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[radiojoe]

The four link rear suspension is what I'm upgrading, you'll probably see what I mean about the original plastic link bars being too flexible considering the shocks are connected to the end of the lower bar, I think the alloy rods and link plates will be a marked improvement.




Joe.

[radiojoe]

The Defender body shell kit came today , great service from Modelsport again, it looks nicely detailed and promises to be an enjoyable project a little bit out of my comfort zone with the masking and spraying but the Hornet came out OK so we'll see how it goes, while the Pajero body is OK I've never been that keen on it, perhaps because the translation of Pajero is quite derogatory in some countries Spain in particular
anyway I prefer a British icon and having owned a series 3 Land Rover back in the eighties is where the nostalgia comes in, I saw a defender on a CC-01 chassis running on Youtube and noted how the back end of the body was wagging from side to side probably due to the long mounting posts that go though the roof flexing, so as I haven't got a mounting kit yet I think I'll try and do my own mounting method possibly using magnets, so while waiting for the rear suspension upgrade parts I'll carry on with the body trimming.


Joe.

[ChrisF]

I'm sure you'll do a lovely job Joe, like all your other builds of all types.


I don't like those body mounting posts either and they look awful and will look at using magnets. I see they do a Defender kit now using the CC-02 chassis so that will be on the list.


Whose 4 link suspension are you using? I'm using the Yeah Racing which is very nicely made. Nice blue but it's too blingy and stands out. Black would be better.


Chris

[radiojoe]

Thanks Chris, I've got a 4 link set coming from China in silver alloy to match the steering knuckles already upgraded, every where I tried in the UK were either out of stock or didn't have the silver ones, nothing wrong with the Yeah Racing blue kit well made and well cool,  I've got some 10mm disk magnets that I'm going to experiment with the good thing is there's no mounting holes in the body just tiny marks to indicate the position of the posts so I can position the magnets anywhere that works best, another good thing is I can pre fit the body while it is still clear that makes it easier to line up the magnets, once I know the position I'll use double sided mounting pads to fix the magnets as their on a painted surface I don't want to risk using any type of glue, like most of my projects it's already started to grow I've cobbled to together a basic light kit from the bits and bobs box, just head and tail lights,  look forward to seeing how the Unimog is coming along.


Joe.

[ChrisF]

Nice find, it's good to have the parts matching if you can. Good thoughts on fixing the magnets, I shall bear them in mind.


I did email the supplier about the missing E-Clip but heard nothing and in any case thought they wouldn't deal with it straightaway so ordered a box of different sizes off Amazon which arrived the next day so the build was able to continue, most of which I'll never use!


I had to take 4 screws out of the rear diff to fit the upgrade parts - not too bad so far! The YR parts are beautifully made, nice bit of bling!


Chris

[radiojoe]

Yeah they are beautifully made and the bevels on the edges are a nice touch, looking good Chris


Joe.

[Stuw]

That would do it , though I've not had a problem with bearings not fitting, I would prefer Tamiya to include the ball bearings in the kits they probably don't to keep costs down but it's such a popular upgrade I think folks would still buy them.



I did a mod on the battery cover as I did on the Grasshopper, as most of you guys probably know the Grasshopper and the Hornet have a problem with the battery cover dropping off when the car is on rough ground but can happen any time resulting in the battery being dragged along under the car, this is due to the catch on the corner of the cover, you can get a 3D printed upgrade cover kit but I just use a small servo arm fixed using an existing screw to hold the catch closed.


Joe

Like it! My sons Hornet (that we built together) has that very problem!

[radiojoe]

I think I've found a way to mount the Defender body, the Pajero is a hard plastic body that mounts on the chassis at the rear by two horizontal pegs though the body just above the bumper and a fitting on the front that the body is flexed over and into a slot behind the front bumper, so I thought this may work with the new body shell, I've trimmed the front fitting to make it a bit thinner so it will fit snugly in the Defender bumper and by moving the rear two mountings one hole further back I found it was just right for the length of the new shell and with the addition of two magnets under the bonnet area I think it should work fine, so I made a cross plate to with captive nuts to take bolts with a magnet bonded on top these can be finely adjusted for height once all the painting of the body is done, and then I'll bond a steel strip under the bonnet to line up with the magnets,  the two pieces of wood under the bumper will be bonded in place after painting to centralize the body, I won't know the exact position of the holes in the back panel till I get the axle/wheels done but so far so good.


Joe.

[essex2visuvesi]

One of my restoration Jobs

[radiojoe]

Very nice restoration, it looks new.


The Landy body shell is the most complicated Lexan body I've done, The Hornet body was quite simple to paint etc. but this one is quite a brain exercise well for me anyway, ie. knowing what to mask off and when for the three different colors but I'm getting there, having keyed up the inside and washed the body I've applied the window masks and masked off the roof, front bumper and rear chassis plate so it's just about ready for the first color of British Racing Green.
Looking at the original Pajero donor car wheels I didn't think they really suited a Landy, so I found a set of Abisma wheels at Modelsport That looked to me like stock Land Rover wheels, I couldn't resist and they arrived today and I think they are spot on, I like they have real nuts and bolts for the lug nuts, the project is now on hold till the rear suspension alloy link arms arrive from China at least there in this Country now and I need to get the rear wheels back on to finalize the position of the rear mounting holes before any painting

[ChrisF]

Joe - What you are doing with the magnets looks like a good solution and those wheels do look good.

With the Unimog I'm probably going to stick with the mounting posts. In pictures and videos I've seen they don't look too bad and given the small size of the bonnet and its slope I think it will be difficult to do. Not worried about the rear bed as it will be painted black and I'd like to fit a canvas roof.

I haven't touched it for a few days but the chassis is pretty much complete apart from fitting the servo etc. I've got to do some dismantling though, as annoyingly the steering arms catch on the undertray/mounting plate. This was mentioned on a video but I didn't see it until afterwards otherwise I would have modified the undertray beforehand. Apart from that pleased with it so far. As with my boats I think the painting is going to hold things up. Where do you do yours?

Chris

[radiojoe]

Hi Chris, yeah the Unimog doesn't really lend it's self to magnetic mounts but I think the post mounts on the Unimogs  I've seen don't show that much,  on the boxy Land Rover they really stand out, the suspension rod kit came today so I can carry on with it, I've done all the masking I found that quite tricky, I spray paint in the garage then bring it in to dry.

Joe.

[radiojoe]

With the rear suspension upgrade fitted I was able to pin point the position of the rear body mounts, the suspension link rod setup is quite simple compered to some of the upgrade kits but is a vast improvement to the stock plastic setup,,  where things like lights etc. are hard to mask I'm using Bluetack, a bit of an experiment but we'll see, I'll start the painting tomorrow.


Joe.

[Fastfaz]

That's a great idea Joe! I use bluetack to stick all the fiddly bits that need painting on my trucks, just make a ball push it on then spray away. Keep the info coming I like the look of all the metal hardware much better than the plastic.
       Cheers, Pete. 

[ChrisF]

The Blu Tack certainty is a good idea! That's going in the notebook!

The rear suspension looks good and being slimmer than the YR is more in keeping. It's going to look great when finished.

Chris

[radiojoe]

I had a bit of an issue with the spray painting yesterday, having masked everything accept the green main body I found after removing the roof masking the green had leeched though in a couple of places, in hind sight it was a bit too cold in the garage so I don't think the paint had dried enough between coats so it had got a bit too wet and being upside down the paint was laying on the masking, I could have tried to remove the paint with cellulose thinners but that would have damaged the Lexan, so my only option was to scotch bright the outside of the roof mask of all the outer body and spray the roof from the top this time in the warm work shop, I think I've got over it quite well so very pleased with the D90 so far, They supply two Lexan angled stiffeners for the back panel but I've used some 5mm square hardwood two on the back panel and on the valences each side and two under the front bumper plus the magnets work very well you can lift the front wheels up using the body, They say to smoke the windows to obscure the inside but I'm going to try making a very basic interior maybe even out of cardboard painted black, and finish off with a driver.


Joe.

[ChrisF]

Looking the dogs Joe!

Chris

[SteamboatPhil]

Come on Joe, mock up the front winch, and a tow hook
Brilliant work, now go get mud on it 

[Bunkerbarge]

You can buy a very useful accessory for these in the form of a rear bracket.  It helps to secure the bottom of the rear panel as well as provide a mounting for whatever towing bracket you might want to fit.  Yet to be decided which one.


The number plates also make a big difference and can be printed in your chosen number.  This one is actually a real RNLI plate.


 

[ChrisF]

Nice build with some lovely details. Where did you get the number plates from?

Chris

[Bunkerbarge]

It was built by one of the members on here, I just enhanced it a little.

Number plates from this chap:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132536139358?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

[ChrisF]

Thanks.

[radiojoe]

Oddly enough the number plates are one of the things I've been making today they won't be as professional as those but I do like to make what I can, I've also been completing the decals, they were very fiddly especially the window frames, then fitted the bars around the windscreen, before fitting the lights I'll try and make a basic interior to hide all the electronics etc.

Joe.

[radiojoe]

Today I've been making the interior, looking around this morning of something suitable to make it with and found the box our new scales came in,  it was a fine corrugated card about 1.5mm so I cobbled it together with hot glue and its actually quite strong and when it's painted matt black or dark grey should do the job of hiding the wires and workings, I've fill the edges where the corrugations show and I'll sand them tomorrow, I've ordered a Tamiya 1:10 driver just hope it fits, though he might be legless 


Joe.

[SteamboatPhil]

Are the RNLI really allows to use red font on the number plates. ?