Your crazy project (done or dreaming of)

[JimBear 294]

You might recognize it - this odd project idea in the back of your head (the crazy Abarth-Clodbuster combo in neon pink ...) that won't go away.

One of mine (confession time) is a Waagh! Ork mobile - which probably is all greek to most of you, but when I was younger than I am now, I loved tinkering with Warhammer / WH40K miniatures. Loved painting and tinkering and the endless scope and variety - especially that anybody could make some stuff up, add their own flavour to the mix.

Anyways, I found the WH40K Ork to be fun, with their love of odd, banged-up, repair-with-whatever-you-have machinery. My project idea is unlikely to happen, since I want a driver figure (or mostly a head) and the original minis are way too small for anything I have in mind, and 3D printing is all greek to me. So, it's just simmering around in there - something with large wheels (like a Midnight Pumpkin) and painted red ("because red ones go fasta"). If someone knows how to pull it off, go to town - the idea is free.

Tell us about and show us your crazy project - big, small, finished or just starting out - inspiration is always good.

 

[Kowalski86 2187]

Does anyone here remember the final scene of the Lovebug? When Herbies in two pieces?

I had planned to replicate this, with an M03 and use lexan pieces in the middle to join both halfs, with the shell in two. Unfortunately, Beetle shells w/masks and accesories are hard to come by.

My other idea was a CC-01 "trash helper", basically a truck with a box on it to hold whatever litter I would pick up. Turns out it's easier to just use a bag.

[Pylon80 1401]

I have always dreamt of making a scale Benetton Ford F1 (1988). With a custom scale body and a scale chassis. Wheels would have to be picked to be as close to scale as possible for width and diameter (foam wheels could be turned that way). Seems like more time and energy and life than I can afford at this point but it's definitely there at the back of my head 😉

[Rinskie 289]

Something powered by live steam, maybe with tracks but definitely motivated by steam. Something inspired by old trains, like a scratch built HOn3 wooden cab with a flat bed. 

[Killajb 1447]

I've had ideas of a 1/8 scale grasshopper.  Same plastic fantastic body, chassis and suspension powered by a 540 silver can. My thoughts are that this Should be able to get around most modern dirt tracks and enable racers to bash the living crap out of each other en route to the finish with minimal fear of damage 

[Grastens 2792]

I get plenty of these ideas that remain just that; my imagination exceeds my budget by quite a margin!

Lately, it has been putting a Lancia 037 shell on a shortened 2WD drift chassis, sticking some exposed scale parts on there (namely a giant radiator), and slap on some JDM-style decals to create "The Italian:"

Sort of like a Deucari approach...

[Willy iine 17949]

I always wanted a M38 caravan so I did that, then Willy, Paul, and Collin’s shop and garage accessories, along with the comical Billy’s ClubBug and other one-off cars I made, and a shop full of cars and parts.

I’ve already posted them numerous times, but those are it for me.  Photos available in my profile page (click my signature below), or please visit Instagram #pretendRCshop.   

I got a few more things I want to do RC wise, but I’ve pretty much conquered all the things I ever dreamed of doing as a kid.. 

[markbt73 4933]

I have one more serious scratch-built scaler I want to do - a Monteverdi Safari.

Swiss-built SUV from the '70s featuring a leaf-sprung International Scout chassis and a Chrysler 440 cubic inch V8. It's like a Range Rover on acid, and I love it. I have the chassis components and a couple of wheel options that would work, I just need to get up the gumption to start. My Land Rover took five years to make, and this will be a lot more complex...

[Ray_ve 891]

My crazy project is the monster truck replica from the videogame 'Duke Nukem Forever'.

I was playing this game oktober 2022, during the levels with the monster truck I thought 'that would be a nice project truck to build'.
At the same time I saw a somewhat run down Juggernaut on a local trading site, which had the same grille as in the game. And noticed Duke Nukem action figures in roughly the same scale on eBay.

So that all came together to the Rc version of 'Duke's Mighty Foot' monstertruck.

[Beetlemankurt 591]

9 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

Does anyone here remember the final scene of the Lovebug? When Herbies in two pieces?

I had planned to replicate this, with an M03 and use lexan pieces in the middle to join both halfs, with the shell in two. Unfortunately, Beetle shells w/masks and accesories are hard to come by.

My other idea was a CC-01 "trash helper", basically a truck with a box on it to hold whatever litter I would pick up. Turns out it's easier to just use a bag.

Absolutely re: Herbie! But with a user name like mine thats probably not surprising.....I've got one that's in one piece despite visting 3 different countries and getting run over (completely) by a dork of a driver in a full size car many years ago which could have meant he ended up in way more than halves!.....Herbie lives on! 

[Badcrumble 3930]

@JimBear there is a guy on the interwebs who is making RC 40k vehicles - motorized Land Raiders, drone powered anti-grav tanks and he's used one of the small Orlandoo 1:35 kits to make an Ork trukk / Battlewagon / whatever they call themselves these days (I'm back in to 40K after a 30 year hiatus).

As for doing it 1:10 scale, maybe you just need to find someone friendly with a printer or see if there is a printing service near you

Grasshopper ii Ork Driver

Thingiverse Ork Driver

Love that monster @Ray_ve. Big fan of Duke 3D. "it hurts to be you" is occasionally heard in this household!

As for me, always an excess of ideas over time and talent. I recently completed my RWD M03 with 4WS Mini Monster. 

It was rubbish so it will be returned to original spec. The body might end up on a creation from back in 2017.

This is the Minotaur - and M03 mated to an M04 with hand carved and laminated plastic plates. I would have called it an M07 but Tamiya beat me to it.

In bits in the garage is a TL-01.5 - a stretched TL-01 to take a Chevy Silverado body and make a 1:10 version of one of my son's Hot Wheels cars. <Sigh> one day....

More likely to happen in the near future is my son finishes his Dual Hunter rebuild and we do up a body as an homage to Monster Mutt Dalmatian, his favourite from when we saw the Monster Jam last year.

[silvertriple 3255]

Well... I'm not sure I have only one crazy projects... Virtually, any of my projects is getting crazy nowadays...

my Nichimo Spirit FF modeled in CAD and 3D printed was the really first.

Since then, I think any of my project started is involving a bit of crazy things...

And the target of the current main project I have is to build the unreleased Marui MT60-RC09 Mitsubishi Jeep... 

 

 

Updates on my own threads in the non Tamiya areas :-)

 

[Ghostpig 185]

I have done some crazy or different builds and I have some in progress and some in my dreams.

What I have done first.

Tube chassis Lunchbox/Rollin' Thunder. This was inspired by an image of a leaf spring chassis Lunchbox I saw here.

 

Old school monster truck with 4 wheel wire steering and dual torque tuned motors. 

 

1/24 scale monster truck. Did this before the 1/24 scale was cool. Inspired by the RcWizzard from YT. Started out as a plastic model kit.

 

Steel chassis trophy truck.

 

1/8 scale F1 racer from the 60's. My own design with realistic suspension.

 

Xray XB2 made to look like the Team Associated RC10B2.

 

And what I have in progress.

Toyota 2000GT with realistic cahssis and suspension in 1/8 scale.

 

And Nissan Skyline or the KPGC10 Hakosuka. This is also with realistic chassis and suspension but in 1/10 scale.

 

What I'm dreaming of is building more cars with realistic chassis and suspension, like F1 car from the 50's and maybe 90's in 1/8 scale, Ferrari 250GTO, a rally car like the Lancia Delta, a proper tube chassis monster truck and a half track like FAMO.

[Beetlemankurt 591]

@Ghostpigwow! Those are all epic, true craftsmanship there. 

Cheers

Kurt

[BuggyGuy 1090]

I've done nearly all the CAD drawings for a slightly tweaked T-Tech Predator.

My crazy project would be to remake one with a few changes to give it a slightly bigger setup window.

It will be very very difficult to do at home - as I don't want to 3D print any of the finished version.

Machining aluminium, delrin and CF won't be too difficult to do on affordable machines as one offs, but making moulds for the wishbones and other parts would be extremely difficult, and high pressure injection moulding is something that will also present challenges to do in a home workshop.

Bevel gears will be particularly challenging to make, and shocks. Some of the materials needed for things like driveshafts and also some of the special coatings needed on certain parts would also be impossible to do well at home economically.

A non running prototype will be easy to complete - a race grade car will be outrageously difficult and expensive. Still something I'd slowly like to work towards.

[JimBear 294]

On 8/12/2023 at 7:47 AM, markbt73 said:

I have one more serious scratch-built scaler I want to do - a Monteverdi Safari.

So cool - I had no idea this even existed. Looks very much 70's - all the angles. Here's two thumbs for it happening.

[JimBear 294]

@Ghostpig - I just love your creations. The 60's racer reminded me of another thing I'd love to see - a 1930's dirt racer - or something akin to a Mercedes Silver Arrow.

[JimBear 294]

@Badcrumble - thanks for the Ork leads. On and off I have been thinking I'd get back into WH40K, but I have too much on my plate anyways. Perhaps just an Ork or two ... The Mini Pickup is cool - reminds me a bit of the Kyosho Mad Van style.

[Mark_McQ 422]

I bought one of those WLToys buggies a while back and found it very dull. Decided to give it a ridiculous overhaul and turn it into an MT basher with the help of my 3D printer. 

Started with this:

Designed my own wheels so I could use Lunchbox tyres:

Converted it to a 3900kv brushless setup and to stop the bigger wheels causing cogging I cut a slot in the chassis to take a bigger spur gear, then 3D printed an adaptor to fit a Tamiya 71t onto the stock propshaft.

Made a new top deck and battery tray so I could mount a 3S pack, full size servo and the brushless ESC. Also designed a new fan mount for the ESC so I could use a 20x20 noctua fan.

 

Made front and rear LED mounts as well, and incorporated a wheelie bar into the rear one, and re-used the original buggy wheels for that.

 

This thing was an absoloute hoot, but every time I ran it something would eventually break, so it's now become a parts donor for other things. Been eyeing up a Kyosho Madvan to see if it gives the same type of fun. It really was one of the best RCs I've ever used, at least when it wasn't broke, so I'm dying to find something off the shelf which is similar. It's become my white whale.

Got another silly project to finish first though which I mocked up recently. 

[Bwaaatch 514]

My crazy project has been stalled for a while! Hoping I find time for it this summer. 

 

[JimBear 294]

49 minutes ago, Bwaaatch said:

My crazy project has been stalled for a while! Hoping I find time for it this summer.

Cra-a-azy, indeed!

[JimBear 294]

1 hour ago, Mark_McQ said:

I bought one of those WLToys buggies a while back and found it very dull. Decided to give it a ridiculous overhaul and turn it into an MT basher with the help of my 3D printer. 

I was actually thinking about what one could possibly do with a Wltoys 144001 ... but I was more like "change the wheels and put another (better looking) body" on it. I measured the hex adapters and found them to be 12 mm. Perhaps put Tamiya M chassis wheels on it and make an on-road lowrider?

[Tamiyastef 1632]

9 hours ago, Mark_McQ said:

find something off the shelf which is similar

My Stampede 4x4 VXL is an absolute hoot, depending on your driving style the only thing that needs reinforcement on 3S are the driveshafts IMO. Got Integy universals in the rear and haven't had a problem with them ever since. 

[Nick-W 1191]

On 8/11/2023 at 11:57 PM, JimBear said:

since I want a driver figure (or mostly a head) and the original minis are way too small for anything I have in mind

I’m not sure if these would be available near you but they’ve started popping up in shops in the UK. Could be close to 1/10 scale and ripe for chopping up.

[JimBear 294]

2 hours ago, Nick-W said:

I’m not sure if these would be available near you but they’ve started popping up in shops in the UK. Could be close to 1/10 scale and ripe for chopping up.

Thanks, I'll have to have a look and see what I can find - looks promising. EDIT: Had a quick look on the Bezo-market, the figures seems to be 1:18 according to the descriptions. May have to find something suitable as a vehicle - a smaller RC truck or buggy.