TW's Bajas - "Sheila", "Ruby", & "Kyu"

[Noj]

Coming along nicely. I made up extension cables for both ESC and fan to run to the wp Rx box, less tension on the cables, easier to plug the ESC into the castle link if required.

Had the same issue with the aerial; ran a length of antenna tube through the front window clips, against the inside of the A pillar on the cage, popped the antenna in, works perfectly

[Thunderwolf]

not a bad idea that either noj.

 

 

i'm struggling to find a decent mounting point for the esc switch, not totally sure what to do with the programing wire either.

 

 

when its complete and i have all the parts i need it will need taking apart again as i need to threadlock all the metal to metal screws aswell as brush off the nice layer of dust thats built up on her over the last few months.

 

i'm also unhappy with the amount of black on her now so that is also something i want to change before getting her cleaned up.

 

 

 

as always with my hobby time though money is my issue and i can't do anything and after 1 year, 10 months and 26 days (roughly) not having her running is rather annoying to say the least, never had a car waiting to run for so long

[Noj]

A separate programming lead? Cable tie up and tuck away? If it has a futaba connector on it, you could cut the cable and reattach a new plug nearer the ESC, using an extension lead for programming?

For the switch, small offcut of lexan in an 'L' shape, mount it under the corner of the ESC where it bolts to the chassis plate, then fasten the switch to the lexan? Keeps it accessible and safe, with a degree of flexibility during hard landings etc

[Thunderwolf]

few changes in the last month, starting with the crap parts.

 

 

due to moving out and into a house share space has become limited, resulting in yang being sold. aswell as sheila (and my fg marder, revy) being stored in my mum's garage, so access to her is limited...for example i've not seen her since moving

 

 

good news is i still have the rest of my fleet, including ruby, i could only store 1 largescale, since ruby is going electric, meaning using it on the road for testing without annoying anyone with noise, aswell as the lack of petrol fumes when not in use made her the logical choice to keep by my side.

 

it also means i can fit parts and generally fiddle about with her when i please so i'll be able to finish her up when the time comes by, which brings me to the next bit of awesome:

 

the body shell, its been sat in the packet for months now, waiting to be opened, cut, painted, and fitted into its rightful place on ruby, the paints to do so have just been ordered and are due to be delivered early next week. the actualy cutting, mounting and painting will be shown in a time lapse style video, considering its been awhile since i last made a video and this will be relatively easy to set up i figure its a good move.

 

the video will be posted in this thread aswell as the gallery, just don't expect anything that will rival hollywood

 

 

 

i also plan to buy the motor next week, pay day dependant.

[Thunderwolf]

after getting back home from a rather decent day i was in a good mood.

 

my mood improved by several notable counts once i found these waiting for me:

 

 

they are faskolor airbrush paints, pearl white, satin chrome and pearl red and fastrax jet black spray paint, all of which to be used on the body shell which shall be painting (and filmed) this coming weekend, hopefully.

 

to add even further i had made a very quick cad mockup of a bracket:

 

 

 

the bracket is designed to fit of the uprights on the RPM rear bumper and skid set up that you will find on both Sheila and Ruby and provide a smooth solid surface on which to stick a go pro mount to, this will allow for some rear view shots which i can use to film cars following but i can also have it set up to give a view similar to the close 3rd person view you often find in video games, something along the line of the picture you see below

 

 

ok so its not a massivly important or interesting part but it will hopefully mark the start of something i've wanted to do for a very long time, which is to be designing, making (or getting them made by someone more capable than myself) and using custom rc parts, this is an area i've been very interested in doing for some time but lack  the skill and confidence to do it myself by hand, whether or not this goes anywhere is anyones guess but considering the maker of my favorite baja upgrades is not going to be doing so any longer (GH Racing) this may well become a thing...and i hope it does tbh.

 

 

 

so there is another update for you people who are still interested, if not at least i can look back and see how thing panned out over time and how and where i screwed it all up.

 

peace

[ReggieC]

I'm a big fan of that close 3rd person view mount, could get some great footage

[Thunderwolf]

totoally not important or really anything interesting to anyone but me i expect but fun fact about sheila.

 

 

she has finally taken the title of longest serving model, which was held by my 2nd hobby grade rc, a hyper 7.

[Thunderwolf]

new shell:

 

Hemistorm "The Addict"

 

fitted and ready for paint

 

 

need some windows for her at some point

[Oh How Original]

That would look excellent just jet black with some subtle red highlights with black windows IMO.

[Thunderwolf]

it would, lotta red on her already so its not going to be painted to red lol

 

 

i got my design all planned i just can't do anytihng until thursday or friday, which sucks, but can't be helped.

 

 

 

does feel weird looking at her finaly having a shell after all these months though.

[Mr Brightside]

Very nice looking

[Thunderwolf]

well i had got a design all planned out but i agree with oho's opinion in that it would look beter with a simple paint work with most of it being black so i have removed a large part of the design to fit in better with this thought.

 

 

it is still not painted but it is marked up with a permanent marker ready for this afternoon/tomorrow when i have time

 

 

 

 

don't worry, i'll bit cleaning all the plastic for the sanding and cutting i did before i paint it

Edited September 25, 2014 by Thunderwolf

[Thunderwolf]

could have done with alittle more red on it but it works in with what i had inmind as is and will serve what i want it too so i'm happy

[Thunderwolf]

small update:

 

changed the rx i'll be using, purely because it means a shorter aerial to stick out the shell, the long one didn't look right imo (twss block)

 

been looking into the battery space i got on ruby too, it abit tight but i should be able to have a decent battery set up with 6s, going higher is going going to suffer but i'll cross that bridge when/if i get to it

 

the cear cover no longer works, its too bright so i'm looking at changing that, got an idea that may work with the shell.

 

in regards to the shell, yea, it looks crap but it will surfice as a bashing shell as i never clean them off so more of it will look like mud anyway i have plans in mind to get a better shell that works much better with the chassis theme going on aswell as the lines of the shell itself.

 

 

 

 

i had a look at sheila briefly while i was at mum's yesterday, i plan on fitting the new hemistorm shell to her at some stage, there are already some plans in place for it, just a case of waiting for fund to buy the stuff i need.

 

i also plan on running her sometime this month which should get some pictures or maybe a video taken of that, should be good, i miss the sound of 2 stroke.

[Thunderwolf]

so the motor arrived today

 

 

yes, its cheap, but thats what happens when i wait for so long, if it (or the esc) explodes then so be it at least i'd have had it working for alittle while.

 

 

anyway, here is a pic of the motor next to the mini recon, tis a big girl, added the connectors are also the right size so only the batteries need soldering

 

 

one minor issue is the shaft of the motor is slightly too long so the gear cover now doesn't go on like it used to so i need to put afew washers or something between the mount and the motor, no big deal but still annoying

 

 

currently waiting on a esc plate so i can bolt that on over the gearbox, this was designed in cad and sent to BEZ to be printed on his 3d printer

 

 

 

need to get some windows, batteries, bec, and some battery connectors

[Leo]

Which Toro motor did you go for?

[Thunderwolf]

this one is a Toro Beast X520 3Y 730kv

[Thunderwolf]

yet another update, thats what...4 in the last month or so now? gotta be a record

 

 

anyway only a brief one here regarding the motor issue, with abit of cad and the help of our very own Bez, i have in place a solution to my problem

 

 

it a very simple spacer to go between the motor and motor mount, it will only move the motor 6.5mm (or just under depending on compression of the plastic it being printer from)

 

not a lot  but it will be enough to pull the spindle of the motor away from the gear cover and allow me to mount it without anything fouling and getting chewed up.

 

as a small added bonus it will move the weight of the motor closer to the center of the chassis which will help the handling....well...what little handling a baja has at least.

 

its been 1year and (roughly) 11 months since i started buying parts to build this baja, taken some careful planning (more on the chassis than electrics admitedly), some great deals, set backs, and 3 people who shall get a decent mention at a latter date for getting me this far.

 

 

as far as batteries goes i'm set on what i'm getting aswell as the bec, windows i'm not sure on, not sure i want petrol ones because of the small cut out they have for the fuel tank and i can't find any for a flux, but in reality they can be added at anytime, until then i can make do with cleaning it.

 

like wise there is yet to be an undertray fitted, until i've covered that pullstart cut out in the shell though the pods will be left off just as i have on all my baja shells, i cba picking up grass from the floor again.

 

on abit of an unrelated note, of all the projects/builds/things i've tried to do, whatever you wish to call it, this will be the first and only one i've seen through from start to finish, all the ones before it have either been given up on or in the case of 1 or 2, got destroyed from stupidity, just another reason the crap electrics and bad paint job doesn't bother me.

[Thunderwolf]

another update

 

 

things are moving on for ruby.

 

so as per last update motor shaft was sticking out too far making gear cover fitment impossible, and i didn't fancey hacking away at a motor shaft i don't have alot of trust in to begin with, but thanks to bez and his 3d printer i got some spacers made up (i have 3 in total)

 

so out came the motor and on went the spacer

 

i could have done a better job of getting the bolt holes better lined up but its not really a big deal.the spacer is made from pla, so it very strong and didn't compress when tightened up

 

so now the motor is 6.1mm (or there about) closer to the center of the chassis and the pinion and shaft are nicely tucks back and out of the why for the gear cover

 

on the gear cover side, the red wasn't cutting it, and i couldn't be bothered to peel off the plastidip to paint it or dye it, it was white and from rovan, but i've now replaced it with a hpi black cover which works out very well colour wise.

 

 

 

things don't stop there though, currently on their way are some 8mm bullets and a bec which i will be soldering up ready for when i finally get batteries, which should mean just having to stick some 8mm connectors on the batteries and i can just plug them in.

 

i'm also having the esc adapter plate printed by BEZ which he shall do once he has worked out afew things on his end, once i get that all the major parts will be bolted on ready to go.

 

 

 

as it stands there are 2 main things i still need and 1 thing that would be good to have in the long run.

 

main things being batteries and a program card for the esc

 

the other thing being windows.

[Hyper-d]

Looking good! Can't wait to see a vid of ruby in action

[RCbutcher]

It looks very nice mate. the tires are chunKEY. The motor spacer will it last with the shaft spinning through it would alpowing more meat for a bearing to sit on the shaft work if this doesn't. overtime with heat i mean. That motor is massive. 

 

Make your own windows like ravs fg with red coloured perspex i would. 

[Thunderwolf]

already got a plan for the windows

 

 

tyres are great, used them on sheila for a fair time now so made sence to use them on ruby aswell

 

 

the motor spacer should be find, the motor shaft doesn't actually touch the spacer and i've possitioned it so it isn't touching now so no wear problems, the melting point of the plastic used is around 190 degrees, the motor would die from the heat before the spacer becomes a problem.

[Thunderwolf]

Short update.

 

 

program card ordered

 

batteries ordered

 

once bez is done messing with that printer i'll be able to mount the esc.

 

 

and now, we play the waiting game.

[dlegend]

Great thread will follow this to see how you get on with the setup. Those spaces look pretty darn good

[Noj]

Looks very well executed TW, motor spacer is a neat addition.

730kv and 6s should be a nice combination, lots of torque available. What gearing have you opted for?