AJB123

So finally my XV-01 Delta is actually finished. And there was still a bit of frost on my road, so perfect for a first outing!

Finally finished the rally car cockpit for my XV-01 Delta. It's not a patch on some of the amazing work people on here can do, but for my abilities it's turned out a lot better than I thought it would. I was worried I'd be annoyed by what I managed to achieve, but I'm really pleased with it.

PS-59 Dark Metallic Blue, backed with PS-1 White in overcast weather then bright sun. I then backed the sides with black over the white just to hide the white, but it didn't affect the colour. I also considered backing with PS-12 Silver, which gave a noticeably lighter, brighter blue. Decided to go with white as I wanted the darker colour, but the silver was almost a "nicer" blue - just not what I wanted for this car. Backing with black instead of white looked exactly the same as with white from some angles, but looked almost black from other angles.

Agreed. This new one looks good in its own right, and I actually prefer the higher roofline - the squashed looking roof was always my least favourite part of the HotShot family's looks. I think people are complaining just because lots of people would have loved, and/or have been waiting for, a re-release that's basically a reproduction of the original, as the HotShot and Super HotShot/SuperShot re-releases were. Some people who remember the originals from back in the day would prefer a reproduction of that original even if the new one looks better! Here's hoping they release both in the fullness of time!

You're very welcome! Looking forward to seeing the results.

Excellent! Glad to provide inspiration, and I look forward to seeing what how it turns out as and when it's built! The XV-01 was a fun build. I really wasn't sure between backing mine with silver or white - I tried both on an offcut of the body. Backing with silver gave a noticeably brighter and slightly lighter blue. To me it was a nicer colour, but the darker blue I got from backing with white was what I already had in my mind for my Delta. Mostly having seen a real one parked up, which looked awesome in a dark metallic blue. So I've no regrets about backing mine with white and would do the same again, even though I prefer the colour from backing it with silver! Hahaha - even better!! It's probably your scientific duty to do both and compare them really, rather than just blindly assume one or the other.

Nice - that's what I should have used!!

I'm not an expert by any means, but I've used a scalpel/sharp craft knife for mine, scoring and then bending to snap it. And then used scissors (I know you can buy special ones, but I've been using a pair of nail scissors we had anyway) for bits where I wouldn't easily be able to bend it to snap after scoring. Just be careful not to cut too far into corners, as a little cut left in the actual shell acts as a stress concentration point where cracks could start. Also don't fully close the scissors when cutting (sounds obvious, but I put a little crack in one shell due to poor cutting skills - a friend pointed out that learning to use scissors was something he learnt in primary school...!!!) For one particularly tight corner on my most recent shell I actually made a tiny hole in the corner, and then cut up to the hole, if that makes any sense. It also often helps to cut away some of the excess plastic first, before trying to trim accurately. The excess sometimes gets in the way and stops it from being folded to crack along a score. In terms of wires I'm not sure. Maybe the neatest would be to use that reinforced aluminium tape you get with some of the kits. The only time I've done lights was in a hard-shell (not polycarbonate), and I used little blobs of bathroom silicone to stick the wires in place. I'm not sure that was the best idea though, and might try using tape another time. The silicone did work though.

I always cut/trim the shell and drill body mount holes before painting. I'm sure you already know this, but there is a protective film on the outside which you peel off after painting. For making the holes, the first couple I did I tried using a normal drill, and it tended to leave a messy hole, and/or snag then introduce tiny cracks. I then bought a body hole reamer (this kind of thing, but available cheaply all over the internet https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/schumacher-body-reamer-23197 - can't remember where I got mine from), and it was a revelation. Clean holes are so easy to do - well worth the price. My only other tip is to take a bit of the offcut body material from when you trim it, and paint that first. That way you can test how much colour coverage you need before backing the paint, and also check out what effect your chosen backing colour will have. My most recent one, I tried two different backing colours side by side to compare the results before choosing what to put on the shell itself. Also the colour coat can still be quite see-through before backing, and turn out just fine once backed - again a test piece gives confirmation of what will/won't be ok (if you mask a bit of the test piece when backing, you can then see how much colour you had before backing and compare that to the real shell when deciding if you need another coat or not).

Thanks! The plan is to run it, at least a bit, but right now I REALLY don't want to roll it, so I'm holding off running it other than a quick test around the lounge!

Thanks! It's PS-59, backed with white, then the lower half backed with black over the white. Kind of inspired by a metallic dark blue real one that I saw parked up on the street a few years back, which just looked so good! For sure, I am never going to be able to do an amazing job on an interior... But then I get the feeling I could easily mess up doing the smoked windows too, and that'd be even more annoying and un-fixable! (I've only ever built buggies or a Honda City Turbo before, so never smoked windows). Plus I don't want to the windows too dark, and I hate seeing the ground though the car, so I think I'll be happier with it with an interior. And the Tamiyas of my youth always had drivers!

Got my XV-01 Delta finished. Although I've decided it needs an interior, so a rally car cockpit is on its way and so I guess it's now un-finished again...!! And then I just need the sun to come out for some better photos...

Interesting idea - thanks!

I’ve almost finished my XV-01 Lancia Delta, and I’m starting to think I need a cockpit set for it… It’d probably have to be the rally car cockpit even though I’ve done the body as a road car and not in the Martini colours. Thinking about fitting one, though, the rear body posts would obviously have to go through it. No problem there. But I realised just now that there are snap pins on the body posts, going across the car, to support the body. What do people do about that? Would I have to cut holes in the interior wide enough to let a whole snap pass through? I can’t see any other way really, but it seems a shame. Also are there any other more road car options, or is the Tamiya rally car one my best bet? At least it should fit the body well! Thanks in advance.

You may need some sort of motor cable extension - either an extra cable, or cutting the wires and soldering a bit extra in. The mechanical speed controller in the vintage fox came with long motor wires. The NovaFox comes with a motor with long wires so it can use standard ESCs. My vintage Fox is still running its mechanical speed controller and works fine, but I don't run it much. Plastics are brittle as said. I don't think that servo cables have changed since forever. I used the 4x AA battery holder that came with my vintage Fox's Acoms Techniplus radio gear to power up the receiver for my re-release Wild One whilst I was building it, and the connector fitted just fine.