ll Brandon ll

Alright, another update. Had to redo the rear suspension and I think I went a little crazy, lol. Scratchbuild everything, even coilovers. I am very pleased with the result. And on to the pics!

My God that is amazing!

Burlingon here. Alot of NC modelers here. Thats good to see.

Ive found a pretty simple method, personally. Ive tried many different methods, with varying results, and so far this one is the strongest and easiest to do, especially making it all look symmetrical. First off, Im using .80mm solid rod. Its very flexible WITHOUT heat, to the point that you can almost get the bends you want without any heat at all. But, to get really small or sharp bends, heat is required. So, what I did was took a length of rod and put it in a tubing bender. Now, you dont need to use a tubing bender, but it makes for much more consistent bends. I did it without using the bender at first and it worked fine, but the bends werent symmetrical. So, heres what I do. Heres what you need: Put your rod in and bend to your desired bend. Do it to a decent length of rod since you want to be able to trim it to the size you need. Dont try to do this to a piece cut to length needed. Its always better to remove since its much harder to put material back: Add a touch of heat to the bend itself WITH the rod still in the bender. This helps hold the shape since the rod gets soft and it helps keep the bend nice and consistent. After youve got that, go back and mock it up so you can measure again for the length of the arms, then trim them down. I added a small rod to the center to form an "A" shape for strength, but you can skip that and just add the pivot bar or add sheet styrene if you want. Then, take a round file and sand out the inside of the bend slightly to get a good round center. This is where you glue the tube for your spindle. You can then use that to either make it so the wheels will turn, or glue them straight, the choice is yours. With the tubing instead of solid rod, you have the option. Thats pretty much it for the front suspension. See, pretty simple stuff. And again, MEASURE MEASURE MEASURE. It will pay in dividends in the end.

If you can get your hands on that stuff called Totally Awesome (yes, thats the actual name) sold at Dollar General, it is THE BEST chrome stripper Ive used yet. It strips in less than an hour if you want to really give it plenty of time and it seems to be resin safe. I cant praise this stuff enough.

Dude, this is my first one. And Im only like three models into my building career. You can do it! Its just a matter of getting in there and not being afraid to make mistakes. Its how you learn.

Beautiful flame work. Is it taped off and then sprayed? Freehand?

I didnt consider doing airbags, I have a set of coilovers Ive made for the rear and I plan to add some springs to the front, but I do have some small rubber boots I pulled out of a PC that would make cool airbags. I might have to try that out. Im still toying with making the rear a 4 link, I havent decided yet. Thanks for the input! Thanks! It was .080 x .156 rod #167 (2.0mm x 4.0mm)

Thats pretty ###### good. I think at some point I want to try and do rust, but it looks really difficult. You guys make it look awesome tho!

Alright, small update. Got the suspension mostly done. I still need to sand some things down, do the filler work on the frame, and add a torsion rod to the rear. The wheels are not glued on as I have all the paint work to do, so thats why they sit kinda weird. Im now in the process of staring the interior work. The plan is to do a functional, but nice looking, interior. Stripped, but still daily and show worthy. No back seats, all panels, and a roll cage. Does anyone know the recommended rod size for roll cages? Also, I did manage to find a ZR1 Corvette to gank the supercharged LS9, so it will officially be getting around a 650HP powerplant, HEHE! As usual, comments and criticism is welcome and appreciated. Thanks for looking!

Thats art... thats not a model, thats art. That is AMAZING!

Awesome build!

I used the same tutorial for my frame on my 70.5 Pro Touring Camaro. Beautiful work, this should be awesome. I will be watching this one.

Good choice. Those wheels on the first one make it, imo. Looking forward to seeing this one built.

Wow! that is SICK!

That is looking super cool. Nice work!

Thats really cool!

I see what you guys are saying, but the chassis was designed with several factors in mind, header clearance, wheel clearance (BIG meat front and rear) and aesthetics. As for the wheel width, I appreciate it, but Im going for a specific look here and thinning out the front wheels wouldnt really fit what I was doing.

So, when you do this, are you machining it free hand or using like a computerized CnC machine?

Its the L99 from the 10 Camaro SS. I originally wanted the Corvette LS, but I couldnt find a kit to sacrifice, lol.

Thanks for the kind welcome and kind words, guys. I appreciate it. That said, an update. Doesnt seem like much of an update, but this was ALOT of work. I hope to have a rolling chassis by tonight. This is my first time building a frame from scratch, so comments and criticism is welcome.

Looks insane, I love it. My only suggestion would be for the power plant maybe a twin turbo LS swap with the turbos high and forward? Love the tandem rear wheels.

Yea, I did a bit of searching last night and came across that thread and his tutorial for bending rod without heat. Excellent stuff. Im now in the first stages of building my frame. Thanks for the help!

Thats what I was thinking. Ive got all sorts of AM chassis images saved. So, would I start with kind of a base frame layout and then add to it? Just get the dimensions nailed down and then work on strengthening? Also, what size square rod should I use to be in scale?

Can someone hook me up with some links for building a custom frame/chassis for some different cars, particularly kinda where/how to start? I have a decent idea of design and functionality, I just dont really know how to get it going if that makes any sense.