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JeffSpicoli

Anyone scratch built a roll cage?

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Wondering if anyone has scratch built a scale roll cage.  My plan is to try and somewhat recreate the roll cage inside the Golf like the box art depicts to give it some more realism.

If you have I'd love to see what you did, your process, materials, etc.

s-l400-499059796.jpg

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Ive done a couple for my Lancia Delta, Porsche 934 and more recently the Lotus GT1.

I use 5mm dia styrene tube, I then turn the shell upside down and tape some strips of paper inside it where the bars of the cage will be, ie roof, A-pillar and B-pillar etc. Then lay the cut to length styrene tubes into the shell and tack them with a small blob of glue which will hold them to the angles of the body shell. When dry i remove it and add slivers of cut styrene melted with styrene cement and some model filler into the joints between the cage tubes which can then be sanded down smooth to a radius.

Then lay it back in the body and lower in the cockpit - cut the ends off the tubes until they are the right length for where the cockpit sits in chassis and then glue to the cockpit.

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I believe @Truck Norris has built quite a few for his most excellent rally car builds/bodies. Check out his showroom and various posts. They really are sublime. 

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I've built several external cage for crawlers. I use 4mm and 5mm steel tube that I then braze together using 55% silver solder and Mapp gas. Here's a few pics of some past projects.

Yb1TNLC.jpg

 

apAAOr0.jpg

 

1OZMe4j.jpg

 

2UvWEFx.jpg

 

iKb3dRH.jpg

 

pzWECJv.jpg

 

X3u38Hb.jpg

 

nB5XxbK.jpg

 

Qu0bguR.jpg

 

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1 hour ago, toyolien said:

I've built several external cage for crawlers. I use 4mm and 5mm steel tube that I then braze together using 55% silver solder and Mapp gas. Here's a few pics of some past projects.

Yb1TNLC.jpg

 

 

 

You don't use the 1:10 scale welding rig in the background to do all that???

Terry

 

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Much like toyolien I built numerous for crawlers in the past. I'd use SS brake line and harris safety-silv 56. Sadly its been a decade since I've done it and any photos I did have are long gone.

What I would do is get some stiff wire, usually a coat hanger, and bend and hot glue things together until the shape was what I wanted. Id then start to cut the brake line and bend it to the wire templates I made. I bought a sanding drum for my dremel that matched the brake line I used to notch it. I found it was always easiest to make a base thats flat and square to work off of, even if you need to desolder it later. Luckily I had a hunk of 1/4" plate I could use with a magnetic welding square to kind of hold the early pieces up.

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I use Squadron white putty for scratch building.  Sometimes it can crack when it dries when you are doing large areas with it. 

266505-12732-80-pristine.jpg

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I've used solid styrene rod with good luck.  It's not going to be structural for a basher, but it's easy to work with and fine for basic running.  You can lightly heat it with a candle for bends, and ends can be "mitered" for joints with a dremel, or with a piece of sandpaper wrapped around another styrene tube.

Technically these pictures aren't a roll cage, but you'll get the idea...

20220310_185715-01.jpeg

20220310_185842-01.jpeg

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1 hour ago, Superluminal said:

Jeff Goldblum?

Yup, sure is @Superluminal!  He's the driver in a Jurassic Park themed monster truck build I've been tinkering with for a while.  It's based on an SCX10, but at least the steering wheel and shifter are Tamiya!  ;)

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On 5/10/2022 at 3:26 PM, toyolien said:

I've built several external cage for crawlers. I use 4mm and 5mm steel tube that I then braze together using 55% silver solder and Mapp gas. Here's a few pics of some past projects.

Yb1TNLC.jpg

 

apAAOr0.jpg

 

1OZMe4j.jpg

 

2UvWEFx.jpg

 

iKb3dRH.jpg

 

pzWECJv.jpg

 

X3u38Hb.jpg

 

nB5XxbK.jpg

 

Qu0bguR.jpg

 

0mfg, wanna make some money? 

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On 5/10/2022 at 3:16 AM, Superluminal said:

Ive done a couple for my Lancia Delta, Porsche 934 and more recently the Lotus GT1.

I use 5mm dia styrene tube, I then turn the shell upside down and tape some strips of paper inside it where the bars of the cage will be, ie roof, A-pillar and B-pillar etc. Then lay the cut to length styrene tubes into the shell and tack them with a small blob of glue which will hold them to the angles of the body shell. When dry i remove it and add slivers of cut styrene melted with styrene cement and some model filler into the joints between the cage tubes which can then be sanded down smooth to a radius.

Then lay it back in the body and lower in the cockpit - cut the ends off the tubes until they are the right length for where the cockpit sits in chassis and then glue to the cockpit.

Checked to see if you had a showroom looks like not.

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Nah sadly not. Ive built a few bits im quite proud of and have turned out ok but am complete and utter gash at taking photos. I only have a crappy old potato phone to use.

I should hire someone here to do a studio session for my kits.

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On 5/10/2022 at 3:26 PM, toyolien said:

I've built several external cage for crawlers. I use 4mm and 5mm steel tube that I then braze together using 55% silver solder and Mapp gas. Here's a few pics of some past projects.

Qu0bguR.jpg

Man! Your 1:10 garage is absolutely fantastic!!!

I've made rollcages, and more specifically custom rear cages for Sand Scorchers with spare plastic parts.

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30 minutes ago, JeffSpicoli said:

0mfg, wanna make some money? 

Thanks. I have built stuff for other people but it's extremely time consuming and having to have their truck(s) here to do it makes it harder. So I just do stuff for me now 😬

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7 minutes ago, mongoose1983 said:

Man! Your 1:10 garage is absolutely fantastic!!!

I've made rollcages, and more specifically custom rear cages for Sand Scorchers with spare plastic parts.

Thank you. Unfortunately that garage is no more. I've since built a slightly smaller one here:

 

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My process:

1. Build it when the shell is still clear.

2. Use 5mm rod, Not tube (Bends better). Weight and center of Gravity doesnt matter to you when you decide to put in a cockpit. Just makes it drive more realistic. 

3. Make cardboard templates of the inner shape of the roof. 

4. Start with the hoop behind the seat.

5. Take a tea candle and turn the rod over the flame till it gets soft. Put on the  table so its flat and bend it into the template shape. Always test fit. Rather have too much space between shell and cage than too little, otherwise it can rub off the paint.

6. Carefully drill 5mm holes in the cockpit. Only needed 4, 2 for Front a pillar struts and 2 for hoop. The Rear rods are levitating so to say.

7. Dremel the ends with a round tool so the rods fit together nicely.

8. Glue rods together with tamiya orange glue or uhu acrylit. 1 rod at a time, hold in place with tape.

9. Paint with ts. 

btw, no need to glue the cage to the cockpit, the rods stick and hold nicely in the 5mm holes. 

IMG_20211205_151949.thumb.jpg.9e425f1dfc57e508fe1cfda8fae7bf46.jpgIMG_20211006_213732.thumb.jpg.39ccd87a5d7704ec37c8a6508fc230c5.jpgIMG_20211028_213940.thumb.jpg.6f02bf84f6366a44b0896b345f8c18a9.jpgIMG_20211127_145142.thumb.jpg.b300ea0298c835c5b9c0077f4d42f0cd.jpgIMG_20211202_205446.thumb.jpg.015f1eb854acc55801f906b2adfb0d4d.jpgDSC06189.thumb.JPG.b101ec2b381a7190800fcfc7ebdd9563.JPGDSC06195.thumb.JPG.94f4af5039273d9d4d7b96f81235ffb5.JPGIMG_20211205_151859.thumb.jpg.cf51faa7e685b99d8bf84810b4b9d8fc.jpg

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5 hours ago, GermanTA03Guy said:

 

IMG_20211202_205446.thumb.jpg.015f1eb854acc55801f906b2adfb0d4d.jpgDSC06195.thumb.JPG.94f4af5039273d9d4d7b96f81235ffb5.JPG

Looks good!  Nice job.

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6 hours ago, GermanTA03Guy said:

My process:

1. Build it when the shell is still clear.

2. Use 5mm rod, Not tube (Bends better). Weight and center of Gravity doesnt matter to you when you decide to put in a cockpit. Just makes it drive more realistic. 

3. Make cardboard templates of the inner shape of the roof. 

4. Start with the hoop behind the seat.

5. Take a tea candle and turn the rod over the flame till it gets soft. Put on the  table so its flat and bend it into the template shape. Always test fit. Rather have too much space between shell and cage than too little, otherwise it can rub off the paint.

6. Carefully drill 5mm holes in the cockpit. Only needed 4, 2 for Front a pillar struts and 2 for hoop. The Rear rods are levitating so to say.

7. Dremel the ends with a round tool so the rods fit together nicely.

8. Glue rods together with tamiya orange glue or uhu acrylit. 1 rod at a time, hold in place with tape.

9. Paint with ts. 

btw, no need to glue the cage to the cockpit, the rods stick and hold nicely in the 5mm holes. 

IMG_20211205_151949.thumb.jpg.9e425f1dfc57e508fe1cfda8fae7bf46.jpgIMG_20211006_213732.thumb.jpg.39ccd87a5d7704ec37c8a6508fc230c5.jpgIMG_20211028_213940.thumb.jpg.6f02bf84f6366a44b0896b345f8c18a9.jpgIMG_20211127_145142.thumb.jpg.b300ea0298c835c5b9c0077f4d42f0cd.jpgIMG_20211202_205446.thumb.jpg.015f1eb854acc55801f906b2adfb0d4d.jpgDSC06189.thumb.JPG.b101ec2b381a7190800fcfc7ebdd9563.JPGDSC06195.thumb.JPG.94f4af5039273d9d4d7b96f81235ffb5.JPGIMG_20211205_151859.thumb.jpg.cf51faa7e685b99d8bf84810b4b9d8fc.jpg

Unreal.  Wanna make some money, sans paint, dm me.

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14 hours ago, JeffSpicoli said:

Unreal.  Wanna make some money, sans paint, dm me.

Thanks ! I appreciate the offer, but i have so little time even to do anything for myself (little kids etc.), that i cant do that unfortunately... 

That Ready-to-buy roll cage looks nicer than most ive seen, but Chances are that it will need major modifications. Id really suggest you try building the styrene cage from scratch, its no rocket science and quite rewarding in the end .. 

Heres another take on a cage, its really feasible: https://youtu.be/QEI-3Y505w4

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These look great, the metal ones especially! I would like to try something similar, but how well do these hold up to the occasional roll or crash? Are they only shelf queen, or will they hold up to the occasional accident when driving? I guess the soldered steel option will be strongest?

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4 minutes ago, foz75 said:

These look great, the metal ones especially! I would like to try something similar, but how well do these hold up to the occasional roll or crash? Are they only shelf queen, or will they hold up to the occasional accident when driving? I guess the soldered steel option will be strongest?

I'm battered several of my cages and none of the joints have ever come apart. Bike frames a sometimes brazed and they're plenty strong enough too👍

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