casethejoint

The X150 got a new tailgate and sunroof today, courtesy of a Blackfoot tree. Also got to use the spray booth again and help conclude that dishcloths make the best filters Pretty happy with the colour match. I mixed it myself - Tamiya X-7 red with a tiny dash of orange. Left matt to match the original faded and matt'ed off shell. Sunroof needs another couple of coats but I ran out of red so that'll have to wait.... Anyone know where I can get the Ford tailgate lettering without having to spend £20 at Shapeways (or make them myself) ?

As mentioned if you can live with a little noise you can use a regular compressor which will be a fraction of the cost of a dedicated airbrush compressor. And as mentioned above a car inner tube will get you started, as will rattle can air supplies (although cost of those will add up quickly so I'd recommend not going that route). Spray booths are pretty easy to DIY :

Booth got some action again today. Rear tailgate and sunroof for an X150 SRB. I have now tested a few filter materials - 2mm black carbon stuff on eBay, some white paper-like stuff very similar to disposable face mask material and the classic dish cloth. Surprised myself but have to say that classic dish cloth wins, by a fair margin. Excellent balance between "catch the paint" and "don't constrict airflow too much". On top of that of course it's cheap and very easily and readily available. With my airbrush (typical acrylics at ~14 psi) it keeps up pretty well and almost no overspray/fumes leave the booth. With rattle cans (I use Halfords here in the UK but I imagine worldwide they're probably not that different in terms of pressure etc) it does struggle to keep up and if you don't pause every few seconds you can see a build up of fumes and overspray inside the booth that gradually creeps out. Reality is I'll continue to spray rattle cans outdoors when the weather is good, but I can airbrush year 'round in the garage now If you look at this pic you can see what the dishcloth is catching (it was originally blue + white). I can't find any overspray anywhere in the garage (and it would go *everywhere* before I built the booth ).

No that makes perfect sense actually. I think you mean like this (using my original shock shafts in the shoe rather than your suggested regular shock ends + bolt which I think might shorten the travel too much?):- Which is a nice idea because (a) non-destructive to wishbone and (b) I can probably use a standard tamiya rubber bushing + metal insert. Rear-most shock might rock a little but that'll just add to the fun. I like it, thanks. Sold Smoke, mirrors and great camera angles

Thanks Chris but no it's the black ones for the steering tie rods. I have plenty of them, just haven't got to it yet. @moffman - nope, different one. This was not in that good condition, had red wheels when it came and the body is different. It is red though ;). I'm liking the red colour - grew on me.

Thought I'd get some pics during a rare moment where this shell is all one colour! Still lots of filling, sanding, priming (moved onto white primer now in final stages) going on... Here's where I am on the double shock mount thinking. Ignoring the top mount for the moment (which should be a fairly simple bracket I can fabricate in alloy), I'm thinking about a "shoe" in alloy that takes both shock shafts, held in holes with M2 grub screws and I'll attach that to the rear wishbone standard shock mount with a screw which I'll drill all the way through. The above is an initial mock up of the shoe part so no M2 hole taps yet, or other mounting - it's all just resting in place. I think this might just work, but I need to build in some flex here, so this week I need to see if I can get a rubber "sole" onto the shoe so that it's not such a direct mechanical coupling. For any latecomers to this thread the reason I can't mount the shocks normally is because I've reduced the track width at the rear meaning even a single shock mounted in the traditional way rubs against the rear tire. Any thoughts much appreciated. Once I drill the hole in the rear wishbone to mount this I'm kind of committed, so will sleep on it a day or two before making any final decisions

The old Ford XLT150 SRB that I bought from a TC member (for the life of me can't remember his name/handle at the mo!) about 4 years ago finally got taken out of the box and fixed up today. It arrived in reasonable condition already. The plan was to built an authentic runner with a restored shell, but the original shell that came with it has really grown on me so I'm keeping it as is. New bits/upgrades include: - Tamiya ball diff - Stainless steel screws - Alloy wheels (Pargu) and new rubber - New radio box from re-re - Coil over shocks (RC channel) all round - NIB vintage Acoms AP35 speedo - New re-re front bumper - Not new but fairly mint vintage Tamiya black motor - 2S LIPO "hidden" inside a classic vintage hump back case Couple of things to finish up like a missing real tailgate + sunroof (I have a replacements, currently in primer), tire lettering and it needs a new set of ball cups and a receiver. Other than that pretty much ready to run now. Looking at the spec, other than the stainless screws this actually was my dream SRB as a youngster back in about 1983, but couldn't afford it. So I guess today I built my nostalgic dream buggy

Yes you do. Not really. Whatever you do you're stuck with that wide pattern, occasional sputtering and decreasing pressure as you use it. All those get solved with a decent airbrush. If you can live with something a little louder (eg if you spray in a garage) then you can buy a regular compressor, which are considerably cheaper than specialist airbrush compressors (which are very quiet and that's largely what you pay for with them). Yep, that'll definitely test your masking skills

Word of the week!

That and a whole bunch of other dimension issues means a true scale Funco isn't possible on the SRB chassis, but I'm not going to let that put me off tipping my hat to Funco and having some fun with it Thanks for the vote of confidence Steve. I am now definitely high on the confidence stakes, and that's probably 90% of it anyway!

Oh, PS - I have a plan for the double rear shocks. More on that to follow

Thanks guys, wheels are on way In the meantime I think I had already mentioned that I had plans for the roof. Got that started tonight. This is kind of the look I'm after. I started with a card mockup (easier to play with in 3D then flatten out to make the cuts in styrene) and gave myself a brief of "... make the most 70's looking line you can" Picked the lower of the two in the end. Transferred that to styrene. I cut both at the same time to ensure they're identical. Glued and then braced. A single rib at the back I think should do the trick to hold the curve (I'm using 0.5mm thin styrene for the side ears). I kind of massaged the front into position and glued it holding by hand. The rear was then easy. Currently I'm looking like this. You can see here that only a nominal amount of filling on the body, which is a good sign and yes I'm finally coming to the end of that thankfully. I'm hoping that tomorrow I can finish off the filling, finish off this roof and then start on the interior floor pan and dash (have the templates - made those also today).

That's them - thank you, good find! I normally look at Pargus stuff on eBay - didn't realise he had a store too

More surgery on the front today. Once I'd taken the nose off I decided to re-use the removed piece, but want it slightly shorter so removed a slice. I've seen a few Funco SRBs with a really steep angle rake back and I think that looks cool too, but for some reason I felt with this not to overdo it. I played around with it in a few configurations and ended up with this quite subtle angle. A couple of dabs of PlastiWeld in the corners was enough to hold it in this position long enough for me to put in support at the rear. I also "welded" in some scraps of styrene to give some re-enforcement prior to filling. Took a shot of this because it looks like a set of comedy teeth So right now we're looking like this:- Lots of filling and sanding still on-going. I can see at least another 2-3 goes before I'm happy with it. I think this is the really hard stuff (or at least new stuff for me) now complete and the rest of it is pretty much in my comfort zone. I will be cutting this section out at the rear:- ... but I'm leaving that piece in for now while I'm sanding, as it provides some useful structural strength while I finish up the shock absorber arches. Next up I want to try and work out the rear shock absorber arrangement. Also, I need to find some Centerline style SRB wheel covers - anyone know where I can get a set ?

I rebuilt the shocks on this badboy today so that I can take it for a spin tomorrow. Classic 2WD vintage buggy with a brushless low turn motor and 2S lipo. Can't go wrong in the fun stakes

I'd love to do the twin shocks thing, but I'm not sure I have any clearance left with my shortened rear arms - as it is even a single shock is a tight fit and only just misses the tire. I might have to think up a new shock mount system. Thinking cap is on...

Absolute genius - can't believe I missed this first time around. Glad it got bumped!

Today I did a bit of work on the chassis, completing the front suspension and steering. I went for the SuperChamp style, as I had a spare SC servo saver and some old tie rods. I sprayed the rods matt black. I found some really nice metal servo mounts on an old SC speedo servo too. Not sure if those originally came with the SC or if that was someones subsequent hopup? The rest of the bodywork today was all about spraying guide coats on to see the holes, gaps and scrapes and then filling. So I didn't bother taking pics, basically looks same as some of the other above shots at the moment, but getting better each pass of course. I have managed to get one side of the crescent shape for the top of the shocks done at the rear. Quite pleased with this - think it'll look great when done. You can see one of my original guide cut marks above it. Originally I was thinking of mounting longer shocks and have them sit up much higher, but after making that guide line quickly ruled that idea out. These *just* clear the rear shock mounts, and the shock will sit nicely in the middle of the circle and then with the Bel Ray logo above, eg something like:- I've decided to go with this classic colour scheme btw. I know it's been done to death, but I think for good reason I have plans for the roof though that will be a little different to this....

Hey Erich You're right, Wrangler Eagles would be a good size match - but no, has to be Sand Blasters. Don't know why. I have a bit of a love affair with those tires I guess. Yep, the shell is from my vintage Super-Champ that I restored a few years ago (https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=100992&id=26801 / https://www.tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?cid=99735). I'm indeed using it as guide - not to copy dimensions or positioning (the sides on mine are different) but very useful for ideas and angles etc. I also had a normal rough rider shell on the bench while I was doing the cheeks to remind me of where the bits were that I had cut off.

Thanks Steve - yes it is getting easier, and I'm definitely building some chops too. So all good. I have actually exceeded my own expectations so I'm not complaining. Also, the bits that I was dreading (those side cheeks) are now done, so downhill from here for me. The tires - not great. I won't show you my first attempt. And I probably won't show you my second attempt either. Not sure if there'll be a third and I might have to drop you a line about that ;). I think I'm good with things that don't move around too much on you. With metal and styrene I can put it in vice, rig up clamps, all sorts of ways to hold and manipulate things. Rubber I'm finding is very unforgiving that way and so not something I naturally have any kind of technique for.

Got the DIY homework out the way faster than expected, so was able to do the other side If you look closely it's the *tiniest* bit out of symmetrical, but honestly I'm dead chuffed with how close I've got it and there's no way I could have done better than this. Totally at the edge of my ability. Very happy More filler and glue than bodyshell now Right, here's where I am with the rear..... get where I'm going with it? Any guesses as to what decal is going over this? I've since removed this attempt and need a slightly larger radius (it just fouls the shock mount) but I'm convinced it's the path forward.

I filled and sanded the side cheeks into shape, then took the plunge and attached the first side. As you can see, here I've rough cut the front curve piece. I used some thin (0.5mm) styrene for this - no way are my heat bending skills up to scratch to do a fiddly piece like this that way. Here it is after a little sanding. I then started to fill it ready for final sanding before hitting the other side. The garage needs to make way for some household DIY things now so probably won't get to side 2 until tomorrow. After both cheeks are on I'm planning to do some tweaks to the rear which have come to mind since I started this - more on that later

Pretty good progress tonight. I made up the ribs using a vice to make sure all 4 were as close to equal as possible. These then fit into the top of the cheeks that I cut out earlier. I just put a dab of glue to hold in these in position while I worked out where I was going from here. Once I was confident I stuck these in properly and added some re-enforcement for strength. I curved the sides of the cheeks using a hot air gun and then bending by hand. This part was really hard and took most of the evening - there were a few failed attempts before I got something I was happy enough with. And it's not perfect. But I learned a lot about doing this and I think next time I could do it better. Glued and clamped to get into position. I've filed off the edge here so that the front curve piece should sit nicely. This is what it'll look like in situ. Some filler and a rub down later. I'll leave these overnight then give them a coat of primer to highlight any low spots that need more filler. Then I have to take the plunge and stick 'em on

Hi gang, Apologies for the long delay in between posts. The usual family and work commitments have been in the way, but I finally managed to grab a few hours to make some progress on this build. In truth, it's not all family and work. I'm on the edge of my capabilities with this one (which is great, nothing like pushing yourself ) so there's probably an element of trepidation/lack of confidence. But a little bit of rare spare time and a couple of Peroni's have seen that put to one side tonight So here's where we're at. I put together the chassis because I need something to try and understand how the body sits in relation to the wheels etc. Prior to my last post I managed to get some bits into the polisher for a few days, so basically we have uber-shiny bling. I know that a lot of people here don't like 'em shiny, and I know it's not really very "scale" looking, but I'm a sucker for it so there you go :). So this is my chassis. Which at least gives me a good platform to start hacking the body into shape. This is where I got up to last time. So, today, I started trying to work out where my line is on the side flares. This is my final placement, based on looking at a few real Funcos online and deciding that the rear line starts where the existing Tamiya molding has a protrusion just before the rear shocks. ... to my eye, that line should continue with the side flare so it becomes one line. This is about a 5mm drop from the original Tamiya RR shell. Here's a side-on view showing how this sits with the reduced rear tracking and also my sliced up reduced width Sand Blasters (which didn't come out great - more on that later). These rear wheels I think are perfect btw - they came from Chris at Rogue, but I seem to have a set suitable for a Ranger and not a narrow front pair. Will email him tonight just on the off-chance if he has a set of narrows. So, into the vice the side flares go :). This is the saw-eye view. Speaking of saws, this is what I used. It's a Tamiya razor saw. I know Tamiya tools are expensive, but there really is nothing nicer than working with decent tools. And this really is a decent tool - made this so easy. And I also am a firm believer that exceptionally sharp tools are actually safer to work with. This is the first (left side) flare after first cut. And in situ, will be something like this. I'll need to get this slope angle right - I think I have it pretty much bang on where I want it in this pic. Hopefully I'll be able to position it right when the time comes. The inward curve is about the radius of a Halfords spray can lid, which was convenient This was a rough cut And then after a little dremeling, this is what I have The rest of my evening was spent doing the other side, which I now have and a nicely matched pair (I used the left one as a template). I have given a light coat of primer to the shell to show up any areas that need filling before I make the ribs and start to glue this together. I hope to have some more time again pretty much every evening this week (yay!) and will post more progress pics as I go

One was a guy called James - ebay ID : jamesmumbojimbo I bought a couple, and a couple of his licence plates too - best repros I've seen. Pretty sure he's a TC member, but can't remember his nick here....