Axial Base Camp Flex’n! - Flex Friday

The Axial Base Camp hasn’t been out on the rocks for a while because…snow. The Base Camp doesn’t have the weight to dig for traction in winter conditions. But, it’s been sitting in the garage needing some love. I tackled a few small outstanding modifications and took it for a test drive in the Zen Rock Garden.
The first mod was one I was nervous about: clearing the windows. I found Tamiya Paint Remover at my local hobby shop and went to work. Clearing the windows was a bit of a process. They are not perfectly clear but look good. Here’s what I did:
1. Cut out centre of window stickers, leaving trim in place.
2. Sanded off light backing coat of paint with 120 grit.
3. Used Tamiya paint remover and cotton swabs, to scrub off remaining paint. Swabs tended to scratch the plastic. Lots of paint residue left in the scratches even after cleaning.
4. Buffed with a fine grit compound (blue) and a buffing cone in a drill. Wouldn’t bother with this step again.
5. Scrubbed windows with Maguire’s buffing pad and cleaning solution. This left an even surface, but heavily scratched.
6. Wet sanded, 120 grit to 2000 grit. This left a very smooth but foggy surface. Windows looked perfectly clear when wet.
7. Masked and then sprayed inside of windows with Tamiya PS-55 Flat Clear, 3 light coats. This left a smooth but matte primer surface. Had to sand after the second coat because it go dusty between coats one and two.
8. Sprayed with Tamiya TS-13 Clear Gloss, 2 coats. Would have used the Maguire’s kit gloss but wasn’t sure how it would react with the PS base-coat. Tamiya TS-13 should be okay as a clear coat, though it might be a bit fragile. Windows are a very consistent transparency. No scratches visible on the front window, which is the main thing.
Second modification was adjustments to the ride height and travel. The stock Base Camp has 6.5mm (1/8") compression limiters on the shock shafts. I trimmed my body and bumpers with these in place. Removing the limiters completely would allow about ½" more flex, but requires aggressive body and bumper trimming. I actually stole two of the limiters to use on my TRX-4 Sport to eliminate body rub with the tracks (as these will be installed seasonally, I like the Axial snap-on/snap-off limiters). I purchased J-concepts rubber shock shaft bump stops a while ago. These I trimmed and installed on the Base Camp. The rear got 4.5mm stops, while the front got 5.5mm stops. I moved the upper shock mounts (front and rear) to a lower mounting hole. This raised the ride height, but allowed me to avoid more trimming. To keep the front end low I removed a bit of pre-load.
The third modification was mostly cosmetic. I added a black matte vinyl wrap to the hood. This really ties the grill, window visor, and tonneau cover together.
Speaking of the tonneau cover, I also cut some vinyl to act as trim lines. The lines are subtle and not very deep, but they add some texture and believability to the tonneau cover. It now looks like it could fold open rather than being simply a flat black surface.
Truck: Axial SCX10 III Base Camp RTR
* ESC: HobbyWing 1080
* Motor: Spektrum 35T
* Rx: Spektrum SR315
* Servo: Spektrum S614 WP Metal Gear
* Winch: Reefs 300:IS COMP SPEC Internal Winch w/ RC4WD fairlead
* Tires: Axial Falken Wildpeak M/T 1.9x4.75x1.8 R35 compound
* Wheels: Axial Black Rhino Primm glue-on
* Rock Pirates Base Camp Sliders
* Bowhouse RC Panhard Mount
Camera: GoPro Hero10 Pro with MediaMod
Software: Adobe Premiere

[@jpokorny2268]

What a difference clear windows make for this rig .I bypassed it just because of the painted over windows but I didn't think it was that easy to clear them. Good job.

[@rcstories_ca]

Yeah, it looks much more believable now. Unfortunately, clearing windows is not that easy. The process I took is in the video description. No matter what, I find that the paint removal process leaves a lot of very fine scratches which show up as slight fogging which can never be completely removed. But still, the added depth is worth it.

[@FerociousSniper]

It looks amazing!