More of the Million Dollar Hornet
I have not forgotten about this project. I was having trouble designing the body as these types of free-form designs are not things I am used to. I finally got through it and everything is off to Shapeways!
First off, this car has taken hundreds of hours to design. Let it be clear that I do not have, nor have access to a 3D scanner. Therefore, every part of the hornet that you see here was measured by hand, piece by injection molded piece. That was not fun. Second, you are looking at a husky Hornet. This little guy, according to my simulation tools, is now 50% heavier without the battery. Is this bad? Heck no, the problems with the Hornet first stem from the fact that the car is too light. Now that the car is meatier, coupled to the fact that I am still going to add weight to the car to set the CG where I want it, it will not be able to absorb little lumps and bumps much better.
I am excited about the 3rd shock mod as there is no way that, under compression, it possible to jam a shock of any kind in there without it being hit by the trans. I know this because I have copied every single one on here that members have done. Many are so close to being perfect and fitting bit even 1mm of interference is not cool with me. One member added a 3rd shock to his Grasshopper 2 via cantilever, inboard. I saw that and knew that was the solution. I added mine and incorporated it into the roll cage.
Oh, speaking of the roll cage, the cage will increase the rigidity of the chassis by 70% in the areas of contention: the front end and front suspension. The cage wraps around all of the electronics and mounts to every single mounting point that the chassis has, including the Grasshopper body mounts, MSC mounts, nerf bar mounts, and even the antenna mount (it will be relocated). The main cage is 6mm in diameter with some 4mm supports in areas deemed to be ancillary. The cage also has the body that attaches to it. On the front, the body is clipped on for easy removal. On the sides, it is screwed on as those will rarely need to come off. They are screwed in from the outside as the cage needs a lot of screws to be installed so I did not want to remove the cage every time I needed to work on the car. The roof too is screwed in. I took some artistic freedom with the body as I wanted it to still look like a Hornet but also look like this one was not messing around. The head lamps are actually attached to the front of the frame and not the body as a support that goes from tower to tower will be in the way of removing the shell should the lamps be installed on the nose.
The rims too are custom for this car. they increase wheel track, look like original ones and mount to the stock locations. On top of that, they accept modern low-profile buggy tires. The outer lip of the rim is painted black to get the effect of a smaller diameter rim.
The rest of the parts are the same as before save for the part that I wanted to make since the start of the project: A battery door that won’t fall off even by looking at it. It actually isn’t much of a door, just a thin piece of styrene but with a mount added between the chassis and the transmission. This will allow the battery tray to be installed with clips, in the same fashion of the Super Hornet, and never fall off! I can’t wait to get the parts! This has been a long project and I am happy to see that it is finally complete.
The images uploaded are screen shots. I did not have a chance to render these as the computer I am using is lacking in the horse power area. Anything you see in RED as been modified by me, including the rear shock ball ends. They fit the stock location without making any changes. The upper mount was also dramatically mod’d as the larger bore springs will hit the motor when it torques. They were moved 5mm to the rear and 3mm more inboard to compensate the CG shift. I didn’t paint the frame red as then it would be hard to see but obviously, that is my work also.
I hope you folks like it!
Nice.
I designed that body, still Hornet like
My 3rd shock cantilever
My zero camber front end
Custom shock ball end bases
This won't fall off! Happy Dance!!!
Simple bracket does the trick
My rear tail lamps and wing/shock mount
Naked frame
A lot of mounting locations...
If you liked those pictures, you should see these...
The Million Dollar Hornet
Comments
Crash Cramer
Wow, red AND purple and no spots, take that Junya Watanabe.
I think it will be an interesting looking car. Did someone mention beef?? I am hungry 
taffer
Wow so many questions!
What will you call it? 'Power Hornet'?
When will you find out how much it will cost to 3D print out?
Will you do a build thread?
What extra items are required? tyres, screws. gears etc
Great stuff!
SRB Bloke
After my experience with shapeways this beauty must mega expensive but very cool.
You've put hours in to this and so far looks like it's time well spent.
My only thing is the third shock has eliminated a driver.
Mad Ax
Awesome work there - that's a lot of time and effort to make something unique. I'll be watching for more updates!
swedishwiking
Wow! You have far too much sparetime my friend..
SpZero
Wow looks great would love yo see a kit could be great to resurrect a few beaten up hornets and grasshoppers.
kontemax
This is only my opinion.
If you design e realize everything why don't you think to a better steering linkages with some ackerman angle?
I don't agree with your design:
1) It seems you don't think great. If you re-design the front arms why front end remains so narrow? A larger front end will help car stability and lower the CG. Longer front arms allows more rooms to a better lower damper position.
2) If you re-design front arms why don't you find a solution to use longer dampers increasing the suspension movement to avoid the easy dampers bottoming and to add front end stability?
3) If you re-design front arms why don't you add some degreees to the front arms to avoid the squat of the front end?
4) If you re-design front arms and hub carriers why you don't use a more modern design instead of early/mid 80ies design?
5)The real problem on the Hornet rear end is the bad dampers geometry. If you re-design the lower and upper damper mounts why don't think and study a better rear damper geometry? The solution you found is worse than original, these dampers will never work properly.
6) How many time you believe the battery door pins will resist to stones and ground asperities?
7) Where's the driver?
9) Why don't you design a better upper mounts for front dampers?
This is my challenge to you. You made a very good job but you can do better. You can create what you want and 'not yet enough' should be your watchwords. Good job!
taffer
@kontemax, i'm sure pintopower could do most of these suggestions but would it feel less like a hornet if he did? A driver would be nice and a recessed battery door like the GH2/Rising Fighter would solve the exposed pins
Lets see it in the flesh first!
Pintopower
Well, let’s start with the easy ones.
Crash – What a funny guy you are. Purple is so you can see the definition of the chassis better and red is for what I made. Im going to paint your beetle body red and purple now.
Taffer – Thanks! I was thinking “Super Hornet” but that was taken Price was not bad, all you see here (in red) for about $120. Oh and I totally forgot that the RIMS are also custom but honestly they are not something that I would display, they are for running. Screw pins are needed to assemble the arms but everything else is misc Tamiya screws. Pretty basic and almost nothing requires damage to the chassis save for the holes to mount the 3rd shock mount and battery door retainer.
SRB Bloke – You know, price for everything collectively wasn’t too bad. I was expecting MUCH worse. I too am bummed about the driver loss but will be happy again when I see the 3rd shock bouncing back and forth!
Mad Ax – Thanks! Ill post when the bits are in!
Sweedishwiking – I wish that were true. This was all built specifically for a number of demonstrations we had at work. So, not only did I do this all at work, I got paid for it!
taffer
Er maybe 'the super wasp' or 'Buzz kill' lol could the 3rd shock be lowered for a driver or even a lexan windscreen with a driver made from a decal!
Pintopower
And Now for the big one – KONTEMAX.
1. The front end is now 20mm wider than stock. This was how I got the 40mm shocks to fit in the first place.
2. I am way ahead of you there. My plan was to reduce cost of replacement by having interchangeable parts, something not possible with unique arms. My plan is to make arms that will accept a 50 mm shock but the problem with that is the reduction in ground clearance beneath the arm.
3. I’m not following you. The new arms are double wishbone so there is no longer any dynamic camber angle change. The upper link isn’t shown as the cad tool has that as a mechanical linkage for testing that does not show up when the model is static.
4. You mean I should change the spindle? Why would I do that? This IS a mid 80’s design. I would like to keep it as such and not make a massive list of parts that you have to acquire to build the car.
5. The solution I have is infinitely better than the original. I know this from simulation testing and real world testing. Though I agree about the base mount being no better than original, the design I had in mind was expensive as it needed to be machined out of aluminum (like the JunFac version). Once more, I tried to use original parts where I could. The upper mount is a massive improvement to the original. First off, it makes the rear shocks more vertical, there in reducing torque effect by making the shocks off the axis that the torque is being applied. Mind you, they are probably 5% better. The real reason for the rear end upper mount mod is to provide structure for the rear wing mount (now it mounts to a rigid body and not a lexan sponge) and the mounting point for the rear of the cage, thus transferring the load from the jump to the chassis, and not the rear uprights.
6. The battery door pins are nearly 25mm off the ground at full compression. Plus, if you are worried about that, print it in stainless steel. I could just make a complete door and hack up the chassis beyond recognition so that I can get an extravagant mechanism in there, or I could simply resign to the fact that this is a Hornet.
7. Holding the remote control.
8. I could, but don’t care. It’s a Hornet.
9. I did not want to damage or cut anything on the chassis. I agree that the front towers are bad but you can buy good metal ones on eBay if you want to go that far.
I do thank you for your questions. You took time to inspect the design. I had already asked myself everything you asked me. The thing is, this is a Hornet, nothing more and nothing less. I wanted to keep the car feeling like a Hornet. I have an RC10 and an RC10B2 which are above and beyond better cars than this. Thing is, that is their problem, they are not Hornets. This car you see here is my race car. I race with modern buggies with an ancient, Trinity Paradox equipped heap of abs and friction shocks. I have never finished first, but I have never been last. That’s the point of this. Thank you again for your analysis and ideas.
Pintopower
@Taffer - I did have the shock lowered down initially but then I forgot I needed a speed control jammed in there also. The cage takes a lot of room...Thing is, I think the shock looks cool in there!
super bee? Shoot that's taken too...
taffer
Didnt realise there was so many breeds of wasps/hornets! How about 'Vespa mandarinia japonica' which can be translated to 'Giant Hornet' commonly found in Japan (all from wiki)
Toykid
Wow! I can't wait to see the print, when will it ready?
ModMax
I love what your doing! Genius I say!
Crash Cramer
How about THE ALBERTO????
Pintopower
@Taffer - You are hilarious. How about Vespa Veloce (fast Hornet) in Italian).
@Toykid - Three weeks! this is all your fault by the way. HAHA!
@ModMax - Thank you!
@Crash - Now you're talking.
R/CVET
Amazing work...I love it. You made quite a few improvements while not deviating from the main 80's Hornet design...I get it. Fantastic! Some here are being a bit overly critical but I think it's going to be awesome when it's done. I like 'super wasp.'
Max Power
Great design and we'll thought out. I look forward to seeing the finished buggy.
Crash Cramer
Since we are on the Super theme, NOONE has mentioned SUPER FLY, dig it.
Pintopower
@Max Power - Thanks! I am looking forward to seeing it done too. This has been an ongoing project.
@R/CVET - Thanks man, my plan was to keep it a Hornet but make it as good as a Hornet SHOULD be.
@Crash - And we have a winner! SUPER FLY! I'm going to crank that up on the radio now.
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