RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Hi, I decided to scratch build a 1/16 Bedford MWD by buying a cheap rc jeep, canibalising it for all the working bits and building my own body. Here is how it's progressed.
Donor jeep


Working chassis


Load bed and start of cab


Starting to look like a bedford!


I will update as it progresses.

I have used the cheap jeep to keep build costs down but eventually want to upgrade the running gear to proper rc. My handicap is as a newbie I'm not sure where to start and am on a small budget so don't want to waste money where I can perhaps find some cheap solutions. Can anyone recommend a good beginners rc book that covers vehicles and maybe boats - I don't want an rc book for aircraft or anything vastly overcomplicated, just the basics. I'm particularly interested in using small components (preferably inexpensive) so that I can model smaller vehicles.

Thanks

Did you say 'newbie', good grief you are building a great model.

RC running gear for a jeep could be quite cheap. It depends whether you want sound or not?

A basic esc that will drive the motor can be had off Ebay for very little money, plenty of of used ones come up on there.

What you will need as a minimum is a speed controller that gives you forward and reverse (not all do so check), a receiver, and a transmitter. For a 2 wheel drive, single motor jeep you only need a 2 or 3 channel transmitter. One of the pistol grip ones would do the job.

You simply hook the motor up to the speed controller, plug the speed controller into the receiver, and configure the channels so that the forward/reverse and steering work as nature intended.

I can't see from the pics what you are using for the steering mechanism, ideally this would need to be run off a servo. This would simply plug into the receiver.

If you want sound as well, you would need to hunt around on the scale trucks forums or do a search on You Tube to see what is available and what suits your budget.

This isn't a cheap option, but shows what can be done.

RobG

Hi Rob that's great advice thanks. The steering mechanism off the jeep is the cheap toy version and will need to be replaced with a proper steering mechanism controlled by a servo. I think I can hack that as I've been practicing with some lego technics stuff. I am going to bid on an rc car on ebay that is advertised as spares so I hope to use bits of that as a starter. plus it comes with a controller so that's a plus.

I think it will be a while before I graduate to sound but its baby steps at the minute. Love the models in your vids! best regards Alwyn

Here's the latest pics. It's starting to look something like!






Does anyone have any favourite techniques for doing tarpauline e.g. over cab and loadbay, what the best materials to use, how to coat/treat/paint?

Thanks
Alwyn

Lead foil is great stuff for tarps!

Good Morning,
Considering the volume of space you need to cover, maybe stiff linen? Cut and shaped with quick dry spray adhesive then painted.
regards,
Painless

Linen sprayed with a white gluemixthinned with water....better than hairspray and way easy to mix

Thanks guys, I am going to experiment to find the best approach. This advice is greatly appreciated as I'm very much on a learning curve. Thanks again. Alwyn

You are doing really well with this build, its coming along very nicely.

Re the tarp, if you have a first aid kit lying around, you could try looking at the triangular bandage, some of them have a texture that matches scale canvas?

RobG