1:8 Scale Grave Digger

Paul4x4

Well-Known Member
Its alive! Its alive!....... wow I cant believe how amazing that looks.
Yeah, it's alive finally! Thank you!:)

The only thing I don't personally like very much about is that it has way too wide track width with those wheels, and there's not much I can do about it, but I will try to figure out something to make it look better...

Awesome. :cool
Thanks, Jason!:)
 
Last edited:

KingClod27

Well-Known Member
Personally I dont think it looks too bad...I know the mad force axles are kinda wide and the offset of those wheels dont help but with the body on I think it will look ok. Anyone who sees it wont even notice lol. I would love to do something like this
 

Paul4x4

Well-Known Member
Personally I dont think it looks too bad...I know the mad force axles are kinda wide and the offset of those wheels dont help but with the body on I think it will look ok. Anyone who sees it wont even notice lol. I would love to do something like this
Thanks! Maybe you're right. I should make a poll to see what people think about the track width of the Digger, lol!:D





Today I cleaned the old paint off from the body because the paint I used turned out to be kinda crappy, and it was flaking off. So I airbrushed it with Parma faskolor black! Now I can figure out something to get the body mounted on the chassis, so I get to test drive it with the lid on it!

And because it's summer and hot and all, I decided to cut the side windows open, which gave a lot more realistic look to whole truck! :cool

I should also start fabbing some parts for the rear steering...
 

Paul4x4

Well-Known Member
You could try a lil velcro along the top of the chassis and the rear..
Yeah, that's what I was thinkin too, and I'm also planning to put some insulation closed-cell rubber mat under the hood and to the sides to give them some support against the chassis and to keep them from fluttering when driving. Hard to explain, but you'll see the results when I'm done with it!:)
 

Brian34

Well-Known Member
Yeah, that's what I was thinkin too, and I'm also planning to put some insulation closed-cell rubber mat under the hood and to the sides to give them some support against the chassis and to keep them from fluttering when driving. Hard to explain, but you'll see the results when I'm done with it!:)
Okay, first of all, your digger looks fantastic !

I switched to Velcro, to mount the bodies onto my two trucks.
I have to say though, if they wheel stand high/hard enough, the bodies pop off quite easily.
So, in reference to your digger, I would to share my thought, that multiple Velcro points on the chassis, with each Velcro point being as large as feasibly possible, could/may be helpful.
 

Paul4x4

Well-Known Member
Today I was cleaning up the garage, and because the mailman brought me new goodies, I also had do work on the Digger some too!

This is an on-board glow system/battery level indicator if you are wondering! With a push of a button it gives 10 seconds of glow time, and also confirms that the plug is actually glowing, so it's easy to see when the plug has gone bad. Also now I can fire up the engine with the body on, so that's awesome too!:)


Had to fab a floor to the cockpit to get some flat surface to mount that little red box on to. Also made a little aluminum plate that holds the receiver. If you look closely you'll see what I mean. Axial racing seat is also mocked up, but I don't know if I'm gonna use it or make a little bit more scale looking real bucket seat...


Here's how it sits in there, so the glow button can be reached through the window.


On top of that, I also got some sexy red interior lighting! Only it was hard to capture the effect with a crappy phonecam, but you'll get the idea!:cool


Stay tuned for more updates!
 

KingClod27

Well-Known Member
sweet looks good...Thats definitely a plus to be able to start it without taking the body off. did you break in the motor sum more?
 

Paul4x4

Well-Known Member
sweet looks good...Thats definitely a plus to be able to start it without taking the body off. did you break in the motor sum more?
Yeah, it helps a lot! There's even some expensive glow system that you hook up to a spare receiver channel, and just flip a switch on your radio when you need some glow. And some that can be y-harnessed to a throttle servo, and those give some automatic glow when idling to make the engine idle better and in lower rpm's. I wasn't even aware how much stuff they have been putting up on the market while I was out of the hobby six years, before I started building the Digger a year ago...

And no, I haven't got time to continue the break in process, and it's been raining a lot...:( But I'm on my vacation now, so maybe I have some more play time!:)
 

Paul4x4

Well-Known Member
Today my goal was to make this snakes nest a little bit nicer looking...


and this is how it turned out after I made a piece of lexan to hide all the wires. Much cleaner now!:cool


Also fabbed some clear lexan pieces on the sides too, just like they are on the 1:1 monster trucks. I might paint that upper part black to hide the receiver and wires and crap...


This is how it looks like if you go down and peek under the fender. Very realistic looking, me likes!:cool


I also tested my new glow system, and it's working like a charm! Too bad I still have some problems to get the engine run properly...

Let's see what I start fabbing next, so stay tuned for more!:cool
 

JoshDIGRhodes

Well-Known Member
This thing is beastly. One of the best looking Grave Digger trucks I've personally ever seen. I can't wait to see it out hitting a jump wide open! haha.
 

Paul4x4

Well-Known Member
This thing is beastly. One of the best looking Grave Digger trucks I've personally ever seen. I can't wait to see it out hitting a jump wide open! haha.
Thanks man!

I just should get back to it if I'd like to get the thing up and running in this lifetime, LOL! :D I've been very lazy with this one... But I promise I will jump it one day! :)
 

Gabe2304

Well-Known Member
I love this truck! And the only thing I suggest is painting/anodizing the shocks black and silver. And painting/dying the rims gray and the beadlocks black or green.

Black beadlocks: (Charlie Pauken's truck.)
http://www.monsterjam.com/PhotoGallery/Album44642/Photos/Page56/?url=/assets/0/86/776/5f1ac222-17b9-4ff1-9567-a1185dde2c41.jpg

Green beadlocks: (Dennis' truck.)
http://www.monsterjam.com/PhotoGallery/Album44398/Photos/Page60/?url=/assets/0/86/773/a66ea159-c587-41fc-8bfa-06c8d9ffbd17.jpg
 

Paul4x4

Well-Known Member
I love this truck! And the only thing I suggest is painting/anodizing the shocks black and silver. And painting/dying the rims gray and the beadlocks black or green.

Black beadlocks: (Charlie Pauken's truck.)
http://www.monsterjam.com/PhotoGallery/Album44642/Photos/Page56/?url=/assets/0/86/776/5f1ac222-17b9-4ff1-9567-a1185dde2c41.jpg

Green beadlocks: (Dennis' truck.)
http://www.monsterjam.com/PhotoGallery/Album44398/Photos/Page60/?url=/assets/0/86/773/a66ea159-c587-41fc-8bfa-06c8d9ffbd17.jpg
Thanks! :)

The beadlock rings will be painted black at some point, but I like the shocks the way they are, because they look a lot like the red King coilover shocks Dennis once had under one of the Digger's, might have even been the XX but I don't remember that well anymore...
 

Gabe2304

Well-Known Member
Thanks! :)

The beadlock rings will be painted black at some point, but I like the shocks the way they are, because they look a lot like the red King coilover shocks Dennis once had under one of the Digger's, might have even been the XX but I don't remember that well anymore...
I never even thought about the red coil overs Dennis had. Those did look pretty sweet.
 
Top