Upgrading and modifying the MN45

I wanted an FJ pickup but, rather than buy a WPL C44 I decided to take an RTR MN45 and fit a 180 motor, hobby grade electronics and scale wheels.
Then I opened out the grille apertures, fixed the inaccurate cab, shortened the body, added a driver figure and repainted the truck.

[@PrinceofMacedonVlogs]

great job weathering that truck body. Looks very distinct now. This lockdown is putting a lockdown on r/c content. But I'm glad to see you still have material that I haven't already watched yet

[@Del350K4]

It´s interesting to see how KZbinrs are responding to the challenge of continuing to create content. On my current build I´ve run out of solder, flux, 3mm pop rivets and some paint colours but I´m determined to find ways to keep building! Then, of course, the "run vids" have to be recorded, without access to the outside world. Phil from Tomley RC Garage, for example, has just built a crawler course in his garden just for one run vid!

[@PrinceofMacedonVlogs]

@@Del350K4 that's a good idea to bring the scenery in one's own yard. I have an ugly area for filming since it's all homes outside. I need a few more shots for my current r/c project. I don't know how to get them unless I use greenscreen

[@Del350K4]

What I think will happen is that people will come to accept lower standards during this pandemic because KZbinrs are having to record footage wherever they can. I´m sad that I couldn´t record a run vid with my C34 and MN45 - I´d planned to travel to a disused quarry to get the right background. I´ve been having thoughts about improvising a more neutral backyard backdrop using old bedsheets and painted hardboard...

[@PrinceofMacedonVlogs]

@@Del350K4 it's gonna take a lot of work, but I've seen you construct towns for your shots. I know you can make it work :D Got any more r/c videos scheduled soon?

[@Del350K4]

@@PrinceofMacedonVlogs I´m working on a build, and almost enjoying the challenge of not giving up despite running out of stuff. I just scraped out the very last of my 2 part epoxy to glue the radiator grille in place. I have plenty of styrene cement but that won´t glue metal... I´m thinking of perhaps making a gentle backyard off road course because I want to run the C34 back to back with the MN45 as they both have the same upgraded motor. That would be after this build, though.

[@AdventureTimeRC]

Great job Del I love mine built from a kit it had a 260 motor and does good I use fine buffing compound and a polishing drum to remove paint from windows great job looks great 😀💯👊

[@Del350K4]

Damn! I have a whole series of different Dremel polishing mops! Still, it didn´t take long to re-glaze it, but I´ll certainly remember your tip for next time.

[@thatsmyrc]

Nice work on the shell wall 😉. Not too mention the paint job on the rig 👍🏼

[@islandrc-duke1972]

awesome upgrade awesome paint job

[@Del350K4]

I´m so happy with this truck! I´m glad that you like the paint - I think it was well worth opening up the grille and putting real mesh in there, too.

[@islandrc-duke1972]

@@Del350K4 yes it all looks great

[@TomleyRC]

Excellent transformation Del, I really like what you did to the rear bed! Looks much better shortened 😎

[@Del350K4]

Hello - I´d been hoping to hear from you on this vid, as it was you who sparked my enthusiasm for WPL/MN/Fayee etc. I´m very keen to take the pickup out with the C34 - at the moment they´re parked side by side in the sitting room so I can glance at them 200 times each evening : ) I´m glad you like the shortened bed - now it looks a lot like my old 88" Land Rover Lightweight. All I used to have in the back was a spare wheel and a jerry can - that pretty much filled it.

[@TomleyRC]

@@Del350K4 Well you know if you do a video with a WPL or similar in I'm going to be clicking on it :)

[@theminiatureconstructionco4556]

Ohhh I've been toying with getting one of these. Very informative! 👍

[@Del350K4]

I hoped this video might show that a modded one of these can be interesting and different.

[@theminiatureconstructionco4556]

@@Del350K4 all of these little Chinese 1:12 & 1:16 trucks can be interesting, capable and different with a bit of time and effort. No need to break the bank in order to make something that fun to use. Great channel! 👍🇬🇧

[@jeremyoshea7941]

I love your videos buddy by now you probably know you can cut up really quick to pull the pinion off

[@Del350K4]

Hey, Jeremy! Thank you - I'm very glad to hear that you like my videos :) I should design a pinion puller to get these pinions off the shafts intact, so I can use them on the next motor.

[@rcflashcars]

great job! 👍

[@Del350K4]

Thank you! I´ve just posted a little video of it climbing various rocky slopes - it´s called "This RTR MN 45 can do it".

[@MarkBryanRC]

Congratulations on another fantastic project, Del! The transformation was fascinating to watch and very well commentated. I admire your attention to detail and your clever solutions to every "issue". The body looks so much better in the new shortened, guise, and the new wheels suit it admirably. Well done for being so responsible and filming the run in your garden, it was a great setting for the run anyway (love those shelled walls!) and the inboard shots were a nice little treat! I hope you and yours are keeping well, as always, best wishes from Mark... :)

[@Del350K4]

I haven´t gone out for eight days, though I must confess that the shelled walls are in the garden of the unoccupied house next door, to which I have the keys so I can show prospective tenants around. The "garden path" bits of the vid were in my garden. I´m itching to take this and the C34 out together so I can compare their abilities, and just to get some footage of them travelling in "convoy". I nearly got a C44 instead of this, but then it would have been brilliant right out of the box, and anyway I was dying to shorten one of these bodies to see if it looked as cool as I thought it would! Now I´ve got a more distinctive truck and the only thing about it that worries me is that unplanned nylon motor pinion. That´s why I haven´t fitted a tow-hook, actually...

[@rcbloke778]

Great job on the weathered body del, av a look at my c34 weathering attempt

[@Del350K4]

I'm off to look at it now!

[@AdventureTimeRC]

I have this truck to Del I bought the kit version it came with a 260 motor I love this truck after upgrades it does very good great upgrade s and details my friend 👍🏻👊💯😀

[@Del350K4]

I know your MN45! It´s orange, with the load bed done in black. I probably will go up to a 260 or a 2-speed box with a 370, but I wanted to see how much difference a 180 would make. It made more of a difference than I expected!

[@AdventureTimeRC]

@@Del350K4 the 180 is a good motor for cursing around for sure

[@UnwrappingByMimiKoteng]

Amazing

[@vogman]

Another enjoyable jaunt into the world of miniature. Nicely done : )

[@Del350K4]

Thank you, Goeff! I worry that, to limit viral spread, it´ll occur to someone in authority to ban us from sending parcels in the mail. That would really hurt KZbin creativity!

[@Tok_Karo]

Good video

[@Del350K4]

Thank you very much!

[@satorrotas]

It is a model that I like very much, not for these performances but especially for its look, it is sure that it is necessary to improve them otherwise it is not fun. You did well for your figurine, and I know you are like me, not cutting your legs is important. It happens that the paint crosses the protection on the windows, to remove the paint I use acetone, it works very well. For once we do not have the same idea on the wheels 😄 the original one did not please me for my model, I put them aside and keep the big tires 😊 In fact I found that the body was too high in relation to these wheels . But we both have the same shock absorbers 😁 and we also bought the same radio control 😂 which is really good by the way . Very good job and great looking truck !! I think I am in love with these model wpl or MN 😄 I am already three in my workshop and my next purchase will certainly be the same as you 😉

[@Del350K4]

I´m very glad that you like the look. I did hesitate before cutting the body, but I had a mental image of the finished truck and it had to be shortened! I could never cut Gwen! She´s so beautiful : ) I must get some acetone... I would like to put shorter shock absorbers on this truck so it stands at the same height as the C34. At the moment it looks as though it has a 75mm lift kit installed! I also hoped that smaller tyres would give me a slightly lower final drive ratio, as I would have liked to have used an 8 tooth drive pinion, but had to use one with 10 teeth. I love these trucks too - I wish we could buy the MN45 body on its own. Obviously, I do dream of owning a C44 KM, but I´m very happy to have a C34 and this pretty pickup : )

[@satorrotas]

@@Del350K4 Yes I also find that these shock absorbers are a little big, but I have weight at the front which compensates a little. For bodywork alone there is only for the moment at banggood the Land Cruiser and the MN D90 . I also hope that they will release a new model 🙂

[@Del350K4]

@@satorrotas I hope that Mn Models will study the WPL C44 and release new models with opening bonnet/hood and doors as well as better drivetrains. Maybe the Daihatsu Wildcat (Taft) or the Suzuki LJ80...

[@satorrotas]

@@Del350K4 Yes, these models would be really good for new models, I was also thinking of the unimog 😊

[@RCModders]

Fantastic Del! I love everything about this - from the innovative solutions to the conundrums that you came across during the conversion and in particular your very well perfected painting techniques. The resulting model is in my view every bit as fun as the rather more expensive Tamiya equivalent - with a hard body and and scale interior to improve it further. As ever, a very watchable and easy to follow commentary with plenty of information to allow others to either duplicate this - or indeed gain valuable insights for other similar endeavours. Keep up the great work, even in these very strange & challenging times! 😀👍

[@Del350K4]

Well, thank you, old chap - what a lovely comment! My hope is to encourage anyone who has one of these and might be undecided about whether to make changes. The decent motor was the most important change to driveability on this truck - it already had a very progressive throttle so I could probably have got away with running the 180 through the stock ESC and just lived with the bang-bang steering. As I was doing this video I thought I´d go the whole hog and, of course, I´m now glad that I did so. I´m off to watch your latest video!

[@hollyhillrc]

Brilliant job my friend. It looks excellent. I enjoyed the garden run very much, and particularly liked the "in cab" shots. I thought it seemed to run ok with the stock shocks, and if the spring are softer on these you could see if they fit the oil shocks you bought. I bought some cheap metal oil shock from Asia which arrived with very hard springs. I changed them for some thin cheapo springs I had in my spares box and that combination worked very well. Stay safe Del 🙂👍🏻

[@Del350K4]

Hello, Derek! Actually I did think of swapping the springs just as I was refitting the wheels, having put the old shocks back on. I had a look and it looked as if the springs would go straight on to the oil shock bodies...then I thought of how smugly my M03, with its oil shocks, seems to look down its nose at my M06, which still bounces around on its Tamiya pogo-spec shocks. I decided to put the oil shocks on the M06, with the M06´s springs because, now that I´ve shortened the FJ´s rear overhang and moved the battery, the back end no longer bounces around, so it doesn´t really need oil shocks.

[@hollyhillrc]

@@Del350K4 Excellent. Two birds, one stone, jobs done 😊👍👍

[@Del350K4]

: )

[@arch.angelhandyman5485]

nice

[@Del350K4]

Hey, Byron - I was driving this little truck yesterday!

[@arch.angelhandyman5485]

@@Del350K4 hahhaha, 💪👍

[@Del350K4]

@@arch.angelhandyman5485 Going to a 180 size motor really made it fun to drive. It's certainly no faster but it can climb over obstacles far more easily

[@mikeymike3240]

Hi Del, another great putting yer mark on it video. I like wot ye done wif da wee truck . It looks very unique and weathered. Had a wee chuckle at the sneaky overspray. 😎👍👍👍

[@Del350K4]

Evil sneaky overspray! The poor truck´s thoroughly learned its way around my garden but has never been outside. I can tell I´m still chuffed with it because it´s still on display in the sitting room rather than being piled under the bed like the rest...

[@MrLunithy]

Next time you get a stuck pinion use cigarette lighter mate... heat the gear it's made from brass ... brass expands readily.

[@Del350K4]

Of course! What a good idea. I should´ve thought of that. At the moment I´ve got a stuck plastic drive shaft on a WPL gearbox. I shoved a flat screwdriver tip in the gap and levered away till I could hear the plastic gearbox casing crackling in protest but it won´t come off. I keep giving my Dremel long, significant glances.

[@jahmenrcbuildingasone4254]

Your dedication and focus will turn thks platform into something mindblowing as always. Funny I to am tinkering around with same style body😷😷🙏

[@Del350K4]

Thank you! I´m interested to see what you choose to do with this body. For example, I think it would make a very cool super-low-slung track weapon!

[@KruseNStuff]

🔥Looking good man. KEEP doing your thing.🔥✌️😁🔥

[@Del350K4]

I´m glad you liked this one as well. I´ll keep making them if you´ll keep watching them!

[@mysteryunwrapping9518]

Amazing. Just bought one yesterday

[@EpisodiosRacionales]

Nice work Del absolutley lovely. Being stuck at home because of the virus has got a good thing, that improves a good work. At least I can improve photography but I feel bad because I cant go to the gym for training. I went to buy some thing for me and for my mum, so at least I could kill two stones with a bird (Chuck Norris style) Kind regards for you and your wife

[@Del350K4]

Hello! My wife hates not being able to go to the gym. Her company gave her a laptop and now she works from home. Today I´ve been repairing a bicycle as the local police are stopping all cars and impounding them for the slightest reason. I tried to walk to buy a new chain but the shop was shut so I walked all the way home and sat down to free off the rusty chain, link by link, with a pair of pliers in each hand. I´ve just finished - the bicycle works so we can buy food : )

[@PrinceofMacedonVlogs]

good day, my friend! I finally had the time to finish editing my "Mad Max" r/c car mini-movie :D If you have time to check it out, it's the latest upload on my channel. It's a little long at 12 minutes though (just a warning)