Project: Lifted Expedition!

I had an old SnapTite (the cheap Revell kits i belive) Expedition lying around. Then i found an old Snaptite USA-1 Monster truck. I cut the suspension from the one piece frame of the USA-1 and am now grafting it to the chassis of the Expedition. I started this project like last year but just now FINALLY found a place that sells styrene for me to scratch build the stuff i need to build. No pics as of yet...i may get some later tonight though.

:useless:

Sounds cool.

Please make it a realisitic lift though. Im tired of seeing lifts where the body is as high as the Empire State building, and then have a couple 3 meter shocks to hold it up, and the drive shaft going at an 80 degree angle.

i will try my best. Im going to have to get a Bigfoot model as i lost alot of the parts from the USA-1...including the tires. The USA-1 is in 1/43 scale while the Expedition is in 1/24. Also Snaptite kits are made my AMT/Ertl

:useless:

Hmm, sound's like a good idea. Can't wait to see it finished.

:useless: *cough* or is this already sayd :p.
Anyways, it sounds good so hope to see some pics soon

the usa-1 is 1/32, if it was 1/43 it would be really small.....

http://img72.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Macdaddy4738/Expedition1.jpg

http://img72.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Macdaddy4738/Expediton3.jpg

http://img72.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Macdaddy4738/Expedition2.jpg

i plan to glue the shock parts to the inside of the body instead of the chassis now. Im just not sure it will hold so i may have to add support. I also am moving the pumpkin to the middle of the body. Ive got the right stuff to do that. What id really like to do is fabricate my own custom bull bar...but im not sure ive got the skills. I am going to paint a few of the pody areas silver...then have the color (yellow..like an Xterra color) over those. Im gonna take a knife and scratch through to the silver to look like scrapes from branches and rocks.

Looking good!

yea...it seems to fit perfect. Im gonna need to fabricate my own link suspension i think.

looks good to me, but you stole my remote control...

the proportion worked out pretty good. it doesn't look cartoonish or anything. can't wait to see more of this

if i paint the chrome bumpers with transparent black paint...will it look like black chrome?

i would imagine that it would. get some chrome sprue and try it on that first

AHHH!! DETAIL THOSE WHEELS! Everything looks great thoe....besides the wheels looking like my cousins toy truck wheels. Good job thoe.

they arent even painted. The body is just primer. I havent started anthing on it lol. I plan for them to be black though.

What id really like to do is fabricate my own custom bull bar...but im not sure ive got the skills.



all you gotta do is get a candle heat the tube and bend it to where and what shape you want but dont burn it lol light heat is good :iceslolan

Lookin' good so far.

cool idea, but i think the tire is on the wrong side *lol*

heh yea it is. No matter that was just a mockup.

;) thats why i added the *lol*

ive been looking at it for a while. Im thinking of using suspension and wheels from the Mad Mudder kit. Im missing the tires from the USA-1 and they look kinda big for the truck. Any opinions on this idea?

Holy Shit

Holy Shit

.....??

This is going to be a KILLER kitbash. Pics, pics, pics.

wow thats an honor coming from Mr. Model Trasher himself!! Thanks man!!

I gotta order paint and the kit. Im also gonna order toolboxes and interior junk photoetch sets and pile the inside with random crap. Im wanting to order 2 more Mad Mudders...one to build "stock" and the other for even more extra parts...mainly another tire to mount on the roof. I built a kind of side skirt from the parts i was originally gonna use to get the USA-1 axle pieces to work.

got the styrene for the brush guard!! now i just need some pics of what some look like to go on..

whoaa! different but clean! i'm starting to like trucks more everyday

http://img72.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Macdaddy4738/Expediton_cage_2.jpg

thats gonna be the top. The pink bars will probably be gone and replaced with wire mesh running across and boxes, spare tire, tools...random stuff piled on top

http://img72.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Macdaddy4738/Expedition_cage.jpg

side.

The yellow is the roll cage. Im going with an exterior cage on this.

So let me quess on this cage. In the case of a roll over the bars will protect the body from being trashed. If so nice. Pro lowrider hoppers do that.

quite an exo-skeleton you have planned, cool project

my only question is what size styrene should i use?

wow! this roll cage is going GREAT!

ive almost got one side completly done..i just need to cut and bent one more bar and its ready for glue and putty.

UNFORTUNATLY pics wont be up till tomorrow sometime..and suspension and wheels wont be coming till at least 2-3 weeks...along with Tamiya Epoxy Putty (yes Mike, Bill Kustomz, Im ditching the Squadron and ordering the good stuff heh) and paint. And ideas for paint? I was going to go with camel yellow/black but any other ideas will help my descision. As of now...like all my models in their prelim stages its taped together! So in the pics that i get tomorrow detail will be hard to see.

sorry i havent posted pics. My PC decided to take a dump and i had to reinstall my OS. I couldnt find the software for the camera...so no pics.

no pics yet...cage isnt finished.

I did however get the Mad Mudder. The tires look great. Question is the Suspension on the Expedition chassis is molded into the chassis..I cant figure out how to get rid of the molded in stuff to put the lifted suspension on. I may just make Skid plates to go over the orignal suspension,

Just cut it out and fill in the area if need with styrene.

tyres are way to big, they're bigger than the body.

Nice exoskeleton plan though.

tyres are way to big, they're bigger than the body.

Nice exoskeleton plan though.

i realized that
:smokin:

im using Mad Mudder tires and suspension instead.

ok thats better, please post some more pics of this sweet car

the wheels is too big for me! but it's a good idea!!
i'll do a nissan pick-up lift up from aoshima!

nissan pickup liftup? u meen toyota hilux?

oh! yes it's the hilux!

What ever happened to posting pictures?

still havent gotten the software installed on my PC. Im in the middle of moving downstairs (modeling area that is..) and the cage is only about 15% done.

sorry it took soo long for pics guys! Progress is VERRRY slow as you see.

http://img72.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Macdaddy4738/Expo1.jpg

http://img72.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Macdaddy4738/Expo2.jpg

sorry about the bad quality on that one..

http://img72.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Macdaddy4738/Expo3.jpg

http://img72.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Macdaddy4738/Expo4.jpg


i still may extend the lift just a bit more..its not as high as i want it yet.

no one has any thing to say? :dunno:

I can only see the first pic, but the cage is looking good. Bending styrene in three dimensions takes forever. Looking forward to a painted body/cage.

actually that part of the cage took me about 30 min. It wasnt that hard.

another quick update...

no pics but i started on the front skid plate to cover up the molded in suspension pieces. Its going really good...pretty easy to do. I want to get some photoetched bolts to go on the plate.

That is going to be one wicked suspension system you have there.

it fits pretty well. Problem now is getting the leaf springs to bend into the shape i need them to to mount properly. Plus the wheel sticks out kinda far.

This might sound completely obvious, but when you do the final build put the wheels on the right way round. In that first pic they are facing the wrong way.
Otherwise it all looks like a great project.

it fits pretty well. Problem now is getting the leaf springs to bend into the shape i need them to to mount properly. Plus the wheel sticks out kinda far.

I suggest making your own leaf springs! Either out of brass strips, or styrene strips.

Tikiman that was just a mock up...plus i am no longer using those wheels.

GTmike- ive already got the springs from the Mad Mudder Kit.

here is a pic of the beginnings of the skid plate which will be covering the molded in drive train and suspension...

http://img72.photobucket.com/albums/v220/Macdaddy4738/expo5.jpg

Brass leaf springs would still be sweet. So how are you attaching the pieces of the skid plate? Putty?

Brass leaf springs would still be sweet. So how are you attaching the pieces of the skid plate? Putty?

yea putty. Im not sure what type to use though...any help??

polyester putty is the best to use

that truck is looking awesome!!!!, keep posting pictures!

yea putty. Im not sure what type to use though...any help??

Tamiya Epoxy Putty Quick Type works well.

which would be the ideal choice? I may go ahead and order both Epoxy and Polyester