My F150 King Blackfoot build thread

[SteveU30 1011]

I'd never really noticed the Blackfoot trucks since getting into Vintage RC 6 months ago but that all changed a few weeks ago when I saw a close up of one and realised that the original Blackfoot bears my son's name down the side 'Jake's Motorsport'. This immediately made me take notice!

So I started reading up on them and soon made my mind up that as I wanted to run it regularly, the King Blackfoot was the one I would buy. However, the KBF doesn't sport the much nicer F150 body and as I really wanted the graphics with my son's name on them I knew it would be a custom build.

So, I acquired a King Blackfoot and a Blackfoot III body and set to it. I drilled the body to fit the KBF but it was sitting too low at the back. Then after doing some more research I found that the Super Blackfoot body mounts would enable the back to sit higher. A couple more holes later and it's now sitting right (although it's now riddled with holes):

Super Blackfoot rear mounts:

The plan now is to fill all the holes and then cover the front holes with the original Blackfoot bonnet decal, for the rears I've bought this leather look stick-on vinyl which I'm hoping will give the effect of a tonneau cover once cut to shape (rather than just painting it matt black):

Next I cut some 3mm plasticard squares (OK they're not perfect squares but this is a runner after all) and cemented them to the underside:

View from above:

I've left these to set now, next job will be to fill the holes from above with Polymorph, sand flat and then apply the graphics/vinyl.

So far I've fully ball raced the truck and fitted a Sport Tuned motor and TEU-101BK ESC.

Cut the MSC mount off to mount the ESC in it's place instead:

Another mod I have planned is to ditch the standard steering setup and replace it with the A8 servo mount (currently have one in red on it's way from the US courtesy of a TC member) and fit a Tamiya high torque servo saver to take the slop out of the steering:

Just need to order some 95mm Ansmann shocks and I'll be well on my way to getting this on the road.

Watch this space!!

[KEV THE REV 2319]

Nice project . I'll be interested to see how the rear bed turns out with that vinyl . I was toying with the idea of using that myself . I have a similar product and I've used it a lot and considered the BF rear bed covering . I'll be watching

[SteveU30 1011]

Some more progress on the body tonight.

Melted some Polymorph and pressed it into the holes:

Then pulled them back out of the holes and trimmed off the excess with scissors:

Then I glued them back into the holes:

Will leave the glue to set now before sanding them level then will fill any imperfections with Milliput and sand level again before applying the vinyl.

[waterbok 1282]

wouldnt dissolving black sprue or plasticard in abs cement and then cement that in the holes work better?

you should look at reinforcing the mount holes with some of your plasticard thats were my BF cracked after a crash.

(i put a piece covering the whole inside of the front to strenghten it)

[SteveU30 1011]

wouldnt dissolving black sprue or plasticard in abs cement and then cement that in the holes work better?

you should look at reinforcing the mount holes with some of your plasticard thats were my BF cracked after a crash.

(i put a piece covering the whole inside of the front to strenghten it)

Thanks for the suggestion however the Polymorph plugs I made have set in rock solid and I've now cut them off flush, sanded them flat and applied some Milliput to fill in the imperfections. Just needs a sand and it will be ready for the decals/vinyl to be applied!!

[SteveU30 1011]

More progress, fitted the A8 Blackfoot part that I acquired from fellow TCer Crash Cramer. Had to drill a couple of extra holes so I could fit the servo centrally though:

Servo fitted:

Front end back on, had to fit the ball ends on to the high torque servo saver pointing down though as the steering arms fouled the chassis when fitted pointing up:

Fitted an alloy guard to the underside to protect the servo:

Took the last bit of steering slop out by fitting a small washer behind the front wheels:

95mm oil filled shocks:

Fitted:

Back to the body, sanded down the milliput:

Making a template for the vinyl on the rear deck:

Vinyl applied and started applying decals too:

Just need to apply the remaining decals, fit all the bits and bobs to the body and its ready for a run, more pics soon!

[Crash Cramer 617]

That is looking very good so far. Good servo mouting trick as I was going to warn you about that silly oritinal mount. I had one break simply assembling a shelf queen. I don't know how long this replacement will hold out, but since it doesn't run, who knows. I like your fix better, perhaps I should have sent you a Kimborough servo saver as well. That rear bed cover is looking good too. Around here I would expect to see some snaps all along the sides to hold it onto the bed, real nice period effect.

[isthisnametaken 8]

Looks great, I'll be watching this thread for updates. I love my KBF too... I was thinking about doing the same thing you're doing with the stepside body since my KBF body has seen better days.

[SteveU30 1011]

It's not finished yet as I still have to get some new tyres and a couple of other minor details but here's some pics of it's maiden run in the garden:

Sport tuned under there:

Hope you like!

[Crash Cramer 617]

That is looking very sharp, and those red wheels, well they look great. I think you need to get a super Fine Sharpie marker after that grill so it will get some depth and realism, won't take long as there isn't half the lines/trouble as in the original grill for the BF. I prefer the Super BF grill for that fact.

[GregM 1109]

Good job! At least on the pictures, the hue of the more pinkish coloured wheels look pretty similar to the red decals on the bodyshell. And it's cool to see you've even added a red sleeved battery to the mix. How was its maiden run?

[Kevin_Mc 411]

looks brilliant, i've been really tempted by a KBF recently and the BF3 body suits it perfectly

[biggamehunter 127]

i love it ! great job steve , im gunna have to get one after seeing yours thanks for sharing

[SteveU30 1011]

Thanks for the kind words chaps, Greg it runs really well, much better now I've sorted the awful standard steering setup. It still needs a tweak of the steering arms and I may have to put in stronger springs on the shockies but I'm really pleased with it so far. Will try and get it in some open space soon and shoot some video.

[mongoose1983 3335]

Man, your work with that King Black Foot is brilliant. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[SteveU30 1011]

Again, thanks for the kind words! With the help of Percymon I've just ordered a set of replacement tyres and foam inserts for a bargain price of £21 delivered for a full set. They even look just like the original items. The wheels I'll just put in my spares box for a rainy day as they won't fit the KBF (probably a bit bling for it anyway).

These are them if anyone is interested: http://bit.ly/189AFqM

[SteveU30 1011]

Here it is, video as promised!

[waterbok 1282]

Nice, very nice.

This KB is in line and waiting for your steering HopUp

[SteveU30 1011]

Been working on improving the KBF, first thing that needed sorting was the fact that the truck just wasn't getting the power down due to the tyres not being glued and the spikes on the tyres being worn away. I also really wanted a set of the chrome KBF hop-up wheels and as luck would have it, a set came up on TC recently so I immediately bought them (thanks Dunkman). Also, with the help of Percymon I ordered a set of wheels and tyres that come with a set of foam inserts. The wheels were destined straight for the parts bin but at £20 delivered the tyres and foams were a bargain (especially as they are an exact copy of the original tyres).

Some pics:

Fitted:

Next up was to sort out the excessive negative camber angle on the front suspension, this was down to the supposedly 95mm shocks actually being 98mm eye to eye. That resulted in the tyres hitting the springs when the shocks were fully extended as shown here (shockie on the left has already been shortened here):

What I did to fix it was to strip the shockies, take a 6mm brass spacer and fit it over the shockie piston to restrict the extension length of the shock down to 92mm:

This sorted things right out and the truck sits much better at the front now:

As soon as the weather gets a bit better I'll shoot some more video of how it runs now.

Fancy fitting some lights to it too so watch this space!

[Crash Cramer 617]

That looks awesome and you got a great deal on those chrome wheels as I have always hoped I would get some one day, but ended up with alu wheels cheaper if you can believe that. If you don't want to use SUPER GLUE on those tires, beleive it or not, simple Elmer's Glue All will hold very nicely(unless you use a brushless setup). IF you find that the Sport Tuned still spins the wheels on the tires, you could change the gears a bit or use a super glue, but I find that I am horrible at applying any super glue to fancey chrome or other plastics where I don't want fogging and thus I ruin things fast. Elmer's also affords you the pain when taking the tires off later, I put Elmer's on my King Cab and it worked like a charm.

[kontemax 1725]

Don't glue these chrome wheels!

I did it and ruined the wheels and the tires. The chrome plate peeled off the rims and remained on the tires making a mess.

Max

[SteveU30 1011]

Duly noted, thanks guys. I'm hoping the tyre foams and the fact that the tyres are new will mean the wheels don't spin (if my lunchbox is anything to go by).

[isthisnametaken 8]

Looks great, I love the chrome wheels... must keep an eye out for a set of my own!

[SteveU30 1011]

I've gotta admit I think I like them better than the yellow wheels on the original Blackfoot, they will fit the original too with a set of these http://bit.ly/11q4a60

[EricF 5]

Really nice, I love how that looks.

I have the Super Black foot which is older, but one thing I always hated about the original and super blackfoot, is that gross and unsightly, bright red chassis. Always got envious of the King Blackfoots black frame. More realistic if you wanted to add chrome rims and stuff.