Little Tot's 1st Cruiser build

[BELMONT148]

Well, I broke down and purchased my sons first Land Cruiser. I know he is only 18 mos. old, but he needs to be like daddy.

I ordered this Walmart.com: 1:10 Scale New Bright Radio-Controlled Land Rover LR3: Vehicles & Radio Control and proceded to mod it with a Bushwacker body kit to give him his very own R/C Cruiser.

Jeremy

 

[BELMONT148]

First think was to remove the Poser, I mean Rover body. Just 4 screws and it was off.

Next was to determine How I would attach the new body. I purchased a body mount "post" kit from the hobby shop and it came with 4 posts and all the clips and washers needed to fabricate my own mounts. The front worked out perfect. There was already two holes side by side that held 2 of them perfect. These will come up through the hood. The 2 rear ones will come out on each side just before the rear tires. These will have to be drilled and then epoxied in.

Once I finished fighting with cutting the body out, it was time for mock up to check clearance. With the very limited susp. flex of this "toy" there will be no need for addidtional trimming. (Note to self, get proper cutting tools to trim the next body.)

Jeremy

 

[Gundy]

Very cool. Painting tip: burnish the edges of the BW masks with a q-tip end or
some other small round thing or else the paint will bleed into the masked off area.
A black sharpie works wonders for those window trims and details you want black.
Those little curved tip lexan scissors are very handy.
Be sure to use paint for lexan bodies so it will not flake off when the Cruiser takes a tumble
on the stairs.
I love the beadlocks and crawler tires!

 

[BELMONT148]

Thanks, the tires are Nittos. I am using liquid mask, we'll see how it works. I purchased red and white lexan body paint. The shop also said I needed this "backer". It's some kind of pearl spray that covers everything on the inside and makes the paint brighter. Thanks for the tips.

Jeremy

 

[Gundy]

Light coat to start. Hairdryer
will speed drying. Then apply
second coat for full coverage.
Hairdryer again to dry well
before you add the second
color. Hairdryer... Again and
again after that color second
coat. Backer coat will make
it purdy. :hillybilly:
Can't wait to see new pics!

 

[BELMONT148]

I got the Losi body mount kit installed. 2 posts on ther hood, one on each side. They worked out nicely.

 

[BELMONT148]

Next I got the window masks placed and drilled the holes for the body mounts. Next I applied the first coat of liquid mask to the top and bezel. The plan is to apply a second coat and let it dry 24 hours. Then I will trim out around the edges before paint.

 

[Gundy]

Looking good

 

[Brock]

looks like you used paint rollers on top just like your troopie...

 

[Gundy]

This thread needs more pics. When do we get to see the paint job?
Here's my Bushwacker body. Note crappy window trim.

 

[BELMONT148]

Looks good Gundy. Settle down, the rig is back in Charleston waiting for me to paint it mon. night. I will have new pics up tomorrow.

As for the roller comment, that is the liquid mask so that those areas don't get painted red. Once the red is on, I spray all the white over the red. I don't have a troopy either. I wish.

Jeremy

 

[BELMONT148]

How do you think it would look with blacked out windows?

Jeremy

 

[BELMONT148]

She is all painted up now. Painted the rockers black with a sharpie then sprayed the red on. Used 2 coats drying with a hairdryer in between. Then I removed the liquid mask on the top and bezel and layed the white down. The mask worked really nicely. Sprayed 2 coats of white and dried then came the flourescent undercoat. Not sure if that made a big difference, but the red does really pop out. I removed the window maskes and protective overspray film on the body and was p;eased with my first body. All thatis left now is to put a few stickers on.

 

[BELMONT148]

And here is the poser shot of it climbing the "Glades".

Jeremy

 

[Gundy]

Very cool

Nice! The red really does "pop". As for stickers, Towerhobbies.com sells
the stickers for the CR01 for about $9. They are neat details to make it more scale.
Turn lights, the upper grill piece, the Toyota for the grill, the Land Cruiser name along
the front fender, the 4WD sticker on the rear, backup light and windshield wipers. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXUSJ6&P=7
Looking good, nice job and I'm sure the tot will cherish this as time goes on.

 

[BELMONT148]

Nice! I will definately order those stickers.

Jeremy

 

[scott johnson]

I would black out the windows but i would spray it on the inside with high gloss black or a dark grey so it will look like tinted windows. Might want to get a piece of plastic and try it out to see if you like how it turns out before you do this one. Very cool!

 

[Gundy]

Be wary of spraying tint on the windows. That stuff is thin as water and will penetrate
the existing paint. Don't ask me how I know. Let's just say my CR01's first body is
now a beater due to the stuff. I do like the dark windows hence my failed attempt at the stuff.
Plus now I'm building a interior for the new body. Bench seat and 3 speed too.
I wouldn't want to hide it behind tinted windows. Just a thought.

 

[dbenke]

Sounds like a lot of work for a toy.
Maybe I just would rather work on the real thing.
Watch out, before you know it, he will be driving one!!!!

 

[BELMONT148]

Nah, only about 2 hours labor. Sometimes our cruisers can be a pain in the ass, and it's nice to step back and work on a different project.

Plus I like having lots of things going on at once. Working out of town, finishing my engineering degree, finishing my cruiser, building a motor, building a drafting table, and working on this r/c. Not to mention mud time. Damn, I just realized I am going to busy over the next month finishing all these projects.

Jeremy