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ChrisRx718

Chris's Cross-Country Collection Thread

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Rather than have individual 'build' threads for all of my CC cars I thought I would start one thread and document everything (mainly cos many are already built and are just being tinkered with).

I have a bit of a problem with acquiring CC01s, and most recently a CC02. I very rarely drive my models as I have a young family and struggle to find the time, but I like to mess about with them in the evenings when I get a chance. Ultimately I will use them a lot more, so it's important to me knowing that they will work when I eventually get the time!

So first up I have my most completed model; a Pajero Metaltop Wide:

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As lovely as those wheels look, they rub like anybody's business when you try to run this one. I also have to run very stiff suspension since this body is incredibly heavy - notice the RCModelex cage / roof rack combo. This CC01 looks great on the shelf, but I really want to run this bodyshell, especially since it already has some 'road rash' marks from a former life so it isn't exactly shelf-queen worthy. 

It sat in this state for about 18 months (where does time go?) until I found some cheap beadlock wheels and tyres from the Far East and the dimensions worked on paper. They arrived and I think they look awesome:

49627289052_c61a6de1ab_b.jpg

So now we don't have any rubbing issues! Yay. But the weakness was the chassis itself; despite throwing a lot of money at upgrades.

I always wanted an MST CMX or CFX ladder-frame chassis for this Pajero, but I never had the spare cash. Such a huge amount of time went past that Tamiya eventually caught-up and released their own ladder-frame chassis - the CC02.

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So this was promptly bought and built, after I sold off some of my TA03 collection. And my beautiful Fast and Furious Supra build-

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Gone but not forgotten!

Anyway; the CC02 comes with the Mercedes G500 lexan bodyshell and 267mm wheelbase. I built it to this spec in the above images, but I want the G500 to go with a certain 'theme' I have behind some of my other builds, so the bodyshell has been temporarily put on hold whilst I turn my attention to shortening the CC02 to the 242mm Pajero Wheelbase. 

This is as far as I got with this particular car for now - I'm waiting on some Hard-body mounts for the CC02 to make their way over from China - it could be a while!

Next up I have my long-standing CC01 Jeep Wrangler Jurassic Park build. I'll post that separately below as it's been "In progress" for over 2 years now! :rolleyes:

 

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Next up is the Wrangler I've been working on for an eternity.

26924583448_7cd5cf4542_b.jpg

Take one CC01 Jeep Wrangler, put on some Pajero wheels and paint them red - you're already half way there :lol:

Now obviously this isn't a very unique idea, there's already a very good JP Wrangler on these very forums with a builder in possession of much more skill and time than me! I won't link his thread but I will tag @Metal -maro for having an awesome build on this theme.

If you look at the on-screen Wranglers you could be forgiven for thinking that they were a kind-of light grey colour:

jurassic-park-jeep-18.png

In actual fact, they were fresh from the production line Wrangler "Sahara" edition models which were painted in Chrysler Sand Beige Metallic and with a special satin finish.

Cue some emails to TCR Supplies (trading through eBay) and they could mix the paint for me if I provided the paint code. Funny thing, this paint code is 'PJ1' - a shame it wasn't JP1! Park Jurassic it is.

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I did use a special plastic primer before spraying (hence the yellow on the roof).

With 3 coats it looked (in my opinion) great so I called it a day despite probably still having another half-tin of paint (cue bad thoughts of procuring another Jeep body to have myself a convoy!)

Next up was the red paint. Now I'm sure like many of you out there reading this, hard-body painting is not something I'm particularly skilled at. Lexan bodies in a maximum of 3 colours I can deal with, but hard-bodies are more of a modellers' field of expertise.

Masking off the red stripes and numbers was a real challenge. I didn't want to use stickers since it's difficult getting a colour-match and the stripes would have to be painted due to all the contours of the body. I used Tamiya masking sheets, passing them through my Inkjet printer to get a mask, then carefully cutting this out and applying it.

45392476961_43667ef86e_b.jpg

Before spraying up all that PS-2 red paint, I need the "light bar" since you can't just go fixing lights to the roof of this, as in reality it's a fibreglass (or similar) removable hard-top, so not structural. The screen-used cars had a light bar which fixed to the windscreen hinges (at the base of the windscreen). At the time, there wasn't a solution for this - @Metal -maro has a much more elegant solution, but with my limited 3D printing experience this was the best I could come up with:

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Raptor approves.

Little square lamps were purchased from the Far East - these are smaller than the Axial ones (and subsequent knock-off copies of those). They clip neatly onto the bar I printed but will eventually be held in place with some glue as well. At this stage, I'm not really sure how to run power to them, or if I even will? :unsure:

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With that done I sprayed all the red, let that cure and before removing all the masking tape I cracked-on with getting the roof painted a nice tan colour:

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A much darker shade than the instruction manual asks for, but I didn't want a pale roof to clash with the main body colour.

Now it was time to remove all that tape:

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A bit of bleeding around the number stencils, but this I could live with. The main one on the bonnet (or 'hood') however, Raptor seems to have a problem with it. I wonder why?...

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Oh Jeez, that's really not good :angry:

The stencils must have lifted prior to the application of red paint.

Instead of masking everything else off, I wrapped the whole body in shrink-wrap and then masked off the bonnet section - thank god for all that leftover paint! :lol:

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Second attempt was much better - but it's no prize winner. It will do for me!

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You can see I've also added the winch in this picture, a metal item from China with some realistic looking winch line. I've no idea how good it is, as I don't intend to wire it up. This fits quite well and doesn't interfere with the stock CC01 mounting position on the bumper.

I've taken a break from the Wrangler recently and I'm now distracted by this:

49698269332_c1c1baee47_b.jpg

More to follow...

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Well done!  They are all coming along very nicely.

Just a word of caution with those BFG Mud Terrain tires...  I've gotten my Jeep thoroughly dirty and the mud that caked to the sidewalls of those tires took of the lettering.  Seems like they shouldn't do that, but it happened. 

 

20200328_201224.jpg

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This is getting a bit out of hand! And there's another CC01 in my shed too...

49684123121_9c2f9aae1b_b.jpg

I recently took a gamble on that LandCruiser bodyshell, listed as 1/12 scale with a 230mm wheelbase. It was only £12 delivered to my door - seriously cheap, so I thought I'd take a punt.

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Just balanced on the Pajero chassis above (242mm Wheelbase)

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Yup...wheelbase is off. And the body needs to come down quite some way.

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Adjusting this wheelbase will be easy - I'll simply remove the long ball-end connectors from those links in favour of some Tamiya short 5mm ball connectors instead.

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See, instantly gains me almost 11mm. 242 - 11 = 230 'ish' mm!

Unfortunately this also meant changing to ball 'stud' nuts due to the way the CC01 rear axle is built, and I didn't have any black or bronze coloured ones...

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A bit too bling for a crawler, but these are all I have for now...

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All back together and with some different wheels and tyres on, the wheelbase is now bang-on!

It still sits way too high though. Cheap Chinese car body - meet Mr Dremel!

I also decided now was the time to spray paint the inside with some matt black, seeing as I had already dismantled it. The fastest masking job ever (not even wasting Tamiya masking tape on this!) 

49684172456_c28ece63b1_b.jpg

Ta-da!

I had to trim away a lot of the rear seats and interior to get the body low enough - the drivers seat was then fowling the steering servo horn.

I swapped over my 'front servo relocation kit' from my Amarok CC01:

49684413727_8fce2024de_b.jpg

No after picture unfortunately...

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Body now low enough, but it still looks silly on these wheels.

Back to the Pajero beadlock wheels...

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Looks...better. But not great. Also has major issues with rubbing:

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Hmmm. This won't do.

But from some angles it looks really cool (I think) in a kind-of Australian outback exploration type-way:

49684465782_6b9aeb3817_b.jpg

Problem is it's too narrow. I could try some fender flares, which may improve how it looks, but will degrade the 'civilian' spec look it currently has. I also need to consider that the flares will cost my as much as the body itself did...

So what do you think I should do with it TamiyaClub? Persevere, or cast away?

Getting hold of some cost-effective wheels with less of a diameter is a problem. 

I might just go ahead and buy the Tamiya Land Rover Defender 90 body I've been hankering after.. Or re-fit the Amarok body and extend the wheelbase.

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If its potentially bin fodder i say keep hacking it until it at least works. Cut the wheelarches to a bigger diameter? I think it looks cool on the pajero wheels

 

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Keep seeing the Amarok in the background. I notice you have a roll bar fitted. Ive just finished a WT01-N Amarok and its just what I need. Can you tell me what it came off?

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On 4/5/2020 at 3:15 AM, Busdriver said:

Keep seeing the Amarok in the background. I notice you have a roll bar fitted. Ive just finished a WT01-N Amarok and its just what I need. Can you tell me what it came off?

Sorry buddy missed this post entirely. It came from a Twin Detonator from memory, which is a fairly generic part I believe was fitted to other trucks also (Blackfoot Extreme?). I wished I had gone the extra mile to fit spotlights but not sure how they would look with the light bar on the roof of that model. 

Onwards with the CC madness...

Next thing I wanted to do was swap the hard-body Pajero shell onto my CC02. There's a YouTube video by Matteo which shows the various alternative suspension mounting positions on the bottom of the CC02 and how moving these fore and aft you would change the wheelbase from 267 to 257 or 242mm. The latter obviously required for the Pajero body;

49712740287_6cb6a5709c_b.jpg

I also bought some more hex-head screws having ran out whilst building it and ending up using JIS Cross-head screws, which looked out of place amongst all the hex hardware!

Halfway through doing one axle:

49712416341_57b61343a9_b.jpg

And wheelbase reduced to 242mm by changing the link connection points. However, notice the new damper angles with the existing mounting locations. They are clearly designed to be as vertical as possible, but because the wheelbase has shortened they sit at an angle.

49712739717_1c0435e0a1_b.jpg

This is corrected by changing the shock mounting 'towers' and swapping them from side-to-side (they are marked "A" and "B") so that they 'lean' in the opposite direction. Notice I also removed the body posts:

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Much better. A test fit:

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I was waiting on the post at this point, but the following arrived incredibly quickly (given current circumstances!)

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Of course, zero instructions. Fortunately it was all quite easy to figure out. This would allow the fitment of any of the Tamiya Hard-body shells (Pajero, Mu, Wrangler)

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Much better. Has some serious issues with sag, the stock springs are obviously expecting a lexan bodyshell, but this bodyshell (complete with cage and accessories) probably weighs a similar amount to the chassis itself :wacko:

I ended up fitting some stock rear springs from a DT02 friction shock of all things, these were all that I had which could withstand the weight!

The last thing I wanted to do was change out the motor. I originally built this with a Yokomo Super Scale 58T motor, which ended up being way too slow (despite building it to the 'high' gear setting as-per the manual). I grabbed a CR-Tuned Tamiya motor (35T) to remedy this, but could I fit a motor without completely dismantling the gearbox? 

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When building a CC02 the whole gearbox assembly slots into the chassis frame quite early on, and I really didn't want to have to remove those hundreds of screws again.

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Sorted - always keep some allen keys handy!

CR Tuned in, together with a Steel Pinion gear instead of that soft aluminium one!

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And for anyone wondering, there is a little access cover which effectively 'seals' the gearbox and it is installed like so:

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All good!

I might remove the Jurassic World logos and add a proper 'scale' rear wheel in the near future.

Next update will be back to a CC01 again. Just waiting for the magnetic body posts so I can fit this:

49773189432_c5246c4a45_b.jpg

 

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'Nother update.

Took the CC02 around the back garden and had a lot of fun. CR-Tuned motor is perfect @ 35 Turns, just faster than walking pace flat-out on 2S LiPo.

On the bench:

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(I realised the front body mount wasn't located when I took this pic, hence why it looks 'off')

So ever since shortening the chassis to 242mm I have been concerned (perhaps wrongly) about the driveshafts being at their minimum extension, possibly even binding. By this I mean:

49981399502_ea30759301_b.jpg

They look like this when extended:

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I was worried they were fully 'compressed' plus the fact they're made of plastic... I needed no further excuse to upgrade.

After some careful measuring I bought these:

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Xtra Speed items intended for the Tamiya 1/14 Truck series.

Metal and hopefully more realistic?

Fit together nicely and the action is smooth:

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All done:

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That's all for now, but Hermes currently have my 2nd Wrangler body (and have had it for over a week) so hopefully I'll be bringing another updated soon...

I also finished mounting the G500 body on my lengthened CC01, so I'll get some pics of that too.

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Patience isn't something I got from either of my parents, so I'm cracking on with the CC02.

After spending £20-odd on some hard-body mounts, it was obvious that my Pajero was very 'tippy'.

Tippy being the correct technical term for falling over all the time.

So I've gone down the route of a lexan body for now, recently receiving this from Time Tunnel Models:

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Can 'Ye tell what it is yet?

Obviously a Defender 90. 

Cutting out was easy, I didn't go down the score-and-snap route in the end since the wheel arches are MASSIVE it was very easy to cut out with curved scissors. That rear wheel arch looks bad in the photo, but is much smoother in real life. You'll just have to believe me.

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Next up was masking, and my god, there's a lot of work here! Cutting out all the little masks for the windows and lights etc.

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Aaand done:

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Apart from that it's not done, since the box-art suggests a white roof and I also wasn't keen on all the black parts being stickers? The wheel arches, front and rear bumpers etc. So I set about masking those off too...

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Well, this took ages. 

The white tape is Tamiya's masking tape for curves, 10mm. It works surprisingly well, I haven't seen a bleed yet. But the 'crinkled' internal edges I always tape over with traditional masking tape, just in case paint sneaks up in there.

Unfortunately; again due to impatience on my part, I only had 6mm tape :lol: So it took forever. For the roof I actually used a small amount of 2" decorating masking tape, as that truly would have been a waste of 6mm.

49992273362_ba9313760d_b.jpg

For others who have built this bodyset; did you use the reinforcement pieces? As below. They don't seem particularly strong, although the rear of the body is particularly wobbly...

49991507413_49105810a0_b.jpg

I'm not sure whether to go with a spare wheel, the kit dummy plastic wheel cover or just have it flush at the back. Any suggestions?

 

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a wheel would probably be the standard configuration? I guess it depends on the look you are going after.

 

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17 hours ago, ChrisRx718 said:

Well, this took ages. 

The white tape is Tamiya's masking tape for curves, 10mm. It works surprisingly well, I haven't seen a bleed yet. But the 'crinkled' internal edges I always tape over with traditional masking tape, just in case paint sneaks up in there.

Unfortunately; again due to impatience on my part, I only had 6mm tape :lol: So it took forever. For the roof I actually used a small amount of 2" decorating masking tape, as that truly would have been a waste of 6mm.

49992273362_ba9313760d_b.jpg

For others who have built this bodyset; did you use the reinforcement pieces? As below. They don't seem particularly strong, although the rear of the body is particularly wobbly...

49991507413_49105810a0_b.jpg

I'm not sure whether to go with a spare wheel, the kit dummy plastic wheel cover or just have it flush at the back. Any suggestions?

 

Not flush. A Landy isnt a Landy without a big heavy cumbersome wheel ripping your hinges apart

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14 minutes ago, Wetman said:

Not flush. A Landy isnt a Landy without a big heavy cumbersome wheel ripping your hinges apart

Understood.

 I'm not buying a pukka 1.55 wheel and tyre on its' own though, I'm not made of money! :lol:

The tread pattern on the standard CC01 tyres (Tamiya Hockey Pucks) is pretty close to the RC4WD Mud Thrashers, so I'll see if I can make that work with a 1.9" wheel rim (hopefully nobody will notice...)

I really want the 1.55 Landy wheels but they're £48! Maybe if I'm feeling flush on payday!

Anyway, I got impatient again:

49994415438_7261dfbdf4_b.jpg

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Swiftly following the blue I added PS1 White to the roof skin:

49994415368_482ff44a53_b.jpg

You can see the tiny bleed of blue by the roof where the external half-cage attaches. I was too impatient to fix this; I figure the bars will cover it anyway.

I backed the white with silver to make sure it stayed opaque whilst I sprayed the bumpers and wheel arches with PS5 black. 

Once that was all done I took a hobby knife to the outside:

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I then peeled away the outer protective plastic from the bumpers, wheel arches and roof skin and applied PS55 Flat Clear:

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It's very fiddly but the effect I think is worth it:

49994934946_709863387b_b.jpg

Next there are a ton of stickers to apply :wacko:

 

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There are also plastics to apply to the body, wingmirrors, front roll cage thing, front grille. 

I didn't want these to have just the plastic finish (can see mottled effect in the plastic) so I painted them black. The roll bars I later lacquered to give them the look of metal, I left everything else in matt finish.

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Mirrors and grille look much better. Well, you can hardly tell, but it's the little things that matter!

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I also found that snorkel for cheap on RCMart. I think it is meant for the D90 hardbodies, but the scale is pretty close, the only issue I have is that this will likely clash with my roll cage thing :( 

The stickers took an absolute AGE to complete. Not even a very complicated shell, but lots of tiny stickers to cut out and stick down. I'm glad I painted the wheel arches, or I'd likely still be sticking those on too!

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I couldn't resist fitting the grille, that was at about 11pm :blink:

Next I need to paint the front indicators / sidelights on the grille and fit all the body accessories, including the spare wheel. I'm going with magnetic body posts for this to avoid needing to drill it, hopefully they will hold.

Fingers crossed the next pictures will be of it outside getting used!

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12 hours ago, yogi-bear said:

looking good!

Thanks mate.

Next job was to paint the front indicator and side-light lenses, Tamiya doesn't give you any stickers for this bit, which is odd.

I masked over them, pressed firmly around the 'dome' shaped base and then cut with my hobby knife. I then used a Molotow chrome paint marker, waited for this to dry and used Tamiya Translucent Orange on the indicators;

50012562663_9171e9a102_b.jpg

Moving on to the back, it was agreed a few posts back that a Defender should have a full-size spare and I couldn't bare to put on the kit-supplied lump of plastic. I had a Killerbody RC spare wheel carrier, but on inspection it's a bit naff; just a long M4 screw, wingnut and an odd-shaped bit of plastic with a 12mm hex on one end. This would probably pass on an ABS body but for lexan it would flex like crazy.

Burrowing into my spares box again I found a spare diff outdrive for an F103GT. This has 3 points of attachment so is more rigid; I used some spacers on the back, et voila:

50013091986_01602de5d5_b.jpg

I can't afford to buy a whole 1.55" wheel and tyre just for vanity, so I used a wheel and tyre from my spares box which I already had. Gave it a lick of white paint to match the ones on the car:

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There's still something missing though :unsure: It just didn't look quite right:

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That numberplate isn't random, I found it online. Props to whoever can find out what it was fitted to. Tamiya don't even provide a basic numberplate sticker for this, which is a bit of a shame, or just lazy...

Then I took it for a spin around the garden:

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Thanks for reading. That's done for now, until I figure out how to fit a driver figure...

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Not wasting any time on the next Cross Country chassis, another CC01.

First, a family group shot -

50013846916_10600fa407_b.jpg

They are-
CC02 Defender - want to add lights and a driver figure, but it's fully operational
CC01 Jurassic Park Jeep - need to finish the interior painting, install the lights and roof bar. Chassis needs an ESC
CC01 LWB Mercedes G550 Jurassic World - Again need to paint the interior, wire the light unit in, but chassis is ready to run
CC01 Pajero - Wheelbase needs tweaking or the wheel arches need to be trimmed, I'm not getting clearance at the back. Body is really heavy with the RCModelex metal cage too.
CC01 Jeep Wrangler (currently black) - chassis needs work, body to be stripped and re-painted

Next I'm going to work on the black Jeep Wrangler. The body could do with a fresh paint job. I really like the look of this Sahara paint scheme in green:

5b5a15978daa2.jpg

What do you think?

 

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This is a really nice collection of Cross Country's. When I see your nicely new build Defender I really want that body for my MST. I understand your decision with the spare wheel, it's a point where I already was and I've made the same decision as you. I think it's looking good on your Defender.

By the way, the license plate is from the last ever build Defender.

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Fantastic collection!  They all look like something one would actually see driving around.  Love that aspect...

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