67 replies to this topic

[dalepadgett]

I have seen tube chassies for like a prostock build but havent seen where to pick them up. Does anyone have a idea where to get them?

[W-409]

You can get a tube chassis from some kit, like Revell's '55 or '57 Chevy Pro Sportsman, Pro Stock models, FC and so on. It depends, what kind of tube chassis you need. I have this '63 Impala, and I built tube frame to it from brasstube, it turned out ok, I think, but I must add still more tubing there. Anyhow, it looks like this at the moment. Those revell's Pro Sportsman kits are very good basis, there are nice engines and the chassis is great, with changing the body everything looks good. Of course it needs bit more work to change the body, but...





My dad is also building this kind of Buick Skyhawk: Chassis is from '55 Pro Sportsman Chevy

[brett]

geez Niko ! what have you one? lol I have one of those skyhawks and pro sportsman kits

The only current" tube" frame kits are indeed the Revell 55 and 57 chevy top sportsman kits, other sources are the Revell pontiac and oldsmobile prostocks though those are getting harder to find. Most are easily enough adapted to fit any other kits though you will have to do a bit of scratch building to bring any of them up to current specs.

Thumper who builds on here, scratchbuilds the best space frame I've seen,I believe its one of his on Phil Hibblers build.

[Mark Brown]

You can get a tube chassis from some kit, like Revell's '55 or '57 Chevy Pro Sportsman, Pro Stock models, FC and so on. It depends, what kind of tube chassis you need. I have this '63 Impala, and I built tube frame to it from brasstube, it turned out ok, I think, but I must add still more tubing there. Anyhow, it looks like this at the moment. Those revell's Pro Sportsman kits are very good basis, there are nice engines and the chassis is great, with changing the body everything looks good. Of course it needs bit more work to change the body, but...

My dad is also building this kind of Buick Skyhawk: Chassis is from '55 Pro Sportsman Chevy

If you don't mind, I'd like to offer a couple bits of constructive criticism, in hopes that it might be of general benefit to modelers wanting to build their own chassis. Please take it in that spirit.

A common mistake modelers make is using tubing that's too large, especially for roll bars and roll cages. A great many kits, particularly older ones, use overscale plastic for roll bars/cages, too. Typically, roll bar tubing is 1 5/8" OD (outer diameter). That's pretty small tubing - you can easily wrap your hand around it. It's a good bit smaller than a typical Tamiya or Testors spray paint can. In scale, that's about 1/16".

The second tip involves the importance of research if you're after realistic results. I dig seeing guys do their building with brass, and your work looks very good. Unfortunately, your roll cage wouldn't pass tech inspection anywhere that I'm aware of because it doesn't incorporate a main hoop. The main hoop behind the driver is the primary element of roll bars and cages, and the rest of the cage is built from this hoop. My advice to anyone starting a chassis or cage is to spend some time online checking out reference materials. There are just hundreds of race shop websites that have loads of under-construction photos showing just how racecars are put together, and there are plenty of other sites where you can check out the rules that dictate construction. The rules change as the cars get quicker, so what you need to build a realistic cage or chassis is determined by what engine you put in the car (or model), among other things.

Edited by Mark Brown, 26 February 2011 - 03:30 AM.

[1320wayne]

Technically speaking, Mark is correct in the aspect that a lot of builders sometimes try to do scratchbuilding work that is maybe way over their heads or they simply don't have enough research material to get the job done correctly. That being said I can say that luckily none of our models ever have to worry about passing tech inspection so whatever you come up with, as long as you are happy with it that's all that matters.

When I decided to branch out into making my own chassis, or enhancing an existing one, my first attempt was not the most accurate. The picture below is what I came up with for my Jeg's pro mod that I built a few years back. The tubing was too large in diameter and the layout wasn't the most accurate. But, I was happy with the results and went on from there.



Last year, when I decided to go this route again, I decided to build a completely scratchbuilt chassis for my Daytona pro mod. I used as much reference as I could find on the web as well as using images from some of Thumper's chassis builds. What I came up with was a much better representation of what the actual chassis should look like. Is it perfect? Maybe not. But again, I'm happy with it.



If this isn't the route that you want to go then simply come up with any one of the kits mentioned above to acheive what you want.

Also, here is a link to some albums that I put together of some of Thumper's work, to possibly give you some ideas of how to do the scratchbuilt chassis from the ground up.

http://public.fotki.com/1320wayne/friends-and-family-/rob-quimbys-builds/

http://public.fotki.com/1320wayne/friends-and-family-/rob-quimbys-builds/chassis-tutorial/

[thumper86]

You guy's are all right The best rod to use is evergreen #222 its a little .060 as its .062 and it works great even though I use .080 for the main rails on my chassis's and it works well. I have built over 200 of these things and I tell what the best thing to do is hittin the web and google hard and first find the type of class of car you want then look for the chassis builder's that build alot of them and blow the pics up and study them then just like drawing do it with plastic has always worked for me .The more you do the easier it gets .It sounds easy but I really didnt want to spend top buck for an outdated revell pro stock chassis and try to make it look updated it was just way easier to build it myself. And you cant beat the detail that doing it this way opens up to the subject .

[thumper86]

I dont know if there's a pic limit here but some of what you can do with the web and really loud music playing.

[tyrone]

All of you guys have some very good points, Thumper you have to be the best chassis builder from scratch, and thats a fact imop. I love your chassis work, I have not got the courage up to try and build a chassis from scratch but the 55/57 kits as they come are not up to what the current chassis look like as far as the cages and stuff go, but I love using them for the floor pan because, you dont have to make wheel tubs, and floor boards, and they do have a lot of good parts in there too. I mainly use the floor pan and lower chassis, and relocate the lower contol arms to get the wheelbase right and then build around that, here's afew of mine.











all of these were done using the 55/57 chassis as a starting point...

[thumper86]

I agree your builds are wicked nice !

[Dragracer]

Between Thumper & Tyrone you can't go wrong.I'm planning on using Thumper's teachings & the Revell kits as a basis for my P/M's.

[ajulia]

Hello all! Excellent thread and the input given will surely help modelers venturing in these kind of subjects come to an awesome end result! This is exactly why I love this forum! The techs; illustrations and how to's are very valuable! Truely appreciate all the responses here!! As I always say!! Keep on wit the keepin on!!

[Bastardo]

My 5 cents:

For my at-the-moment WIP (something between a post-apocaliptic and Death-race Hummer HX concept ) I used a whole bunch of different metal bars (approx 1 - 1.5 mm in diameter) and some quick glue for the roll-cage (I know - you need info on the chassis, but I'm posting this because I'm going to use the very same technique for my next custom build and that is going to be all-tube chasis, a huge V8 and some attitude to it... ). Here's the result:




The WIP:
Link

[Foxer]

My jaw has dropped looking at the work posted here!

[hOLMS]

I have to agree....enjoyed this thread and the pix, very awesome stuff. Chassis building is my fav part of the dragster build....research, planning, measuring, 3D modeling, etc...and every single time there are certainly lessons learned.

This may have been brought to light already but the very first thing I do when scratching a chassis is establish the wheelbase on the body. These do vary between classes/styles which goes back to planning your build.

Tyrone, thumper86, 1320wayne.....your art is magical, love it!! Posted some pix of my modern style pro-mod brass/copper chassis.

[thumper86]

That right there is a thing of beauty indeed ! Very nice work !

[tyrone]

Super nice chassis work with the brass tubing, I love the firewall.. keep us posted...

[Dragracer]

Technically speaking, Mark is correct in the aspect that a lot of builders sometimes try to do scratchbuilding work that is maybe way over their heads or they simply don't have enough research material to get the job done correctly. That being said I can say that luckily none of our models ever have to worry about passing tech inspection so whatever you come up with, as long as you are happy with it that's all that matters.

When I decided to branch out into making my own chassis, or enhancing an existing one, my first attempt was not the most accurate. The picture below is what I came up with for my Jeg's pro mod that I built a few years back. The tubing was too large in diameter and the layout wasn't the most accurate. But, I was happy with the results and went on from there.



Last year, when I decided to go this route again, I decided to build a completely scratchbuilt chassis for my Daytona pro mod. I used as much reference as I could find on the web as well as using images from some of Thumper's chassis builds. What I came up with was a much better representation of what the actual chassis should look like. Is it perfect? Maybe not. But again, I'm happy with it.



If this isn't the route that you want to go then simply come up with any one of the kits mentioned above to acheive what you want.

Also, here is a link to some albums that I put together of some of Thumper's work, to possibly give you some ideas of how to do the scratchbuilt chassis from the ground up.

http://public.fotki.com/1320wayne/friends-and-family-/rob-quimbys-builds/

http://public.fotki.com/1320wayne/friends-and-family-/rob-quimbys-builds/chassis-tutorial/

I followed Waynes build (& printed up Thumper's chassis how-to), both are excellent, Tyrone Prices's builds are also excellent, I'm using all 3 ideas on my Nova P/M build. Wayne's fotki site is also a great place for reference photo's.

[jsimmons]

I'm in awe. I want to scratch-build pro-stock chassis, but I don't have the necessary soldering gene, so I'm going to have to remain in the realm of Evergreen. My first question though is how to make sure you bend the same angles on stuff that appears on both sides of the car.

I bought an old unassembled Bob Glidden '87 T-bird kit to use as an example of "where things go".

[1320wayne]

I'm in awe. I want to scratch-build pro-stock chassis, but I don't have the necessary soldering gene, so I'm going to have to remain in the realm of Evergreen. My first question though is how to make sure you bend the same angles on stuff that appears on both sides of the car.

I bought an old unassembled Bob Glidden '87 T-bird kit to use as an example of "where things go".

If you're not into "Eyeball Engineering" and hope for the best you can make a simple chassis jig using a block of wood and nails or small screws. Lay out your measured angles and notate with the nails and this way your angles will all match. That is just one possible suggestion.

Edited by 1320wayne, 19 March 2011 - 03:31 AM.

[pharr7226]

The chassis is great. The firewall is ridiculously good.