[Mercifull]

I felt defeated after trying and failing a few times to work out functioning doors so I left this project along for a while. Yesterday I decided to sit back down and have a good crack at it all again. This time I decided to ignore the doors and just go for a core build. I screwed most of the elements to the chassis now and it’s looking really good I’m so pleased with how it’s coming together. I wasn’t able to add the side flashlights yet as I didn’t have any hex head m3s long enough to go all the way through. (Red tape on doors as placeholder).

[Mercifull]

I’ve ordered the Frutto technologies simple trap lighting kit. Primarily so I can somehow fudge the animated bar graph without massive amounts of wiring. I cut the bottom half of the linrose lens thread off so I should be able to shove or hot glue in a regular led into the lens.

The frutto kit is pre programmed to perform the bar graph and red led light animation and runs off a 9v battery but I spoke to the maker who reckons it can be modded to run off 5v output from an arduino and I can run the red light off an arduino and do my own animation for that easy enough. Worst case scenario if I can’t work out a way to use an arduino I’ll keep it as a standalone circuit separate to the car itself.

[The_Y33TER]

Actually I tell a lie, a final final parcel did arrive also.

Five vintage Linrose B4611B1 Pilot lamps!

They are rarer than rocking horse poop here in the uk so I negotiated with someone in America to ship some to me, not cheap but I only need two; one for the RTV and probably one to upgrade my Haslabs 2-in-the-box. I’m hoping I can flog the other three to recoup some of the money it cost to import them.

Still trying to get some myself for my rubies trap and the 2ITB. And this build is kicking some serious ass, in a spiritual sense. I love it, man! Keep up the good work.

[Snooker]

I'm really struggling for space inside and getting doors to work so I've decided to try to rig up a system to use a single servo to move both doors at the same time rather than using a servo for each individual door.

i used a selfmade bracket on my RTV and two tiny servos to actuate the doors. It is mounted directly underneath the top cover where the lids are attached:




The Space inside is tight, so you have to go for tiny servos, doesen't have to be super strong ones, the Lids are not that heavy there are some more stylish options to move the lids with gears and chains, but i think the servos are doin a good job.

[Mercifull]

The Space inside is tight, so you have to go for tiny servos, doesen't have to be super strong ones, the Lids are not that heavy there are some more stylish options to move the lids with gears and chains, but i think the servos are doin a good job.

I'll have to check your build thread some more for ideas. You can see in this little video that I do have a small servo installed in the front. In my mind, I was going to use some arms in a sort of V pattern to lift both at the same time from a single servo. If this were moulded plastic I'd feel more comfortable taking apart and rebuilding over and over but because it's just tapped holes in FDM which is a lot softer I'm not sure how many times I can unscrew stuff before the threads are stripped. When this bargraph comes in from Frutto I'll remake my breadboard circuit and see if I can make doors function with all the electronics outside on a development board/breadboard first (I can do this because I can take the front "metal" panel off and feel the servo connector out the front for testing). If i can get it all to work I'll install the code onto a Nano with some screw-in terminal connectors and fit it inside. How do you turn yours on/off and remove the battery in yours?

[Mercifull]

I've been really slacking when it comes to working on this project but I recently had a new office/workshop built in the garden and so I set myself up a little workstation at the weekend to try and tackle this. I wasn't able to get functioning doors and lighting sorted in time but I did get it into a drivable state which was essential because this weekend I am displaying it at an event called CarFest. Wiring is a mess inside and theres a lot of bodgery but it works. And I can still revisit this again in the future.

Doors obviously a priority but also a flashing bargraph and red LED and a metal front bumper required. I also need to reprint a few elements that cracked during assembly and are currently patched together with glue.

[Mercifull]

I took my RTV to C4R FEST last weekend. It was overall a success and I think people liked it but unfortunately the weakened flashlight (that I cracked while bolting on last week) broke during use. Also the battery died and I didn’t bring the charger so I could only display it two days out of the three but teething problems are to be expected.

[Mercifull]

An hour or two off the 3D printed some fresh new flashlight components.


Easily installed thanks to advanced thinking and adding connectors to the wires rather than having them directly soldered so I just pushed in the flashlight wires.


And now it’s back to fixed again ready for display at an event next weekend. I added some warning labels as well now to various parts of the trap but still no functioning doors or additional lighting yet.

[Mercifull]

At lunchtime today I 3D printed the front bumper. I’ve been contemplating getting one cut/bent out of some mild steel or aluminium but just never been able to find someone local for a sensible price.

So I printed one out and use a heat gun to bend it to shape. I then used aluminium tape to give it a more metallic look than just spreading chrome. I’ll still need to scuff it a bit more with some fine sandpaper. Not perfect but good enough for now.




I’ve also ordered some wheel adapters that have a greater offset. The ones I am using at the moment are only 15mm and the wheels scuff against the side knobs when turning. I originally used the Traxxas end point adjustments but then it doesn’t turn very well. So I’ve reset it and with wider axels I hope I can turn a lot better. They should be arriving tomorrow.

[Mercifull]

Longer hub adapters arrived.


Visually doesn’t look much difference but I can turn a lot more without scuffing against the chassis now.



Now it’s yet another 3cm wider though. I’ve no idea how I’m going to transport this easily lol.

[Mercifull]

The wider wheels certainly make it easier to steer but I'm not so sure it looks right. I think perhaps I need to see if there is some sort of intermediary offset between 15 and 30 so I can turn nicely but without it showing off quite so much of the drive system.

[mike_waclo]

The wider wheels certainly make it easier to steer but I'm not so sure it looks right. I think perhaps I need to see if there is some sort of intermediary offset between 15 and 30 so I can turn nicely but without it showing off quite so much of the drive system.

I used 15mm adapters on mine... And used the Traxxas app to adjust the steering trim limits, so that the wheels would stop destroying the knobs on the side plates.

Honestly, with the speeds it can reach, it was better to limit the steering radius a bit, so that I was less likely to flip the thing over at higher speeds.

[Mercifull]

The wider wheels certainly make it easier to steer but I'm not so sure it looks right. I think perhaps I need to see if there is some sort of intermediary offset between 15 and 30 so I can turn nicely but without it showing off quite so much of the drive system.

I used 15mm adapters on mine... And used the Traxxas app to adjust the steering trim limits, so that the wheels would stop destroying the knobs on the side plates.

Honestly, with the speeds it can reach, it was better to limit the steering radius a bit, so that I was less likely to flip the thing over at higher speeds.

I did attempt changing the steering trim but using the manual controls on the TQi rather than via the app. I do have another TQi with the Traxxas link module so perhaps it would be better to move that over to this controller instead (and maybe sell my other TQi it's not like I need two!) and go back to the 15mm offsets because it did look better imo.

[mike_waclo]

I did attempt changing the steering trim but using the manual controls on the TQi rather than via the app. I do have another TQi with the Traxxas link module so perhaps it would be better to move that over to this controller instead (and maybe sell my other TQi it's not like I need two!) and go back to the 15mm offsets because it did look better imo.

I think it's worth trying. The shorter ones definitely looked better to me than the longer ones. Really, I thought it looked best with NO adapters, but the steering was too impractical at that distance.

[Mercifull]

Took the RTV for a spin at Yeovil Railway Centre today. Seemed to go well. Still getting a few issues with the wheels working themselves loose off the hubs despite using pliers to tighten. Might need to try some Loctite.

[Mercifull]

I got some blue Loctite last week but was reluctant to install it on the wider spacers. If the weather stays dry at the weekend I'll get my other, not-an-RTV, Traxxas Stampede out for a bash and then I'll swap the Bluetooth module over from the regular 2-channel TQi to the 4-channel one. Then, I'll probably put the 15mm spacers back on and try to reduce the steering endpoints using the app.

I am also planning this weekend to do a bit of filming about my RTV. I've not done any proper YouTube (presenting to the camera) stuff for a while so a little nervous and I'm not even sure if it'll end up as something anyone will watch! haha. I've built myself a little camera and lighting setup in the "shed" so we'll see how it ends up.

[Mercifull]

An attempt was made today to do some filming. I did about a third, maybe half, before my Apple Watch ran out of battery. This unfortunately put an end to the filming session because I was using my watch to stop/start recordings and monitor the camera. Because it’s on a tripod pushed up against the wall I can’t actually tap or even see the screen itself.

So, I’m going to count this as a test run. Looking back at the footage it’s too warm and I need to push the colour of the light more to the colder white part of the spectrum. Pleased with general appearance and sound quality though. Some of it still looks like I’m reading off a teleprompter but that’s because I am lol. Script too long to memorise and I get enough bloody wrong even when the words are up in front of me let alone from memory! Haha.