Building a small scale crawler hauler

[Haastnooit]

Just chiming in that this is a very cool build. I'm amazed at the quality of the 3d printer. Can't wait to see the next update.

Kind words ... much apreciated Next update will probably be tomorrow.

 

[Haastnooit]

Warning Pic heavy !!! Some nice shots of the Patriot towing the trailer as it sits right now. I planned on taking some pics outside but it is raining continuously when I have time for taking the pics … no luck.

 

[Doom!]

Looks great all hooked up.

 

[Haastnooit]

When posting last Monday, “adding wheel blocks to the trailer” popped in my head. I went ahead and drew up some wheel blocks to fit the FCX24 wheel diameter perfectly on tuesday. Printed them and spend the rest of the week figuring out where to put them on the trailer. I looked at several positions like the sides of the trailer (between the triangle and fender), the outside and inside of the triangle itself … but was not convinced about placement. The rear part of the trailer was quickly excluded as a option because I wanted detail added at the front of the trailer. I am letting the door open to possibly add fake rear lights and a numberplate to the back end of the trailer.

As said none of the positions was “it” for me … BUT … Tonight I came up with the final position, designed and printed a holder for 2 wheel blocks to fit this position. The wheel blocks are nicely visible on the front part of the trailer and also hide the last 2 visible non-scale buttonhead screws. Like it, check it out …

Due to the complexity of the holder I had to use a lot of supports. Downside of the supprts is the rougher surface of the parts where theys are attached to the surface of the model. On the pictures above it looks worse then in reality due to the zoom level (about 4x). The wheel blocks are tiny, only 7 mm wide each, the holder has a width of only 18 mm.

“Fixed” another minor detail. I found the bottom side of the hitch a bit bulky, so I replaced the cap-head screw for a buttonhead. Better !

Next update will be about scale parts for filling up the roofrack on the Patriot ... See ya !

 

[Haastnooit]

Past few days I have spent some time searching Printables for scale accessories to fill up the roofrack of the Patriot. Lots of stuff to be found, mostly 1/10 scale that I sized down to fit 1/18 scale. Below all parts I printed and a link to the file locations.

Toolbox
File location: 1/10 Scale Large Toolbox by Accessible RC | Download free STL model | Printables.com

Watercooler
File location: 1:10 - Scale Coleman Cooler by GenCab | Download free STL model | Printables.com

Jerrycan
File location: Gasoline canister can 1/10 scale by Kedusme Design | Download free STL model | Printables.com

Storagebox large
File location: RC-Scale Werkzeugbox by Beek | Download free STL model | Printables.com

Beer keg
File location: 1/10 Scale KEG barrels by PetrPatocka | Download free STL model | Printables.com

Rugged case small
File location: 1/10 Scale Rugged Case by Leif | Download free STL model | Printables.com

I will also add a tarp to the roofrack, it is made of an old raincoat.

I have looked at some luggage nets (Injora) but the look of those is not very scale with the big hooks and o-rings on the knots. So I decided to try another way with some rubber strips. The tarp works together with the rubber strips, to squeeze all scale parts close together and tight against the sides of the roofrack. Everything is secure and stayed in the roofrack while testdriving. Time will tell of this method is practical enough.

Next I will look in to adding some detail to the inside of the car by adding some scale stuff to the cargo bay in the back of the car. Found a driver, he is on route ...

 

[Haastnooit]

Past few days I have been working on the Patriot. By adding all kind of scale stuff to the roofrack the weight of the truck increased quite a bit at the rear. This together with the pressure from the trailer on the hitch cause the rear friction shocks to sag a bit to much. I did not like the squatted look of the truck and wanted to address this so I searched Ali-express and ordered some 42mm oil shocks.

I disassembled the body and chassis for installation of the shocks. There is a odd mix of hex and Philips hardware used on the truck. All hex hardware is used on the frame rails and axles, Philips hardware is used for mounting bumpers, body and transmission.

The shocks were delivered with a empty bottle and no oil in the shocks. I filled them with some Axial 30wt oil I always use for the small scale stuff. Real nice quality, no leakage what so ever and they come with all hardware needed to mount them on FMS, EazyRC and ROChobby cars.

Next I worked on the interior of the Patriot, I took a lot of pictures during disassembly of the body, I will use them for reference when re-wiring the ESC and lights. The most easy way to make sure I know how to put everything back together. The interior is connected to the body with 6 screws, 2 at the front and 4 in he rear.

At first I fitted the driver, he is a famous guy. I watched his films when I was young …

Indy measures 3.75” and has fully articulating joints everywhere. A whip, a pistol, a hat that can be removed, a separate gun holster, a separate bag … and that for only € 4,80 including shipping. How is that even possible ?

I shaved some material around the hips and knees to get him to sit correctly, eventually I had to cut of his feet to keep him seated without being under tension.

I also got the interior upgraded, but I will exceed the maximum pics per post if I include the write up in this post. So I will update about the interior tomorrow …

Catch you later !

 

[Doom!]

The stock shocks were a little bouncy, good call.

 

[Sandracer_NL]

Impressive (3d) build.

 

[Haastnooit]

I spend a whole day printing all kind of scale accessories to fill up the rear end of the car. I used my daughters Posca markers to add some details and contrasting colors.

All items in the crates are glued in place, and all crates and other loose items I glued in to the back of the interior. I also added some filler blocks to mount the crates on.

As the truck is going to be “weathered” on the outside to look old, dirty and used I had to do something to the shiny interior. I gave the interior a simple wash with thinned black paint, pics are taken before wiping off with a dry cloth.

After whiping down the seats with a dry cloth, Indy got his ass permanently hot-glued to the seat.

I put the body and interior back together and installed it on the chassis to check out the new look and stance.

 

[Tex Koder]

I spend a whole day printing all kind of scale accessories to fill up the rear end of the car. I used my daughters Posca markers to add some details and contrasting colors.

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All items in the crates are glued in place, and all crates and other loose items I glued in to the back of the interior. I also added some filler blocks to mount the crates on.

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As the truck is going to be “weathered” on the outside to look old, dirty and used I had to do something to the shiny interior. I gave the interior a simple wash with thinned black paint, pics are taken before wiping off with a dry cloth.

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After whiping down the seats with a dry cloth, Indy got his ass permanently hot-glued to the seat.

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I put the body and interior back together and installed it on the chassis to check out the new look and stance.

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Your rig looks Ready to go cross country for a month or two..

Awesome work there ,sir!

 

[Doom!]

I'm impressed you got all of that in there. Love the accessories.

 

[Ron Burgandy]

That looks awsome!!!!

 

[Haastnooit]

Thanks for the compliments, much apreciated

After deciding on colors and ordering all stuff needed for painting I started painting the body. It is my first hard-body so everything is new to me. Progress will probably be a bit slow as I tend to take my time and think things through before taking the next step when doing new stuff.

As parts for the Patriot are cheap I decided to get myself a spare body and hood in case I would f..k up the paintjob. Unfortunately the spare body arrived damaged, luckily it was a easy repair and the seller refunded me some money for my time and the materials used for the repair.

First I scrubbed the entire body with an abrasive sponge inside and outside to clean the surface and remove the mould release that was left on the body. I filled all screw holes with a piece of wooden toothpick to prevent issues when reassembling the body, then I applied a single coat of Vallejo grey primer.

Of course I dropped the body when still a bit tacky, so the passenger front door already has some scuffs on it. I touched up the hood after I did the same to that. Handling these small body’s and painting them on both sides is a different game then painting a lexan body on the inside only. I felt real clumsy during the process, I guess experience will take that feeling away in the future.

I let the body dry for a couple of days and the sprayed the final color, I chose to use Tamiya TS68 “wooden deck tan”. Before painting I have contemplated to leave the body white and just weather it because I like the color combination of the white Patriot and the blue FCX24 when it is loaded on the trailer. But decided to stick to the plan and do full paintjob.

This is where I am at right now, next task will be adding detail to the body … catch you later.

 

[Doom!]

Off to a good start on the body.

 

[Haastnooit]

Today I have taken my first steps on detailing a hard-body, and as expected up front I have to conclude that it is quite difficult to get a nice result. I hand painted the window trims, doorhandles and side-guards on the doors. I used masking tape where I could, but eventually there were lots of curves that needed touching up after removing the masking tape.

On future projects I will have to give more attention to masking I learned. The side of the body I masked as second has nicer lines, I took masking a bit too lightly the first go. On the second side I was more critical to the accuracy and it definitely paid off. Learning point for future jobs.

Also I quickly learned the value of a good paint brush. As it is my first job I ordered a cheap package of 6 brushes by Revell. I think this added to the difficulty to paint “within the lines” due to splitting of the hairs. I think I will need to get some better brushes.

Anyway below some pictures of the results. I will try to hide imperfections on the edges of the black painted parts by adding rust or dirt … a nice escape ! As the pics are zoomed they make the result look worse than reality.

The body panel lines I colored using a Parma “Dual tip detail pen” which is over 15 years old. Still works … amazing. Next up step is adding rust and dirt. The Vallejo “Rust, Stain & Streaking” kit I got for my birthday has a nice written how-to included, so I will be reading that tonight.

Hopefully I will get it started tomorrow …

 

[Haastnooit]

Well the rust kit suggested to apply washes before rusting, so I did. I purchased several Vallejo washes for making the truck look dirty. As it is my first time using these, I guess I overdid it a bit. First I used the “dark khaki green” wash and followed up with “European dust” wash.

I kept fiddling with the body and applying more wash or removing it if I was not happy with the look. I learned to better set it down and walk away because the appearance changes a lot when drying. All in all it did not really came out as a subtle wash as planned. Especially the hood was difficult as it has is sloped when laid down. Lots of room for future improvement I guess …

These are the results, the truck looks pretty dirty, what do you all think?

Next step will be rusting …

 

[Tex Koder]

Well the rust kit suggested to apply washes before rusting, so I did. I purchased several Vallejo washes for making the truck look dirty. As it is my first time using these, I guess I overdid it a bit. First I used the “dark khaki green” wash and followed up with “European dust” wash.

I kept fiddling with the body and applying more wash or removing it if I was not happy with the look. I learned to better set it down and walk away because the appearance changes a lot when drying. All in all it did not really came out as a subtle wash as planned. Especially the hood was difficult as it has is sloped when laid down. Lots of room for future improvement I guess …

These are the results, the truck looks pretty dirty, what do you all think?

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Next step will be rusting …

Nice work!
Especially as your first attempt.


Check out some junkyard/salvage yard pics of old vehicles..
That will give you plenty of great images of actual worn vehicle panels to use as reference.

 

[Haastnooit]

Thanks Tex ... good tip

I feel like Bob Ross … “just a happy little rust stain … all by it self … but wait a happy accident, and now the little rust stain has a happy rusty friend”.

I had fun doing this rust staining, I had to find my way in how to go about it. The included how-to in the Vallejo rust-kit is a nice guideline, but my results diver quite a bit from the pictures shown in the how-to. So I basically only followed the color sequence used and experimented with the way to apply.

I think the results are pretty acceptable for a first time, I am happy with the outcome. I tried some streaking as well but that influenced the wash I did before quite a bit. The wash is water based and became fluid again when streaking with a wet/damp brush. I guess I will have to practice the streaking technique on a piece of styrene before I can use it on a real model. Perhaps I need more drying time of the wash, or was my streaking brush to damp … don’t know? Also I will look on the interweb for information about sealing a wash with a flat clear spray paint before applying more paint?

Below some pics of the results, again pictures are zoomed in and do not do it justice in regards to reality. I think the driver side is the best side …

I had to touch up the part of the front of the body that runs below the grill. I think I forgot to wash that piece, only noticed after taking pictures.

Now the body shell is done it is time to disassemble the original body and convert parts over to the painted body. In the process I will age the bumpers, rock-sliders, ladder and wheels. Looking forward to that.



See ya …

 

[Haastnooit]

So I have been working on the final choirs for the Patriot body. Last night I disassembled the original body and rusted the bumpers, roofrack, ladder and all five wheels.

I used four colors to achieve the old, rusted look. I applied all layers with a brush, first a basecoat of silver automotive paint, second layer is Vallejo German black brown (old rust), third layer is Vallejo Panzer Aces light rust (new rust), and covered it all up with black paint. Between layers I stumped the surface with a dry brush, blending in all colors.

After painting the basecolors I highlighted the edges/corners with some additional light rust and silver where I wanted some more detail. Off course I stumped the surface again to blend all layers.

After working on the bumpers I turned to the roofrack and ladder.

All parts together.

This morning I got up early and attacked the wheels and sliders with the same procedure before work. It was a bit of a rush job, but it does not really show in the results.

I glued Indy’s bag and hat to the passenger seat, tiny bit more detail for when you look inside. I heated the shoulder strap so I could form it to the seat. Simple thing, but makes me happy …

I also added the wash to the whipers, grille, snorkel and lenses of all lights. No pictures of those parts. I am currently in the process of reassembling the body, so next update will show a fully assembled and wheatered truck.

Cheers ...

 

[Haastnooit]

Well got the Patriot back together and all work on it is done as far as I am concerned. Now I will focus back on the trailer with the FCX24, I think I will apply a light dirt/rust wash to the blue FCX24. I think the contrast between both rigs is too big and making the crawler dirty will make them both look better together.

Below some pics of the finished truck. Because of rain unfortunately only indoor pics, would have love to get some pics in the dirt.