Building an Orlandoo Hunter OH32A03 - Shock and Driveshaft Assembly and Body Painting
This build series is sponsored by RCMart.com.
“I love it when a plan comes together.” Or should I say, I love it when a build comes together? Either way, my Orlandoo Hunter OH32A03 project is progressing nicely. With the axles, chassis, and suspension links all assembled, it’s time to finish up the few remaining chassis items and turn our attention to the body.
As far as internal components, the only items that remain to be assembled are the shocks and the driveshafts. The shocks are comprised of four main pieces while the driveshafts contain...quite a few more. Actually, the driveshafts are made up of six individual elements, all of which require a bit of precision (and patience) to assemble.
Assembling the shocks is a straightforward affair. You won’t need to measure oil or make sure you’re not over-filling the shock bodies. After adding a small amount of grease to the large end of the shock shaft, push that piece through the hole in the main shock body and attach the top cap. As with other sections of this kit build, you may want to have a set of tweezers handy to help out with the small hardware and precision screw placement.
Once the shock shaft and top cap are in place, use a set of pliers to hold the shaft in place as you attach the bottom cap. Repeat this process three more times and you’ll have your shocks ready to go. Similar to the suspension links, the instruction manual specifies the length that your shocks should be, so be mindful of that as you’re assembling them.
Don’t put the tweezers away yet! It’s time to tackle the driveshafts. These aren’t too tough to assemble, but they need a bit of...wait for it...patience. The toughest bits to assemble on the driveshafts are the four-pin “ball” connectors. Once those pieces have been inserted into their appropriate areas, you can move ahead with attaching them to the chassis.
Now that the chassis is assembled, you can focus on the rig's body. The OH32A03 kit includes an unpainted hardbody mimicking the style of a Land Rover D90 which opens up a number of color and detailing options.
For my build, I went back and fouth (and around and around) with color choices, ultimately deciding to paint the base in Tamiya Olive Drab with a white roof. After a few coats of paint, the body was set and ready to receive its accessories. Without any grillework or headlight details, this body looked great (in my opinion) and I can only imagine how it will look when it’s complete.
Follow along with our Orlandoo Hunter OH32A03 build:
- A Pint-sized Project – Building an Orlandoo Hunter OH32A03
- Building an Orlandoo Hunter OH32A03 – Axle and Suspension Link Assembly
- Building an Orlandoo Hunter OH32A03 – Motor Mounting and Chassis Assembly
