RCCrawler Forums

Thloftus

I’ve wanted to build a RC4WD Beast II for several years and finally saved up enough courage to take on the body in all it’s many-pieced glory.

I’m planning to weather the body, scratch build part of the interior, and make a weathered wood floor for the bed - all three are new for me. Also adding a sound kit and possibly a smoker since you know, I’m an adult playing with toy trucks. All of this has been done before, but like most of my builds, I like to arrive well after the fads or new-to-the-hobby excitement have passed, Lol!

I’ve read several threads about weathering hard bodies, but probably still have no idea what I’m doing - any advice is greatly appreciated! I’ve also researched options for weathering wood boards and settled on making a vinegar / steel wool solution and painting this on the boards. Should I combine the vinegar with a black wash once the boards are installed? Or paint the boards with tea first to increase the tannins? Please advise! I assume balsa is a good choice, but are others better? I have no experience with this part either, so any input is helpful.

This build is likely to simmer slow due to a combination of my build speed and family / work commitments. I try to build kits with my kids, but I’m not sure they’ll have patience for this one. Not sure if this will speed me up or just keep me from ever working on it, lol!

Here’s my parts list so far:

* RC4WD Beast II kit
* Holmes Hobbies 1400 kV Revolver
* Castle Creations Sidewinder 4 ESC
* Castle Creations 10 A BEC + Gear Head BEC RX Bypass Adapter for the steering servo
* ProModler DS470BLHV steering servo
* Power HD 20 kg waterproof shift servo
* Castle Creations 4 mm ESC-motor bullet connectors
* Associated ESS Dual+ engine sound system
* Heng Long 1:16 tank smoke maker. I’ve never used one, but it’s hard to resist at < $10 on eBay
* Axial AXI80037 parts tree - has steering wheels and shifters that I’m hoping fit the truck
* Seats I found on eBay (picture below)
* RC4WD RC4Z-E0082 LED Basic Lighting System For Mil-Spec 6x6 Body Set
* Futaba R203GF 3-channel receiver, possibly upgrading to a R304SB 4-channel receiver if necessary
* JST leads for the battery plug for future expansion
* 3S batteries I use in all my rigs

I plan to run the receiver at the 6 V spec voltage for the Power HD servo.

I’d appreciate any tips for using the smoke maker. Like other items in this build, I’ve never used one before and I’d rather not set the body on fire or dump oil in the wrong port! Can it be tied to the throttle so the smoke is proportional to the motor speed? Is baby oil the best smoker fluid? I’ll need to make an exhaust also and would like to stay true to the 1:1 counterparts for this truck. Please send any and all advise! I don’t mind taking an extra long time to get the details right.

I have all of the parts except the seats and smoker, which are on their way.

Let the unveiling begin!

Large shipping box, maybe the largest and best one for me so far. Not sure why the picture is so funky with one end of the box looking smaller and further away than the other. That’s a big box, son!



The kit box is sweet and doesn’t disappoint, especially the existential dread, Lol!



Here’s the shift servo and receiver, ESC and motor, motor lead connectors, bypass adapter, light kit, and JST leads nicely arranged on the Beast II box - fantastic!


The Revolver and SW4 deserve their own dedicated picture. I’m looking forward to trying out the Revolver. I’ve never used an outrunner before and have read and watched many great things about this one.


The sound kit looks well-made and arrives with nearly infinite - or at least 20 - options for the motor noise !


Next up is the steering servo. Super impressive customer service from Promodler. The servo arrived in a few short days - from the opposite side of the country - and came with several bits of unexpected and fantastic swag!

I’ve never owned a servo hat before and actually like this one!

The beer cozy looks even better with friends! Don’t despair, the cozys are full-size. The cans are 16 oz Stouts.


The servo itself is beautiful. Looking forward to this one given all the great reviews here and elsewhere. Have any of you used their lower torque options for shift servos?


The smoker looks fully capable of smoking and making a lot of noise on it’s own. Hopefully the sound kit speakers can overwhelm it and the Revolver! It hasn’t arrived yet, but here’s a picture in the meantime.


And finally, the seats. It took forever to find these. Everyone has racing seats, but I wanted a simpler seat style that’s (hopefully) more true to the truck. I literally spent at least 1.5 hours over several days to find them - such sacrifice, lol! I considered making seats myself, but that would require upholstery, which is even further outside my skill set. Hopefully these fit the cab. I’ll find out when they arrive! Here’s a picture from the seller


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