chris capobianco

I bought an old wild willy I looking for a reasonable tire to replace th dry rotten tires on it, I have not seen any tires that are close to the original, I also need a battery compartment cover these parts are not easy to come by, any Ideas greatly appreciated

lot of time in this project but it was well worth it!

this old shell started out getting chopped up by myself, like so many I am repairing the sins of my youth LOL

Thank you for all the kind words!

when I started to fix the body I realized just how much skill it takes to finish it. I have to just add a box art bumper that should be arriving soon!!!

I have not yet seen anyone do a box art beat up rusted ss I loved building this it was vindication after not being able to buy one back in the day A big thank you to james beetlelover for his support and fantastic book also would like to thank toykid and seth wyoming for there inspiring builds and to topolino for his rusty rebuild on you tube

I will post more pics wow this was a long tough build!!!!!!!!!!!

finally got the body together and lights in still have lots to do!

Very slow going due to the complexity and testing of weathering and rust effect jamesbeetlelover sent me the 10scalin book and albert head, I used the sand scorcher driver head in this build and the techniques I learned from James and Daniels book is outstanding!! fitting the shell on the chassis is going to be tricky due to the fact that the radio box cover will be in the way I am thinking of making a new smaller cover! We shall see, I wish I was better with pictures just got a new camera and still have to learn thank you again for all the support!

Here is some progress on my original s/s shell interior is from old marui big bear this shell is going to be a rusty rendition of the sand scorcher box art!

I Think there are many schools of thought about painting that will achieve top level results. I am going to paint 2 sand scorcher shells, I am a rookie and have not painted any models that I have been proud of LOL. That being said I am going to run tests on other bodies first I can't see going for broke and shooting up a body that I have spent hours on sanding and prepping to come out no better than if I had a 5 year old do it. I know this will take me a long time, but I want to learn a lot here. any tips on wet sanding and how to cut and polish after paint would be greatly appreciated Thanks Chris

Wow Great looking buggy Your driver dudes face looks like zits got the best of him or maybe he was burned in a holiday buggy accident LOL no all kidding aside the build came out great worth the effort thank you for the post

when I was a kid Grasshoppers Hornets were durable cheap easy to improve the frog and brat were a little more advanced, my brother was the first to get a Blackfoot it was to say the least disappointing, I have always felt that Tamiya saw an oportunity with the monster truck craze of the eighties and put out a collection of parts from other models, that really were forced together (poor handling, bad steering and flimsy body mounting not very durable) but it looked cool and because of looks alone it was accepted. Tamiya chose the frog and brat chassis to enter the monster truck segment why, I suppose it was the cheapest way to go!

still looking for anyone selling body parts for the sand scorcher I will need a nose, lights windshield, windshield wipers, sunroof rear snap mount to roll bar , I probably should just buy a new body set.

to manage drying i am fortunate to have a womens hair dryer, the one with a hose that went into a helmet over the womens head this thing is great!!!

the way i get rattle can paint to temp is place in luke warm water about 2 min it thins paint, dont over heat or nozzle gets clogged

Thanks for the vote of confidence I looked at the pics of your S/S Great resto job did you paint the body yourself? I am still not sure if I am going to paint the rerelease body or have it done any I want it to be as nice as yours came out any suggestions.

I have had this body for over 18 years and when a friend gave it to me i butcherd it to try and fit it to a gas car so I have spent a good deal of time fixing sins. When Tamiya rereleased the S/S I like so many others couldn't send cash fast enough this was the one that I couldn't get as a kid and never stopped trying but shelling out a grand for one was not happening!!!!! I want to use the original body to have a box art replica and the old body will be the beaten and abused old vw baja!

I am planning to make this S/S original shell into an old beat up beauty but keep to the box art scheme I will post pics as i go