Sevin's Outcast Jeep + Indestructible Body Tutorial

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sevin7

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Location
Marietta, GA
Arrma RC's
I bought a new Notorious and right away decided I couldn't handle my dislike for the appearance of the stock body (the functionality was fine, or might be fine if I reinforced the body). I decided to go for a Jeep body. I care about durability just as much as looks so I did my typical indestructible body routine (this is my 3rd time doing it, other bodies are for Slash and Stampede and they have held up exceptionally well). I've never really documented how I do this process until now and I feel like its worth sharing. It takes a lot of time to do it right but once done you should never need another body. Below is information on my outcast Jeep build along with a generic tutorial (with some specifics for the Outcast or most 8th scale Arrmas) for making the indestructible body.

First, here are the parts I put on my Outcast/Notorious:
  • 10075 - TBR XV4 2.0 Front Bumper - ARRMA Kraton V2 / V3 2018. I chose this for the good looks, skid protection, warranty, and new mounting block part that should provide great durability. It works great and I did try it with the stock Notorious body and it fit but the body had to bend a very small amount amount to get it to fit.
  • 10076 - TBR 2.0 Wheelie Bar Set - ARRMA Kraton / 6S / V2 / V3 2018. I chose this over the TBR outcast bumpers because the ones currently available do not have the new mounting block and I've read that the popular outcast one that mounts to the rear bulk head can destroy your bulk head. This one also sticks out further in the rear and it ended up being much further than I was expecting and I'm not a fan of how it looks but its proven to be very functional. UPDATE Oct 12 2018: This wheelie bar/bumper has a critical flaw (mine broke in the same place as others). Read this thread for more information. TBR said they are working on addressing the flaw.
  • Pro-line Jeep body 3405-00. This fits the Outcast almost perfectly, but you can't use the stock wing or wheelie bar unless you cut out the back. I had no intention of keeping the stock wing as I think it looks ridiculous and the stock wheelie bar is ok but I'm not cutting up my body to use it, which is why I got the TBR bumper with the wheelie bar.
  • Pro-line Extended Front and Rear Body Mounts (T/E-MAXX) 6304-00. I already had extended body mounts for the Slash 4x4 and I tested them with my Slash Jeep body on the outcast and saw that they were not long enough. I compared all the Pro-line body mounts and found that the E-Maxx ones are the longest (I did this buy counting the number of holes when looking at the pictures). The E-Maxx mounts are also thicker and have larger circle mounting areas on top compared to the Slash 4x4.

How to make your body (and mounting) nearly indestructible:

1. Use pro-line extended body mounts even if you don't need the extension. They require a slight modification to make them hold on really well (more on that later), but once done you will never have issues with breaking pins. For the outcast there were some extra steps because the mounts are not made for the outcast and I did some extra stuff to further increase durability. First, when installing the mounts on the outcast you will find that the holes don't align perfectly, so the mount will fit in one hole perfectly but the other one will have to make a new hole through the body mount post. To ensure a tight fit use a nut on the end of the screw since your new hole will be loose. For my outcast I further increased the durability in the rear by mounting extra mounts on the backside of the shock tower (I used extra Slash 4x4 mounts I had laying around; If I had ordered 2 sets of the E-Maxx mounts then I could have made it even stronger). The extended mounts in the rear are also typically braced at the top when they are really tall like mine, but the included brace will not fit so I used another spare Slash 4x4 post I had laying around, you can use anything that fits.

mount1.jpg


Rear shock tower detail - notice the extra body mounts on the back with an extra screw above the rear shock tower. This makes the rear mounts far more durable. It would be even better if you used something longer on the rear (I used what I had laying around).

mount2.jpg



2. After painting your body apply a piece of metal at the front and rear mounting locations. I used this "foundation strap" from Lowes ($1). Its made of 20 gauge steel. I cut it to length and drill holes to align with the body holes. I recommend first putting a piece of gorilla tape (or similar) between the body and the metal to prevent messing up your paint. Use screws to secure the straps onto the body then apply shoe goo and dry wall tape to glue the straps on. If your body has a gap between the strap and the body (such as the hood of the jeep where its rounded), then apply shoe goo between the strap and the body to fill the gap.

mount strap.jpg


3. Apply shoe goo and dry wall tape on the entire inside of the body. I recommend painting your windows for maximum durability so that you can shoe goo them. There are many tutorials on this step so I won't detail it, but I will say don't go light on the shoe goo. I used 2 and half 3.7 oz bottles of shoe goo on my Jeep. For super strength apply shoe goo and tape, let it try, then apply another layer with the tape running in the opposite direction (I only did this in places where I felt the most reinforcement was needed). Be aware that this step adds a lot of weight to the body (it added about 0.3 lbs to my Jeep). Note: the picture below doesn't show a second layer I added and forgot to take a picture of.

goo1.jpg


4. After the shoo goo has fully dried (24 hours), apply Plasti Dip to the entire inside of the body. Spray this stuff on super thick (so thick that it turns into a liquid and fills in all the holes in the drywall tape). Its very light weight (a full can added less than 0.1 lbs). This stuff fills in all the extra holes in the drywall tape, adds resistance to bending, makes the inside of the body less likely to tear (if you get rocks thrown in there), and adds a nice looking interior finish that also prevents light from passing through the body (its like backing your paint job with super thick black paint). This thread contains a somewhat scientific test of different kinds of body reinforcements and the shoe goo + plasti dip was the winner (technically its 3M Rubberized Undercoating but that stuff costs 3 times as much as plasti dip and is not available locally and I found that plasti dip works very well).

dipped.jpg


4. Apply custom body mount screws. The stock screws that come with the Pro-line extend body mounts suck. They are not long enough to securely hold everything in place. Get some ~25mm screws with the same m4 threads from a hardware store (Lowes has them, this is a common screw); Don't worry about the head on the screw. Screw the longer screws into the body mounts much further than the stock ones go in, which means they are going to have to screw into plastic that has not been drilled out yet, so I use a drill before doing this. I screwed my Jeep body mount screws in about ~10mm. Now you need to cut the head off the screw off and do it at the right length for mounting your body and still having a lot of threads for the pro-line nuts to screw into; do some testing and measuring to make sure you get this right, its important that the nuts have a lot of screw to grab onto.

screw mount.png


Make sure the screws stick out past your body far enough to have a lot of threads for the nuts:

screws top.jpg


5. If you did all of the steps above then your body will be nearly indestructible when driving and jumping off road. However, all of the reinforcements done so far were on the interior of the body and they do nothing to stop the lexan from grinding on the street, which is a common thing if you flip over on the road. The last step is to apply exterior reinforcements to the body in the places where its most likely to skid on the road. I do this using screws, washers, nuts, and mending plates (be creative). I have not finished this step on my Jeep yet so the picture below is from my Stampede 4x4 body:

Note: the wear you see on the lexan is from a test run to see where the thing was going to get worn down. After applying the metal to the exterior the lexan no longer contacts the road.

pede.jpg


One more thing I plan on doing with my outcast Jeep is adding something between the interior body roll tower thing and the roof of the Jeep so that they are nearly touching (to add extra strength when landing on the roof).
 

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Very nice thread man. I have thought about covering the entire body in Shoe goo and drywall tape but never did it. Gonna try on my next one
 
I always love the guys who complain about the shoe goo being a mess.
 
Thanks for the tip about the exterior reinforcements to the body. Just yesterday I was looking at the beat up Proline Top Kick body on my Nero and was wondering how I could save the rear roof and truck bed edges from taking such a beating - particularly given my frequent kartwheeling and inability to plant a jump of any length!
 
@sevin7 I was so impressed with your build that I ordered the ProLine Jeep body, posts, and some other parts to convert my Typhon something like yours pictured above.

I wanted to ask for some advice regarding the bulletproof body and masking the windows. My son and I enjoyed a brief article in a recent Car Action magazine about using a PEZ dispenser as a head for your vehicle's driver. My son thus wants me to paint a Red Jeep having a Spider-man or PAW Patrol pilot, so I can't bulletproof the front and forward side windows. I'm guessing I'll use Frog tape or something to mask those windows, paint the rest of the body (darkened rear windows & red body), but then I'm wondering how best to proceed.

Would it make sense to leave that masking on while taping and Shoe Goo-ing the entire painted body including the A-pillars and roof? I worry that is going to be challenging, but hate to just leave that whole front top quarter untreated. Is there another option?
 
Hi

I have to ask, what are the screws in the front for?
When it flips forward those screws protect where the body contacts the road

@sevin7 I was so impressed with your build that I ordered the ProLine Jeep body, posts, and some other parts to convert my Typhon something like yours pictured above.

I wanted to ask for some advice regarding the bulletproof body and masking the windows. My son and I enjoyed a brief article in a recent Car Action magazine about using a PEZ dispenser as a head for your vehicle's driver. My son thus wants me to paint a Red Jeep having a Spider-man or PAW Patrol pilot, so I can't bulletproof the front and forward side windows. I'm guessing I'll use Frog tape or something to mask those windows, paint the rest of the body (darkened rear windows & red body), but then I'm wondering how best to proceed.

Would it make sense to leave that masking on while taping and Shoe Goo-ing the entire painted body including the A-pillars and roof? I worry that is going to be challenging, but hate to just leave that whole front top quarter untreated. Is there another option?

Leave your window masks on until your done with the shoe goo and the plasti dip. I have transparent windows in a couple of my other bodies that I've done this with but I decided to paint the windows this time to simplify the process and make it stronger.

I've taken some really hard hits with this body now including landing on the rear roof corner from about a 10 foot drop (while also moving forward at about 15 MPH). This hit managed to bend the body mounting screws (that hold the body on) in the front; I just bent them back and its good to go. One other time a really hard hit bent a body screw and bending it back made everything good. I've skid across the road alot on the roof and it has worn down my body mounting thumb screws a bit and the exterior reinforcement screws, eventually they will need to be replaced if I keep doing it, but that is a cheap and easy replacement. The body is still in great condition.
 
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I like to use shoe goo as well does a great job I also added this metal strap to help reinforce everything. It does add a bit of weight but the bashing I do I don’t mind the the weight
 
I don’t have known why it didn’t post my pic in my previous post anyways here is what I did
 

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The blue paint is Duratrax brilliant blue DTXR4286 and the black is Duratrax metallic black DTXR4280
 
The blue paint is Duratrax brilliant blue DTXR4286 and the black is Duratrax metallic black DTXR4280

Thank you !!! I thought it was metallic blue but I guess it's the sun's effect in the picture plus the glossiness from the body material.

Thank you again.
 
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