ChrisRx718 4470 Posted June 18, 2020 14 hours ago, Aerobert said: 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. Thanks. I wish I had an MST! I really like the CFX, but can't justify the cost just now, plus it would be my first non-Tamiya... And correct about the license plate! I thought it was a neat idea 13 hours ago, SupraChrgd82 said: Fantastic collection! They all look like something one would actually see driving around. Love that aspect... Thanks, it seems to be an ever-growing collection too The danger of working on them too much / making them too detailed and precious is that I'm then reluctant to let them get too dirty. Hopefully the lexan CC02 will see lots of action, but I might just get a second body for it in the future! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisRx718 4470 Posted June 18, 2020 So onto that 'spare' Wrangler... I bid on the bodyshell late on a Sunday night after having a nightmare with Core RC paint ruining one of my M-chassis bodyshells So it was retail therapy. I had a CC01 in the shed which had no bodyshell on it too, which helped. Originally I was going to use a lexan Land Cruiser 80 body, but I've lost the passion for finishing that just now. I built this CC01 from 'bits' and bought the drivetrain hardware from Tamico to get it running: It has all those chrome-plated parts because at one stage they were really cheap on RCMart - cheaper than the black plastic versions! So it's a bit 'bling'. It also has blue (TA02T??) front knuckles, which look a bit out of place. Next to it in the image above is a really cheap alloy 4-link kit from the Far East. I think it cost about £9! First thing to do was strip the front bumper, which I might try and modify to fit my G550. Either that or I'll end up having a serious accident with my Dremel Rear axle then removed and stripped of the lousy stock suspension links, which couldn't be made of more flexible plastic if they tried. Some head scratching later and I had the Chinese 4-link setup attached. Naturally; there were no instructions with my £9 investment! Also lots of the provided screws were either much too long or just slightly too short. Ah well. All fitted: Wheelbase corrected to 242mm to suit the Wrangler body. It's all looking very bling for an off-roader. Also check out how much surface rust that steel propshaft has on it It's not even been outside!! Body then re-mounted to check for clearance and see how it looks: Looks good, but those tyres are no good and didn't do anything for the already colour-less body. The original Wrangler mesh wheels are quite rare and sought-after, but I found these drift mesh wheels in my spares and fitted up some Tamiya Hockey Pucks with the BF Goodrich logo's: In that last image you can see all the ghosting of the previous Stars & Stripes paintjob; looks like someone spent a lot of time on that originally! I'm hoping to sand it down and order some automotive paint soon. My 5 year-old came down for breakfast this morning and has advised that "That black car there isn't my favourite. It's not very pretty". She thinks it needs painting too... 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yogi-bear 2321 Posted June 18, 2020 I don't actually mind the black with the silver rims! Do I see a hint of a star patterned based paint scheme in a previous life? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChrisRx718 4470 Posted May 19, 2021 Almost a year later I'm back to post some updates... Tamiya has slowly been releasing bits for the CC02 and I've not bitten; mainly because these bits are buried deep within the chassis and - in my opinion at least - aren't parts which needed upgrading in the first place. I've had no issues with the spur gear mount / motor plate etc. But the aluminium dampers were just too pretty to pass up. I ordered from Tamico and received them 3 days later - then of course I realised the springs are a separate Hop-Up Mr Tamiya sure never misses a trick! Springs 54992 arrived some time afterwards courtesy of RCMart. First thing I fitted was the upgraded steering 'panhard' bar and servo arm, both are originally plastic in kit form and there's some play on the servo arm side, whilst the panhard bar itself is a bit 'springy' which probably works better actually, by offering some protection from knocks to the steering assembly But a Hop-Up is a Hop-Up! I then built the dampers, medium oil supplied with the kit. As you'd expect, these go together incredibly well. There's an awful lot of plastic waste left over after building them however - the tree-huggers would not be happy... You can use the CC02 kit springs but I've used the Hop-Up springs, hard rear, medium front. The softs felt a little too soft... You'll also notice I've upgraded from the Hobbywing 1060 to the 1080 brushed ESC. The 1080 is so much better; I appreciate it's twice the price though. The drag brake function is much more pronounced and useful for a crawler. I then spent an evening (OK, an hour) hand-drilling 32x 1mm holes into the body to fit the diamond plate I got from China. Intended for the Traxxas TRX-4 Defender, it fits well enough to the Tamiya body: I adjusted the chassis ever so slightly so the rear wheel sat in the centre of the wheel arch. I did this by flipping the small upper link connectors to the main chassis from left-to-right. This chassis lends itself to incremental wheelbase changes quite well, which I like. Finally I fitted Warm White headlight LEDs: And some rear tail lights: 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
