Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Smasher

[Moondoggie]

Even though a truck is old, it can still be rebuilt and modified to suit the needs of its user. This vehicle is ideal for smashing through groups of zombies or fighting barbarians of the wasteland!

Yay! I finally got around to posting this... This truck is an ongoing project and I intend to keep changing and improving it. Hope the pics entertain! :dance:

I built this truck up new from the Hilux high-lift kit and constructed a custom bed for it. I custom wired the lights from LEDs purchased on superbrightleds.com which run off of a small battery pack. The rust on the vehicle, is for the most part, real rust created by soaking steel wool in water then 'drawing' the rust on using the rust chucks that resulted. After each layer I applied a clear coat.


http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/b51a60fd.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/5b14fc39.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/15fd46b8.jpg

[Moondoggie]

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/14401a26.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/406a3c47.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/1cd9c4f4.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/c224d6c9.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/cc1a185b.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/b0b72b28.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/937f94e0.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/1195cbc5.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/ec133697.jpg

[7point2]

i always loved this truck, amazing work on that rear cage too, and the pictures speak for themselves.:jaw:

[Moondoggie]

Well I am thinking about posting a few of the pictures from when I was building this thing. :)

[Blazerbogger]

I was wondering when you were going to post this truck. Awesome idea for an RC. It kind of has a Mad Max look to it. The rear cage is so scale too!

[Wyoming]

THis is the nicest piece of junk I've seen, and you finally got around to putting it on here after lots of prodding lol!

[McFig]

Great truck and great pictures. Love the "barbarians" in the first pic.

[Moondoggie]

Thanks guys! :D

A few weeks ago I was driving this thing in the mud quite a bit and did not bother to clean it between runs. It got pretty messy...

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/c75db892.jpg

After that photo I finally cleaned all the mud off.:yahoo:

[IceChilly]

OMG that truck is awesome! You will be contacted by the producers of the next Resident Evil Movie! ;)

[hbc865]

No better yet! another MAD MAX movie

[teebeehex]

No better yet! another MAD MAX movie

no, please. After "Beyond Thunderdome", I think we've seen enough of Mad Max. After all, we don't need another hero! :D

[SMOKE-DOG]

You gotta start runnin and posting more pics of this rig. Some of those pics look 1:1. The bed detail is crazy.

[Moondoggie]

Don't worry I'll post some more pics of it!:) I need to post some of the build pics too. Right now though I am thinking about redoing the rear "cage" for a little bit different look, but with a bit more detail as well.

I am going to be putting an R2 in it. The three speed is kinda fun but most of the driving I do, I would rather just use an R2 and improve the ground clearance.

[Arcocustom]

Need me one uh dem there trucks for the pre-apocalypse here in the big city, New York. It's like war on the streets now! A survival truck.

[th67ss]

Holy Mad Max theme........that thing is great looking:thumb::thumb::thumb:


I'd have to agree in some of those picture it looks like a full size:omg:



.....Tom

[Moondoggie]

Well I'll go ahead and start posting some build pics of it...

These are the very first build pics I took. Just some simple painting and thinking about layout. Before I even started it I had one thing in mind: paint it black. Ultra flat black to be exact!:dance:

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/e778abae.jpg


I'm not going to post any pictures of putting the kit together since that is a given and nobody needs to see how messy the desk got. Actually the desk got a lot more chaotic later on.:thumb: I assembled the chassis and painted the body flat black.

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/88f54463.jpg


When I started painting the chrome bumpers, I noticed that an incredibly light coating of flat black sprayed from a distance gave them an aged/weathered metal look. The result seemed to turn out good on the painted grille as well.

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/90d5f281.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/11e6be17.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/4d7645ed.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/25e42c69.jpg

[Wyoming]

Don't forget it took you about 6months to build it if I recall :)

[7point2]

i remember hearing about it for a long time. was glad to finally see its debut.

[Moondoggie]

Here's some more build pics. These show how I put the grille guard together. I extended each side out by replacing the screws with 3mm threaded rod and brass tubing. Some heat shrink is used on the threaded rod so the brass tube fits snug. The ends are secured with a piece of aluminium and some lock nuts.

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/d4f940e7.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/5c0eb8f1.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/72824f17.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/2df3cd49.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/d586c202.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/202ff9e9.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/649ddaca.jpg

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http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/6c58fb76.jpg

[McFig]

Nice work and great detail on the build. Keep it coming

[Moondoggie]

Nice work and great detail on the build. Keep it coming

Alright! Some more pics! =D

I painted the outside of the fog lights the same way I did the bumpers and installed them on the grille guard.

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/aab3241c.jpg


I then mounted the grille guard back on the chassis. Unfortunately, it just looked too low in it's default position and it was in the way of the headlights. I needed to raise it up a bit.

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/491c2429.jpg


I just decided to utilize the upper hole above the two lower holes used for the default mounting position. This required me to drill some new holes on the grille guard itself. I also had to dremel out some of the plastic so that the leaf springs would have room to move.

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/8a2fde60.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/9947e20f.jpg

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http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/7f3d170b.jpg


The small raise made it look a lot better and the extended grille guard is no longer covering up the headlights.

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/3e4be0c9.jpg

[backtomyroots]

Stunning work here - one of my favourites - great to see the build steps :thumb:.

[AeroSynch]

Holy crap, this truck is awesome!
Just saw the pictures of it on another site, and I got to say, I love the whole look of it. Very well done.

[Wyoming]

If you build this backwards any faster you'll have a NIB kit again soon.

[jeffro]

Not much more I can say about this build that hasn't been said, but I will say it anyway, its one of the baddest on here. :rockon:

[hdmm]

Awesome build! :D

[Moondoggie]

Thanks guys! I'll eventually get some pictures of the guts of this thing to upload, but it might take a while since lately I have been cleaning up my work areas and organizing stuff. :dance:

[teebeehex]

...lately I have been cleaning up my work areas and organizing stuff. :dance:

translation: I got me a girlfriend and she wants me to grow up! :p

Moondoggie, don't forget your friends out here. Keep up the great work!!

[jmini]

wow, thats pretty cool, i love the paint you did to the bumpers, and i definitely love the rare cage you've got there. sweet deal man. keep up the great work, can't wait to see more pictures.

[Knytemare]

Wow that is one awesome looking truck!

[HuskeyHilux]

That is a piece of art!!!! I love it!

[chaos]

Now this was a cool thread to read...AWESOME job on this truck, you captured the theme to a "T" when you see the the rear cage, the barbed wire, ..love the rear doors as well..but i hope when there is a Zommbie in there you use something stronger than wire to keep the door locked lol...thanks for sharing these pics.

[Moondoggie]

Thanks guys! It will probably be a little while before I update this thread again, as I am completely rebuilding this rig. Perhaps to the point where it will live up to "Zombie Smasher" even more so than now! =D

[Wyoming]

You should post a picture of the pile of parts this is currently in during your rebuild Jesse, kinda funny I had to push Hilux parts out of the way on your workbench the other day to fix my Sand Scorcher

[Moondoggie]

Well since I am doing a complete rebuild of this rig I might as well post rebuild pics as I go. I have disassembled almost the entire vehicle so this will be from the ground up. First item on the rebuild list is the wheels and tires. This time I decided to use some RC4WD stamped steel wheels and Trail Busters. I wanted the wheels to be completely rusted, so I gave them the wire brush treatment to ensure the surface would be vulnerable:

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/d6cca9c0.jpg

Interestingly enough, sitting in different mixtures of salt and water did not get the wheels rusting much at all. After two weeks of letting the water evaporate, refilling, and repeating, there were only a few small rusty spots to show for it. I figured there must be a better way. Dangerous corrosive chemicals? Nah. Perhaps electricity would be willing to do the job. I rigged up a small tub with some conductive plates and some wires with alligator clips, functioning as the cathode and anode respectively. I filled up the tub with water and hooked up all the steel wheels to the alligator clips, applied 4 AAs at 6 volts, and 24 hours later:

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/deb32e29.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/f324c8ab.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/4abdb220.jpg

Perfect! Rusty wheels! Just what I needed to accomplish. I Just got the Trail Busters installed on them today:

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/f4e0fa68.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/7285c9a3.jpg

The new tires do look a bit too clean to go with the wheels, but once I drive them in the dust and grime they should look right at home!

[McFig]

Wow! Nice touch

[7point2]

i like the "mad scientist" lab project.

the wheels look awesome:rockon:

[teebeehex]

Wow, Kwik-Rust(tm) that sure is some nutty professor stuff right there. :D

Excellent work (although I hate to rain on your parade - the nuts n bolts need a little rust-love too! :o)

[Moondoggie]

Thanks guys! Don't worry about the bolts. They will get plenty of weathering later on.

[Dakillswitch]

Great update on this rig man :rockon:

[Wyoming]

This worked really well, I am always amazed how hard it is to get stuff to rust here but I'm not complaining either since I don't tolerate it on my real trucks just models lol!

[chaos]

Amazing.....

[Moondoggie]

A little update on this rebuild. I sanded and roughed up the frame in preparation for rusting:

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/3e6bcc47.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/84b98484.jpg

The electrolysis did a decent first strike on the frame but I decided to give it a second bombardment with salt water:

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/6910ab4f.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/ff5d7c1f.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/35dd387b.jpg

It turned out really well, but it looked a little too even. I decided one final attack in the salt water would help bring out some darker colors and perhaps a bit less even. It seemed to do the trick:

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/9958ad94.jpg

Now my frame is nicely rusted and all the screw holes have nature's thread-lock in them. In the next week I should be starting to reassemble all the pieces. The plastic chassis components will need a layer of rusting paint. I am going to be using an RC4WD R2 tranny with a Tamiya 23 turn Super Stock motor (should get some reasonable speed out of it from the R2's point of view).

[Wyoming]

The most beautiful metal finish I've seen Jesse, no bling bling can compare to rust on a model...ironically I don't tolerate even the smallest amount of cancer on my real cars though lol!

[jeffro]

I'll be watching you redo your Zombie Smasher. It caught my eye back in the beginning. It amazes me sometimes what we do to our trucks in the pursuit of realism.

[That guy]

I never thought I would say this but " hey man, nice rust". I can not stand chrome, but I never thought I would be a fan of rust!!! Looks like you found the right application for it though, looks good, and thats a pretty cool trick " insta-rust". looks good and I will be watching the re-assembly process.:thumb:

[860Crawler]

Epic build.

[chaos]

still love reading this build....seen the pictures of it from the Axial Comp on RCC.

[Moondoggie]

still love reading this build....seen the pictures of it from the Axial Comp on RCC.

Hah, yeah before I even got rebuild pics of it up... I already broke the solder joints on the sides of the bed and bent in the roof rack. So those I need to rebuild, but I am going to change the look and style of them a little anyway. The whole truck turned bright orange after spending a day in the rain! axles and all. Also the front leafs keep bending so I need to replace them. It was a fun event nonetheless. I'll get to posting some updated pics soon, but not now since I just got back yesterday evening.

[That guy]

:frusty: Any updates, I'm dying to see where you take this next!!:yourock:

[Moondoggie]

Yeah, I really need to post the rest of my pics... I have not actually done much with it, but I still have build pics to post. Just got back from an 11 day trip. :D I'll see if I can get to that today or tomorrow!

[Moondoggie]

Got a few more of my pics organized!

Frame reassembled:

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/11e89fad.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/2cbae546.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/82b9f19f.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/74dd2f01.jpg

[Moondoggie]

Installation of the R2 tranny:

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/ff8cf1c4.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/3d371698.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/c5ad1c46.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/88e77653.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/67789b0c.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/2d46279d.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/ecf1a9c7.jpg

[Moondoggie]

Building the battery tray:

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/1dac650d.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/427e4f20.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/cd4fd1b9.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/8392e22d.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/81874435.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/7806dc18.jpg

[Moondoggie]

The battery tray (continued):

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/23ebef7a.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/25c7db18.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/170222ad.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/6f37524f.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/c10bfbdd.jpg

[Moondoggie]

A few progress shots after the battery tray was painted:

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/a948af91.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/8c13cda7.jpg

http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww35/epiccrawler/3f6671ad.jpg

[That guy]

Looks killer! I need more:cool:

[Wyoming]

Yeah you need to get the rest of those pictures Jesse so these guys can see just what a rusty heap it is

[crcoppens]

That looks great, the trailbuster tires really set it off.

[Northwest 4x4]

I would have to agree that the tire's really set it off and where do u guys keep getting these small nuts and bolt for the rims

[Ptiguy]

the weathering is fantastic! its spot on. when fighting zombies all day you gots no time to clean up : )

[Wyoming]

I'll try and get moondoggie to do some updates for you guys since I know he is getting ready to work on this truck again