RC Bashers

This model kit was originally going to be the donor body for this truck, but the scale was too small at 1/35. However, I managed to salvage the tires to be used in the back as spares. The look of this truck is going to be a Dakar support truck, so I reckon the tires look kinda like rally car or motorbike spares.





So now its had some paint and I have all the axles on. There's still a fair way to go to get it running. The two rear axles still need some tweaking as the connecting driveshaft comes apart when it flexes a certain way, yet it's a tad too long when it flexes another way! Headache!!! More adjustment of individual link lengths is needed. Starting to look the part though. Those tires are RC4WD Rock Crusshers. There's also going to be a lot more detail added to the box: roller doors, trims, decals etc.

looks awesome man.

can you show how the links are setup? i might be able to help you so the shaft doesnt extend that much just by moving links around

Yeah here you go mj. Any suggestions would be great. I have thought of maybe moving the axles a little further apart from each other so that I can extend the female side of the shaft a bit to stop it separating, but still not so long that it binds when fully compressed.

It only really separates when the centre axle drops down fully and the rear axle stays with the shocks fully compressed. So I guess if i limit that, it should stay together.

well one thing to do to keep your pinion angle from changing during compression is having the chassis mounts at the same spot. the more vertically separate they are the more you pinion angle will be altered during compression.

other than that i think you might have it figure out. limit the movement some, when looking at your setup it looks like there would be a ton of movement when compared to the 1:1

Thanks very much for that MJ. It's amazing, with all the models I've built, my head still hurts when I try to figure out suspension and link geometry!!! It's not such as simple as just throwing on some links and shocks, especially if you're making your own chassis! I never thought of the chassis mounts and can now see how that would affect the pinion angle. I've had a bit of a play around with it and have rolled the axles slightly to help keep the pinion angle a bit more in the middle ground and this seems to help a bit. I'll see how it goes, but yes, I do have room on the shark fins to move the link mounts closer together so that may happen once I run it and see what happens. The thing that would definitely stop the problem is limiting the droop of the centre axle. Due to the shocks being so teeny tiny at this scale, I can't put a spacer inside them as you would on a 1/10 rig. I've seen people use rubber bands to limit the droop, but they look kinda awkward and not really scale. So hmmm...I don't know yet! But yes I agree, it does have too much flex compared to a 1:1.


So I got the centre long driveshaft made and installed. Pretty simple really.....just some brass tube (7mm from memory) fitted over the female end of the shaft with another female section cut off and slotted in the other end and CA'd tight. Works great.

So I've got the base of the bed glued on....the old workshop trick here of finding whatever you can to act as a weight until the glue dries!!



And got the underside painted too. It had its first test run which prompted me to play around with the centre axle a bit more. I moved the upper links closer together on the axle by drilling new holes in the servo plate and tapping the ball connectors into them. This axle had a bit too much side to side sway for my liking and it was affecting cornering. The sway was allowing the axle to want to continue to run straight during turning, so if it was turning one way, the opposite wheel would come off the ground. Moving the links seems to have it fixed. Ah the joys of building a multi axle rig!!



AND LET THERE BE LIGHT!!!! Courtesy of "you know who"....thanks Bill!

that looks pretty cool now that youve got all together like that. nice work on it!
an not a problem on the lighting, i was glad i was able to set you up.

man. Your builds never cease to amaze me. Very good work as always sir

looking really good man. i use that same trick to glue tings down!

So getting a lot of the smaller details done now. Roll cage now attached, bash plate on the front, fuel tanks, door handles, turn indicators, rear bumper, detail on the sides and top of the box.

I reworked the roll cage a little so I could add some detail to the roof of the cab that should be there....the engine access hatch and cab hatch.























Oh and my new work bench. Take a good look, 'cause you'll probably never see it this tidy again!

More to come...

Exhaust pipes.....

...And with some paint....




And the rollcage is glued back on (in case you noticed it disappeared in the last pics!) after a workbench mishap!


Also started some wipers to go on later....




And just a reminder of how small these things are......here it is next to a 2.2 Rover!

oh man. its a baby!

So some sponsors have come on board.....













Almost there.

WOW, that thing is turning out awesome. I think I missed the last couple updates on it cause it seems like it just magically got build all of a sudden.

Thanks for your comments everyone.

Here's a short vid of its first run....YAY!!



I don't know why the sound is out of sync. I'm no expert at editing and producing!!!

Still more work to do.

aweome man. looks great. nice to see it running!

that lil thing turned out pretty awesome! nice job once again.

Thanks guys.......not done yet though!

Look this see enjoy.

http://youtu.be/gkH4z-PW-J8

awesome work bub. Looks great!

A few quick pics. I will add more once I repair the damage suffered in making the vid!

You should enter this in the September pic contest. Awesome micro.

thanks mate.

So i did some minor repairs and took it out for another run.
























It performs better than I thought it would. On the right terrain to suit its scale, it is pretty unstoppable (thanks for the right word Generis!) I guess those extra two wheels have something to do with it! I'm still running it with the stock motor and steering servo, but with a 2s 800mah lipo, much more power than the stock battery.