So... Long story short, I'm living in a dorm in Traverse City, MI for a summer internship. This means a distinct lack of projects and cars to work on.
I've wanted a radio controlled rock crawler for a few years now. And today, while visiting GRM contributor Carl Heideman, I drove his son's Traxxas truck. Then we went to a hobby store (to buy replacement suspension parts... Fun day), and I touched an Axial SCX-10. Wow. The want was strong!
Of course, living in a dorm as an intern doesn't leave much room in the budget for toys. So I put the truck down and went home.
Then I won this on eBay. $112.
My plan? Slowly build this up in my dorm over the next few weeks. Budget is nonexistent, but there's a great shop here with tons of used stuff. I just want to learn and have something to tinker with.
What am I looking at? What am I missing? Tips? Tricks?
And here's the entirety of the listing:
axial scx 10 prodject
AXIAL CRAWLER PRODJECT. LOTS OF AXIAL UPGRADED PARTS. STEEL REAR DRIVE SHAFT, ALUMINUM LINKS, ULTRA TORQUE HIGH TECH SERO, ALUMINUM STEERING LINK. THANKS FOR LOOKING.
I think I need a transmitter, receiver, controller, and battery. That sound about right? Body-wise, I'd like to make a copy of my Trooper. How do I do that?
Tom Suddard wrote:
I'd like to make a copy of my Trooper. How do I do that?
An actual shoebox with a notch cut out for the hood should do it nicely. 
mndsm
MegaDork
6/21/15 7:56 a.m.
Junkyard_Dog wrote:
Tom Suddard wrote:
I'd like to make a copy of my Trooper. How do I do that?
An actual shoebox with a notch cut out for the hood should do it nicely.
I'd be willing to bet someone could 3d print you a buck. Then it's a matter of .040 lexan and a haor dryer. Vaccum table can be built too but its a bit overkill for a one off. I'm considering building one so I can run dupes of the 9c1 body I have- believed to be the last umcut/ painted one in existence.
mndsm
MegaDork
6/21/15 8:00 a.m.
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/1-9-scale-rigs/405708-pardonmyn00bs-rc4wd-scaler-build-off-entry-sasd-isuzu-trooper.html
Seems like this might be helpful. Still crawling the darker side of the net hoping someone actually cast one of these once.
Jaynen
Dork
6/21/15 10:59 a.m.
There are a few guys who have hand crafted bodies. You can do it with styrene or sort of mold it over and sand it down after you get the shapes right little by little. Rc crawler is good and so is scale4x4 forums.
I still have a hilux and also built a axial based JK when these things first started becoming popular (the scale RC thing) we would scavenge bodies off cheap (relatively I paid up to 80 bucks before) RC's from toys R us , walmart etc
Tom Suddard wrote:
Yeah. Wow.
Love the Hamster in the wheel
Go to Wal-Mart, or K-Mart or whatever is local. Look in the toys. They usually have summer toys out now. Find one of those plastic, indestructible sandbox toys that will fit the chassis. You shouldn't spend over $5.00 on one.
This is only partially true Appleseed especially because he wants a trooper and none of the current toys will be based on an old SUV you also have to think about wheelbase and axle width. But get your axle width and wheelbase and definitely go check the toy aisles for something you like
Hmm, good idea. I didn't think to steal from a kids toy. I'll hit local yard sales and see if I can find something for now.
When I get home, it's time to make a vacuum table and commandeer JG's 3D printer. I'll need a 10.4" wheelbase, 1.5" wheels, and 3.1" tall tires. XD
Another question: for stuff like rock sliders and bumpers, what's the best way to join metal on this scale? If I'm real clever with the MIG, can I make it work? Is the TIG a better answer? Should I learn how to braze?
Garage sales and Salvation Army stores are good for injection molded toys of questionable quality and decent detail.
It runs!!! Next up: a different frame and a body build. Stay tuned!
Nice. I'm a fan of running naked
Good luck on making a body.
The rig you bought has a Traxxas Rustler/Stampede/Bandit transmission with Axial AX-10/SCX-10 axles, no idea about shocks or the chassis itself though. Does look like the standard Axial 3 link setup though. RcCrawler is a fantastic resource for scale rigs (your chassis is very much a scale chassis, with full length side plates, as opposed to a comp chassis, which tend to sit lower and the side plates generally only extend as far fore/aft as the shock mounts) as well as more competition oriented ones. Scale4x4rc is another good resource, they are far more scale oriented than competition though, as the name would imply. It's quite easy to dump a lot of money into these, I was really big into rc stuff a few years back and have an AX10 that morphed into a SCX10 that morphed into a stalled project on my workbench. I can't think of anything it particularly needs right now other than more wear on the tires and more dirt on everything else!
Tom Suddard wrote:
Hmm, good idea. I didn't think to steal from a kids toy. I'll hit local yard sales and see if I can find something for now.
When I get home, it's time to make a vacuum table and commandeer JG's 3D printer. I'll need a 10.4" wheelbase, 1.5" wheels, and 3.1" tall tires. XD
Another question: for stuff like rock sliders and bumpers, what's the best way to join metal on this scale? If I'm real clever with the MIG, can I make it work? Is the TIG a better answer? Should I learn how to braze?
Brazing tube is the easy way. It's not hard especially if you already know how to weld. Its a lot like soldering.
