It's not Mastodon any more, it's Harry Plopper

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 3:41 pm

Wasn't that Simpson's movie horrid? I'm sorry I shouldn't have quoted from it.

Anyways, I'm giving a my Wheely King a make over so extensive, it needs a new name. I might go with "Stumbo", but I haven't decided.

Here's what I got.

I picked up a set Moab M3s, because I wanted a stickier compound than what I have. I would have liked Losi's Rock Claws, but they're really popular, and I didn't feel like hunting them down. I mounted them up on a set of Proline's new Eight Shooter beadlocks.

They're really nice. The rings are cast metal, and add at least an ounce of weight. I like that they protect the screws. The wheels are only 1.2" wide, so there no need to have to narrow them. The inside diameter is only 1.8", so the weights stay out of the way of the foams. Proline advertises that this helps with the rotational mass as well.

Last time I has issues with star-cutting the foams, and gave up, this time I figured out that an Exacto blade works best for me. I narrowed them by a little over a 1/4". I cut the corners, and cut the a star pattern. I think these are going to work pretty good.

The centerpiece of the new truck will be a Ripper7 Hellcat chassis, that I just picked up from him.

I got some work to do on that. I figure I should start by painting the Lexan pieces, but then I figure I should drill them for the shock towers first, so we'll see what happens. I still a got a few more things to pick up before I really get my head into this, and I'm also trying to decide if I want to use Ultra Flat Black, or Candy Blue.

Then there's the new body. This was a mistake, I had every intention to get the '80 Chevy K10, because it reminded me of my first Stomper I had when I was a kid, and I loved my Stomper, but I somehow managed to order a '72 Chevy C10. Which is alright, I am a bow tie guy born and raised, but I don't know, I just prefer this model for a street truck. So I'm using it for now, but it may be temporary

That's it for now, I'll keep you guy's updated on my progress.

sidewinder · Post by **sidewinder** » Wed Feb 27, 2008 7:51 pm

Spiderpig, Spiderpig...does whatever a Spiderpig does...can he swing....

Opps, got that stupid song stuck in my head for a minute... Now you said something about a truck? Oh yeah, looks like it should be cool.

redrustbucket · Post by **redrustbucket** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 11:55 am

Can't wait to see the paint.

steelwoolghandi · Post by **steelwoolghandi** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:01 pm

Hummm I feel like I have seen this before but just can't place it?

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 4:23 pm

steelwoolghandi wrote:Hummm I feel like I have seen this before but just can't place it?

Yeah, I'm cross posting this at Ripper's. Its a Ripper chassis, so what the heck. I'll probably post it at RCCrawler when it gets near done. What can I say, I'm an attention whore.

Alright then, here's an update of what I got done over the weekend.

Gave it good sanding. I decided to round the edges, which seemed like a good idea at first, but that Lexan is tough, ended up taking a while in the end, and became tedious. I painted the chassis pieces, I wanted to blend in, with Krylon Flat Black, and the suspension pieces with Metal Flake Blue lacquer. I also polished the frame rails to a mirror shine. I made the shock mounts from 4-40 rod, and a piece of 5/32nd aluminum rod to go beteween the shock towers and brace them..

I went to Lowes and picked up some 6-32 threaded rod, so I could make beefier links than the 4-40 ones I used before. I also picked up a strip of aluminum trim stock to make these brackets out of. I polished them up too.

I ran a little late getting to bed last night so I give you guys the stereo typical mock up shot.

Now if you guys will excuse me, I've got some linkages to go cut...

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 6:12 pm

Alright, now that it's together, I've decided I'm going to just dub this one "Mastodon II"

I decided I didn't like how the Metal Flake Blue was semi-transparent on the Lexan, so I sanded it off, and primed it with white before laying it again. Looks much better, it was worth the effort. I gues every time you try something new you learn something new. I learned that 6-32 threaded rod doesn't fit through 3/36th brake line, but it does fit through 3/16th aluminum tubing, which I polished up all nice and shiny. My wires weren't long enough to reach the rear deck, so I mounted the electronics to the frame, behind the rear shock towers, which I like because it keeps them somewhat out of sight. So here's the chassis altogether.

I was going to relic the body, but ran short on funds, and everything is all shiny underneath, I'll leave it shiny for now. I can always relic it later.

It's at a stopping point, but not really done yet. I want to try to make it look more scale... bumpers, roll bar, maybe an interior. I'm also going to try to play with the motor mount.

Murdoch · Post by **Murdoch** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:25 pm

that's a nice paintjob man. very clean and very truck-like.

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 1:13 am

Murdoch wrote:that's a nice paintjob man. very clean and very truck-like.

Thanks man. Everything about the paint job was a last minute decision. I wanted to do some kind of graphic, but make it tough looking. I'm very happy with the results.

sidewinder · Post by **sidewinder** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 1:54 am

Man, throw a confederate battle flag in the back window and slap a J.C. Whitney sticker on the window, add a little rust and I swear it was a guy at my high schools truck. Ned something or other...crap, now I have to see if I can find a yearbook. Nice work CD.

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 1:00 pm

sidewinder wrote:Man, throw a confederate battle flag in the back window and slap a J.C. Whitney sticker on the window, add a little rust and I swear it was a guy at my high schools truck. Ned something or other...crap, now I have to see if I can find a yearbook. Nice work CD.

I am gonna rust it out and primer spots later.

Thanks man. I like that you compared it to a high school friend's truck. That's exactly the kind of truck I want people to think of.

steelwoolghandi · Post by **steelwoolghandi** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 11:56 pm

Well like I said over at Rippers that is one fine piece of Trail Rig/Crawler! I can't get over how well that paint job turned out and the stripe on the side I remember putting one just like it on a 1980s Chevy truck when I was in High School!

I am so jonesing to get my Wheely King and start working on it. The only thing I have going for me is I am real close to Ripper so I can bring my truck over and have him help me!

You do not need the help you got it going on all by yourself! Maybe I can come up and bring my Truck when I am done and we can do an all day RC thing!!

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 9:44 am

steelwoolghandi wrote:I am so jonesing to get my Wheely King and start working on it. The only thing I have going for me is I am real close to Ripper so I can bring my truck over and have him help me!

You do not need the help you got it going on all by yourself! Maybe I can come up and bring my Truck when I am done and we can do an all day RC thing!!

Thanks again SWG. I do appreciate that you are so impressed with it. I'm pretty enamored with it myself.

I'll tell you, while I like to think I bring some of my own experience to each project I do, I did bombard SG and Bird with questions before I bought my Wheely King, and even with all the question asking, I still missed a few things. So with my first try I may have made some bad decisions, and cut some corners due to budget, but I think by modifying it in steps I was able to see what each mod did for me, and take that experience to build the truck I really wanted.

You should definitely hook up with Ripper and take advantage of his experience first hand. I can't emphasize enough how beneficial that would have been to me starting out.

redrustbucket · Post by **redrustbucket** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:36 pm

crazydave wrote: I learned that 6-32 threaded rod doesn't fit through 3/36th brake line

I'm guessing you meant 3/16" brake line. It will fit if you put the tubing in a vise and the all thread in the end of a drill and kind of thread it in but it's a pain in the ass.

Paint is dope as always.

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:03 pm

redrustbucket wrote:
crazydave wrote: I learned that 6-32 threaded rod doesn't fit through 3/36th brake line
I'm guessing you meant 3/16" brake line. It will fit if you put the tubing in a vise and the all thread in the end of a drill and kind of thread it in but it's a pain in the ass.

Paint is dope as always.

Yeah, typo.

I'll have to try that. Does sound like a PITA, but I already have the brake line and more 6-32 rod, might well have a backup plan in case this aluminum tubing doesn't hold up, but I think it should pretty well, the 6-32 rod alone isso much better than the 4-40.

I gave it a test run yesterday. Everything worked great. It's definitely an improvement over the stock chassis. It did tip to the side more than I would have liked, but I think a little more weight in the wheels will have it right up to expectations.

It's a really great feeling when you get a project like this together and everything is setup perfect, I didn't even have to adjust my steering trim. I did forget that the motor was backwards in the chassis before, and had preloaded the left rear, as I did before, and at first I was really confused when I hit the throttle, and the right side dived down.

ibjamn · Post by **ibjamn** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:04 am

You know, if you keep coming out with killer paint jobs..... I may just have to send some bodies your way, and let you "Do yor Thang".