I've started messing in one of my other hobbies, again. I've always been big into radio controls models. Notice I say "models." These ain't the cheap toys you get at Wal-Mart or Toys R Us. I tend to stay away from the aircraft, simply because I doubt anything light enough to get off the ground could survive my piloting skills. Instead I built the thing in the pictures below. The werewolf head, and lettering are hand painted on the inside of the body (they come clear). Like the license plate? :-) The chrome work is actually chrome Monokote trim sheet. There are a few wrinkles on some of the more complex contours, but there's probably a way to prevent those that I don't know about.

The chassis is mostly built from thick aluminum plates, and has working torsion bar style suspension on all the road wheels. It steers with disk brakes on either side of a gear differential. For scale the tracks are Just a shade over 14 inches (about 36cm.) long, from the front of the drive sprocket to the rear of the back wheel.

It started life as 1/12 scale snowcat, and I made a couple of pieces out of Lexan sheet to mount the truck body on. One piece also covers the the back of the chassis and keeps the snow off the reciever. When the pictures were taken, it also protected the ESC (electronic speed control). Unfortunately, my cheap ESC has developed a short. So, I now have nice Novak ESC mounted up under the hood area of the truck.

I know what you're thinking. The bad ESC has nothing to do with the snow. That thing never got so much as moist. Ironicaly, the one I'm using now was in a race truck that I used to use for mud running, and has actually once had the bottom of its case filled with water.

The only modifictions I've made to the chassis are the mount for the ESC (that's attached with Shoe Goo, so it can be removed, albeit with the aid of a crowbar), and the holes for that big metal brush guard. The kit cost over $200, so I'm loath to make too many permanent modifications. The chassis cover that also has the rear body mounts is held on by the same body clips that hold the back part of the stock body on. The front mounts are bolted to a peice that gets held in place by the battery pack. I can still use the original snowcat body, too. :-)

Here is proof, that I'm not the only guy with a thing for tracked RC vehicles.