Converting to a Micro-Desert

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:51 pm

I had intended to get one of these for myself for xmas, since I had first seen them, but then I got to thinking, I'm gonna want a clear body to paint, and hey look they have chrome rims, I'm gonna want those, wth, might as well just pick up a front shock tower/front bumper set, and convert one of my existing Micro-Ts. Of coarse now that I have the parts, I realize, one my recently made over cars is going to get made over again.

I had to show you guys the chassis, because I expected them to leave the battery compartment the same, but they opened up, and included a foam, so you can use battery position as a tuning option. Cool.

And I thought the stock black chrome wheels looked pretty good, but these chrome ones look a whole lot better to me.

Since the Micro-D is really closer to 1/32 than the advertised 1/36th, I think one of these Tamiya bodies would look hot with those wheels. (These are all ebay auctios)
Toyota Hi-Lux Desert Racer

Actually I might just borrow the paint scheme from that one, but this Land Cruiser, or Nissan Terrano (Pathfinder) would be really cool.

Land Cruiser
Terrano '93 Paris-Dakar edition

Oh yeah, in case you were curious, the parts needed to make the conversion.

LOSB1508 front shock tower/skid plate $4
LOSB1501 Chassis set, long $6.99
LOSB1572 Desert tire set, mounted, black $7.99
or
LOSB1573 Desert tire set, mounted, chrome $7.99
LOSB1551 Clear body set w/ stickers $8.99
or
LOSB1548, LOSV1549, LOSB1550 painted bodies, black blue, red $13.99

Basically $27 if you go with a clear body.

ibjamn · Post by **ibjamn** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 6:23 pm

Those chrome rims are killer. I just got 2 sets of them in. They are super soft and the pefect size for 1/32 scale cars and even Xmod Evo-ts. Not sure how to attach them though.

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 6:54 pm

ibjamn wrote:Not sure how to attach them though.

I was thinking about it, and you could drill out the front wheels, and cuts out the ceneter of an xmod wheel to glue in the center. The back wheels the best idea I came up with is to find the right size bearings to allow you to adapt the Micro-T stub axles.

Finally got my body painted. I was going to do a simple classic theme to hurry up and get running, then I got sidetracked trying to do a Red Bull theme. Spent half the day cutting bull paint mask, but it was going to be too tricky to get the white outline around it, so I gave up and reverted back to plan A. Glad I did, because this is pretty much how I pictured it all along.

I shot the bumpers with some silver lacquer to brighten them up, and painted on some KC covers.

Bird · Post by **Bird** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 8:11 pm

SWEET.

LOVE the old school 'yota theme.

ibjamn · Post by **ibjamn** » Tue Dec 25, 2007 10:44 pm

Looks much better than the stock paint scheme.

sg219 · Post by **sg219** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 12:21 am

That looks damn good!

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 8:23 am

Thanks guys. I tried to go modern, but it was back in the day when I followed off road racing. It had to be Ivan "Ironman" Stewart, or Walker Evens. I went with this one, because it looks like a mini, rather than a fullsize. I just went from memory, and that glimpse I caught of Tamiya one. I should have done my research, because I see now I should have made the yellow stripe more narrow than the orange one, and it would have been cool if I found some Coors decals. Oh well, we'll call this one a "tribute", ""Inspired by.."

http://www.protruck.com/ivan.html

steelwoolghandi · Post by **steelwoolghandi** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 9:45 am

Wow missed this thread man glad I looked. I like that paint job knowing what I know about painting smaller Lexan thats a heck of a job! I like the KC headlights nice touch and the colors really stand out. Nice all around presentation. Looks like I am going to have to get me some of them there wheels from my mini "T".

Keep it up DT never get tired of seeing your work. We would like to see some more chicks with big cleavage though....

ibjamn · Post by **ibjamn** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 8:28 pm

[quote="steelwoolghandi"]. Looks like I am going to have to get me some of them there wheels from my mini "T".[/quote]

Uh, they won't fit.....?

Murdoch · Post by **Murdoch** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 12:09 am

now if they would only make shorter arms, it would take it to the next level.

oldtamiyaphile · Post by **oldtamiyaphile** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 6:28 am

Murdoch wrote:now if they would only make shorter arms, it would take it to the next level.

It's easy to shorten the arms yourself, but you loose suspension travel, which really isn't that generous to begin with.

Murdoch · Post by **Murdoch** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 3:15 pm

yea that's the sucky part. they should try and make the bodies wider and give some more suspension travel, so it would be more scale looking and perform well.

but it looks pretty cool nonetheless.

blindrider3 · Post by **blindrider3** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:10 am

With all that room in the battery tray, I think a six cell pack is in order

Truck looks great, I'm running the tires on my micro t.

SHAUN · Post by **SHAUN** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:22 am

Why wouldn't you just go lipo?

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:00 pm

blindrider3 wrote:With all that room in the battery tray, I think a six cell pack is in order

Truck looks great, I'm running the tires on my micro t.

I killed my 6-cell pack, overcharged it.

I need to order some cells so I can build more.

Shaun wrote:Why wouldn't you just go lipo?

I have the lipo, it sucks ass in the Micro-Desert. Its like the extra weight is making that poor little motor draw too much current, and it causes the voltage protector to shut it down early. That's my theory anyways, I should try the smaller pinion and see if that helps.

I personally happen to prefer a 6-cell pack. I get longer run times, and usually you want to avoid extra weight, but in the case of the Micro-T, I think the extra weight, sitting low in the chassis, helps keep it planted and feel more controllable. And I can make one for about $7