Idea for a weathered bodyshell look.

[mr crispy 2293]

I've always loved the look of the Sand Scorcher but I just dont have the cash for one right now. Besides if I did I'd just be too nervous to really throw it around and give it a propper thrashing so I've decided to give my old Grasshopper a face lift and turn it into a budget friendly Sand Hopper. I had intended to source a plastic Tamiya MB/BB body and make up some mounts to fit the GH chassis but then I came across the Kamtec Baja polycarbonate shell and it started the old cogs ticking. You see I like to run all my cars and have a lot of fun with them, just like Mr Tamiya intended so I accepted long ago that the bodies will pick up damage and show signs of knocks and scrapes. In the past I'd usually try to hide the damage, cover it up with decals, repaint or replace the bodies but this time I had an idea that was somewhat inspired by a great looking SS that had an aged, well weathered, beaten up paint look... why not embrace the damage?

Now I dont know if this has been tried before but my idea is to paint the inside of the clear polycarb Kamtec shell in a rusty, dented, old steel colour. Obviously the layers need to be applied in reverse so Im thinking to start with a misting of orange & browns, followed buy a mixture of light and dark metalics and finally some dark greys and browns. That should give me a solid "Old Steel" underside. I would then give the outside of the polycarb a standard paint scheme just like it was a ridgid plastic body, add the decals and a few coats of laquer. The idea is that as the body picks up damage and the outer paint gets scraped off, the inner rusty metal will be revealed and should hopefully look pretty authentic and happen in the areas of high wear & tear.

Obviously I'd mostly be using polycarb paint for this so it survives for longer. Main advantages I can see is that it'll be easier to paint a complicated paint scheme to the outside of the shell with crisp lines between colours. Also a polycarb shell should survive the hard life better than a ridge plastic one. The Kamtec body is apx 1/3 the cost of any of the Tamiya Beetle bodies... Besides it arrived this morning and looks pretty good!

So I need your opinions on this idea before I start painting? It seems like a sound and interesting idea to me but can you see anything negative that I've missed? Any advice or suggestions that may help out? It'll take me a while to fabricate the body mounts before i start painting so let me know what you think. I'll be updating this thread with pics once the proper works starts for anyone thats interested. I'm also going to test the idea on some polycarb offcuts once I cut out the shell... better safe than sorry.

Regards

Nic

P.S. Oh yeah, hello BTW. Its my first thread but i've been mulling this idea over all day and just had to get it typed out . Great forum, been lurking for a while and I can see i'll be spending a lot of time here.

P.P.S. Here's the Grasshopper as it looks now. Only real difference other than the paint is the Subaru Brat wheels & tyres to give it a beefier look.

I'll be adding a whippy antenna when I make up the body mounts.

[Falcon#5 594]

Check this Weathered Sand Scorcher out.

ABS shell, but still looks good.

Your idea would work I imagine.

Never heard of anyone else doing it.

Give it a go, I'm interested on how it turns out.

You might start something here.

[OrangeSport 0]

It sounds like a good plan. Should age well over time. It could be worth building a photo diary up as the body weathers more and more.

PS - Nice 'Hopper!

[mr crispy 2293]

Thanks peeps.

Falcon#5 - That is a great build log. I really like the rust holes they've added, might have to "borrow" that idea.

OrangeSport - Yeah Im hoping it'll get more and more beaten up as time goes buy so I'll keep this thread updated. I love the idea of it getting better with age... just like me

FYI the weathered SS that inspired this idea is the Scorwler as seen

on youtube.

I managed to sneek in a few hours this weekend to tweek the chassis and get the body mounted. Chassis wise I had already added the Hornet rear suspension upgrade but I've added some CVA shocks I had sitting around. As you'll probably know theres not a lot you can do with the front end without changing the shock towers, but it has the Hornet double O ring friction damper mod and I've slipped some rubber tubing onto the spring shaft to stop it bottoming out on heavy landing. With the polycarb body its super light so I've left the 380 motor in for now as it gives a reasonable turn of speed and will hopefully reduce the chances of a rollover... at least until I get the paint sorted out. I also found a pretty knackered VLB wheelie bar that had come off a 2nd hand ebay trade in my spares pile, so after a little work with the drill and pliers I've turned it into an antenna mount that will be outside the body. The whippy aerial is from a 1/16 Heng Long R/C Tiger tank and i think looks just right. I also added the VLB "third shock" mod to stop the gearbox lifting on acceleration which was bugging me and caused the antenna to go crazy. This was a free mod as I managed to do it only using parts from the old GH rear pogo sticks = £KERCHING£!!!

For the body mounts I used some brass strip and after a bit of measuring combine with a lot of trial and error I've managed to fit them without having to cut any new holes in the GH chassis. The front mount is held by a nut & bolt through the hole above the front whishbones (Im guessing thats for the Hornet body mount?) and makes a V shape up and back down on to the steering servo for added support. The rear mount is basically a U shape held in place by the rear suspension bolts. This one needed a lot of fiddling to get the shape just right. I topped both the mounts with doublesided tape and craft foam to protect the paintwork from the brass.

Time for pics

Since I took these yesterday i felt the body was sitting a little high so I've bent the front support to lower it and bring it forward in line with the chassis. The rear mount has also been slightly lowered. Now I just need to give it a good run around the garden and check its clearing the wheels ok. I also want to tidy up some of the cut edges on the bodyshell and ensure the wheel arches are symetrical.

Next up - Test the paint idea on a spare bit of polycarb and get your opinions again... if all goes well I'll hit the bodyshell after that.

Fingers crossed

Nic

[Falcon#5 594]

Looks good mate!

Can't wait to see it painted.

How does the 3rd shock work?

Mounted in that position, it looks like it will 'extend' when the suspension 'compresses'?

[Falcon#5 594]

Love the Scorwler!

Great car, and great video.

[mr crispy 2293]

How does the 3rd shock work? Go on then I'll give it a punt. (This is going to be like explaining offside to your wife )

The standard Grasshopper gearbox has a basic "hinge" like attachment to the chassis that only allows movement on one axis - up and down, so if one wheel hits a bump both wheels go up and you lose contact with the ground. The Hornet mod (which is just the D parts from the Hornet & its oil filled dampers) works like the Lunchbox, so instead of the hinge the gearbox fits into a slotted groove that allows it to roll apx 1 inch to the left or right, as well as up & down. This allows it to raise one wheel up while the other is still down, which improves the performance, traction and makes the car a little easier to control. The downside of that is when you accelerate the sudden torque forces the gearbox to tilt backwards until it hits the top of the slot. It doesnt make a lot of difference to the overall performance but it doesnt look very good, makes a loud crack especially with larger motors and can damage the mountings.

The solution that a lot of Lunchbox owners use is to fit a 3rd shock in the middle of that axle (the axle that secures the gearbox in the slot, not the wheel axle). Its a pretty basic mod that most Lunchboxes will have once you start tinkering with them. This pushes the axle down and reduces or stops it lifting under hard acceleration. BUT (and this is the clever bit) because its only pushing down one point in the middle of the axle, it can still roll left and right. It needs to be sprung as it has to raise a little to allow the gearbox to have its full movement in the slot but it doesnt really need to be a fully dampered shock, although most I've seen are. Im skint so I went with the cheap alternative, the original Grasshopper rear springs that I had taken off the kit.

Now I havent seen it on another Grasshopper but Im sure they're out there, they share the same gearbox with the Lunchbox so its a natural progression. Main reason I fitted it to mine is now that the whippy aerial is fixed to the gearbox, everytime I accelerated the gearbox tilted and the aerial swung around violently. Dont get me wrong, it looked fun like a dog wagging its tail but I didnt want it smaking into the beetle body every few seconds and cracking the polycarb.

Hope that made sence and didnt come across as talking down to anyone. Im pretty new to this too so its always best to ask if you dont know.

More pics to follow soon.

Nic

[Falcon#5 594]

How does the 3rd shock work? Go on then I'll give it a punt. (This is going to be like explaining offside to your wife )

The standard Grasshopper gearbox has a basic "hinge" like attachment to the chassis that only allows movement on one axis - up and down, so if one wheel hits a bump both wheels go up and you lose contact with the ground. The Hornet mod (which is just the D parts from the Hornet & its oil filled dampers) works like the Lunchbox, so instead of the hinge the gearbox fits into a slotted groove that allows it to roll apx 1 inch to the left or right, as well as up & down. This allows it to raise one wheel up while the other is still down, which improves the performance, traction and makes the car a little easier to control. The downside of that is when you accelerate the sudden torque forces the gearbox to tilt backwards until it hits the top of the slot. It doesnt make a lot of difference to the overall performance but it doesnt look very good, makes a loud crack especially with larger motors and can damage the mountings.

The solution that a lot of Lunchbox owners use is to fit a 3rd shock in the middle of that axle (the axle that secures the gearbox in the slot, not the wheel axle). Its a pretty basic mod that most Lunchboxes will have once you start tinkering with them. This pushes the axle down and reduces or stops it lifting under hard acceleration. BUT (and this is the clever bit) because its only pushing down one point in the middle of the axle, it can still roll left and right. It needs to be sprung as it has to raise a little to allow the gearbox to have its full movement in the slot but it doesnt really need to be a fully dampered shock, although most I've seen are. Im skint so I went with the cheap alternative, the original Grasshopper rear springs that I had taken off the kit.

Now I havent seen it on another Grasshopper but Im sure they're out there, they share the same gearbox with the Lunchbox so its a natural progression. Main reason I fitted it to mine is now that the whippy aerial is fixed to the gearbox, everytime I accelerated the gearbox tilted and the aerial swung around violently. Dont get me wrong, it looked fun like a dog wagging its tail but I didnt want it smaking into the beetle body every few seconds and cracking the polycarb.

Hope that made sence and didnt come across as talking down to anyone. Im pretty new to this too so its always best to ask if you dont know.

More pics to follow soon.

Nic

That makes total sense to me now!

I didn't know you had modded the rear axle mounts. (I can see them now I'm looking for them).

I can see how it works with the 'slots' that allow movement upwards, not just a fixed, rotating pivot.

My only experience with these is when my brother had an Academy Road Runner II (Grasshopper copy) when we were kids - many years ago.

I've heard of the 3rd shock mod on VLB's, but not familiar with them, so just guessed it was there to help the other 2, not perform an entirely different function.

Sorry for the noob question, but I have learned something today, and thanks for the explanation.

[mr crispy 2293]

Phew Im glad that made sence, my fingers got sore from all that typing

Dont worry about noob questions, like I said always best to ask and besides you have a much higher post count then me, Im a noob too mate.

Calling the Hornet mod a "mod" is probably over doing it I guess as its really just swapping some parts for a slightly better option. It does improve the handling though and you really dont need to 3rd shock to notice the difference. Im a terrible fiddler so If I see something that I can do which 1. should improve the performace at least a bit and 2. wont cost me anything, Im likely to do it Its one of the things I most enjoy with Tamiya R/C cars, build em up, run em a bit, fiddle, run em a bit more, fiddle some more, run em... etc.

Saying that since I lowered it I've thrown it all over the garden and didnt get a single roll so either Im getting better, the car's suspension has been improved or I wasnt trying hard enough... or a combination of the three.

So here's how it finally looks now all ready for a quick trim, clean up and then some paint.

Eventually I want to get a driver in there and maybe a mock engine and bumper bars on the back. That'll take a bit of head scratching as it cant be mounted to the gearbox but needs to leave enough room for it move freely.

Dont you just love days off in the sun?

Nic

[mr crispy 2293]

Paint test

Tried out some ordinary acylics on the inner surface of some polycarb offcuts and was quite happy with how they turned out. Experimented with a lighter & darker steel look.

Then put down a quick light blue on the outer surface and added some scratches to get this effect.

As expected once the outer paint is scratched off the rusty under paint comes through as very gloss due to the polycarb. I was hoping that the real scuffing would dull that down a bit but I can just give it a quick coat of matt varnish every now and then if it bugs me.

Overall a pretty nice finish IMO but what do you think? Worth doing the whole shell?

I may just go ahead with the acrylic paint as its set very well on the polycarb and still allows a little flex. Also if it should go horribly wrong I can remove it easily. I'll do the inner rusty steel first and get some pics up, then move onto the outer colour. Im thinking a royal blue body with white fenders/mudguards and possibly a central while racing stripe running down the middle of the bonnet & roof.

Nic

[HunterZero 76]

Looks rather cool.

You could bash it that way, and after a few rollovers, it would 'naturally' acquire some rusty damage and scuffs. Sanding and actual scuffs would take the gloss off it, as well as PS matt clear coat.

That 3rd shock mod - since the rear gearbox can roll left/right, wouldn't the operation of that shock be improved with a ball-socket joint on the bottom, or at least turning the bottom hinge pin 90 degrees? Eg, like at the bottom of the Hornet oil shocks? Otherwise raising one wheel will stress the 3rd shock joints.

- James

[mr crispy 2293]

Yep Hunterzero Im hoping the real scuffs wont look so glossy. As for the 3rd shock mount I also thought the same as you and tried out different methods but this seemed to work the best. The bottom of the shock is held a little loose in the U bracket so it allows for enough "roll" movement. It also didnt look as good when turned 90 degrees I was thinking to trim a few more coils off the spring to make it softer but I've decided to leave it until I try a 540 motor in there as that'll need a stronger spring to counter the extra torque.

Speaking of that, Im assuming to swap the 380 for a 540 motor I just need to leave off the 380 motor mount. Can I still use the same pinion gear that came with the Grasshopper or should I replace it with a different one?

[Coopdevil 18]

Is it worth trying that flat Tamiya spray varnish intended for the outside of matt/satin shells (I forget the PS number) before the blue goes down? Alternatively perhaps experiment with sanding the outside of the shell then doing the blue?

[Will16 45]

What bodyshell is that??? Looks great on the Frog!

[mr crispy 2293]

Got it off ebay. Its the Kamtec Baja Bug bodyshell on a Grasshopper chassis.

Coopdevil - This is why I love forums. Thank you for suggesting that mate. I'd dismissed the idea thinking the varnish would just rub off with the scuffing but as you mentioned it I gave it a try on my test piece and wow. The matt Humbrol varnish I had not only calms the gloss down but it sticks much better to the polycarb than the acrylic paint. Its totally transformed how it looks... but I'll get to those pics in a minute.

First I actually remembered to take some WIP pics as I built up the rust layers. Remember this is all painted from the inside so Im working in reverse.

Here's the first orange layer (thought i'd over done it when i first saw the complete shell ):

Then added some dark earth brown to the mix and went over the orange and a little more into the clear panels:

Then I started fresh with a light metalic silver misting all over:

Then added some black ink and gunmetal to the mixed to gradually bring the metalic shade down and get that steel look I wanted:

The Kamtec shell comes with window masks which were ok but the rear windscreen didnt fit at all.

Here's how it looked on the chassis:

The gloss makes it hard to see the finished effect:

More pics to follow.

[mr crispy 2293]

And here it is after the Humbrol Matt varnish was added to the outside of the shell (Thanks again Coopdevil).

I was so eager to get it onto the shell i didnt mask the windows, thinking it'd be as easy to remove as the acrylic paint... WRONG! Which I guess is a good thing to find out . It does come off with a bit of careful rubbing or a little cellulose thinners but It'll take a while to make sure I dont effect the paint underneath. Im loving the effect though. Almost be a shame to cover it up really. Very tempted to leave it as it is.

Hope you like

Nic

[Kevin_Mc 411]

that looks like a right old shed!

[mr crispy 2293]

Hoh yes, a right Wheeler Dealers special. Looks like its just been pulled out of a barn and had the chickens evicted

Didnt like how it was handling with those big CVA shocks. Problem is the Hopper is so lightweight, especially with this polycarb bodyshell that the CVA's just werent being worked and the result was like running with solid rear shocks. Whipped them off quick, refusbished my old Hornet dampers and put them on. Hey presto, not only is it handling a lot better now but they compliment the Baja Bug look much better.

Now Im sure I came across a vac formed beetle engine in my searches for inspiration but I cant find them now. Does anybody know what Im refering to or where to buy them? Think they are designed to fit over a Sand Scorchers rear end. Any help locating one would be welcome.

Cheers

Nic

[Coopdevil 18]

That's looking awesome. I think I'd be tempted to leave it as is, just a few stickers on the bodywork but with the rear side windows covered in lots of little ones, Volksrod style. Iron Cross or similar on the doors?

Coop