Unruely

Well I have gotten the side plates cut out for my latest Clod. This one will be for my wife and has had her input into it also. The plates are cut from a sheet of 3/16" aircraft aluminum. I marked the shape I wanted on the aluminum and then rough cut them out with a jig saw, leaving at least 1/4" all around the marked pattern. Then I marked the location for the link and shock mount location holes. I used some #4 pan head machine screws to bolt the 2 halves together before doing the final trimming, again with the jig saw and then cleaned the edges up with a power sander and a set of hand files for the intricate areas. By doing this it insures that both halves will be identical.. My next step will be to design and construct the battery and electronics trays. We have already picked out a body and come up with a paint scheme to match the theme of the truck!! This step alone has taken several weeks in order to cut and rough finish the edges of the aluminum. I still need to do the final clean up and polishing of the aluminum plates.. This aluminum is the toughest stuff I have ever worked with, it took nearly 2 weeks of work, (off and on), to get it this far. So far it has destroyed 1 jig saw, 3 blades, 1 carbide rotary bit, 1 round file, and 1 drill bit... You talk about a bullet proof chassis... I think this one may truly be so.. The skids are already designed for it also... hmmmmmm
Let me know what you think so far!
Double

Left

Right


After a lot of thought and experimenting, I found the type of finish I wanted on the frame. I didn't want a real shiny look, so I sand blasted the aluminum plates today and they turned out great! They look nearly white, and have a sparkle to them in the sunshine. My next step on this truck is to complete the links, then skidplates, then paint the body.




I have the scheme for the body all worked out and hope to get started on it this week. I still have to install all the electronics in it yet, build servo mounts, steering links, and a set of skids to follow the theme of the truck. The links are aluminum arrow shafts with 8-32 threaded studs and Kyosho 6.8mm ball ends, custom made shock mounts.







Here are the body pics. It is painted with "Pearl White, Mettalic Black, and Pearl Silver" The windows were done with "Fastint". I still have a lot of work to do before this one will be complete!




Martin

Horatio

Good Job!!!

If I tried the 'would you like a MT for your birthday' tactic, I might very well end up with a mild concussion. Rolling pins really hurt!

Either way, it's a cool truck and your missus must be pretty cool too!

Unruely

Yeah, I know what you mean. This is just a truck I'm building for her, not a gift. She swings a powerful cast iron skillet!!

Martin

4wdmt

nice plates man. i cant do something like that for my wife, lol. sweet truck.

thumpin15s

I WANT IT! Seriously though, that thing is insanely awesome, the body is soooo clean! Did you airbrush that?

Unruely

Yeah I did. I was pleased that the silver outline of the frame on the body looks nearly identical to the chassis itself..

FALCON-LORD

Without a Doubt, that is an Insane Truck.
The paint work is magnificent, and those body panels...
Well it is a shame to put a body over them at all because they are Amazing

Dyer13

That is AMAZING!!! I love to see home built R/C's. Thats awesome......If I had a metal band saw, somw aluminum, and (NO SCHOOL) time---I'd think about building a Nitro Version my self.....lol----only it wouldnt be a tiger. Ever think about buying a CNC machine, and going into production and marketing?!? But seriously.......that is a cool truck....is it based off of anything? -looks kind of like the Juggernaut.....VERY NICE.

Dyer13

I agree about NOT putting the body on..... I think you shoud put silver shock covers on it, and cut out the body where your tiger design is, so you aluminum pieces show.

teamgatch

IT MAYBE 2005, I STILL LOVE CLODS AND THEY STILL RULE IN MY BACKYARD.

EXCELLENT JOB !!!! AWESOME NAME FOR AN AWESOME TRUCK....

teamgatch

is that your first unit? are the links solid? steel or alloy?
your clod is supreme!!!!

we had a drill and a file 12years ago when we built 5 clods. max suspension travel was 12.5inches before the rest of the tires gets off the ground. this was later reduced to 6inches with the use of swaybars. it was all over the place during the race....

CLOD RULES.....

Unruely

This is about my 8th Clod I've built.. The links are aluminum arrow shafts with standard threaded arrow inserts glued in place then it was all sandblasted. The rod ends are Kyosho 6.8mm with 8-32 threaded studs loctited into the inserts. I do plan on some silver shock covers in the future.. I am also still looking at other body options??

Martin

Dyer13

How much total does this cost you too build?????
If you would be willing to make a nitro version, I would be interested in buying it...

Unruely

I'm not sure what I'm into this one at the moment, but not as much as it looks. Doing all the work myself helps alot, which is also why it is going so slow.. 50-60 hrs a week at work, other work around the house and 3 other project trucks being worked on and 2 more on the way... I am hoping to get more done on this one this weekend, unless one of the other trucks come in before the weekend...

Martin

Dyer13

Oh sorry for this NEWB moment, but....I didn't know the Clod was a kit made by Tamiya
Still, nice custom work...