pieces were used that met in the middle right on the deepest valley. I used 0.025" sheet to better help matching the underside form.

The front end got special treatment with a wedge-shaped plate that will ease rocks coming directly ahead. I couldn't find a good way to fasten it with screws and had to go with zip-ties. This time thicker 0.040" sheet was used.

End product:

Front:

Rear:

Underside:

The front plate was a bit tricky since it needed to fold upon itself. Papercraft meets RC modding.

Frist step was to do a very rough version in paper, followed by thin clear plastic.

The plastic version was then used as a template for the final aluminium piece.

It turned out reasonably well but I'm not 100% convinced  Let's see how well it holds up once the car hits the trails.

The platform made by the front skid plate will be filled with a winch, the functional ones are too expensive so I'll go with a non-functional version. That's assuming I can find one, any pointers to where one could be in stock?

[Busdriver 6209]

7 minutes ago, OoALEJOoO said:

Skid Plates

The belly of this monster is quite exposed, plain plastic through-out. More critically, the belly is formed by the two halves of the chassis and if these crack, it would be quite the hassle/cost to replace.

The above picture shows the chassis on its stock form with the "U" shaped suspension holders on the front. I ended up swapping this arrangement to the rear, and the rear (which had long screw-pins) to the front.

This is quite a unique body, leading to a fairly unorthodox skid plate to match. I couldn't find a good way to fasten the skid plate along its length so I resorted to using double-sided tape all the way. On the front and rear it is fastened under the front/rear face plates. The aluminium sheet I had was not long enough to cover the whole length, thus two pieces were used that met in the middle right on the deepest valley. I used 0.025" sheet to better help matching the underside form.

The front end got special treatment with a wedge-shaped plate that will ease rocks coming directly ahead. I couldn't find a good way to fasten it with screws and had to go with zip-ties. This time thicker 0.040" sheet was used.

End product:

Front:

Rear:

Underside:

The front plate was a bit tricky since it needed to fold upon itself. Papercraft meets RC modding.

Frist step was to do a very rough version in paper, followed by thin clear plastic.

The plastic version was then used as a template for the final aluminium piece.

It turned out reasonably well but I'm not 100% convinced  Let's see how well it holds up once the car hits the trails.

The platform made by the front skid plate will be filled with a winch, the functional ones are too expensive so I'll go with a non-functional version. That's assuming I can find one, any pointers to where one could be in stock?

This is looking good. I have another Unimog body in the sideline and the box back has always annoyed me. Your way of dealing with it has given me food for thought. I have an idea that would use magnets at the front by extending the rear bed plate forwards??

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

Slow progress but progress nonetheless, built the rear wheel arches and most of the skirt. I'll start building the cockpit now.

The car is getting quite heavy though. I'm tempted to remove some of the weighted rims back to the standard kit's plastic.

[Busdriver 6209]

Any progress? 

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

Very little unfortunately, weather has been miserable and work quite heavy

Mostly finished the cabin. Still need to do the dashboard and see how best to fit the driver. It's a figure I originally planned for the Hilux many years ago, but since it had dark windows was never used. It is missing one leg, and with my 2022 budget already spent, that means Captain Peg Leg will be the Unimog's driver

[Busdriver 6209]

Looks great. I bet it’s getting quite heavy though!!! The driver is fine. If you got some milputt filler you could mould another leg? I suppose he needs it , trying to drive a stick shift with one leg isn’t easy!!!

Edited January 5, 2022 by Busdriver

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

Worryingly heavy indeed! This should be a plus when conquering terrain as it will crush vegetation like a mechanical juggernaut. The issue would be putting too much stress on the gears, specially the splined gearbox joints. Let's see how it turns out once everything comes together.

Weather has been heavenly for the past two days, finally got a chance to paint the Unimog body. Will post some pics once it's dry.

@Busdriver I don't have miliput but thanks for the idea, it made me recall that I have some of plastic clay lying somewhere which could do the trick. A prosthetic leg is now on the to-do list. Worst comes to worst Capt. Pegleg will man the clutch and I'll assist with gas/brake via the transmitter  

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

The body is now fully painted and dry. I'll remove the last masking bits and start applying decals/paneling on Sunday.

Also managed to finish building the box. Added a few small details like hinges and locks, sanded down the whole thing and got it washed. I decided not to go all-blast with detail/workmanship since this will be a runner expected to accumulate hundreds of Km. If the weather continues as good as it's been for the past week, I might be able to finish painting on Sunday as well.

Getting a "7" error when trying to upload a picture .

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

Picture upload is working again (barely) 

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

Everything is shaping up quite well. The bulk of the work on the box is finished.

I ended up choosing the wood panel stickers over real wood to reduce some weight. The hinges and locks are made from little bits & pieces of plastic and painted silver.

Added some anti-slip steel (plastic) floor pieces on the wheel arches. Safety first, Capt. Pegleg already lost a leg for not being careful!

The front got a dummy winch. The bare plastic was rather ugly, gave it a coat of paint.

On the to-do list:

• Capt. Pegleg got his coat of paint finished and spray-sealed. Waiting to fully dry.
• Mount our fearless driver, then attach the box to the cabin (the pictures show it loosely attached without the screws).
• Solder LED lights

I'm itching to get out and run it!

[Busdriver 6209]

If as you say that your build was in any way inspired by my Dynamog then I am honoured. Your detail is in a different league to mine. They really are fun though beware they can be a bit top heavy especially going across an incline. You don’t want to damage your detailed work!!

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

Indeed I got very excited when I saw your Dynamog thread, great looking model 

My tactic to counter the high CG was to use the crawler technique of heavy wheels. Each steel wheel + tire has a whopping 240g weight, x6 wheels totals 1.44Kg! Since all that weight is very low, it should have a substantial effect in lowering the CG. I hope the trade-off is worth it.

It will get beaten eventually, there is no escaping that 

[Busdriver 6209]

1 hour ago, OoALEJOoO said:

Indeed I got very excited when I saw your Dynamog thread, great looking model 

My tactic to counter the high CG was to use the crawler technique of heavy wheels. Each steel wheel + tire has a whopping 240g weight, x6 wheels totals 1.44Kg! Since all that weight is very low, it should have a substantial effect in lowering the CG. I hope the trade-off is worth it.

It will get beaten eventually, there is no escaping that 

Good call

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

Unimog 406 Body (continued)

The  body is now finished and the build is complete, it took nearly two months!

Driver:

Capt. Pegleg is dressed with classic fashionable style. At the end he decided that instead of getting a prosthetic leg to be able to operate the clutch, it was better to convert his Unimog from diesel to fully electric and eliminate the clutch altogether!

Besides him is his trusty lifting equipment and an edition of Tamiya's RC line-up, which he has been reading in-between jobs!

Dashboard is simple but functional

Stickers:

A combination of Tamiya 56534 Truck & Trailer Sticker Set was used along with the provided kit Unimog stickers. I ended up re-positioning some of the stickers to better harmonize with the general shape:

Detailing:

The fuel tank part of the original lexan body was attached right next to the cabin:

All the hinges & locks were made using simple strips and rods of plastic, then painted silver:

The anti-skid stepping plates were weathered a bit:

Detail shot of the dummy winch:

LEDs were mounted on the original lexan rear frame. Holes were drilled on the skirt to route the wires into the inside of the chassis:

 

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

G6-01TR Electronics

Sound system: ESS One Plus, loaded with diesel engine sounds.

ESC: The trusty Hobbywing Quicrun 1080.

Servo: 4WS setup with 2x Power HD 1812MG waterproof 18 Kg-cm, both with an aluminum horn.

Radio: Futaba R2006GS receiver + Futaba 3PL transmitter (4WS support).

Motor: Team Rafee Co. 35-turn coupled to a 20T pinion.

 

G6-01TR Performance

Ground Clearance:

(Front/Center/Rear)(mm): 49/49/53.

Skid pads reduced clearance by around 2mm.

Wheel Travel:

This time it's a bit more tricky since the car is not F/R symmetric. The earlier logic for the 4WD cars was to raise the front wheel as high as possible while keeping all 4 wheels touching the ground. Since the G6-01TR  has 6 wheels, the logic used was to lift the front wheel until at least 4 wheels are touching the ground. The rear wheel travel was measured with the same logic. For the center wheel travel, the logic used was to keep all 6 wheels touching.

Clearing Obstacles:

Let's compare all the vehicles so far (winners highlighted green).

One word: unstoppable 

I took the G6-01TR to the usual short trial path with a lot of anticipation. The truck gobbled-up everything on its path, it was absolutely unstoppable! The very high ground clearance (by virtue of the large wheels + portal axles) coupled with a very narrow stance (width) meant only the most protruding obstacles touched the truck's belly. Even through the wheel travel doesn't seem impressive, the fact that there is a third wheel at the center means nothing bottoms-out this thing. There is a tough, rocky uphill slope that while the did CR-01 Hilux conquer, it did so with a slight struggle. The Unumog climbed up as if it were flat terrain! If the CR-01 was incredible at clearing the path, the G6-01TR is a league further.

The one thing where the 6-wheel setup comes at a disadvantage compared to its 4-wheel counterparts is when trying to clear high steps orthogonally ahead (e.g. a log or root), assuming all cars have sufficient center clearance. On a 4-wheeler the front axle will climb first, then the step will pas under the belly, and finally the rear axle will climb the step. For the G6-01TR the front axle will climb first, but since there is no real belly, the center axle will now start to climb. This results in the car pointing up like a see-saw, with the center axle as the fulcrum, and then tilting down (sometimes violently) once the tilt point is past. This is how the car would clear a high step, which is not very elegant. However, a workaround is to approach the obstacle at an angle instead of orthogonally.

Maximum Speed & Wheel Speed:

Coupling the 35-turn motor with a 20T (33.61 FDR) and 118mm wheels, resulted in about 8 kph maximum speed, which is a slow jogging speed. The models is a bit slower than the other trucks, but this is great since it's a bit heavier. Limiting maximum speed would help reducing wear & tear on the drivetrain.

There is an incredible amount of torque. You can virtually keep the same very small input throttle on the transmitter and the truck will go up-hill, clear obstacles, grass, anything you throw at it with minimal reduction in speed. You can argue it has too much torque, more than needed for sure. Originally I wanted to use a 45-turn motor but it would have resulted in an inadequate maximum speed of about 6 kph. The 35-turn was the highest turn I could go for the speed target and therefore settled with the trade-off: higher than needed torque/power/battery consumption but allowing a good maximum speed. Can't complain, the truck runs like a dream

Gearbox Noise:

Considering the amount of gears the drive-train has, I was pleasantly surprised that the usual gear "whine" was not too bad. On par with the CC-02 in fact. The ESS One diesel engine sounds mask the gear sounds quite nicely.

Turning Radius:

The front axle servo EPA was set at 65% to prevent servo mount flex. On the rear axle, the limitation the rear tires touching with the center ones, thus settling with only 45% EPA. The turn radius was about the same as the CC-02, which is not fantastic but it works.

Durability:

With it's otherworldly ability to clear terrain, there are hardly any rocks hitting the bottom -the underbelly skid plate was pretty much pristine after the run. Time will tell if the high weight will stress the drive-train components too much. I am not a big fan of the splined gearbox joints (stripped a few on the CC-01 but probably because I ran it without the diff. spacer mod). The rear-axle was locked solid, I guess if something breaks, it would probably be the joints on this axle first. Still, I believe this is unlikely and that the truck will run problem-free for a long time!

Final Thoughts:

What a nice project this was! It took around two months to complete and enjoyed every second of it .

The CR-01 Hilux has lost its spot as the performance king! The G6-01TR Unimog simply is in another league when conquering terrain. They each satisfy a different type of running though.

• G6-01TR Unimog: slower, steady and robust pace. Almost runs like a bulldozer being able to just tackle anything on its path almost head-on.
• CR-01 Hilux: Extremely attractive look, can conquer any obstacle with enough skill. Higher speed on flats.
• CC-02 Land Cruiser: Very nice scale look, almost on par with the CR-01 in performance, incredible battery life.
• CC-01 Land Cruiser: Even nicer scale look, really nice for less demanding terrain.

And this concludes the main "Tamiya Chain Reaction" project. There are a couple of side projects that have spun-off that will keep my busy tinkering for some time:

• Isuzu Mu body paint (previously assigned to the CC-01).
• VW Beetle body (part of the MF-01X kit used for the 1/14 Nissan Hardbody).
• Sand Scorcher body paint (bought one to get the stickers used on the Hilux body).
• Swap the large Monster Beetle tires & wheels currently on the high-lift Hilux with the CC-02 Land Cruiser's Maxxis Trepador. I'll then mod the high-lift to lower its body & stance.

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

Photo Shoot

[OoALEJOoO 3127]

Triple Photo Shoot

Already swapped the tires into the Land Cruiser.

[Busdriver 6209]

1 hour ago, OoALEJOoO said:

Triple Photo Shoot

Already swapped the tires into the Land Cruiser.

Brilliant thread. Now all we need are some mud wrestling pictures!!!