Psychographic

Fabrication on the rear arms and mounts are done. I need to go to the hardware store to get some O-Rings so I can convert the kit shocks to a set of Shockwaves. Unfortunately to get this to lay pan, I needed to notch the back wall of the interior to clear the shock mounts. I could have reshaped the mounts, but I really liked how they looked, plus they are done.

If you look at the bases of the intake manifolds, you'll see a box that will eventually be a throttle body. I originally cut the stock trailing arms from the shock mounts to allow for a dropped stance. I decided to make my own arms and mounts. I've got both trailing arms done and just need to make one more shock mount. The shock mount in the background is still the stock unit.

Everything will need to be glued for it all to be straight, but you'll get the general idea of the turbo setup from these pics.

We're just about caught up with what's been done and it's on to real time. Last night I spent time filling gaps between the backbone, chassis pan, and body. I finally picked a color for the engine, Organic Green Candy over the chrome. I masked off the cylinders, and gave the rest 2 coats of Bulldog adhesion promoter, followed by a few coats of the green, and lastly, 2 coats of urethane clear. I love this effect, it's a shame the camera can't really catch how it looks. Here is the turbo for the engine. I'm pretty sure the bodies where made from the retaining rings that held the interior tubs and glass in place on older kits. The exhaust is basically stock and I think the intake manifold is made from.080 rod.The aircleaner and megaphone were made from lengths of 1/8", 3/16", and 14" tubes cemented together then sanded to shape. The aircleaner got a band of 3/16" on one end the other end was capped with some .060 scrap. I then scratched the element to give it some texture, hopefully once painted it will look OK. The flanges on the intake and turbo are .030.

I used the Manx roof and it completely changed how it looks.

Thanks everyone. It's going to have a VW engine, and actually those front tires are one of the smallest I have. They are Aoshima 14" wheels and tires. They are a bit wide, but with how low it sits, I think they'll do the job. The Aoshima on the left and the kit front tire on the right.

I have a shape that I like, but where to go with it now? I cut the stock grille in half and added to it, along with making some headlights.

My last (current) build was supposed to be simpler than it wound up being. Seeing as I'm almost done with that one, I thought I would break out a project already started, plus one I don't plan to add a lot of detail to. Over the summer I found a TeeVee Dune buggy on sale and thought it had potential. I never did have a plan for this build and still don't. The longer I looked at this thing, the less I liked it. So I decided to start cutting and see what I can come up with.I began with a tapered lowering of the nose, raising the front fenders, removing and filling the bed, and adding to the leading edge of the rear fenders. Next up was to drop the ride height, I did this by adding 5/16" to the bottom of the tunnel and adding the same amount to the bottom of the body. The front suspension arms were cut off, reversed left for right and a small amount of scrap extended the backing plates. I needed to address the tiny cockpit and decided to move the windshield forward about 1/2". IIRC I used the Manx windshield that also came with the kit. I also found the back of an 80's-90's Corvette to complete the back.

I'm almost to the end of my build. The seat belt hardware came yesterday, now to find the patience to put all those little pieces together. This should be the last difficult thing I need to do before buttoning this thing up. I sanded and buffed the dash to remove any brush strokes, and I made the glass for the front and rear windshields along with what were originally vent windows. I forgot to clear the edges of the windshield pieces which I made from .015 clear styrene. Now I have to find a way to hide the white edges while they're mounted to the cab. Sometimes I amaze myself with how stupid I can be. Gettin close,,,,,,,,,

Here's my boat, it's a Prather 46" Deep Vee with an OPS 90 engine. The radio equipment is an old Airtronics 3 channel FM setup. As I don't have the transmitter. I'll need a new radio setup and I'm sure there are much better setups than the old Airtronics. From what I've seen of the Traxxas tv commercials there are now waterproof receivers and speed controls.

I recently was given a present of a boat I built quite a while back and would like to get it back up and running. Actually it's never been run, as I never found a starter with enough torque, or didn't know the proper technique to do so. As it's been forever since I've done anything with RC, I was hoping someone here could share some knowledge or maybe point me to a good RC boat forum.

Bill, the roll up windows are pure genius. I have an idea that might help you with making them. What if you replaced you gear collets and made a plate drilled to match the holes in the door for the gear axles. You then space this plate out and two of the spacers could act as stops on your arm. The red would be the plate, the black circles would be the spacers. The two on the left would be positioned as stops for the arm. With your gears sandwiched like this, they would probably be more stable. You could even add a third gear to slow the ratio down.

I think the design with the white fade pops much better on the silver background, but the solid red would be much more traditional.

Ray, I looked at this and said "what if you put a narrow single cockpit roof on it". So you are the inspiration for what might be the first Can Am Beetle Bus.

I think we have a back window with a recessed license plate box. I fixed the broken stub on the front spindle, so we are one step ahead right now.

That worked great, thank you. I removed the plaster base and filled the base of the Vacuform with the metal beads it came with, drilled a small hole in each corner of the recessed box and got a good pull. It did bend a little but it's thin enough that gluing it in place should straighten it out. If not, I'll make a thin backer to give it strength and form another one. Silly human, it's futile to count rivets in my presence.

What I'm trying to make is a back window with a recess for a license plate. I made the plug by cementing the panel for the license plate box to a piece of .030 cut slightly larger then the window opening. I then wrapped it with 2" masking tape and mixed some plaster and filled the taped area with it to make a stand. It is not part of the finished piece, just a way to hold it up. I can add material to make it wider at the bottom if it will help. While it tapers in on the sides the top and bottom are the opposite. Here is a pic of what the shape of the finished part should be , but with the poor pull around the box. As it needs to be clear and done neatly, I think it's out of my skill level and definitely out of my patience level.

Thanks Bill. And how's this for brotherhood, check out how far on other ends of the spectrum Bill and I are by reading our signatures. How funny is that!

I'm trying to vacuform a simple shape and am having no luck. Here is the mold I made, it's a simple flat piece with a 1/4" x 1/2" x .060 raised panel. The mold has a hole on each side that angles down to the center in the bottom with grooves to hopefully aid in the suction (it didn't seem to help any). I'm using a dental style Vacuform loaded with .030 PET. I'm allowing the PET to droop about 3/4-1" before moving the heat, quickly placing my plug in place and hitting the vacuum and dropping the plate. Here's what it looks like fresh out of the form. I'm not getting anywhere near a tight enough pull around the raised panel, the tighter I can get this spot the better. You can see how poorly it pulled in with this pic. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I need to do? Do I have it raised to high? Would making the base bigger help? This is for a back window so I can make it any size and trim it later.

I'm calling this a model, there was assembly required, along with body work, and paint. This is an old friend from 20 some years ago, I traded it to a friend who gave it back to me today. Yes he just GAVE it to me! Mike, you're the BEST! It's a Prather 46" Deep Vee Epoxyglass hull with an OPS 90 engine. it's got some scratches and a chip in the paint, but I love having this back. I never got to start this as I couldn't find a starter with enough torque to turn it over, my friend never ran it either. It's actually Hellrazor 2 as the original Hellrazor was a 36" Dumas Tunnel Hull with a K&B 45 outboard. It's a good sized engine. I think it has a 16oz tank, and if you look on either side if the rails are hooks where 2 more tanks can be mounted with rubber bands. I think it has an old Airtronics reveiver and I have no idea what servo's are in it. I also can't remember if the 3rd channel if for the fuel mixture, or the trim tabs. I'm sure I'll be replacing all of this before it ever gets run. Without the pipe. If anyone knows much about RC boats or could point me in the direction of a good forum, I'd appreciate it.

It's looking good. Just a suggestion before you get too far with the body work. I would either lose the lip on the front wheelwell or add one to the rear.

Like an idiot I decided to take it to the show unfinished. I broke a front wheel stub somehow on the trip. Of course this had to happen after the front spindles are permanently mounted. No there weren't 15 others like it, but there was one LRW with the same idea.

Thanks guys. For a build that I wanted to keep fairly simple and ease me back into building, this thing is sure kicking my behind! As i said before, I was hoping to get this done for a show tomorrow, but that ain't happnin'. I just pulled out my PE racing harness which I thought had enough parts to do 2 more seats, and there is only enough to do one seat and a few left over parts. I just ordered a set, and hopefully they will be here next week. I honestly think this is a good thing as now I won't rush anything. I threw the floorpan and seats in place to see how bad my sloppy painting on the rear interior panels will look. I got lucky as you really don't see that area very well. Now just so you know, my luck hasn't changed much. Somehow I managed to get this far without breaking the window posts on the doors. I even sanded and buffed them without a problem, but that has come to an end. Luckily it's in the black paint and will be easy to fix and won't show. I guess I should make the vent windows and hopefully add a little strength to the posts.

Nice ice cream machine, and that speedo is incredible!

I learned something from this build, make your interior parts separate from the body. It's not easy painting little lines near the back from through the windshield openings! I didn't do a very good job, but once the seats are in you can barely see it anyway. I also screwed up by not remembering to do the fade colors into the back interior panels. I decided to make them grey and just have the graphic panels in the doors. I'll hit these spots with some flat clear in the morning.