T-Wolf Jeep Crew Chief 715 Project

What it this thing?  Let's start at the beginning.  Capo Racing is a Chinese manufacturer of ultra high end R/C kits made entirely of metal (they make my Jeep JK Max, for reference).  Good luck buying anything from them though, because their website is terrible and doesn't offer direct purchasing.  Then along came kaioz.net, a dealer for Capo products which, as far as I can tell, is run by a Capo superfan in Hong Kong.  They have a great web site and good customer service which has made it much easier to get product.  Some time last year a new model called the TW-715 showed up on this website, but it technically doesn't contain the Capo name or logo.  It doesn't even mention that TW apparently stands for T-Wolf.  Is this the name of another brand or the name of the model?  I don't know.  After having bought this model, I can confirm the name Capo never appears anywhere in the packaging or on the parts.  You might conclude that means this is some other product just offered by the same dealer.  I might have thought the same except for the fact that this model uses the same kind of digital video instructions as Capo, and many of the internal parts of the gearbox are actually the same parts used in the JK Max.  So there is obviously some relationship with Capo, but I don't know what it is.  I can confirm that the model feels like a Capo product in every way (positive and negative), for what that's worth.

So what about the model itself?  I knew I liked the look of the model from the beginning, but I didn't know for sure what it was supposed to be (and the advertising is no help).  I thought maybe it was just an unlicensed product, but that slanted grille looked familiar.  I thought perhaps it was an old truck from International Harvester.  After a bit of web research I found that the old original Jeep Wagoneer from the early 1960's had that same grille.  It didn't come with a pickup bed though.  What about the original Jeep SJ Gladiator?  It had the same grille and did have a pickup bed but never came with 4 doors.  While reading about the Gladiator I found a link to the Jeep-Kaiser M715, a military truck derived from the Gladiator.  I had never heard of it, but that 715 in the title should have been a clue.  Now we were much closer to the model but it still wasn't quite right.  Finally I found a 2016 concept vehicle from Jeep called the Crew Chief 715 which was a tribute to the original military truck.  This was clearly the inspiration for the model because it is a near perfect match right down to the paint color.

This is a deluxe model in every sense of the word.  The chassis is all billet machined aluminum.  There is a full scale engine block, transmission housing, and transfer case all in metal.  All the gears are helical cut and made from hardened steel.  There are all metal solid axles with steel shafts.  The links are titanium.  The hardware is stainless.  The roll cage and passenger compartment are all machined aluminum.  The body panels and doors are all metal.  The floor is carbon fiber plate.  What about the features?  Two speed gearbox (high/low), 2WD/4WD selectable transfer case, locking front and rear differentials, light kit, and a full electronic instrument panel with clock, working tachometer, working speedometer (not accurate speed), gear indicator, and turn signal indicator.  Even that doesn't cover the full range of features.  You'll have to read through the build for that.

The model looks and drives gloriously, but there were a long list of significant problems with the build due to part quality.  It takes effort to put one of these together, so they are not for everyone.  They aren't cheap either.  For me personally, I enjoyed the challenge and the result is well worth the effort.

Update:  This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire only about a month after I finished building it.

Description	Manufacturer	Model #
Jeep Crew Chief 715 1/8 Scale Trail Crawler Kit	T-Wolf	TW-715
TorqueMaster Pro 27T 550 Rebuildable Brushed Motor	Holmes Hobbies	TMPR0550
Quicrun Waterproof 80A Brushed Electronic Speed Control	Hobbywing	WP 1080
6-Channel 2.4 GHz DSMR Telemetry Receiver	Spektrum	SR6000T
Coreless Waterproof High Torque Metal Gear Digital Steering and Differential Lock Servo x2	EcoPower	WP120T
12g Digital Metal Gear Shifting, Transfer Case, and Steering Wheel Micro Servo x3	EcoPower	ECP-827
Engine Active Components	T-Wolf	715 OP-01
Metal Door Handles	T-Wolf	715 OP-02
Electronic Equipment Storage Racks	T-Wolf	715 OP-04
Rearview Mirror Reflectors	T-Wolf	715 OP-10
Metal Disc Brake Set	T-Wolf	715 OP-12
Front Motorized Winch	T-Wolf	715 OP-13B
Black 2x5mm Scale Hex Bolts x5	SSD RC	SSD00372
Black 2.5x8mm Scale Wheel Bolts x2	SSD RC	SSD00408

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