ebaYJeep - aka. "Daydream B'leafer"

[JennyMo]

cont.

Inside job

With the body-shell mounted securely, I could now work out where the various floor panels and additional boxing would be required - fundamentally the idea here is that the whole body shell can be lifted off in once piece as required (much as you can with a Wild Willy II shell for example), and that ideally - other than the wiring for the LED lamps in the body, the chassis itself will be self-contained with all the electrics, including the main battery - which I intend to mount width-ways under the bonnet above the gearbox, essentially behind the dash as it were...

Since this is a completely open vehicle, I also want the interior to be as close as possible to a real vehicle - that is with proper footwells and a bulkhead, seat box/es, dash, centre console and not least so a full figure driver (complete with 100% feet!) can fit inside.

So in true Project Binky style, I felt it was best to turn to CAD* for the next stage:

*Cardboard Aided Design, of course!

Make the noise!

I've essentially split the interior into two parts/levels - the rear load-bay also includes the top of the seat boxes (and part of the centre console) since if the seats (Axial Corbeau bucket seats) were mounted any higher, then the driver's head would be sticking out above the top of the windscreen rail - this way, Ozzy is essentially looking straight through the windscreen:

photo. note his centre console will include an ARB cooler - full of bottled bat-blood on ice ;o)

 

It's worth noting at this point that originally I considered mounting the main vehicle battery (a traditional 6-cell stick pack) inside the seat-box, and indeed if the box were 5mm higher, a stick-pack would actually fit in that space on top of the chassis rails, and behind the central transfer-case. However, as I mentioned above - once Ozzy was secured at the correct height in his seat (using a velcro strap under his armpits for the moment, as I've currently removed his legs), it was clear that the seat/s should not be mounted any higher than the current load-bay floor - which is level with the top of the chassis rails.

So with the main floor design confirmed with my CAD, it was time to transfer the dimensions to styrene:

Using the old-skool combination of a pen, ruler and Stanley knife of course - Richard and Nick would approve!

photo. What do you know, it fits!

The main [rear] floor section was cut from 2mm styrene for extra strength, and is rigid enough to support Ozzy and the seats in position already:

Which meant I could work out how much room was likely to be needed in the footwells now - although this would also be dictated by where the battery was going to mount (essentially behind the dash) so that the body shell can be removed while the battery remains secured in place - it's going to be cosy, but it is going to work!

photo. lower level floor panel and bulkhead/firewall cut from 1.5mm styrene (note. the chassis steps down between the axle locations like it would on a real vehicle, giving valuable depth for some proper footwells).

You'll notice that I've effectively left the area under of the seat-boxes open - this will provide valuable space for any additional electronic control units, such as the lighting loom and a wireless remote receiver for the winch control.

photo. I incorporated space between the doors and the seat-box so that Ozzy can loose his keys down there in true 1:1 style.

photo. Test fitting Ozzy and the other cabin parts again to check the overall layout prior to joining the two floor panels together - permanently!

 

photo. The vertical sections of the seat-box fabricated using strips of styrene.

photo. the full interior floor fitted.

It's worth noting that before gluing the two floor panels in place, I placed some strips of styrene on top of the chassis rails (1mm thick under the rear load bay, 2mm thick under the footwells), to prove a valuable gap between the body and chassis once the two parts are bolted together - not only will this 'jiggle room' aid the initial fitting of the shell to the chassis each time, but it also ought to protect from any vibration or rubbing when the vehicle is being driven.

photo. CAD design employed again for the rear wheel-arch liners.

photo. initially super-glued in place, before all the joints were ultimately beefed-up with Araldite.

photo. Shocks visible inside the rear arches - top mounts pass through slots [rather than holes] the wheel-arch liner - a concession to having the body easily removable without having to undo the shocks each time.

So with all that done, it was time to go around the complete shell and 'weld' all the main styrene joints with Araldite, making a super strong (while remaining reasonably flexible one hopes) one-piece body structure.

The next job is to cut out the remaining holes for the various LED lamps I intend to employ, then start to sand, fill and finish the body-shell.

I've also got one or two other details I'd like to include - things I've not tried before that ought to push my creative boundaries a little further...

Paint [colour] is yet to be decided, but it's likely to be something in keeping with the era (nasty 80's champagne gold anyone?!) and you can rest assured I'll be employing a degree of weathering - not completely snotty, but 'well used' shall we say...

More soon!

Jenny x

 

[Grastens]

Your styrene work is inspirational, as are your CAD efforts

[Kevin_Mc]

lol @ “make the noise”

[Kevin_Mc]

Dp

[JennyMo]

Just a quick update for now... things are progressing nicely this week, although I keep getting distracted by the postman - not only did the Warn 9.5CTi winch arrive for the D90 (see that thread) which distracted me for a few hours with the Dremel (to make everything fit), but in turn I realised I'd have to think of something else for headlights on that vehicle now - and inevitably I went down the ebay rabbit-hole...

Yep, that is a lot of new/extra parts! - although I can partially justify the additional expense as certain items can/will be used on other models - for example I plan to use a pair of smaller Axial spot lights [as headlights] for the D90, and fit some old-skool frame-style wing mirrors to Tam'Mata (Mater) which is something I've wanted to do for a while now...

However, I admit the vast majority of these parts are for the Jeep build... a quick run down:

• A JunFac shorty winch bumper (for the Gmade Sawback) - I took a punt on this ($25) which I hoped would work, and it will well enough with some Dremel work I think, although the nerf bar section does sit slightly in front of the headlights unfortunately.

• Axial Racing spot light set - I've had a number of these over the years, and I do think they are great value for money for the number and quality of the lamps you get (although they are now typically $19.99 rather than $16.99 they once were). I do have a good number of left-over parts, but unfortunately was short of a pair of the small flush-mount round ones (as side repeaters) and also wanted another pair of the small lozenge shaped ones as [working] turn signals for the front:

Of course I subsequently found out that CChand (via RC4WD) make some pukka orange-lens working front turn-signals for the Tamiya Wrangler... of course they do. However, those are $21 on their own, which is tough to swallow when I've already spent a huge amount on this vehicle - oh, and to make things worse, I've also seen they make an external roll-bar/roof rack for the Wrangler ($59!) - stop me now!!!

You'll see in the above photo I've fitted the proper Tamiya light buckets and headlight lenses already - these are readily available as spares (for info. the H/J and K parts sprues - note the headlight lenses are the same for the Isuzu Mu too), and this has made a world of difference - they look so realistic, and a great example of why Tamiya hard-bodies still seem to have the edge over other brands I feel.

• RC4WD LED loom (for their Chevy Blazer body set) - I bought this pre-wired loom mainly because it has all the correct size (and colour) LEDs I wanted, and since I'm in the US now, it's a bit tricky to get Model Lighting Solutions (based in the UK) who I've tended to use in the past for custom looms to make something up to fit this particular Jeep build.

Now I admit I could have saved some money here and used what I had in my existing stash -  and honestly that was the plan originally! - for example: a simple pair of vertical lozenge lamps at the rear (red 5mm LEDs), and pair of 5mm white LEDs for headlights, and another pair of white LEDs (with the lenses painted orange) as front marker/indicators, as I have the corresponding Axial LED strings and light controller, plus could have used the housings I already have in stock (and just modded a pair of the 3mm lozenge housings to take the 5mm LEDs at the front)...

But, I really wanted to light this up with as much detail as I can, and along with a pair of white 5mm LEDs, the RC4WD Blazer loom gives me two pairs of orange 3mm LEDs (the correct size for the front markers, and also a pair of side/wing repeaters), and two pairs of red 3mm LEDs, so I can double up on my rear [lozenge] light housings - which I think will look kewl!

So along with getting the lighting sorted, I indulged in a few more cosmetic details:

• Axial Racing mirrors & wipers set. I bought this set ($12.99) as it offers three pairs of assorted shape wing mirrors (one set for Mater, the others I'll most likely use on this Jeep and perhaps the STUMPkamper too...), a pair of wipers (for the Jeep) and also a nice fire extinguisher detail too (complete with decals in the packet I'd add).

• RC4WD Warn winch hook tags - not necessary, as both the 8274 [for this build] and the 9.5CTi come with one as standard, but should they ever get lost out on the trail, well, now I have some spares (and they were only $3 the set).

• RC4WD Hi-Lift jack handle keepers - admittedly a bit of an indulgence, but since I'm so taken with the design and quality of the working Hi-Lift jack from RC4WD, it is almost inevitable I'll be buying another for Lisa's Defender at some point, so these rubber handle keepers just add the finishing touch.

I also bought some more stand-off spacers (Hot Racing brand) in the odd sizes (that is 3/5/7/9mm) to go with the 2/4/6/8mm even set I already have - these are so useful to have in your hardware stash for spacing rods and body mounts etc. accurately.

I admit I splurged on some alternative design aluminium checker-plate from Yeah Racing (the 'Type A' with the four bars) which I have to say is even more authentic looking that the regular diamond design I got from Hot Racing previously - and this will be used on the side sills and rear quarter panels on the Jeep, plus for the door trim panels inside.

Finally, I also invested in another pair of the Yeah Racing 5-point seat-belts (they same as I fitted to the SRB Cage Racer), as the alternative set I bought recently came pre-assembled, and it turns out the shoulder straps are not quite long enough for the way I'd like to mount them in the Jeep - so I'm hoping the self-assembly version from Yeah Racing will give the extra length I need.

Phew!

There are a few more bits and bobs still to arrive in the post, but I'll introduce them [and explain the reasons for buying them] once they arrive... for the time being, I'll leave you with Louis and his expanding collection of lights!

photo. Yes, those are the RC4WD workshop accessory torches ('flashlights' to you Americans) - they were on offer ($4.99) at one of the online retailers I was buying some other parts from, and I couldn't help myself!

More soon!

Jenny x

[Country Mike]

So awesome Jenny and you inspire us all. x

[JennyMo]

On 2/8/2019 at 3:41 AM, Country Mike said:

So awesome Jenny and you inspire us all. x

Thank you Mike!

I've been busy amassing a few more parts and some materials for some funky scratch-build elements too... plus I've started to assemble a dedicated workspace (thank you Ikea) - so stand by for an update soon!

Jenny x

 

[JennyMo]

OK then, I feel I've done enough this week to warrant another update...

First of all, it was time to tweak the chassis a touch more, so I can call all the mechanical stuff done (wiring is still going to be a whole chapter on it's own I fear) - and I'd ordered some wedge shaped shims to angle the differentials upwards slightly and reduce the prop-shaft angles - this is the huge box the tiny aluminium pieces arrived in:

photo. including more scale decals - this time some SuperLift ones - I love RC4WD stuff!

 

I also decided to fit some wheel weights to the RC4WD 8-spokes (in an effort to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible, so to try and avoid any roll-overs that might well damage my door-frames):

photo. These are from RCBitz in the UK (I brought them with me) - self-adhesive 1:1 wheel balance weights.

Currently I've only elected to fit a single strip to the front wheels for the time being, but took the opportunity to trim some of the foam from all four wheels in an effort to get the tyres a bit more squishy and grippy.

 

I also added a central tow-hitch/shackle to the rear cross-member, the same as I did on Lisa's D90 - electing to recess the cross-member from the rear so the M2 nuts sit flush:

photo. Natty red shackle too!

 

The other thing/s that arrived this week were these 3D printed scale interior details from AMpro (Pintopower here on Tamiya Club of course) - the shifter and transfer lever assembly for a Bruiser/HiLux which are perfect for my transmission tunnel - together with interior door handles and window winders (although I feel these are a touch small scale-wise perhaps?)

I've also been busy buying all sorts of paint and K&S rod from my local Hobby shop, and getting on with the final body detailing prior to prepping for paint...

 

cont.

 

[JennyMo]

cont. 

So now it was time to actually do something creative, and not just buy bolt-on bits!

First of all, this is something I've wanted to do for a good while now, and felt this (open top) build would be the perfect opportunity:

photo. what's that you ask? - some 0.7mm lexan and some 1.5mm C-channel?

 

photo. Ah, side windows...

 

photo. ...that actually work!

Now I admit my original idea was to also have a servo motor under the passenger seat, and use some kind of cantilever to actually raise and lower the window/s remotely - however, the practicality of doing this in an open vehicle (without the doors being super-thick) proved unrealistic, so they'll have to remain manually 'adjustable' on this build... however, it's still a potential project for another time/vehicle perhaps ;o)

 

More styrene work included boxing in the front arches next to the headlights (note. the engine bay sides will be attached to the chassis itself, so all the electronics can remain in situ like they do on the D90 and Desmond, which also use this chassis):

Finishing off the transmission tunnel:

And creating a simple dash-board panel (which bolts in and out using the moulded lugs under the scuttle):

I'm still undecided about how much detail to include on the dash itself - this being a modified open trail-truck, there is no need to replicate the original Wrangler style dash, rather I'll just include some simple dials and a 'Jesus-handle' for the passenger perhaps?

 

The other scale detail I wanted to include on this build was a fuel-filler somewhere - and much as I did with my Tow Mater build, I elected to use a Land Rover D90 filler recess (from DJ Designs) - only it turns out there was only very limited space, so the aperture assembly would need to be cut down a touch:

photo. I elected to position the filler just behind the driver's door (as I did with Mater), as my proposed rear lights preclude it being from installed there for example - good job this is a long wheelbase YJ eh?

photo. hacking away my interior panels, so the filler recess sits flush to the outer skin.

 

photo, yep, that works... although rather than join the two original sections back together I decided to fabricate my own top panel instead...

photo. ...and to be technically correct, it's also going to need a filler neck on the inside of course.

 

The next job was to make up some templates for all the checker-plate panels I intend to fit (currently just the sill protectors are shown here, but there will be rear quarter panels, front wing-tops and also interior door-cards and floor for the cabin) - plus it was an opportunity to play doll's house a bit with all my accessories ;o)

Details include larger [Axial] wing mirrors and [Corbeau] seats, metal grab rails along the rear wings, and a working Hi-Lift jack on the bonnet... plus the awesome Warn 8274 winch of course! You might also notice that I've elected to fill in the front indicator apertures a bit - yes, I couldn't resist ordering the RC4WD/CChand working front turn-signal lamp units for there too!

cont.

 

 

[JennyMo]

Finally for now, it was time to get a light coat of primer on, to see what I'm working with - especially as with all the cuts and holes and filler so far, it is difficult to see just how flat the panels actually are... and the answer is 'not very' at the moment I'm afraid.

Certainly there is going to be plenty more sanding and finishing required before I can start properly painting...

Still, it was also an opportunity to start marking out where the corrosion/rust/weathering is going to go (with the Dremel), plus I also made some decisions with regard to replacing some of the moulded details with real metal parts  - the loops on the bonnet for example, plus have fabricated some tubes to protect the front wings...

All these little things take time to do right of course, and I have to say that taking [a little more] time with this build has already paid dividends in finding solutions to issues that have arisen - it's not all about throwing money at it you know!

More soon!

Jenny x

[JennyMo]

I've resisted the temptation to get some paint on the body this week, and instead concentrated on getting some of the detail parts together and 'dry fitted' first, so that I hope not to have to disturb/damage the paint too much once it's finally applied...

First of all, cutting some of the checker-plate panels I'll be using for door cards/linings, and the side sills:

photo. I managed to get all three door inner panels, plus the two sills out of one 140x200mm sheet of aluminium (the Yeah Racing Type A/four-bar style)

I also bought a second sheet to have enough for the cab footwells and seat box, plus the rear quarter panels where the rear lights fit, oh and enough left-over for some tread plates on top of the front wings too.

 

Next thing was to cut out the apertures for the rear lights, and form a 90° curve for the quarter panels - this was easily done simply by rolling them around my Xacto-knife handle.

photo. making sure the holes for the lamp housing lined up with the holes in the body was a trial - the trick was to mark them through the body holes with a pen initially (onto tape), then drill a series of holes before finishing with a needle file.

Similarly, a needle file was employed to finish the holes for the new front indicators:

photo. These are the CChand lenses for the working front turn-signals... the most expensive pieces of plastic I've ever bought I think!

 

I then turned my attention to the rear load bay again - first of all, a series of holes:

... counter-sunk screws (super-glued in):

...so that I might mount a 2nd battery under the rear bed for when running the winch, or simply for extending the trail range:

photo. This is a battery tray (and straps) from an Axial Wraith - thanks Ebay!

cont.

 

[JennyMo]

cont.

It was then time to embark on something I've wanted to try for a while now, and finally felt the open Jeep would be the perfect vehicle for it - a [real] wooden load bed lining!

photo. test fitting the components - I used lengths of Cherry strip-wood 1/4" wide (because I'm in America now) which are just under 2mm thick, alternating with lengths of aluminium rod (approx 2.5mm thick) to form the runners.

Having test fitted the parts, I was so pleased that it turned out that 11 strips ended up fitting perfectly between the inner wheel-arches with a rod on either side, so reassembled them on upturned pieces of masking tape to hold them all in place:

I incorporated another length of rod across the top (to mask/define the transition between the wood deck and the checker-plate seat-box lining), plus cut the two outermost strips so that the rear shock towers can protrude through - again more by luck than judgement, it turns out the outer rods fit between the towers and the wheel-arches, so only the wood needed to be cut.

photo. trimmed to length, and test fitting - the tape backing keeps everything together really well - result!

 

And finally, I'll leave you with another teaser of the interior - the bed and the seat-box checker-plate panel together...

 

More soon...

Jenny x

 

 

[Kevin_Mc]

Loving the real wooden bed, that’s excellent 

[JennyMo]

OK, time to see if we can get Ozzy to actually fit behind the wheel - oh, and fit a wheel too of course!

photo. seats (and centre cubby/cool-box) fixing locations marked and drilled.

 

photo. Steering column mocked up using an angled ball-joint, and a length of 3mm alloy tube - that's a Wild Willy 2 steering wheel on the end, a perfect fit!

Using a ball joint to locate the steering column is a simple way to adjust the angle, then the ball can be tacked in place with a dab of superglue - before ultimately beefing up the joint with Araldite.

I then took the Dremel to Ozzy's legs - initially cutting behind the knees to bend them more into a seated position, then sanding off some of the bottom/under-thigh so he sits more squarely in the seat. I then trimmed the top of his legs to mate up with the bottom of his torso, before tacking with super-glue and then joining the two parts together with more Araldite:

photo. I'll be repainting his sweat-pants as jeans before the final fitting, and he'll ultimately need a bit of bottom-filler too ;o)

photo. He looks a little concerned, but he shouldn't be - he's a surprisingly good fit behind the wheel, and will have a 4-point harness fitted to secure him (and this will mean he remains removable, like Krazy Kelly is in the SRB Cage Racer).

 

Then the postman rang, and of course I'd forgotten I'd ordered an alternative winch bumper from China - and here it was!

photo. This is a similar design to the one I modified and fitted to the front of the Defender recently, but in this instance I thought I'd go for the 'stinger' style bull-bar instead - often seen on Jeeps in Moab and places like that of course, and also gives plenty of room for the Warn 8274 to mount behind.

photo. The winch fairlead is a little too wide to fit between the shackles on this example/design, so I'll either leave the shackles off, or perhaps off-set the winch to the left a bit and just leave a single shackle as a hook return/keeper - particularly as the 8274 winch motor assembly is off-set anyway, and blocks part of the right hand headlight and indicator when fitted centrally to the Jeep body.

 

It's funny, although I've tried not to copy any particular vehicle during this build (other to incorporate some detailing/techniques I've seen on other RC models over the years) - I was noodling around on the internet over the weekend, and this 1:1 example of YJ Wrangler sprung up:

Which is spookily similar to how I envisage the final build - right down to the stinger bumper, the black tube front fenders, cut/flat rear fenders, the original hard-top doors in place*, vertical wing-mirrors, the oversize tyres, lack of spare wheel on the rear door - and not least being painted white of course!

*I noticed the window-frames themselves are painted in satin black, which is something I might incorporate too now!

More soon...

Jenny x

 

[Grastens]

Meanwhile, a 10:1 scale JennyMo has just finished up her model Jeep

While the photo is uncanny, it does have me looking forward to completion! In the meantime, I am enjoying seeing your styrene work, as always

[JennyMo]

Another quick update - goodness it turns out there are a lot of considerations to finish before this thing is going to be ready for some paint...

Actually, as I mention above, I'm trying to pre-empt any issues I might have once the body is painted, and test-fit/dry-fit everything first, so that it really ought to be a case of simply assembling the collected parts once the paint it dry.

So along with fitting Ozzy in his seat, I assembled a pair of Yeah Racing seat-belts (the same as I'd fitted to the SRB Cage Racer) - actually, they are a hybrid* using the hardware from the pre-assembled ones I'd got from ebay, and the straps from the Yeah Racing self-assembly version - as they are longer (and long enough) to reach the mount on the top of the rear shock towers - I found a neat solution using left-over parts in my stash ;o)

*This was mainly because I realised I'd only ordered a single set of Yeah Racing belts (ie. only one set of hardware), but the pre-assembled ones come as a pair.

I also filled, sanded, and started painting Ozzy's trousers - a dark blue base for what will become denim jeans:

 

I then started to chop the new winch-bumper around to fit it to the [slightly wider] chassis - much as I did with the D90 recently, but in this instance, was able to recess it back towards the radiator grille even further (basically as far is it could go) by trimming the front of the chassis crossmember to minimise the front overhang:

photo. almost all the side mounting plates cut away - the bumper is secured using the winch mounting bolts through the chassis crossmember. 

photo. Warn 8274 fits perfectly between stinger and radiator grille.

As previously mentioned - ultimately I've elected to mount the fairlead central to the chassis, so that the winch motor assembly is off-set and slightly in-front of the righthand headlight and indicator... this location would be technically correct for winching of course, even if the DMV might have something to say come night-time ;o)

cont.

[JennyMo]

cont.

 

Engine Bay

Although separate to the main body-shell (as it stays attached the the chassis even when the body is removed) I wanted to finish the engine bay before painting the main body,  just incase I needed to make any modifications to the main shell - and it turns out I did (see below).

As with my other crawler builds, I designed and fabricated a designated engine bay which will double as inner wheel-arches, plus offer secure location for all the electronics including the battery!

photo. using CAD templates of course!

 

photo. transferred to 2mm styrene for the vertical sides), as it will also be supporting a full-size 6 cell stick pack.

 

photo. the battery will be mounted horizontally above the gearbox, and below the scuttle panel of the body - essentially behind the dash-board.

I chose this location for the battery primarily as I wanted the weight forward (as it is with Desmond the 2.2) to improve climbing ability - and this is especially important as this is an open vehicle, and I don't want Ozzy looping-out during steep climbs if I can help it!

Now I know this location means the centre of gravity is perhaps a touch higher than it might be, but since the engine and gear-box assembly is already very low in the chassis and coupled with so little [body] weight above the waistline, I think this is going to work well dynamically... plus, I also have the option to mount a second full-size battery* under the rear load-bay (between the chassis rails) to add more weight low-down - and indeed could run with just the rear battery if I wished.

*Primarily for the winch of course, although I will include a long enough cable so that I can switch between them for extended trail-running too.

 

photo. bulkhead to support the battery in 1.5mm styrene (including cut-outs for velcro straps).

 

photo. deck above motor to mount electronics (note cut-outs to access the nuts for the shock mounts).

 

photo. plenty of room for the Mad-Gear ESC and Fly-Sky receiver.

cont.

 

[JennyMo]

cont.

Having mounted the battery, and refitted the body - I was pleased how snuggly everything went together, but without any interference between the battery/engine-bay and cabin bulkhead...

The only thing I realised is that I'd not be able to fit my original full-width inner wing/wheel-arch liners to the body (and get it on and off over the battery), which meant I'd need to fill-in the cabin bulkhead instead if I was to prevent any light bleed-through, and try to keep things looking as scale as possible.

 

photo. 1mm styrene panel glued in at an angle above the existing foot-well bulkhead.

I elected to angle the upper bulkhead panel - essentially in line with the windscreen - not only as it is more aesthetically pleasing, but fundamentally so I am able to mount the dash-board assembly with the current screws (and thus keep it removable), rather than have to glue that in. I also incorporated a cut-out for the base of the steering column. Finally, I also decided to beef up the front fender panels with a return lip and brace below where the side-repeater indicators will mount. Phew!

 

Then it was finally time for some paint!

photo. prepped, but only roughly - as this is not going to be a prestine build, rather a weathered and well-used trail-rig.

 

photo. Yep, it's going to be rusty in places!

 

More soon...

Jenny x

[JennyMo]

A huge milestone today - it's alive!

photo. Transmitter (a Mad-Gear spare part - $10!!!) and a Fly-sky RX, the bind procedure worked first time too!

In other news, I finished the main [spray] painting too - got to love the fast drying time here in California! - although to be honest I did leave it longer than necessary, just to make sure things had cured properly - particularly the rubberised under-seal used for the inner wheel arches.

 

Painting - part 1 (main body colour and rust)

So first up, a quick run-though of the salt-technique (even though I've catalogued this extensively already in my Tow Mater build thread for example) - credit must go to Skottoman and his VW Combi bus build which is where I first saw how well this technique works for modelling 'rust'.

 

photo. After marking the key deterioration areas with the point of a Dremel (to add extra depth and texture to some of the rusted areas), I blow over the rust areas with a red oxide primer - fortunately in the US, this brand was a slightly browner/darker red, which actually helps.

 

photo. a light dusting of water (I use a brush but you can use a house-plant sprayer for example), then sprinkle fine grain salt onto the areas you want to remain rust coloured.

 

photo. Then blow over the whole car with a layer of grey primer (if you want parts of primer to show too) - and add a little more salt around the red rust areas, and any additional areas you just want the grey to show under the top coat... 

 

photo. ..and finally spray the top coat of colour*.

*As Scottoman pointed out, it works best/most vivid if the top coat colour is not close to the red rust colour - blues and whites/tan etc. are particularly effective.

 

photo. once the paint has dried, wash off the salt under a warm water tap - I use an old [soft bristle] toothbrush to agitate the salt off which tends to congeal with the coating of paint.

That is the basic technique covered - although if you intend to paint other panels (with or without rust) there will be a degree of additional masking to do too.

photo. already pretty effective, although if you take time to add some dry-powder (I use Tamiya orange 'rust') and black-wash the details really 'pop' - this is something that can be done as part of the final finishing of course.

cont.

[JennyMo]

cont.

Painting - part 2 (masking for 2nd colour and under-seal)

So for this build, not only did I want the front wings painted in a contrasting [satin] black, but I also wanted to blow over the whole of the underside in satin black [in an effort to remain as true to scale as possible], plus line the inside of the wheel-arches in a rubberised black paint too - so this required some pretty extensive masking to ensure there was no bleed-through of the black paint that would potentially mark the white top coat.

photo. it's worth noting that it's best to wash off all the first colour salt before masking (otherwise the tape typically doesn't stick) , and then re-salt if you want rust under the second colour too.

 

photo. with a myriad of holes in the floorpan, all those needed masking (from the other side) to stop the black mist potentially ruining the finished top coat in the interior.

 

photo. Unmasked at last! - this is pretty much the look I was going for - overall a well presented trail-rig, but with some slight trail damage.

 

Engine bay

So while I waited for the body paint to dry for a few hours (before making a start on the detailing and parts fitting), I thought I'd finally get the chassis up and running:

photo. the engine bay was painted satin black on the inside, with the outer faces/inner wheel-arch panels in the same rubberised under-seal I'd used in the rear arches.

 

Those of you who followed my Desmond [the 2.2] crawler build that uses a narrowed HiLux cab, may recall I originally wanted to mount the 6-cell battery in this orientation too, but unfortunately the inner wheel-arches I'd incorporated [to hide the battery] meant the body wasn't able to lift-off/on over the battery - doh! Instead I ended up using a 6-cell battery that came in a 3x2 block format, which fitted very neatly inside the whole engine bay I'd fabricated...

Fortunately in this instance, a regular stick-pack fits very well up under the scuttle panel, and you can only see the corners of the battery if you peer up into the wheel-arch itself. I'm happy with that.

 

photo. I tried to run the cables as neatly as possible - and my intention is to be able to connect either battery (the 2nd is located under the rear load-bay, between the chassis rails) to the ESC as required - with access to the connector plugs from underneath without having to remove the body each time.

 

The other thing I did while waiting for the main body-work paint to dry, was to finally get Ozzy into a new pair of strides!

photo. Dark denim, because he's the prince of darkness of course!

cont.

[JennyMo]

cont.

So for now (since the assembly process is still ongoing), I'll leave you with a few other details I've incorporated:

photo. gear and transfer lever (and surround) painted aluminium silver initially - although ultimately I have used a chrome pen for these.

 

photo. front indicator buckets painted with chrome pen, plus wipers (shortened to fit the Jeep screen) and interior door latches... nice ;o)

 

photo. fuel filler cap (DJ Designs) and metal grab-rails.

 

photo. Axial Racing round lamps (3mm LED size) used as side repeaters on front wings - reminiscent of the 'Trail Rated' badges you get on Jeeps these days I thought?

 

photo. custom made metal bonnet loops (made from bent nails!)

ps. Before anyone comments on the orange-peel paint on the bonnet - yes, I know... it was a little disappointing to be honest (I blame the nozzle on the rattle can of paint I'd used) - still, this is a late 80's/early 90's Jeep of course, so actually flatting the peel back with some fine (1200 grit) wet-and dry will probably add to the overall weathered look I feel?

 

 

photo. footwell diamond plate panels - finally super-glued in.

 

photo. Axial Wraith battery tray fitted underneath to secure 2nd battery - note it was a total fluke, but the holes in the centre (to secure the ARB cooler/cubby) lined up perfectly with the gaps in the battery tray!

 

Currently I've also fitted all the exterior aluminium panels and light housings [other than the front indicators which still need another coat of Tamiya translucent orange], and will be making a start on the doors (including the windows) and the rest of the interior later today...

More soon!

Jenny x

[Man1c M0nk3y]

So much is cool about this but I am absolutely loving that rust/weathering. Top job 👍

[JennyMo]

Well, I have to admit I've exhausted myself this week... this thing has taken over my life!

The good news, is that finally (after a bit of jigging - see later), everything screws together very nicely and the thing is rock solid - literally, this tiny truck weights 9lbs 8oz (yes, I know I appear to have gone full American now, I mean of course 4.3Kg)...

Why so heavy you ask? - especially for an open-top vehicle? - well, I have to say I'm pretty pleased with myself in that I've managed to not only fit, but actually hide two fill-size 6-cell Nimh stick packs under the body, that is complete with a full length and full depth (footwells) interior!

Everything runs - the chassis is very nice to drive, with a good turning circle (these RC4WD 'style' scale Yota axles are much better in that regard than the axles on Desmond and the D90, although I'm not sure how robust the internal gears are going to be in comparison), and it feels really smooth and quite - nice.

One thing I noticed when testing the bare chassis with the forward biased battery (no rear battery fitted, as that mounts to the underside of the body-shell) is that the 'brake' facility with this [crawler biased] ECU coupled with the 5:1 reduction gearbox means the vehicle stops [and holds] almost instantly, enough to have the rear wheels skip off the ground endo-style if you're not careful, so I've resorted to fitting some RCBitz wheel weights in the rear wheels too.

So rather than witter on too much more, I'll let the photos explain the final build-up, together with some extended captions as appropriate - there are a lot of detailing details to describe!

photo. test fitting the layout of the interior fittings - I know the cubby/cooler is a bit close to the gear lever, but Ozzy has his priorities you know ;o)... fire extinguisher is a ProLine accessory with a Wild Willy decal, as per the D90 dash.

 

photo. black-wash and rust powder weathering, and CChand (via RC4WD) metal Jeep badges for the front wings - lovely!

 

photo. another weathering trick I wanted to incorporate was a dust/bug-spattered windscreen... using the wipers to mark the swept area onto the masking tape, then spraying a fine mist of [in this case grey primer] paint from a distance at the windscreen (note: you can do this on the vehicle, although I chose to do it before mounting the screen in the surround). Also worth noting - the swept area doesn't actually overlap in this example because the wipers I've fitted would not actually sweep the full width before the blade hit the lower screen rail.

 

photo. side window surrounds painted in (Tamiya XF-1 flat black), and aluminium self-adhesive foil applied to the upright and also the door handles - yes I know a 1:1 Wrangle tends to have these in plain black, but this is a rock-star's ride - and I imagine he's going to want a bit of chrome bling ;o)

 

photo. close up of the rubberised underseal [spray] paint I used for the inner wheel arches - I think this is quite effective for a scale textured finish?

 

photo. aluminium mesh screen for the radiator grille (body-repair mesh from Halfords in the UK)

 

photo. Side window 'rubbers' painted in Tamiya XF-85 'rubber black', and black insulating tape stuck to the inside of the doors (and also the door cards) to represent the lower seal - note. I did try self-adhesive velcro originally, but it was a bit too fat an the windows wouldn't slide very well, plus the thin aluminium door-card didn't sit flat either.

cont.

 

[JennyMo]

cont.

photo. almost all of the interior and exterior aluminium checker-plate fitted (just the door cards to fit) - including the driver and passenger footwells, the seat-box, the side-sills, the tube front fender wing tops and the rear quarter panels... these were all measured and cut by hand from a flat sheet of Yeah Racing Type A (4-bar) aluminium diamond plate - fortunately this is thin enough so it can be cut with scissors, which makes things much easier!

 

photo. At the rear, I've incorporated a pair of the 3mm LED size Axial Racing lozenge shaped lamps on each side (wired up of course), and detailing includes an aluminium door handle, metal Wrangler badge (part of the CChand set) and a sticker! Note also the central recovery shackle and the metal handrails along each rear wing.

 

Rusty wheels...

Now the reason the rear wheels are off in the above photo is because I wanted to try something I'd read about online... creating real rust on the steel RC4WD wheels.

Apparently, if you mix a solution of white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide and table salt, you get a corrosive liquid that accelerates the rusting process on bare metal - so fast, that you see results in 10 minutes or less! Has to be worth a try right?

photo. this was my existing wheels, with some Tamiya dry powder to represent rust starting around the wheel-nuts (like it typically does on a real Weller wheel).

 

photo. L-R: a clean wheel (you can see where the wheelnuts have actually started to scratch the paint already), the powdered version, and finally one that has been attacked with a wire brush on the end of my Dremel - hopefully enough bare metal for the chemicals to do their thing?

 

photo. Step 1. soak in white vinegar... the instructions I followed were pretty vague with regard to timing and quantities, 5-10 mins is suggested. I put in enough to just cover the wheels completely.

 

photo. Step 2. pour in some hydrogen peroxide... initially I drained the vinegar into a bottle first, and just covered the wheels again with peroxide - however, the second attempt, I left the vinegar in and just poured the peroxide on top of each wheel. Almost immediately little bubble started to appear!

 

photo. Step 3. I then liberally sprinkled some fine table salt into the centre of each wheel, which really started the colouration!

 

photo. Step 4. after about 20 minutes (initially I left them about 10, but as soon as I removed the wheels, the rust seemed to wash off), this is what you get... however, as you can see, even after 20 minutes, as you remove the wheels from the solution, much of the rust dissolves and disappears...

 

In conclusion, this was not as successful as I'd imagined - now it's possible my hydrogen peroxide was old (it had been in a cupboard for years), plus of course it's quite possible that the steel used in the RC4WD wheels themselves is not quite so prone to rusting - certainly the nail I used as a test piece went crusty almost instantly, and having left it in the air for a couple of days now, is very authentically 'weathered', so the process itself is sound.

The other consideration is to perhaps not submerge the wheels after all, but rather use the solution in a bug-spray gun and let it dry naturally - then seal the result with a flat lacquer... it's something I intend to experiment with some more in the future, but now I wanted to get this car on it's wheels at last!

Chemistry eh? - love it!

 

cont. 

 

[JennyMo]

cont.

Right, let's stop messing about in the Lab and get this build finished shall we?

photo. once the side window 'glass' was fitted, it was time to glue on the door-cards, and finally fit the trim pieces I'd got from AMPro Engineering (PintoPower on here) - these are the Toyota HiLux window-winders and interior handles - painted with Tamiya XF-1 flat black and a chrome pen. note: I cut the window winder nubs so that the handles themselves were slightly away from the door panels (as they would be on a rear vehicle) and they are secured with superglue.

 

photo. the other detailing parts I bought from AMPro Eng. (via Shapeways) were the Brusier/HiLux manual gear levers - I decided to orientate them this way (so the transfer lever is the right and forward of the main shifter) so that the angled bevel faces into the cabin.

note. Although I initially painted these parts with a chrome paint pen, I ultimately covered the bevel and the lever shafts with aluminium tape, which is more realistic still I feel. I also cut down the transfer lever into a stubby version, and left the worn paint on the end of each gear knob to represent wear - because yes, I am a detail nerd!

 

photo. Masking the lower windscreen surround to paint in the rubber seal (for when the windscreen is folded down on a real 1:1 version). 

 

I also wanted to mount one of those wonderful RC4WD working Hi-LIft Jacks (yes, I've bought two now ;o) to the scuttle panel - and ultimately used a pair of 2mm bolts, plastic spacers and nuts in this orientation - the jack itself slides over the bolts and is held in place with a pair of R clips around each threaded section - quick-release, just like the real thing!

photo. chrome paint used on the heater intake grille (yes, I know you can buy a real metal version of this too, but on my example it's basically covered by the jack anyway ;o) - and note the windscreen washer nubbins also blacked in - these things are important you know!

 

And finally (for this stage at least), it was time to permanently fit the gorgous Cherry-wood load-bay floor:

photo. I decided to use 1/4" strip wood (ie. 65mm/2.5" in 1:1 scale) rather than anything wider, and have more metal rails - as I factored that in a real vehicle that would help to protect the floor anyway? There is also the issue that when modelling, actually scaling up and down in true size doesn't always visually work, so a degree of 'artistic licence' needs to be employed to get the effect you're after... and basically I like it this way because it reminds me of a Chris Craft speedboat deck ;o)

 

photo. Gorilla Glue used in this instance... on balance, I'd have probably just gone with Superglue Gel again, as the Gorilla Glue expands slightly to fill gaps and required some trimming where it had oozed.

 

cont.