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Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
Hi all. I've been working on my first truck, which I've nicknamed "Green Mountain Girl," as she has a sort of Vermont theme. I'm up to the cab stage, but I thought I'd start a build thread here, and post photos from the beginning to where I'm at now. Probably not much new for experienced builders, but maybe can help inspire some beginners like myself.
First up, some pre-building before my Grand Hauler kit arrived. I printed up and painted some jack-stands for my "garage." These are 1:10 scale, but they worked just fine. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3d7ff2_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...08afcf_c_d.jpg -Elroy |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
Arrival day!
Yes, my daughter could probably fit in the box. :-) https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b5d041_c_d.jpg |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
Arrival of electronics. Being a newbie, I elected to go with this "Truck Completer Package" from Hobbyconcepts, which includes a pre-configured radio, receiver, servos, bearings, and ESC. I also purchased a battery, charger, and 80t motor at the same time. With all of the electronics received, I hooked everything up for a test.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c3e1ae_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/...64648cb6_c.jpg Link to video of Electronics Test on Flickr. |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
Servos and frame built. I made sure to label my servo wires, because I'm a forgetful sort.
Servo arms attached. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...65e23a_c_d.jpg Servo brackets attached. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1236d2_c_d.jpg Large cross members assembled. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4e30fe_c_d.jpg Frame assembled. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e4b1b6_c_d.jpg This was the end of my first day of building. -Elroy |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
That's a good start to what I'm sure will be an enjoyable build for you.
The aftermarket ball bearings might seem like a cool upgrade & maybe inexpensive, but the oilite bearings that come in the kit are actually better for weight bearing & won't seize up if you run the trk through any moisture. |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
Looking forward to seeing this one step by step always good to see builds from start to finish... any plans for a trailer...
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Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
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Moving on with my build, and following the kit instructions, suspension hangers were added to the frame, shocks were built, control arms were added, and front shocks were installed. I also purchased my first upgrade part: a pair of King Hauler baffles for the stacks. My thought right now is to pry them open a bit to work with the fat stacks, though I may change my mind and replace the Grand Hauler stacks with the thinner King Hauler ones. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...490398_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...22aa1e_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5756f2_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5c42cf_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2706b1_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3d4106_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...224ac3_c_d.jpg -Elroy |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
Before I moved on any further with the build, I wanted to paint the frame. While I waited for my order of spray cans to arrive, I went ahead and assembled the driver figure that came with the kit.
Parts cut from the sprue: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3cf41d_c_d.jpg Sub assemblies glued together: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...655c4b_c_d.jpg Full figure assembled: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e53de9_c_d.jpg Some rough gaps filled: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ff43e9_c_d.jpg A coat of primer: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5f037a_c_d.jpg A base coat of dark flesh: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...aa55bf_c_d.jpg Mid-tone of lighter flesh, and eyes roughed in: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e5d953_c_d.jpg Some really light highlights, some hair, and a dark wash over his shirt. I didn't get a photo, but his jeans were later painted blue, and his shoes brown. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d73de6_c_d.jpg -Elroy |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
Once my paint arrived, the frame was given a few sprays of Tamiya's Candy Lime Green. Transmission and rear axles housings were primed, and the front tie rod and steering arms were assembled.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6d0657_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5ac01e_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6154eb_c_d.jpg Once the front axle was built, it was bolted into place, then I hooked up the electronics to give the steering a quick test. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c77055_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cb0903_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/...b609f1fe_c.jpg Link to video of Steering test on Flickr. -Elroy |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
Looking good!!:)
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Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
Bob @ HobbyConcepts is wonderful to work with! I've bought a few items from him. I liek the frame color you chose.
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Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
The next build session began with assembling and adding the rear leaf springs. After that, I moved on to assembling and greasing the differentials. I used thick marine grease to increase the resistance without completely locking the diffs.
For a bit of fun, I decided to add a mechanic to my "garage." A year or so ago, I purchased a 3d printer. I've mostly been using it for little things, so this was my first attempt at a large print. One of my other hobbies is miniature wargaming. There's an online company, called HeroForge, that allows you to design a custom miniature, then purchase either the figure or the STL file for printing at home. Usually these miniatures are about an inch tall, but the resolution is fine enough that I was able to enlarge the figure. It took a couple of tries, but I was able to print her to scale nicely with the standard Tamiya driver. My friends have nicknamed her "Sparks" because I later built a little welding cart to go with her. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6bf7a5_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a0f8cb_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2bb0f2_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7b1f09_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7e3b9b_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...19ff84_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1d4208_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...631d6e_c_d.jpg |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
Next up was the assembly of the rear axles and finishing of the rear suspension. The last shot shows Sparks with her partially completed welding cart. The hollow welder holds a watch battery that lights up a couple of flashing LEDs at the end of the welding cables. I still need to paint the figure and finish the cart, which'll probably be a project for after the truck is finished.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5f4bf7_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...239a23_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...23e72c_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...93e38c_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fb8a56_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...35ea48_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...319315_c_d.jpg |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
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Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
Oh, baby, the FSi6 is an amazing radio. There's a whole ecosystem of new firmware for them to expand them to 14 channels (or more!), change the switches around, add new controls, etc etc.
https://github.com/qba667/FlySkyI6/ is a good starting point, with the original firmware hack, and then if you want to get Arduino-crazy, I have a page too http://www.slosh.com/rc/flysky/addl6switches/ Your paint skills far surpass mine, that's for sure. I'm chuckling at the jackstands, as, well, I might have done exactly the same thing for mine. They're handier than you'd think for multi axle builds like this -- I did a 10x10 military truck that was a total PITA without them. Do I detect a few pieces done in ABS and warped in there? -- A |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
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I've actually finished up the major build of the truck, just a few more details to add. I'll keep going with my in-progress photos here, and try to get caught up on posting. So, next up was priming the rear fenders: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9e78c3_c_d.jpg For the tires, I decided to try a few ideas to see if I liked any sort of "Goodyear" look. Running this photo past friends, the overwhelming vote was to leave them factory black. The Tamiya name in white was a very close second. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3e7439_c_d.jpg Assembling tires and wheels: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...22852d_c_d.jpg Fenders painted and bolted on: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c03a1d_c_d.jpg Wheels added. Officially a rolling chassis! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b00de2_c_d.jpg Adding the side steps. I scraped the chrome off the raised bits and painted them black for a "grip tape" look. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5856a1_c_d.jpg Masking off the air tanks, and scraping the chrome so that I can paint the hangers. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0f182e_c_d.jpg Passenger step in place: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...17d566_c_d.jpg Adding the ESC. I hid this in the driver's side step. I had to carve out a bit of the back to get it to fit. If I was to do it again, I think I'd put it in the sleeper cab. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1d3d84_c_d.jpg Driver's side step. ESC on/off switch it underneath, and easily reachable without picking up the truck. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a5ab59_c_d.jpg How she looks at the end of the night: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3afff9_c_d.jpg -Elroy |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
The next night, I added the fuel tanks, and started wiring lights. The light kit was the basic kit from HobbyConcepts, which gives headlights, turn signals, backup lights, taillights, and a set of amber "fog" lights that come on while driving, and a set of blue lights that come on when the truck is stopped.
Fuel tank after scraping chrome and painting bands and fuel cap: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...587457_c_d.jpg Wiring mess: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6dfb08_c_d.jpg Video of testing the lights: https://live.staticflickr.com/31337/...2f74dfe7_c.jpg 1303 - Lighting Test by Elroy Davis, on Flickr With the lights working, I then worked on the rear bumper. The kit comes with New Jersey and California license plates, but that wouldn't do for a Vermont truck, so I made my own. The number, 11577 is a reference to the date (January, 15th, 1777) that Vermont declared its independence from Great Britain, and the colonies of New York and New Hampshire, thereby become its own nation until it joined the United States after the American Revolution. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...519eca_c_d.jpg -Elroy |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
At this point, one of my upgrades arrived in the mail. I purchased a yet of aluminum wheels for the front. Lots of itty bitty lugnuts, but I think the look is worth it.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5148f1_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9897b1_c_d.jpg https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e0a88f_c_d.jpg With the new wheels in place, I turned back to the rear bumper. Using the innards of some phone cable to extend the lighting lines from front to rear, and a couple of red LEDs that I had laying around, I patched in some taillights to my headlights, so that they'd both come on when the light switch is flipped. Extending the wiring: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8bb69d_c_d.jpg Adding taillights: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2da0ae_c_d.jpg Bumper back in place and lit: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bdc977_c_d.jpg -Elroy |
Re: Green Mountain Girl - Grand Hauler Build
Good looking progress, you'll like how much a light kit brings it to life
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