The STUMPscorcher - two Tamiya icons in one!

[Toykid 596]

Yes, looks great, but I had the same questions, lets see those weathered wheel Jenny?

[Grastens 2795]

They obviously slapped on some new wheels to close out the race - it was a sprint to the finish!

Personally, I would love to see the wheels weathered by something different: a few nice and dusty running sessions

[JennyMo 3526]

Well, it is good to know that Jack and Steve keep the important bits clean and functional...

Your weathering skills are excellent - I love the windscreen!

Thanks Grastens!

It's a technique I'd seen before and wanted to to try for a while now - what I did was essentially scribe an arc on some masking tape using the actual wiper blade as a marker, then cut it out and attach it to the screen. Then just spray suitably coloured paint (I used a mix of grey primer, satin black and the odd spot of mustard I had left over from the Nailer) through a gauze at the windscreen...

The trick is not to put on too much (I fear this first attempt I got a bit too liberal), just enough to mist the screen so that when you remove the tape there is a contrast with the 'swept' area...

I feel the Fro-Sco is going to receive a similar treatment... oh yes, did I mention that that is getting [yet another!] revamp too?!

More soon!

Jx

[JennyMo 3526]

They obviously slapped on some new wheels to close out the race - it was a sprint to the finish!

Personally, I would love to see the wheels weathered by something different: a few nice and dusty running sessions

Ah ha - yes, that would be it - the perfect excuse - thank you ;o)

I like James' idea about some black wheels - very contemporary racer, I like that... It's just I also wanted to keep this one recognisably 'Tamiya' at the same time, hence the stock wheels... oh what to do?!

Maybe I just need to get out there a bit more and get them genuinely dusty!

Jx

[Toykid 596]

Jenny,

Use these

Highlight the Tamiya lettering on the sidewall to remind everyone where this awesome creation comes from (inspiration):

You just cant beat this classic, and like you said, black wheels are back in trend right now:

[JennyMo 3526]

Jenny,

Use these

Highlight the Tamiya lettering on the sidewall to remind everyone where this awesome creation comes from (inspiration):

I didn't realise they did them in black?! - I need these in my life!

To the ebay - now!

Jx

ps. RWL - oh but of course ;o)

[Toykid 596]

It's that or busy out the rit dye.

[Mokei Kagaku 2706]

The wheels that come with the 84373 VW T1 Custom Version are "black chrome", and according to an extra sheet that comes with the kit, they are not available as separate parts from Tamiya. The same goes for the white T1-bumper and white body posts and chrome rails and chrome WW2-bumper included in the kit. This surprised me a bit as the special colour parts included with the Blue Lunchbox (blue chassis, blue chrome wheels and white bumper) and Blue Jimny (blue chassis and blue chrome wheels) are available as 8-digit spare parts. So I reckon the only chance of getting the special colour parts from the T1 is from split kits.

The only WR-02 that comes with regular black wheels is the 57985 Semi-Assembled WR-02 Chassis Set:

[JennyMo 3526]

The wheels that come with the 84373 VW T1 Custom Version are "black chrome", and according to an extra sheet that comes with the kit, they are not available as separate parts from Tamiya. The same goes for the white T1-bumper and white body posts and chrome rails and chrome WW2-bumper included in the kit. This surprised me a bit as the special colour parts included with the Blue Lunchbox (blue chassis, blue chrome wheels and white bumper) and Blue Jimny (blue chassis and blue chrome wheels) are available as 8-digit spare parts. So I reckon the only chance of getting the special colour parts from the T1 is from split kits.

The only WR-02 that comes with regular black wheels is the 57985 Semi-Assembled WR-02 Chassis Set:

Great info, thanks Mokei... of course it just so happens I've got another STUMPy project in mind, that would be fine with white wheels... so perhaps I get one of these chassis sets and swap them over? - you never know ;o)

Jx

edit. Having had a quick look online - hmmmmm, maybe not... looks like it's going to be a lot cheaper to buy a regular WW2 or VW Bus kit and just dye the wheels ;o)

[IBIFTKH 1369]

Or spray them? Halfords plastic primer + colour works well enough for me...

[Grastens 2795]

I may think about taking the chassis if you do not need it

[JennyMo 3526]

I may think about taking the chassis if you do not need it

Hee hee - sorry Grastens, but the one thing I can guarantee is to find a good use for a WR02 Chassis! - I already have two body shells just waiting for the cutter!

Jx

[JennyMo 3526]

A quick bit of lateral thinking, and I've found a [reasonably] budget solution...

Midnight Pumpkin Black Edition wheels - yes I know they use a star drive rather than a hex, but the Pumpkin B parts include the rear hub adaptors that are deeper than the metal ones you get with the RR/SS, so should put the wheels in the right place for the threads on the WW2 rear axles...

This way, all I need is a pair of Jimny/VW Bus rear wheels to go with the ones I'll take off, and I've got 4x white wheels for a GF01 chassis for my next project...

Jx

[IBIFTKH 1369]

Might not be a good plan. The offset of the front wheels is very different too.

[Vrooom666 31]

This is really awesome project... now I want a WR02 chassis!

[JennyMo 3526]

Might not be a good plan. The offset of the front wheels is very different too.

Are you sure? - the reason I ask is that the wheels on the STUMPkin (which I bought in 1989 or thereabouts) were presumably Pumpkin wheels rather than WW2 as the WW2 wasn't released then? - and they fit on the WR02 stub axles fine...

edit. That said I notice the wheels on the STUMPkin have a hex rear wheel rather than the star drive style, so I wonder what model Tamiya they might have been from in that era - Blackfoot perhaps?

Either way, I have my fingers crossed... ;o)

Jx

[JennyMo 3526]

Midnight Pumpkin Black Edition wheels - yes I know they use a star drive rather than a hex, but the Pumpkin B parts include the rear hub adaptors that are deeper than the metal ones you get with the RR/SS, so should put the wheels in the right place for the threads on the WW2 rear axles...

Might not be a good plan. The offset of the front wheels is very different too.

Bad form to quote oneself I know, but IBIFTKH is essentially right...

Having bought some black MP wheels, although the front offset isn't hugely different, it is enough so that the inner edge of the rim rubs on the straight WW2 steering knuckles... of course I could swap out the knuckles for the cranked type you get on the MP and LB, and shorten the steering rods correspondingly, that is an option I guess?

However, there is another problem at the rear - although the WW2 hexs are deeper than usual, the axles are not actually long enough to go through the star adaptor (the Pumpkin plastic version or the narrower SRB kind) and the thickness of the rear wheel - the only option I can think of would be to use those tube nuts that come with axle widening kits to hold the rear wheels on, unless there is a longer rear stub axle that I could swap in to the rear end of the WW?

So for now the STUMPscorcher remains on it's white wheels... hey ho.

Jx

[Grastens 2795]

Say Live and Let Dye!

A disappointment that the black wheels did not fit the chassis, though.

[JennyMo 3526]

Just a quick update on the wheels - for information really...

So I offered up the black Pumpkin wheels to the WR-02 axles, and made the following observations:

As I mention above, at the rear, using the metal ARB wheel adaptor plates (which are thinner than the plastic Grashopper/Pumpkin style ones), the end of the axle is essentially flush with the outside face of the wheel - so you would need to use 5mm diameter Tube-nuts (like the ones you can get in the axle widening kit from Team CRP) to hold the wheels on.

At the front, I considered it would be possible to just change out the steering uprights for Pumpkin versions, that have a cranked arm, and correspondingly shorten the steering rods from the servo - then the Pumpkin wheels should fit on and clear everything... However, I noticed that in effect, the front track width would then be narrower than the rear - as it stands with the SRB rear wheel adaptors, if you effectively put a spacer on the stock WR-02 front axle the width of the 1150 wheel bearing (or say the plastic bush version you get with the kit), the the front and rear track width is exactly the same - but of course you would also need to use the Tube-nuts to hold the front wheels on too then.

As a further observation, the Pumpkin wheels, although the same diameter, are approximately 8-10mm wider than the WR-02 versions, so the track width is correspondingly wider than with WR-02 wheels fitted.

Ultimately, I do not want the wheels any wider than they are (the proportions on the STUMPscorcher being so close to perfect in my eyes), so my only option is to either paint/dye the stock white wheels, or alternatively go for either the chrome or (or dark chrome if I can find them) versions, and perhaps leave the rims shiny and paint the centres black?

I guess it all depends on what I end up buying as the basis for the STUMPkamper eh? - Although I'm tempted to go 4WD with that one (using the GF-01), another Wild Willy 2 kit would get me a set of chrome wheels, plus a whole new Willys body-set and driver too...

Jx

[JennyMo 3526]

Just a quick update...

Having bought (and subsequently sold) some black Midnight Pumpkin wheels, ultimately my patience has been rewarded...

Yep, proper black wheels for the WR-02 are now available as a hop-up!

Have I bought some already? - you bet I have ;o)

Jx

[emory70 153]

Yay. I despise yellow wheels. And paint? No way Jose

[JennyMo 3526]

Oops, I've been so busy with the WBO and STUMPkamper recently that I forgot to add a couple of photos once I'd got the black wheels fitted...

Now isn't that better?!

I also replaced the Wild Willy sticker on the roof with a race number, and added a bit more dirt:

I do love this car!

Jx

[Grastens 2795]

You and I both, Jenny - you and I both! Great to see this car is still getting attention (and maybe driven, too)!

[JennyMo 3526]

January 2017: Well, what do you know - it turns out that I'm not completely adverse to a box-art paint-job after all!

Well, at least in the case of this little fella ;o)

After a visit to my nephew and niece before Christmas, unfortunately the StumpScorcher suffered more than one roll-over and some minor damage - so I thought it would be the perfect excuse to try something that, with hindsight, I ought to have experimented with in the first place perhaps (although I did like the Gulf inspired colour scheme I came up with)...

photo. Jack Willy inspects the damage after one too many flips and roll-overs... "time for a body-shop revamp I think!"

 

I was never particularly happy with the convoluted way the rear body mounts located (although in practice they worked well enough), so took this opportunity to simplify things:

photo. New 'parcel shelf' constructed from plasti-card, so that the body was no longer secured via the interior panel (which in turn was only held on with two posts glued to the underside of the bonnet - see earlier photos in this build thread).

 

photo. The ideal location for the new [vertical] rear body posts was inboard of the chassis rails, using the top shock mounts:

 

photo. Shock tops sleeved with alloy tube, so that M3 bolts could be used to secure the 'sandwich' together with a locking nut.

 

photo. The result was a pair of vertical body posts that can be accessed through the rear window.

 

cont.

 

[JennyMo 3526]

So with the bodywork modified, and sanded back (a little), it was time to apply the new paint...

 

photo. First of all, I intended to keep a little of the weathered/rusted finish - as it's a characteristic I use on all my models, and it means I don't even have to try and produce a flawless finish of course ;o)

The shell was initially primered in red oxide (as a base colour for the rust), then some grey primer over the top of the salt, a touch more salt, and then finally white primer and top coat* on the main body panels.

*Ford Frozen White.

 

photo. This is the result once the salt is washed off.

 

Then it was time to mask the white top-coated areas, and apply the 'French blue' (actually Ford Olympic Blue):

 

I also thought I'd repaint driver Steve [McQueen] Willy with an orange helmet - as a nod to the previous (original) Gulf colour-scheme.

 

cont.