Willy's Nailer Scaler - Summer project build thread...

[JennyMo]

2025 Update: the original photos in this thread were hosted by Photobucket, and unfortunately that account has now been deleted... various photos of this model are still available in my showroom however: link here

 

 

Inspired by trawling around the recent build threads here on TC (especially Skottomans epic VW bus!) , I thought I'd start a new 'scale' project myself this summer...

With the Stumpkin essentially finished now (I have finally found a neat way to mount Willy in the Pumpkin shell - will post photos in that thread soon), and having come up with a few new ideas building my Crawler (Willy's Rocker), I thought I'd see what I could put together with all the spare parts I had lying around...

This is essentially the left over Wild Willy 2 body, sitting on the old toy-shop chassis that was originally under the Stumpkin shell (are you following me?!)... as you can see, the wheelbase and width are almost perfect for a scaler:

Unfortunately, not only are the electronics shot, but the front suspension was cracked and glued, and there was no way to upgrade the electronics to anything decent... so it really is a write off to be honest.

Initially I chopped up a TL-01 chassis to make something with the correct 160mm (or thereabouts) wheelbase - particularly as I wanted this to be a 4x4 - and I'm sure with a lot of time and effort it could be made to work well enough... However, Inspired by Toykid's Losi MRC/Willy hybrid, I then looked at alternative scale chassis that might be closer to the wheelbase I wanted, and sure enough, found something that was essentially perfect!

On the left is the original Taiyo chassis, and on the right an HPI Mini Recon, fitted up with Sand Scorcher rear wheels all round.

As you can see, the 160mm wheel base of the Mini Recon is perfect for the Willy shell, as was the 178mm track width... I chose the Recon for a number of reasons - mainly that it was 2.4 GHz RTR, and had a separate receiver - that also includes a 3rd channel so I can fit lights to it easily... The Suspension was also really plush, and it would appear relatively easy to convert the mini axles to larger 12mm Hex-drive (although I decided to ditch that idea and go for the Padlatraks as a homage to the original Willy).

Although the pin drive axles were only 3mm (compared to Tamiya 5mm), I was able to make some adapters using K&S aluminium tubing, and cut a slot in the back of each SS wheel for the pin, so the wheels mounted up perfectly.

I also extended the body mounts to the correct height for the shell, using more K&S tube - the 4mm fitted into the post mounts, the 5mm sleeves it, and the original 4mm mounting posts fit into the 5mm sleeve (hope that makes sense!):

cont.

[IBIFTKH]

Good to see you back in action Jenny. Looks like a great combination and the Padlatraks are perfect for it. I think Willy's going to enjoy this one!

Can't wait to see more.

Cheers,

Rob

[Percymon]

Good find on the chassis - will make a great run-around for Willy

[JennyMo]

cont.

Although I'd like the details to be as close to scale as possible, with Willy behind the wheel I know that this is really going to be more of a cartoon than true scale - it's really just the proportions that I hope to get close...

At the front I've fitted a Mauri Jeep winch (Similar to the 1:1 Warn 8274), and drilled out the side-lights for LED housings (left over from my Axial lighting kit fitted to the Rocker):

My intention was to fit light buckets for the main lights too, although I've had an alternative idea using a light-bar and spots - going to play around with that a bit first...

Having originally chopped up another WW2 shell to try and make it fit my Crawler chassis (I eventually gave up on that idea), similarly, I cut out the fuel cell and repositioned it in the passenger footwell - not just to be different, but because I want the rear loadbay clear for a few accessories - and used a section of another Willy shell bonnet (hood) to fill in the gap...

Because of the new fuel-cell location, I also had to reposition the gear levers on the bulkhead, and have fitted a steering wheel from the VW Camper kit, rather than the stock WW2 steering wheel that has solid spokes.

I have removed the spot lights from the rear rollover bar, and will be fitting the pad section with the fire extinguisher from the rear stays here instead.

So, to give you an idea where this is going, a few photos of the body mounted to the Recon chassis:

At the rear, having cut up the original WW2 tailgate, I decided to cut down a Pumpkin part, which I think fits really nicely and cleans up the rear end a lot? There is also space for a rear winch (the standard WW2 part) - nice!

cont.

[JennyMo]

It is still a work in progress, but some of the accessory options I have already include sand ladders, a possible bonnet-mounted spare, and a 1:12th scale Honda Monkey bike!

I particularly like this rear 3/4 view of it - the idea with this build is that everywhere you look, there will be an interesting little feature...

I also couldn't resist running the chassis (and again, with the bare body fitted) outside - and boy is it FAST!!!

I knew the Recon was already pretty speedy on its relatively tiny wheels, but with the scorcher wheels fitted (that must be getting on for 50% larger diameter), this thing absolutely flies! - in fact it is almost too fast, especially for such a short wheelbase - although fortunately you can trim the steering servo action to slow it down, and the all-round independent suspension is actually surprisingly good, and the handling is very surefooted, even with the heavier WW2 body fitted - I'm really impressed how well it actually drives too! Initially I was concerned that the larger wheels might hamper the acceleration (especially with the tiny little 370 motor fitted) but there was no need to worry - it will still spin all four wheels if you accelerate hard, so goodness knows what it must have been like on the stock wheels & tyres?!

For the moment, I have mounted the body at this height (unladen) - mainly because any closer to the chassis and the wheels will rub on the arches - yes, the Recon actually has a reasonable amount of travel & articulation, and I imagine it will only get better as the springs bed-in.

With the current ESC position under the rear deck, there is still room to drop the body onto the chassis about 10mm:

And simiarly there is 10mm or so between the bottom of the body (even without trimming the centre rib) and the chassis, should I decide to drop it slightly:

Perhaps one (simple) option is to make a second set of body mount extension tubes - and have one set for display/scale appearance and the higher ones for actually driving?

So for now, I'll leave you with where I'm up to...

More soon!

Jenny xx

[ChrisRx718]

Looks pretty good from here!

Did you paint the driver figure yourself? He looks very impressive...

[JennyMo]

Hi Reilluor - thank you for your kind words!

Yes, this is the first Willy I painted for myself (the second I'd done, the first was for a friend):

Dirty Willy

Originally he was going to go in the Stumpkin, then I wondered what he'd look like with an open-face helmet, so modified another:

Ciggy Willy

Then I went crazy and created this version:

Joker Willy

Then this guy for the Fro-Sco:

Acid Willy

Of course I needed a Willy driver for my crawler - fortunately Willy from the VW Camper fitted perfectly!

Rocker Willy

And finally my latest version...

Hang Loose Willy!

Jx

[ChrisRx718]

You have way more patience than I do! Is that all with a paintbrush or is there some airbrushing involved? And what kinds of paint?

Sorry for all the questions!

I have a Bruiser driver figure I need to paint in the near future and was just wondering...it'll probably look nothing like I'm hoping!

[JennyMo]

You have way more patience than I do! Is that all with a paintbrush or is there some airbrushing involved? And what kinds of paint?

Sorry for all the questions!

I have a Bruiser driver figure I need to paint in the near future and was just wondering...it'll probably look nothing like I'm hoping!

They are all done with a series of paintbrushes - mainly very fines ones as you might imagine!

I use the little pots of acrylic paints you can buy in model shops - that way you can blend colours, and use a colour wash and dry brush technique - although I spray paint the helmets with a rattle-can to get a smooth/consistent finish...

On some of them I have also gone over the finished model with a can of satin lacquer to seal them, although I prefer the finish without, it is more hardwearing with a coat of lacquer.

There is a really good tutorial by Fabrizio here on TamiyaClub: http://www.tamiyaclub.com/willy.asp

I used his suggestions as a basis (particularly the way of building up the skin tones and the eye highlights), but you can obviously modify as you desire... I have to admit I tend to stick to plain helmets (or perhaps with stickers) as I haven't the patience or dexterity to mask them off for an elaborate design!

Jx

[Skottoman]

This project should be great! With your painting skills, I imagine you'll do some great stuff with this.

Keeping it more scale, with the cartoonish Willy driving will be pretty cool.

Are you going full on weathered, or new from the car dealer look?
(Thanks for mentioning my build. It is nice to know I've inspired people)

Cheers,

Skottoman

[markbt73]

Great build! I like the stance, the wheel/tire choice, everything. Just looks like it was meant to be.

...not so sure about Joker Willy, though...

[JennyMo]

...not so sure about Joker Willy, though...

Hee hee - don't have nightmares!

[JennyMo]

So, just a quick update today... I couldn't help but rip the car around some more outside - purely in the name of research you understand...

Sure enough, the more I drive it, the more the springs have softened up and bedded in... dropping the ride height a little.

The Mini Recon comes with a series of preload spacers for the shocks, and I played around with those, and ultimately I think that with the weight of the Wild Willy shell (and especially with all the accessories I'm going to load onto this vehicle), the best thing is going to be to fit some stiffer shocks - probably something from a 1:10 scale vehicle... that said, it is amazingly forgiving on the soft springs, try as I might I couldn't get it to roll over with the WW2 shell fitted, not until I hit a hole in the driveway anyway!

So, being a stickler for aesthetics and realism, I've decided to drop the body 10mm front and rear after all (just made up some new spacer tubes), and am confident the lower centre of gravity will more than make up for the wheels touching the arches on occasion - it didn't seem to upset the handling anyway...

So this is what it looks like with the body 10mm lower and the stock shocks pre-loaded:

Ultimately, I think by fitting slightly stiffer and shorter stroke shocks, the wheels won't touch the arches either... funny, I never thought I purposely want to restrict suspension travel, especially on a 4x4 vehicle!

Jx

[Skottoman]

Looks even better and more realistic sitting lower. Hides the gap as well.

Keep it up!

Cheers,

Skottoman

[biggamehunter]

looks great , i think the sand ladders would look better across the roll bar side to side behind the seats on the rear side of roll bar though ?

[JennyMo]

looks great , i think the sand ladders would look better across the roll bar side to side behind the seats on the rear side of roll bar though ?

Hi Biggamehunter - I agree, they do fit well there... I'm also toying with fitting a third roll hoop at the rear of the vehicle, and putting on a full length roof-rack too, so where they eventually end up is anyone's guess - but as a trail rig, they certainly do look good horizontally behind the seat/s...

Jx

[mr crispy]

Looks great and I really like your painting on the heads. Makes me want to finish my TL based WW. Those tyres look very nice on there, i might have to "borrow" that idea Have you considered mounting the sand ladders horizonally on the rear panel? Or are you fitting the spare wheel and fuel can there?

Also does the mini recon take a full size 7.2v battery?

[JennyMo]

Looks great and I really like your painting on the heads. Makes me want to finish my TL based WW. Those tyres look very nice on there, i might have to "borrow" that idea Have you considered mounting the sand ladders horizonally on the rear panel? Or are you fitting the spare wheel and fuel can there?

Also does the mini recon take a full size 7.2v battery?

Hey Mr Crispy! - Yes, I like TL chassis too (that was my first Tamiya project, and I fitted a Ford F150 lexan shell to it together with the BFG tyres and wheels) - I'd be interested to see how you get everything to fit under the Willy shell with that, as it was an idea I was toying with myself before I found the Mini Recon... as for Recon, the battery is a 6-cell 7.2v, but much smaller than a regular pack (complete with mini connector, although I bought an adapter so my regular fast charger can also charge it):

You can also see I have managed to mount the rear winch in a 'minimalist' way, using the lower part of one of the Recon bumpers and judicious use of the dremel and some superglue (for now). I actually swapped the front and rear bumpers over, as with the body 10mm lower now, the hoop on the original front bumper was interfering with the shell...

I have repositioned the sand ladders as BGH suggested (again, not necessarily their final position, but I trust you'll all agree they look better there?), and have also fitted the fire extinguisher to the top of the roll-hoop.

I like Mr Crispy's suggestion about mounting the ladders across the tailgate (after all, if it were a real car you'd want the ladders easily to hand), but I intend to fit rear lights and a licence plate there - and while it would be feasible to position the rear lights so they shine through the holes in the ladder (neat eh?), I think ultimately I like the clean tail-gate look... rather the loadbay (and possibly a roof rack) is going to be the way I go for accessories on this one I feel...

More soon - I can't wait to get painting this one, and suggestions for the main colour are welcome - I love the olive drab, but feel this ought to be more of a civvy truck?

btw. In reply to Skottoman above - I'm not sure I have the skill (or patience) to produce a show-room shine, so it will probably be a beater too - I fancy having a go with the salt rust trick you used on the VW bus so effectively!

Jx

[biggamehunter]

looks great jen !! what about desert sand ? would fit with the sand tyres and sand ladders very well i think ? i know you said you wanted it more civvy but i think one in desert sand would look realy cool , also , just a suggestion but i have never seen a willy with a snorkel on it ? i think a matt black snorkel sitting up the front screen edge roll bar would give it a civvy feel and look ................ love the bones of it atm though , great work ... AGAIN !

[JennyMo]

looks great jen !! what about desert sand ? would fit with the sand tyres and sand ladders very well i think ?

Funny you say that - not only do I happen to have a can of Austin Rover 'Sand Glow' (Camel Trophy) yellow in the garage, but I've been working on another Willy head recently:

Originally I was going to paint him up as a CHP rider, but the more I look at it, the more it looks like a military style desert helmet perhaps? I reckon I could cover the helmet in a fine net, and paint him up in a dirty desert camo overall... then he'd look like he'd just busted out of Camp Bastion and made a break for it?!

I really like the effect that Scottoman produced using the layers of rust (oxide) primer, grey primer and then a top coat (together with the salt creating a flaking underneath) - and the Sand Glow yellow would certainly offer a contrast to the red and grey layers... plus the Sand Glow is a relatively flat/matt colour, which is in keeping with an aged ex-military beater too of course... Hmmmmmm, you might be onto something there!

Jx

[biggamehunter]

Funny you say that - not only do I happen to have a can of Austin Rover 'Sand Glow' (Camel Trophy) yellow in the garage, but I've been working on another Willy head recently:

Originally I was going to paint him up as a CHP rider, but the more I look at it, the more it looks like a military style desert helmet perhaps? I reckon I could cover the helmet in a fine net, and paint him up in a dirty desert camo overall... then he'd look like he'd just busted out of Camp Bastion and made a break for it?!

I really like the effect that Scottoman produced using the layers of rust (oxide) primer, grey primer and then a top coat (together with the salt creating a flaking underneath) - and the Sand Glow yellow would certainly offer a contrast to the red and grey layers... plus the Sand Glow is a relatively flat/matt colour, which is in keeping with an aged ex-military beater too of course... Hmmmmmm, you might be onto something there!

Jx

i think your onto something too jen !!! that willy head looks great as a desert storm head , especially with the net , the nets are held on by military personel with strips of car tyre innertube cut cross section so theres no join , so a black rubber band small enough to fit tight on willys helmet !! (that dont sound good) lmao about 5mm wide will look realy authentic , cheers shaun

[mr crispy]

Hey Mr Crispy! - Yes, I like TL chassis too (that was my first Tamiya project, and I fitted a Ford F150 lexan shell to it together with the BFG tyres and wheels) - I'd be interested to see how you get everything to fit under the Willy shell with that

My initial idea was to keep the bodyshell original from my WW2 and use a small lipo battery, but once I tracked down a 2nd WW2 body set I decided to cheat and cut out enough room to fit a standard 7.2v pack down the centre of the chassis. I'll cover it in plasticard to make a battery tunnel.

The rest of the electrics fit under the bonnet and fuel tank.

I like that latest position for the sand ladders on the rear roll bar, the monkey bike goes well too. Where did you get that?

Something I'm doing to help tie the chassis in with the shell is fit the WW chassis rails along each side. It'll take a while with a dremel to shape them around the gearboxes but I hope it'll improve the side view and add a little extra detail.

[JennyMo]

I like that latest position for the sand ladders on the rear roll bar, the monkey bike goes well too. Where did you get that?

It was actually a kit that a friend bought me:

When she realised I had exactly the same one in 1:1 size (a 1978 Z50J) - of course I had to paint it up the same!

Sorry there has been a delay in updating this thread, I hope to be back on the project soon - need to pay a visit to Radshape this week and realise a few ideas I've been having!

Toot toot!

Jenny xx

[JennyMo]

OK, so just a quick update - family commitments mean I haven't been able to work on this project as quickly as I'd have liked, but I'm making progress...

After running the car a few times, it was clear that the stock Mini Recon shocks were not really firm enough to support the weight of the Willy shell, although I have to say it did handle really well, albeit with pronounced body roll when cornering sharply - but never actually flipping over...

Anyway, I managed to source some proper 1:10th scale shocks (62mm eye to eye) which were essentially a direct replacement, and which have threaded pre-load adjustment too making it easier to set the correct ride height front and rear:

As you can see, the stiffer springs have really lifted the chassis, improving ground clearance (note they are only held on with some little screws at the moment while I wait for some new hardware to arrive).

However, these being essentially on-road shocks, I feel they may actually be a little too stiff, and together with not being a fan of coloured annodising, I have ordered some replacement WW2 springs (plain black) which are approximately the same dimensions, but being wound in a slightly thinner gauge ought to be a little softer too?

So with the new shocks fitted, the stance has been improved all round:

I'm really happy with the proportions now.

As you will also see, I have added a third roll hoop (using a second WW2 rear hoop - don't worry, the spots will be removed in due course), and will brace between them at roof height, creating a sort of roof rack/deck over the rear section, but keeping the space above the driver open for maximum effect/detail. I did consider modifying/fabrication a full length roof rack with roof spots (the Fasttrax one is a pretty good fit), but felt that would make it much too top-heavy...

One other option I'm toying with is a canvas tilt for the rear hoops, with the sides and rear rolled up...

Finally, for now I have relocated the sand ladders to the rear hoop, and will ultimately recess some flush fit LED tail lights into the rear panel...

More soon!

Jx

[JennyMo]

PS. A word of warning! Having tested the car this evening and drained the battery, I thought I'd hook it up to my 20 minute fast charger... big mistake!

I was outside in the garden when I heard what sounded like a gunshot - and came inside to find the car fizzing and smoking!!

I immediately disconnected the charger cable, and fortunately was able to remove the bodyshell before it caught fire - and ran outside with the chassis, yanking the battery cover off (which fortunately had done a good job protecting the rest of the car from the initial explosion), and threw the battery across the driveway, where it promptly exploded again!

This was the result:

I guess that will teach me to try and put 2400mA into an 1100mAh battery... and particularly to leave it unattended! What a dope!

(and yes, I did burn my fingers!)

Jx