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morrisey0

Cloning a HB Clone

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So, I ended up with an Extratoy HB clone for really cheap, and I partly wanted to just stick it on the shelf as is, but then decided screw it, let me try to make this thing look as much like a Tam HB as possible but not spend nearly as much as a Tam HB would cost me.  So this becomes a semi-restore or semi-clone, because yea, I could make it just like a Tam for $300-600, but then again, I could just spend that and get a real Tam.  So yea, I am thinking somewhere in the middle.  As many compatible Extratoy parts on a DIY printed Tam HB tub, and form there, who really knows. The donor.  An Extratoy California Holiday Buggy in actually great condition.  At some point in time, someone changed up the electronics a bit, and added a huge heat sink, and some Kmart style C Ni-Cads, but overall, nothing was really broken.  It was complete save bumpers.

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What I have from the parts bin:

A very generous member of rc10talk.com gifted me a complete HB ReRe body set awhile back when I was doing my other HB hodge podge clone project.  So, I had a body with accessories and decals on board.

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This does bring me to my first question for the experts, since I don't have an actual vintage HB body for reference.  Was the original body two-piece in regards to the rear window louver?  My clone is, but my rere body is one piece.

After digging through some NIP tires I picked up from a LHS that went out of business, I found some that looked oddly familiar.  It is just kinda weird that I actually have these.

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The front tires are going to be a different story.  One of the original ones is very asymmetrical, as if the whole car's weight was placed against it for 20-30 years.  I am trying to center it up, but not sure how successful that will be.  I need to track down some front tires.

 

 

 

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Then got to printing.  I had to print in two pieces due to size.  The model is based off an existing tub on thingiverse, but it needs a lot of work to be functional.  I don't want to admit to the number of hours I have in working on the design of the front tub, and then just about a day a piece in printing time.  And still not sure if either works. :) 

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7 hours ago, morrisey0 said:

Was the original body two-piece in regards to the rear window louver?  My clone is, but my rere body is one piece.

The original bodyshell was moulded with louvres in place (one piece) - the colouring for the louvres was done with decals

The blue body is moulded in polythene, not ABS, so doesn't take paint very well - the same may apply to the black body so be careful what chemicals/solvents you use to clean it with, you might melt the body

picmanualbig.jpg

 

The louvre decals are the 4 black panels, lower middle

*The panels aren't on the re-re decal sheet, but are included on some repro sheets

58023_decals.jpg

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3 hours ago, TWINSET said:

The original bodyshell was moulded with louvres in place (one piece) - the colouring for the louvres was done with decals

The blue body is moulded in polythene, not ABS, so doesn't take paint very well - the same may apply to the black body so be careful what chemicals/solvents you use to clean it with, you might melt the body

The louvre decals are the 4 black panels, lower middle

*The panels aren't on the re-re decal sheet, but are included on some repro sheets

 

Thanks for the reply!  Weird that the clone's maker's went through the trouble to separate the rear louvers when Tamiya did not.

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I remember reading about the poly body when I did my other clone.  Cleaning wise it is probably not going to see more than Dawn.  For painting, I just sanded, Tamiya Primer + Tamiya TS Paint, and didn't have any real adhesion issues.  The current plan is to do the same with the black body.  Although I may clear and do some finish sanding / polishing on it.

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