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Ride of the Month

February 08

Archive (Rigs of the Past)

landy 1 TITLE: 2.2 ProScaler Defender 90 build
OWNER: Thirsty

Chassis build list goes like this:
- Wheely King axles locked
- Stampede trans locked 18/81 gears
- ProScaler chassis
- Novak Crawler brushless
- Hitec HS5995TG servo
- Traxxas drive shafts lengthened
- Wheely king shocks droop setup
- RPM Revolver wheels narrow offset
- Rock Lizzard tires narrowed
- Star foams and 3oz up front
- MX3 FM radio/receiver
- 2 cell LiMn 2200 battery

Body build list:
- HPI Landrover Defender 90
- Tamiya Wild Willy driver figure
- Proline roof rack x2
- TLT front bumper guard
- HPI Savage roof lights
- Home built Jack-all and bungee cord
- Home built lexan rear deck and rub rails

This build started off with the Landrover body and Wild Willy as my pilot for this rig. The HPI body is not too correct for the Defender 90s I see in British magazines, such as full back wagons or topless. I figured a covered truck back end would be within my talents, so off came the roll bar and in went the rear windows and deck. Lots of the magazine trucks are outfitted with rub rails on the rear quarters, I made mine of styrene plastic. On the roof I doubled up Prolines' roof racks based with wire mesh and some off-road lights then loaded a Jack-all in it. Up front the bumper guard is a TLT unit with added side loops for headlight protection. I used a combination of inside and outside paint to get hi and low gloss contrast to add realism.

The ProScaler chassis was built up for some speed as well as climbing power just the same as the Brits build. Novak crawler brushless has the grunt as well as good top end speed, but I wanted more speed opting for 18/81 gears on the Pede trans. Narrow wheels and tires are my favorite when building scalers because the fit under the body keeping the proportions right. A droop setup is easy to make work with a scaler when worrying about tire rub. The body can be mounted closer to the tires but you lose a little high speed driving quality. This truck is a hoot to burn around on trails and out on the rocks.