My lil’ blue Hilux story

J

Jii

Supporting Member
Yeah the axles are so much wider on the VP. For the AWB, you’ll need the longer rear chassis rails and driveshaft for the xtra cab. But it is a nicer chassis for scale applications than the VS4-10 (and that’s coming from a certified VP fan boy ☺️)

I’ll try to get a pic or few next week of my VS4-10 and BR Hilux side by side. The difference in overall appearance is HUGE.
 
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J

Jii

Supporting Member
Fixed a couple of details that had been bugging me since 10 months ago. Turns out it only took 20 mins to remedy 🫣
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Hated the ”stinger” on the rear bumper so that got deleted. So much betterer!

The grill needed some work too, way too plasticky and toylike. Hit it with some flat clear and detailed with X-10 Gun Metal. Made such an enormous difference.

Next up is some tasteful and minimal weathering of the body to see if I can avoid a full respray. Remains to be seen!
 
J

Jii

Supporting Member
Ok so big changes coming:
Ordered an airbrush since I really want to paint indoors in the winter (5+ months of darkness and cold weather here in the Nordics). Since I hate prepping (bodywork and sanding) I decided to order a whole new body so I have a clean slate from the get go.

The idea will be a daily driver bought new in 1982 so no winch or tube bumper/sliders/rollbar (winch has already been moved to another truck in preparation for an event next week) and there will be some rust spots etc. Will still be a blue short bed Hilux, not to worry. But a really simple everyday get stuck truck.

I really want to have the body on a rear hinge mechanism and the battery underneath the body and not in a box in the bed. In preparation for that I already did those changes with stuff I had laying around. Bed is like swiss cheese and the wiring is a mess but I’m super happy with the concept.

Battery tray is the aluminum plate that goes on a VS4-10 slider and rear hinge mount/rear bumper assembly is cobbled together from pieces of frame rail, two pairs of RC4WD bumper mounts, an aliexpress bumper and miscellaneous hardware. Not pretty but is mainly hidden anyway and works like a charm.

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J

Jii

Supporting Member
Found a pair of DIY ”sliders” I made for my VS4-10 a loong time ago. Off with the tube sliders and a bit of crafting later I had something I am very pleased with! Needs some finishing but definitely getting somewhere 👌
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J

Jii

Supporting Member
Found some files for inner fenders designed for the BRX01 Lc70 body and decided to try them. They fit per-fect-ly without any modding. Also painted the bottom panels and made a prototype ”limit strap” from some elastic cord so the body doesn’t hinge too far.

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J

Jii

Supporting Member
Still waiting for the new body. Made some prototype mud flaps in the meantime and I’m so satisfied with them that they might be final versions..

Very simple construction: bolted some aluminum standoffs to the chassis rail pieces that act as bumper/body hinge mounts and wrapped a strip of rubber around the standoff. The mudflaps swiwel freely out of the way if needed. The end tips of the rear bumper act as a stop when body is on so they cant slide out sideways. Genius (and all of this totally by accident)! ☺️
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J

Jii

Supporting Member
Made some front mudflaps too. Also fixed the rear ones by removing the wonky unscale hardware (that no one ever would see but I KNOW that they’re there and that’s not an option) and used tire glue instead. Much betterer!
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