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JennyMo

TJ Hooker (Wrangler YJ/TJ hybrid pick up)

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As I've hinted at in a couple of other threads recently, this is a project that I've been working on for a while now - although most of the time the chassis has been sitting dormant while I've been distracted by other vehicle ideas which I've wanted to realise more quickly... indeed, it turns out I've has this chassis assembled now for over a year (December 2019), so it really is about time we pulled this all together!

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photo. jumping ahead slightly to illustrate what I'm talking about below...

The original idea was to build a sister vehicle to Ozzy's open-top Wrangler YJ I built some time ago: the ebaYJeep - Daydream B'leafer - primarily to incorporate some of the other [bodywork] ideas I had at the time which weren't really compatible with the open-top leaf-spring concept I was currently working on.

To further mix things up a bit, rather than simply build another leaf-sprung vehicle using the Tamiya YJ body, I felt this would be a good opportunity to build a coil-sprung Jeep, and at the same time deviate from my usual eBay mix-and-match transmission (typically featuring a planetary gearbox, transfer case and Yota style axles), and scored a set of HPI Venture axles at a great price on Ebay, together with a genuine RC4WD R3 single-speed gearbox and Hammer transfer case.

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photo. still using my 'chassis of choice' from Ebay - which offers a multitude of pre-drilled suspension location mounting points, suitable for 4-link or leaf-spring suspension as desired.

Although these Ebay chassis are similar to an RC4WD Gelande or Trailfinder dimensionally (so typically translates to a 278mm wheelbase or thereabouts once the axles are mounted in the most obvious location), they do not have the exact same mounting holes required to mount the RC4WD transmission, so a couple of custom holes were required to mount everything up:

i-vHc9LFK-XL.jpg
photo. with the short Wranger hood, it was essential to mount the steering servo alongside the motor, which I clocked to keep it as low as possible, while still allowing full axle up-travel below.

I then mounted the HPI Venture axles using custom length links (3 link and a pan-hard rod at the front), together with RC4WD hoop shaped shock towers to give as much clearance for the coil-overs against the chassis - these being quite narrow axles, with fixed lower shock mounts directly on top of the axle cases...

i-FgsLQsw-XL.jpg
photo. I like that the steering drag link on these axles is actually routed behind the differential, offering excellent clearance in front of the axle between the wheels.

Because of the design of the axle cases, it actually made sense to retain the upper Y link at the rear (so technically it's a 3-link rear not 4-link of course), and bought an aftermarket aluminium version which I could bend slightly so it fitted between the alternative chassis rails I was using:

i-f5k8qTb-XL.jpg

And with some suitable shocks as a placeholder for the time being, I soon had a roller at last:

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photo. 80mm shocks fitted - due to being mounted above the axle cases, anything longer would make the vehicle far too high.

I have to concede, it was a pleasure to work with these slightly higher quality parts than my usual more budget underpinnings - and indeed it was this chassis build which prompted me to then buy a Vanquish V24-10 chassis kit for a subsequent project: the Ghetto Vanquish - which if you'd been following what turned into a rather elaborate and detailed scale build after all, you'll probably appreciate is one of the main reasons this TJ build has ended up sitting dormant until just before Christmas!

cont.

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cont.

As I've hinted in the introduction, the bodywork 'concept' for this build had been pretty much drawn up a the time I built Ozzy's open-top YJ - essentially incorporating all those features I'd dismissed in an effort to produce the most simple and minimalist Jeep at the time (in fact subsequently I removed the doors and tailgate, and most recently omitted the spare wheel too!)

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photo. The Daydream B'leafer now has very little bodywork left (although still hides two full-size stick pack batteries under it's skin!) and an Austin Powers' bikini!

So for this sister build, to help differentiate it from what was now very much a stripped down trail-rig, I felt fundamentally it ought to have a hard-top of some kind, together with a traditional tail-gate mounted spare wheel, and a load bed featuring plenty of scale details and accessories which I've amassed over the years, and really need somewhere to put them!

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photo. This ProLine tool chest (now discontinued I believe) turns out to be the perfect fit for the Tamiya YJ body width.

Similar to the YJ build, I felt the most prudent way to match the body and chassis together was to fix the wheelbase according to the underpinnings - and in this instance the wheelbase was vey much dictated by the length of the rear Y link and the transfer case crossmember - and simply stretch the bodywork behind the doors - creating what is essentially a Jeep LJ from the original YJ body.

Of course at the same time turning this into a pick-up also makes the rear body stretch far simpler, and I chopped the original hard-top down into a truck-cab, together with shortening the moulded doors to half-height, although I've elected to retain the original swage line and quarter windows as I feel it suits the overall look better. 

i-D5zMVpX-XL.jpg
photo. bodywork butchery, and a mix of 1.5mm and 2mm styrene to fill the gaps and strengthen the rear load bed.

The other thing required would be to dramatically increase the size of the rear wheel-arches, since this vehicle would be running on 115mm diameter tyres, and while the 80mm shocks don't offer a huge amount of articulation, I wanted to try and sit the body as low as possible on the chassis while retaining proper tyre clearance at full travel.

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photo. more cutting and filling with styrene - including removing the original Tamiya rear body mounting lugs, and fitting a suitable spare wheel carrier (again, thank you Ebay).

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photo. load-bed fabrication - the base is 2mm styrene (for added rigidity) and the wheel-arch boxes constructed from 1.5mm. note. I elected to incorporate traditional rear shock towers through the load-bed floor, as fortunately there is enough space for the tool chest between them and the back of the truck-cab.

 

The other thing I intended to incorporate - much as I had with the open-top YJ build, is a full depth interior, including footwells, and have all the electronics hidden when running... and indeed, having delayed this build while I put together the Baja Blazer and Ghetto Vanquish over this past summer, meant I'd refined a method where the interior floor (and engine bulkhead) remains attached to the chassis, while the main body drops over the top and is secured with just a pair of screws along each sill - meaning that access for battery changes is simple enough, and particularly since I'm now running the majority of my models on LiPo batteries which I'd rather not charge in-situ as I have in the past with the NiMh batteries.

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photo. CAD (cardboard aided design) templates used to good effect here - a small cut-out was required to clear the gearbox output shaft, but will ultimately be covered by a styrene transmission tunnel. note. the L brackets on the uprights for the body mounts - those will support the battery box mounted under the scuttle panel behind the dash, and will ultimately allow the whole engine bay to pivot upwards for access to the pinion and spur gear if required.

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photo. styrene set-box and footwells - this remains separate to the main engine bay and bulkhead where all the electronics will be mounted.

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photo. the main body almost complete - albeit a lot of sanding filling still required before it's ready for some paint.note. you can see how the seat-box sides mate neatly with the inner sills of the main body once it is mounted.

I always find it's a good idea to spray a light coat of primer over the body prior to the final filling and sanding - just to even out the textures and see what you're working with...

However, there was just one more body mod I wanted to incorporate before I could start the paint prep process:

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photo. I carefully cut out the original door handles and reset them into the lowered half-doors.

cont.

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cont.

So to continue on from the post above, there was a degree of filling and sanding required to the side panels behind the doors, the shortened truck-cab roof, and particularly the lengthened wheelarches at the rear:

i-xfc2czM-XL.jpg
photo. a thin layer of primer helps to see where any additional filling and sanding may be required.

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photo. careful sanding with fine paper and a square-edged needle file helped to reinstate the original lip aorund the rear wheelarch extensions.

Meanwhile at the front, the original rectangular headlight apertures [of the YJ shell] were filled with a piece of styrene, and drilled to accept the 18mm Axial headlamp buckets I'd be using to give this build a TJ face:

i-W44mDR5-XL.jpg

It's worth noting that for the headlights to be mounted vertically facing forward in the slightly sloping grille panel, small crescent shaped infills needed to be cut and glued in (as per the headlight recess in the 1:1 TJ grille) - I also cut two simple inner wing panels to help hide the back of the headlight buckets inside the front arches - as I'd done with my previous flat-fender YJ Wrangler build.

Right, time to start adding some colour!

Paint

If you're familiar with some of my other builds over the years, you'll know I tend to favour the slightly more rough and ready weathered look, rather than try to attain a showroom shine - not least as I think it helps to make my attempts at scale detailing more realistic, coupled with being the perfect excuse to not be too precious when it comes to prep and painting with rattle-cans in my makeshift cardboard booth in the garage!

However, at the same time I do try to choose colours that you might actually see on a real example of the vehicles in question - the Defender 90 is painted in genuine Arles Blue (the factory Land Rover colour which I had mixed in an aerosol can), and Retro Desmond (Toyota FJ40) is painted in a typical (if not exactly factory) faded light green, which you often see on full-size 40 series LandCruisers, along with a similar baby blue or beige version.

So for this Jeep TJ build, I thought I'd have a go at replicating the Sahara Edition paintwork combo of the era - in this instance the dark green with a tan roof version - making it instantly recognisable, and also as a homage to a friend of mine who used to own a full size TJ trail rig with a long-arm suspension kit in the same colourway.

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photo. The tan roof was painted first, as it would be easier to mask for the subsequent all-over dark green coat on the main body.

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photo. with the roof painted and masked, it was time to add a little salt and iron paint in those areas I wanted rust and other top-coat deterioration to show though - typically along the joint of the bolt on fender extensions and in the corners of the load-bed, together with some suitable stone chips on the hood and front fender tops.

It's worth noting that in an effort to be true to scale, I didn't rust any of the truck cab roof since these are fibreglass on the real vehicles.

i-4787BD2-XL.jpg
photo. close-up: I used a mix of Iron [filing impregnated] paint which uses a brush/spray on activator solution to turn the particles to real rust, together with a sprinkling of salt so that the subsequent layer of paint flakes away once the paint has dried and is washed under warm water, leaving the rust showing underneath.

Although in the past I've tended to use regular rattle can paint from Halfords or DIY stores (not least for the huge range of colours available), increasingly I've found it's worth spending a little extra on the Tamiya TS paints - although the cans are much smaller and the colour palette nothing like as extensive - as they do spray nice and fine and evenly, even if some of the colours do require more than a couple of coats. In this instance, I chose TS-46 'Light Sand' for the roof (and will also paint some of the interior trim this colour too, as per the 1:1 Sahara Edition) while I felt TS-2 'Dark Green' was close enough to the Jeep main body colour, even if the 1:1 vehicle appears to have a slight metallic finish with what looks like to be a bronze/gold base layer perhaps? - still, I'm not going to be quite as precious about that.

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photo. initial misting coat... it looks quite flat and 'military' here.

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photo. fortunately a couple more fine coats helped to build up the pigment, and the result is pretty much the same as the 1:1 colour, that has lost it's glossy laquer sheen over the years perhaps?

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photo. I'd say that is not too bad for a rattle can job late at night on a cold December evening in the garage.

cont.


 

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cont.

So before we go any further, you might also be wondering who's going to be driving this thing?

Well, taking a cue from Ozzy being behind the wheel of the open top ebaYJeep (plus Jack driving the Defender 90 and Kelly the SRB Cage Racer), who better to complete the family unit than Mrs Osbourne herself - Sharon!

i-hzMZNZt-XL.jpg

A quick test fit and although she is a little shorter and more petite in general compared to the other Osbourne family figures, she fits in the Axial Corbeau bucket seat very well, with just some adjustment to her [straight] legs required so that she might sit in a more natural position - plus her rather wayward arm angles will need to be addressed so she might hold the steering wheel too.

Surgeon!

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photo. a quick cut (with a modelling knife) and reposition/glue of the arms to straighten them, plus a judicious cut below each knee to help bend her legs around the front edge of the seat cushion.

 

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photo. riding the rollercoaster! - ultimately more extensive leg surgery was going to be required so that her feet fit in the footwells correctly.

 

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photo. wire rods inserted to keep everything lined up...

 

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photo. ... then copious amounts of filler to mate the two halves together again, and so that the knees can be re-sculpted.

 

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photo. sanding and shaping to blend the new knees with the original creases in her trousers - note I've also added a little filler on the hips and arm sleeves too.

 

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photo. repainted and colour matched as closely as possible - I'm calling that done.

 

Power!

The other thing required before the final assembly could begin was to sort out the engine bay layout and wire everything up...

As I've mentioned previously, one rather fortuitous result of mounting the battery horizontally under the scuttle using the forward body mount brackets, is that the whole engine bay can essentially pivot up to gain access to the gearbox pinion and spur gear as required:

i-WFBvNNL-XL.jpg

photo. note I have since replaced the original internally sprung shocks with these Gmade 80mm RSD coil-overs, fitted with slightly softer [blue] springs from some other shocks I had to hand.

 

Unfortunately, due to the limited space under the bonnet - completely filled with the motor/gearbox and steering servo - there did not appear to be any room for the ESC and even the receiver to be tucked out of sight under there too... and I was resigned to mounting them upside down under the seat-box (and therefore exposed to the elements which is never ideal, despite them being labelled ' waterproof'), when I realised that in using a short 2S LiPo pack rather than a traditional 6-cell stick pack [which I'd used in the YJ Jeep build] there was now just enough room either side of the battery box to mount the ESC and Rx, protected by some simple inner fenders made from 1mm styrene - result!

i-Grg2jrb-XL.jpg

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This way, all of the electronics are mounted close together forward of the footwells and under the bonnet. Yes, I'll still have to remove the main body shell to swap/charge the battery each time, but the overall design means that when the body is in place (4 screws), the battery is held snuggly in it's fabricated compartment, and all the wiring is hidden behind the dash and under the bonnet. Sweet!

 

So that pretty much brings things right up to date... currently I'm assembling all the detailing parts for the interior, including rigging up a rear mount for the 4-point harness seatbelts which will still allow the main body to be quickly removed and replaced to access the battery regularly. There are still a number of exterior parts to fit and finish/weather too, including all the LED lights and load-bed accessories... oh, and some rather fancy personal number-plates I've had fabricated too!

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photo. ...she so is!

 

More soon!

Jenny x

 

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Happy New Year everyone!

Well, I didn't quite get this build finished by the end of the year as I'd planned - but everything is up and running, and most of the details have been finished/installed:

i-NV5nLn7-XL.jpg

photo. TJ face (including fender mounted indicators/running lights) - still need to cut a windscreen and side windows from 0.75mm lexan.

 

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photo. Yeah Racing harness seat-belts - they are a fiddle to prep and assemble...

 

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photo. ...but the result is worthwhile! note. I've painted the sides of the Axial Corbeau seats the same colour as the roof (typically as per the Sahara Edition of the Jeep Wrangler), and used some of the seat decals on the shoulder straps.

 

i-5jcBr4M-XL.jpg

photo. Loadbay junk test fitting and tool chest installed - I've actually supported the tool chest on scale lengths of 2x4, as I felt this would be a likely solution in 1:1 world.

I also used up the remainder of my four-bar scale checker-plate to make some sill protectors and floor mats (much as I did with Ozzy's YJ Jeep), and have installed a full-size spare wheel on the rear carrier.

Currently I'm working on the wiring loom for the lights (relatively simple in this installation - just a pair of 5mm white headlights together with 3mm orange markers at the front, and 3mm red LEDs for the round rear lamps), and experimenting with a modified Trailfinder dashboard for the interior - while it's not technically the right shape for the [fat centre console] TJ style, it would appear to fit surprisingly well inside the Tamiya shell width-wise, and colour matched in a similar way to the seats, will be a suitable substitution I feel.

More soon!

Jenny x

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Hi JennyMo from sunny California : )

I am absolutely not into this crawler but I can clearly see the quality in you work and also the expense of all the quality parts used. You have a tremendous output too. May I ask, how many of those crawler you already built? I saw sometimes you "just" rebuild them but not one stone left on the other.

Just wanted to say I am watching your builts and brilliant set arranements for your pics with pleasure.

Greetings,
Tom

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3 hours ago, Problemchild said:

Honestly - amazing 

the fact you know all these parts exist is amazing :)

JJ

Hee hee - unfortunately I spend way too much time (and money) on Ebay than is good for me... it is amazing the choice of custom parts there are out there these days - either fully formed or as a basic for further customisation and modification.

Jx

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3 hours ago, Collin said:

Hi JennyMo from sunny California : )

I am absolutely not into this crawler but I can clearly see the quality in you work and also the expense of all the quality parts used. You have a tremendous output too. May I ask, how many of those crawler you already built? I saw sometimes you "just" rebuild them but not one stone left on the other.

Just wanted to say I am watching your builts and brilliant set arranements for your pics with pleasure.

Greetings,
Tom

Hi Tom - thank you for your kind words and enthusiasm!

This past year has been a bit of a marathon session yes... I was inspired having attended the RC4WD West Coast Scale Challenge event towards the end of 2019, and off the back of that decided there were two new vehicles I wanted to build - the Baja Blazer (a scale retro race truck)and also something based on the Vanquish VS4-10 chassis, which ended up bing the Ghetto Vanquish/Boba Fett 4Runner of course. This was coupled with a lot more enforced 'at home' time the past few months we've all had to endure to a greater or lesser extent, so I had to find something to help keep me sane and occupied!

To answer you question - I currently have eleven built/running vehicles including this latest one - a good number of them are in my showroom on the TamiyaClub main pages, but I admit I've not updated that since Hopper's HiLux was built, so the most recent builds are only here in the Builds section and in the Monster Trucks & Crawler sub-section.

Before I moved to the US I did make the decision to sell a number of my Tamiya based builds, choosing to keep just three examples - the SRB Cage Racer (SRB chassis), Tam-Mater (M chassis) and the STUMPKamper (WR-02 chassis) as I felt they represented a cross-section of the Tamiya brand pretty well, and which also featured a lot of customisation and innovation of which I was particularly proud.

Since then I have concentrated more on custom builds using a mix and match of primarily metal transmission and chassis components, together with a range of hard bodies - some Tamiya, others typically from RC4WD who do make some excellent and well-detailed body sets.

With each new build I've always tried to incorporate at least one new technique or scale detail I've not tried before - not least as it really would be impossible to include everything I could ever think of in a single vehicle - indeed as I trust the fact I've built two [superficially similar] Jeeps now helps to illustrate?  Certainly as Ozzy's open-top YJ became more and more of a trail runner, I wanted to also experiment with some alternative details for this TJ variant - not just the coil sprung suspension and higher quality transmission components (which I have admit I'm very impressed with in this current TJ build), but also the truck-cab top, and also a more detailed dash/interior which is really coming together now - photos soon I promise!

As for rebuilds - yes, I often end my initial build threads with a phrase along the lines of: "So that's it for now, although I guess they're never really finished though are they?" - and almost inevitably at some point I like to revisit my previous builds and see if I can't update or revise them with something I may not have considered at the time... Sometimes it's something quite fundamental like the Portal axles I fitted to the Defender 90 recently, or indeed converting the Big BJ to leaf-springs and more scale appropriate wheels; other times it's just a cosmetic tweak or two - indeed while I've been working on the checker-plate trim for Sharon's Jeep, it turns out I had just enough left over to cover Ozzy's basic dashboard panel too!

It never ends!

Jenny x

 

ps. once this current rash of Crawlers is completed - it is my intention to re-focus on the Mega-bug/Sinclair project which [as my signature line refers to] has remained dormant for ages now... Hendy and Stokes will be so pleased ;o)

 

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1 hour ago, Oneball1971 said:

Excellent work. I love all the small details, the harness, the gas cylinders in the back

Yes, I've been amassing all manner of scale accessories over the the years - always with the intention of incorporating at least some of them in various builds (and have in a number - the HiLux and Defender 90 load beds, and on the roof of the STUMPkamper for example), but more often than not I tend to end up leave them out of my runners for fear of losing the parts (although some have been permanently glued in), so have ended up with quite the pile of junk in the 'garage' now!

I am currently debating whether or not to stuff the rear of this Jeep will these left-overs, or be slightly more sparing... The tool chest will certainly stay - it's contents already super-glued in to stop them falling out in the event of a roll over - and similarly the welder, propane and water jugs all work well there too, and can be easily fixed with glue or servo-tape to secure them... meanwhile, the nice thing about those milk-crates is they transfer so easily between different vehicles when they're being displayed of course!

Jx

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1 hour ago, JennyMo said:

Hee hee - unfortunately I spend way too much time (and money) on Ebay than is good for me... it is amazing the choice of custom parts there are out there these days - either fully formed or as a basic for further customisation and modification.

Jx

Those harnesses at $10 are a bargain :)

you have inspired me to take more care over my shells 

with a fine brush, it’s possible to do so much (see my Lambo build)

Q though - I’m gonna do a matte black shell soon (clod black) and was wondering what the best way of getting decals to stick to a matte surface 

JJ

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2 hours ago, Problemchild said:

Those harnesses at $10 are a bargain :)

you have inspired me to take more care over my shells 

with a fine brush, it’s possible to do so much (see my Lambo build)

Q though - I’m gonna do a matte black shell soon (clod black) and was wondering what the best way of getting decals to stick to a matte surface 

JJ

Yes - I was looking at your 1/24th Lambo thread  a while back - the interior is amazing, particularly for something so small!

Not sure about how well or not decals will stick to matt/flat paint - if they are good quality decals [glue] they ought to be fine, the only thing I'd do is cut them really close to the edge of the graphic so there is no clear surround to shine around the edges? Another thing I tend to do with my decals [sponsor stickers etc.] is sand them very lightly with a really fine 1500 grit paper, to take some of the shine of the graphic too.

Another option might be to just blow over the finished shell with a matt clear lacquer too?

Jx

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A quick update: Ha - following on from my rather longwinded reply to Tom above - it turns out I've started modifying the TJ even before it's finished!

i-7jNtwSR-XL.jpg

photo. the [stretched] stock 'factory' style fender extensions - even though I did my best to paint them to replicate faded black plastic, I really don't like them on the 1:1 Jeeps, and I don't really like them on the 1:10 either!

 

i-tsVGqNt-XL.jpg

photo. So Dr Dremel was carefully employed...

 

i-6mXSSGn-XL.jpg

photo. and some reconstructive surgery (similar to that which I performed on the BJ40 refresh recently) to create some rounded rear wheel arches in the flat fenders - much more betterer.

The replacement arches are fabricated from 1.5mm styrene, cut to fit the angled apertures left by carefully cutting the fender extensions off, and transferred to a cardboard template. I'm still waiting for my replacement stash of Araldite to arrive in the post from the UK (old habits die hard, but honestly, it is better the US JB Weld equivalent), then I'll be able to fill and finish the arch repairs... it's actually tempting to leave them half finished in primer grey as a work in progress perhaps, but most likely I'll blow over them with some more TS-2 top coat* to provide a more 'cared for' uniform finish to this particular build - as I don't really think Sharon would be so scrappy ;o)

*I'm also tempted to remove or paint the chequer-plate sill protection body-colour too, as I feel the silver stripe on this dark paintwork makes the proportions of the body look a little shallow overall, and also clashes with the gold wheels a bit.

 

The other thing I'm working on is a dash to cover the horizontal battery bulkhead... and rather than fabricate a simple panel as I did with Ozzy's YJ, I felt this truck deserved a slightly more detailed and 'luxury' interior in which for Sharon to reside.

A quick rummage through my spares/abandoned ideas box revealed I had an unused dash panel for a Trailfinder II (Hi Lux cab), which was just the right length to fit inside the Tamiya Wrangler shell - all it needed was the curved rear portion cut off so that it fitted square to the Jeep bulkhead, and then painted to colour match the seats, together with some details such as the radio and heater controls:

i-hWzw33q-XL.jpg

photo. I was amused to find that RC4WD have actually moulded the radio with one of the buttons missing (2nd from the left), in an effort to be truly authentic to an early 80's Toyota pick up!

 

I'm also experimenting with the centre console detailing - the gear lever is from a Vanquish VS4-10 Pro kit, which seems to fit particularly well:

i-6M7nCPw-XL.jpg

More soon!

Jenny x

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I apologise for the slight delay in updating this thread - I was so pleased with my rounded wheel-arch mods a few posts above, that I got distracted and ended up taking Ozzy's YJ Jeep apart and doing the same thing! (it's all sorted a repainted now - and will update that thread in due course); and this has been coupled with a general procrastination when it comes to detailing Sharon's TJ (waiting for various bits to arrive in the post) - still, I'm confident you'll think the wait has been worth it...

 

Inside Job

Following on from the photo of the modified Trailfinder dash on the previous page, I painted the column and centre of the steering wheel to match in the shade of baby-poo beige:

i-BsWJv9X-XL.jpg

...and mixed and matched some Vanquish and Tamiya (Wild Willy 2) interior parts for the transmission tunnel controls:

i-PCBj7z3-XL.jpg

Cut and fitted some 0.75mm lexan for side windows and windscreen:

i-vRjLF2m-XL.jpg

...and also modified and detailed a spare centre-console section from the RC4WD full depth interior set for the Trailfinder II (which I'd used in Hopper's HiLux) - this is basically what the interior looks like all together:

i-xdvbLXr-XL.jpg

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Note. that the battery mount/engine bulkhead is still unpainted in the photos above as I'm still waiting on my resupply of Araldite epoxy to arrive from the UK to beef all the super-glued joints up before I spray it... Unfortunately I fear it's probably got lost in the Christmas post now, and have managed to find a US seller on Ebay and bought some here at an extortionate price - needs must!

 

Gimme three steps... well, two actually.

The other thing I wanted to address was the rather large [visual] gap between the bottom of the body and the chassis rails in this build - while it's not as obvious with the leaf sprung YJ I built previously (which had the body as low as possible against the chassis rails), this coil-sprung version - which also retains the full front fenders - required the body to be mounted just a bit higher, which left a lot of chassis exposed when viewed from the side.

Not having the facilities nor experience to weld and solder here at home, I took a punt on a set of pre-made [metal] sliders for the Marlin Trailfinder, which were actually pretty close in length to the stretched sills on this TJ-L, and what do you know, they were the perfect fit!!! - even lining up with two of the [series of] holes on the chassis, so were directly bolt-on - result!

i-CtDHgR7-XL.jpg

It's worth pointing out that these double rail sliders are actually mounted upside down compared to the Trailfinder II application - the result being what would be the higher slider bar which wraps in front of the sill is now effectively a side-step, and helps to fill the space between the chassis and bottom of the bodyshell perfectly!

i-bhSSQ2X-XL.jpg

Quite honestly I was amazed how well these off-the-shelf parts suited this application - the body sits perfectly level just above the inner slider bar, and the outer bar is angled down as a combined nerf bar and side step - and once mounted using the existing holes on the chassis, all I ultimately needed to do was trim approximately 5mm off the rear of the inner rails in front of the rear wheelarch to line everything up perfectly.

i-gp358Vt-XL.jpg
photo. I'm currently toying with adding a couple of checker-plate tread panels on each side to complete the look!


I've also chosen to add a few decals and badges to the front fender panels, again as you might find on a 1:1 TJ Sahara that's being utilised as mild trail rig these days - although I realise that these 'Sahara' logos are actually for the later generation JKs of course.

i-5LDMrBr-XL.jpg
photo. I really like how this Modern Masters Rust effect paint treatment continues to grow - the result even more authentic as time goes on.

So I'm getting really close to having this finished now - all that remains is to wire up the lights, and get that engine bay painted - then it's time for Sharon-O to hit the trails!

Toot toot!

Jenny x

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37 minutes ago, Problemchild said:

Legend!! 

JJ

You're very kind... I'll pass your comment on to Sharon ;o)

Jx

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2 hours ago, JennyMo said:

Not having the facilities nor experience to weld and solder here at home, I took a punt on a set of pre-made [metal] sliders for the Marlin Trailfinder, which were actually pretty close in length to the stretched sills on this TJ-L, and what do you know, they were the perfect fit!!! - even lining up with two of the [series of] holes on the chassis, so were directly bolt-on - result!

i-CtDHgR7-XL.jpg

It's worth pointing out that these double rail sliders are actually mounted upside down compared to the Trailfinder II application - the result being what would be the higher slider bar which wraps in front of the sill is now effectively a side-step, and helps to fill the space between the chassis and bottom of the bodyshell perfectly!

i-bhSSQ2X-XL.jpg

Quite honestly I was amazed how well these off-the-shelf parts suited this application - the body sits perfectly level just above the inner slider bar, and the outer bar is angled down as a combined nerf bar and side step - and once mounted using the existing holes on the chassis, all I ultimately needed to do was trim approximately 5mm off the rear of the inner rails in front of the rear wheelarch to line everything up perfectly.

i-gp358Vt-XL.jpg
 

 

On 1/3/2021 at 1:50 PM, JennyMo said:

A quick rummage through my spares/abandoned ideas box revealed I had an unused dash panel for a Trailfinder II (Hi Lux cab),

i-hWzw33q-XL.jpg

Geez Jenny exactly how jammy can you be with the Dash & Side steps!!

Excellent stuff 👍🏻

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6 hours ago, Re-Bugged said:

 

Geez Jenny exactly how jammy can you be with the Dash & Side steps!!

Excellent stuff 👍🏻

I know right?! - certainly with the Trailfinder dash parts, I've been wanting to try and use up my ever increasing stash of spares (and am slowly getting there, although equally I seem to be amassing an increasing number of shocks of the 'wrong' length these days, typically electing to replace the original cheapies with the better quality Gmade RSD versions on four of my builds now - including this one and most recently the Defender 90 updates too now), and this was just the ticket for the Tamiya Wrangler interior... although technically it's not the correct layout with a 1:1 TJ of that era, it's close enough - and ultimately of course as Patsy says:

i-HQN4pzh-M.jpg

Jenny x

ps. those Trailfinder side bars fitting so perfectly upside down was certainly a gift though! (or rather a $35 purchase to be accurate).

 

  • Haha 2

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9 hours ago, JennyMo said:

i-bhSSQ2X-XL.jpg

i-5LDMrBr-XL.jpg
photo. I really like how this Modern Masters Rust effect paint treatment continues to grow - the result even more authentic as time goes on.

 

The rusting and chipping on this shell looks so good.

And I can't get over how clean your modifications are - the door catches, the rear arches... 

Sharon certainly has one sweet ride.

Have you got one for each of the family now?

Sharon  - TJ Hooker

Ozzy - Daydream B'leafer 

Kelly - SRB Cage Racer

Jack - OK TC D90

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On 1/13/2021 at 12:37 AM, Badcrumble said:

 

The rusting and chipping on this shell looks so good.

And I can't get over how clean your modifications are - the door catches, the rear arches... 

Sharon certainly has one sweet ride.

Have you got one for each of the family now?

Sharon  - TJ Hooker

Ozzy - Daydream B'leafer 

Kelly - SRB Cage Racer

Jack - OK TC D90

Thanks you for your kind words 'Crumble!

Yes, the whole family have got something to drive now - as per your list - and I felt it most appropriate to do a his n' hers with the two Jeeps as they represent a series of different approaches to the whole 'Jeep Thang' which I think ultimately complement one another overall, and ought to look good parked side by side.

I'm glad you appreciate the effort that went into modifying the original Tamiya shell - I too was particularly pleased with how the door handles came out... they weren't strictly necessary of course, but I think helps retain the factory look - even if the handles are a slightly different shape [more narrow] on the real Wrangler half-doors.

As for the rear arch mods - stretching the rear box/bed is easy enough on a build like this,  but I'm also really pleased with having gone one step further and the overall look of having radius'd rear arches rather than retain the traditional angled style.

As I mentioned above, I also ended up doing the same thing to Ozzy's YJ - cutting a template initially to follow the original arch, then using a compass (yes, old school - in fact probably the one I actually had at school!) to scribe the curve, slightly larger than the tyre diameter (so around 120mm in this instance, as both Jeeps run 115mm diameter tyres):

i-SQ2qfPW-XL.jpg

I then put a thin layer of Isopon P38 over the joint sections, and sanded it back with increasingly find grit paper. With Ozzy's Jeep I wasn't too precious about smoothing off the body completely, since it's more of a rough and ready trail-beater (whereas I paid a little more attention to hiding the joins with Sharon's TJ) - and in both instances I used this opportunity to remove the checker-plate side panels and redo the rust patches too, considering where the most likely damage would have occurred in real use over the years...

Indeed, I think that is the trick to making the weathering look authentic - consider where and what damage might actually occur - such as the paint chips on the panel behind the front wheel (in the photo above) as if sand and stones had been flung up, and concentrate on those area's particularly. The other option of course is to actually run the vehicle a few times and see where any actual damage/scrapes occur, then exaggerate those with weathering and additional paint and a heat gun etc. which is kind of what has happened over the past couple of years with Ozzy's YJ too.

Of course there are also some wonderful examples of really extensive scale weathering that make it look like the vehicle has been left to rot in the desert (and then the rain) for dozens of years, with almost every panel riddled with holes and covered in rust, but personally I feel it is more authentic if it is slightly more localised - especially if the model is meant to represent a vehicle which is actually driven regularly... Certainly with this TJ build, I wanted it to look like it was in reasonable condition still, with just rust starting to appear around the wheel arches, door sills and hinges, and base of the windscreen - which are all common places on a real vehicle of this age of course.

Glad you like it!

Jenny x

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