Scapelnz 204 Posted April 15, 2014 Even though I have restored a few vintaged tamiya I have only just started using this site and I love it. So when my vintage subaru Brat turned up in the post today I thought I would document the restoration. I brought the brat from our local trading site for what I thought was a pretty good price, unfortunatly photos tend to camouflage the real state of the car and there was little more damage to the body than I thought. The chassis is in pretty good nick is just missing all the electrics and a few other bits. The brat came with a box of parts so I'm hoping that all the missing parts are in there some where. Hopefully I'll get a chance to sort out the spares tonight At first glance I need to find a new nudge bar and bumber bar (pretty sure I have one somewhere) The rear roll bar is broken so will need one of those also and a new front body post mount. I will dig a little deeper tonight and make a list of what else is missing and broken. The body is pretty rough with small cracks over the front wheel arches that have been roughly repaired, few small cracks in other places and the paint and decals are peeling off. The previous owner for some reason attached what looks like a thunder shot front bumber to the back of the brat?? First job is to clean up the body and prep for painting etc, at first glance the front lights/grill and tailgate appear to have been glued to to the body. Dont want to break them trying to get them of so I'm guessing that they are staying put. Any advice on stripping and painting the body etc would be greatly appreciated Andy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mongoose1983 3335 Posted April 15, 2014 Hi Scapelnz! Nice specimen you have there. You'll be able to remove the paint with brake fluid. You have to remove all of the decals first. Then you have to soak some cloth, like an old t-shirt with brake fluid and cover the body for 24 hours (trying to keep the fluid in contact with the body, so it can start lifting the enamel paint off of it). If some paint residues remain stuck, then repeat the process, and for a body with so many details as the Subaru Brat you will probably need some small cocktail sticks to remove the paint of small corners and such. Perhaps you can find some ideas for your restoration here (my own Subaru Brat restoration): http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=60873 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
taliesin 260 Posted April 15, 2014 I've had pretty solid luck stripping old paint and decals and general crud with Easy Off oven cleaner. Sounds weird but it works and it hasn't ever discolored a shell or made it brittle. A little oven cleaner, let sit, scrub with a stiff bristle brush and rinse very well. Repeat if necessary. I'll let someone else give painting tips as my painting ability is nowhere near what I've seen others here do. Good luck and post lots of pictures as you go!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oblivious 38 Posted April 15, 2014 Hi Scapelnz! Nice specimen you have there. You'll be able to remove the paint with brake fluid. You have to remove all of the decals first. Then you have to soak some cloth, like an old t-shirt with brake fluid and cover the body for 24 hours (trying to keep the fluid in contact with the body, so it can start lifting the enamel paint off of it). If some paint residues remain stuck, then repeat the process, and for a body with so many details as the Subaru Brat you will probably need some small cocktail sticks to remove the paint of small corners and such. Perhaps you can find some ideas for your restoration here (my own Subaru Brat restoration): http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=60873 Just two words, mongoose, about those Brats: "¡Bravo, figura!" Isn´t it the same chassis as The Frog? I´m sorry, Scapelnz, I can´t help about that painting. Just a newbie... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
berman 5315 Posted April 15, 2014 Welcome to the nuthouse Scalpelnz. Good to see the addiction has already set in! The brat looks like a labour of love, just take your time with the styrene cement, if you don't glue it properly it is heart breaking if it comes undone after you paint it All the best 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mongoose1983 3335 Posted April 15, 2014 Just two words, mongoose, about those Brats: "¡Bravo, figura!" Isn´t it the same chassis as The Frog? Yes, it is the same chassis. Just the wheels, motor, and gears are different. The Subaru Brat was the first Tamiya RC model to use that ORV (that's how they call it) chassis. Then many models, some of which are also considered "legendary" came out to take this hobby by storm, haha. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scapelnz 204 Posted April 15, 2014 Hi Scapelnz! Nice specimen you have there. You'll be able to remove the paint with brake fluid. You have to remove all of the decals first. Then you have to soak some cloth, like an old t-shirt with brake fluid and cover the body for 24 hours (trying to keep the fluid in contact with the body, so it can start lifting the enamel paint off of it). If some paint residues remain stuck, then repeat the process, and for a body with so many details as the Subaru Brat you will probably need some small cocktail sticks to remove the paint of small corners and such. Perhaps you can find some ideas for your restoration here (my own Subaru Brat restoration): http://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=60873 Thanks mongoose1983, your Brat restoration is what inspired me to find one and restore it. Unfortunatly in New Zealand there isn't a huge amount of vintage tamiya available to buy. When I saw the Brat for sale on our local auction site I had to have it. Every now and then a few gems pop up on the site like last week, I brought a really tidy Boomerang and also a Hotshot 2 (havent told the wife yet, hopefully she wont notice!) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scapelnz 204 Posted April 15, 2014 I've had pretty solid luck stripping old paint and decals and general crud with Easy Off oven cleaner. Sounds weird but it works and it hasn't ever discolored a shell or made it brittle. A little oven cleaner, let sit, scrub with a stiff bristle brush and rinse very well. Repeat if necessary. I'll let someone else give painting tips as my painting ability is nowhere near what I've seen others here do. Good luck and post lots of pictures as you go!! Thanks taliesin, I think I'll try the easy off oven cleaner route first, they are both pretty toxic substances but maybe the oven cleaner is the lesser of two evils? If it doesn't work I can always then try the brake fluid. Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scapelnz 204 Posted April 15, 2014 So last night a got a good look at the brat, the chassis is in really good nick, I have a box of parts of which I'm pretty sure I can find the bits I need. The needs a lot of love but I'm up for the challenge. Strip of all the decals and alot of paint with them, the driver is in good condition but he's been painted to look like an 80 year old man so will have to fix that. The previous owner has had a love affair which his cement and tryed to glue everything he can, the wind screen was glued and screwed but managed to get that of without to much trouble. It does how ever have a crack through the sun roof but trying to find a clear non tinted brat wind screen could be tough? The grill and tail gate are also glued and I dont want to break them so I will try and work with them in place. The nudge bar and rear roll bar are both busted but have found replacements on ebay so not to worried about those. Has anyone used a bog/filler on these hard bodys and if so what are your thoughts? There's a couple of imperfections that I want to tidy up and was wondering if filler would work Time to start removing some paint! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted April 15, 2014 before you put too much work into that shell... Price up what a brandnew re-re part would cost you I've spent crazy amt of hrs & $$ into my tatty Brat shell and its needing a lot more work still, but that was started before the re-re appeared. Now, just the cost of buying styrene for patching up exceeds what a new shell would cost Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted April 15, 2014 Has anyone used a bog/filler on these hard bodys and if so what are your thoughts? There's a couple of imperfections that I want to tidy up and was wondering if filler would work yes putty is your saviour, also high-build primer (not too thick, small spots only) go for 2-part filler if you can, T or Milliput we find down here. The 1-part air dry stuff shrinks too much. the US guys use red Bondo Glazing Putty but I've never found it here yet. The UK girls have their own different putty preferences too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scapelnz 204 Posted April 16, 2014 before you put too much work into that shell... Price up what a brandnew re-re part would cost you I've spent crazy amt of hrs & $$ into my tatty Brat shell and its needing a lot more work still, but that was started before the re-re appeared. Now, just the cost of buying styrene for patching up exceeds what a new shell would cost I have to admitt that thought did run through my mind last night as I was pulling about the brat, By the looks of it I can get a re re shell and parts landed in NZ for about $60nz dollars. Think I'll still tackle the original shell to start with and see how I get on. Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Percymon 2184 Posted April 16, 2014 Hard shell is US$25 from banzaihobby and US$29 from Jason's store (both plus shipping). If you are going to use it after the rebuild then i'd persevere with the old shell, always some satisfaction from reviving the old ones even if it does involve many hours and the end result isn't quite as good as starting new. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scapelnz 204 Posted April 16, 2014 I found even more cracks today! I couldnt figure out way the shell was making a very light rattle while I was handling it today, turns out there are hair line cracks running down the bonnet from the sills on both sides. and to top it of its also got a slight twist in the front also! I'm thinking that I'll clean the original shell up as runner but not be too fussy and buy a new one from ebay and make that my shelfer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted April 16, 2014 My shell work-in-progress has been hanging around for 15yrs... it's still here after we bought the "japan show special ltd edition Brat bodyset" for about $140 and a few yrs later the Brat re-re appeared & a kind soul sent me one of those. It's missing a roof bar... I should just make it into a convertible Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mongoose1983 3335 Posted April 16, 2014 For heaven's sake, don't destroy the original Subaru shell! There's some very small differences in the bed between that one and the re-re (which is actually based on the 1987 Mud Blaster body). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scapelnz 204 Posted April 16, 2014 For heaven's sake, don't destroy the original Subaru shell! There's some very small differences in the bed between that one and the re-re (which is actually based on the 1987 Mud Blaster body). Most my models are display and I only ever run a couple of them but I've always want to have a brat runner so will use the orignal shell for that and re re for the shelf, don't worry I won't destroy it, I always take super good care of my cars even the runners. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scapelnz 204 Posted April 16, 2014 I love it when you buy a bulk lot on an auction site, its like christmas as you never know what you are going to find, I found a few things that were missing off the brat, the body post and mount, steering rods and caps and a few other small but important parts. I still need a couple of chassis servo mounts and the switch tray. I'll pop in to my LHS as he has huge collection of Tamiya RC (when I say huge I'm talking hundreds of cars!!) and has been really helpful in finding parts for me in the past. Once I find those parts I'll then strip the chassis down and then clean and rebuild. I like to have all the parts before before I start a rebuild. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WillyChang 1814 Posted April 17, 2014 Less slop in steering if you centralise the servo (DIY rods). Don't need switch tray if you use an ESC; re-re fills void with 2 round bars. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Incredible_Serious 107 Posted April 17, 2014 I'll pop in to my LHS as he has huge collection of Tamiya RC (when I say huge I'm talking hundreds of cars!!) and has been really helpful in finding parts for me in the past. Say hi to Ju for me, tell him pig says g'day from Australia...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scapelnz 204 Posted April 18, 2014 Say hi to Ju for me, tell him pig says g'day from Australia...... Will do, I went in yesterday asking for random parts for my rebuild and he found everything I need and more from in his storage room! Great guy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scapelnz 204 Posted April 18, 2014 I having trouble uploading photos, apparently I've exceeded my disk space? not to sure what this means, any suggestions? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mongoose1983 3335 Posted April 18, 2014 I having trouble uploading photos, apparently I've exceeded my disk space? not to sure what this means, any suggestions? It's better to use a free photo host website like Photobucket. The capacities of the Forums are very limited, but on PB you won't have limits to store photos and show them in here or in any other forums. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scapelnz 204 Posted April 18, 2014 It's better to use a free photo host website like Photobucket. The capacities of the Forums are very limited, but on PB you won't have limits to store photos and show them in here or in any other forums. Thanks for that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scapelnz 204 Posted April 18, 2014 One of the interesting items that came in the box of RC parts was a UK magazine from 1985, its in pretty good nick. Check out the pricing of some of the vintage tamiya in this add http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o572/scapelnz/TC2_zps9a504055.jpg This ones a NZ add for a Grass hopper combo, pretty much explains why my parents wouldn't buy me one back in the eighty's! http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o572/scapelnz/TC3_zpsd5ce5c60.jpg Front cover of the mag featuring my first Tamiya ever http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o572/scapelnz/TC1_zpsb3aee6ef.jpg I hope ive done this photobucket thing correctly Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
