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Snakehands

Return Of The Sand Scorcher

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Terry, thanks. I've had a look at the stuff on this site and don't see anything I immediately recognize. Although I do remember that, whatever it was, it was in colour, so it could have been one of the ads. Thanks for clarifying the price. I do remember buying the kit first, the radio later and finally the charger and battery. Can you imagine how I felt when I rolled it for the first time and some of the bits broke off!

Was the mag. this one ? ;-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I bought it the other night. Hibernaculum told me about this one. Wish he would come back to the forums.

Otherwise can only think that it was a black & white review with a pic' of the box?

Cheers,

Alistair G.

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I just ran into this thread, but that is one fine restoration.

The paint job looks super. Looks like lots of sweat went into this project, you should be proud!

How did you mask the hood? Everytime I try to mask something that's not straight, the paint seems to either bleed, or gets sprayed on unevenly due to the thickness of the masking tape.

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Snake, I think you have done a great job restoring this old car, and Im still amazed by the story. Assuming you got hooked by this hobby, whats your next project?

Thanks, mate.

Hoping against all hope that the next project will be a new build of a Scorcher re re.

But in the meantime I have a bit of running to do:

DSC00445.jpg

:D

Actually that 1/5th scale Baja is an excellent candidate for adding a Beetle body to.

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I just ran into this thread, but that is one fine restoration.

The paint job looks super. Looks like lots of sweat went into this project, you should be proud!

How did you mask the hood? Everytime I try to mask something that's not straight, the paint seems to either bleed, or gets sprayed on unevenly due to the thickness of the masking tape.

Hi Bruiser, the body shell was actually bought off ebay. The paint isn't perfect, but it's better than the average and better than I could do. I'm useless at painting (see my comments further back) but I did paint the nosecone, which was the only surviving body part, as well as the sunroof that I also bought off ebay.

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Was the mag. this one ? ;-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I bought it the other night. Hibernaculum told me about this one. Wish he would come back to the forums.

Otherwise can only think that it was a black & white review with a pic' of the box?

Cheers,

Alistair G.

Hi Alistair

Couldn't have been, going by the date of December 1980. It was long ago, but I remember some shot of the SS going through water. Hugely impressive for a -15-year-old in 1980. I recently contacted the guy, the one who brought the mag into school, through Friends Reunited to see if he remembers. Not had a reply yet.

Re the paint pen: it was a different make to that.

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Hi Alistair

Couldn't have been, going by the date of December 1980. It was long ago, but I remember some shot of the SS going through water. Hugely impressive for a -15-year-old in 1980. I recently contacted the guy, the one who brought the mag into school, through Friends Reunited to see if he remembers. Not had a reply yet.

Re the paint pen: it was a different make to that.

From your description, this seems to be a possibility ;-

http://www.tamiyabase.com/guidebooks/guide_1981.htm

...page 26 from the 1981 Tamiya Radio Control Guide Book .

Cheers,

Alistair G.

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From your description, this seems to be a possibility ;-

http://www.tamiyabase.com/guidebooks/guide_1981.htm

...page 26 from the 1981 Tamiya Radio Control Guide Book .

Cheers,

Alistair G.

Definitely not that one either. I got my SS in the spring or summer of 1980, so it was published too late. The other thing I remember was that the SS was painted in box art design.

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Hi again, guys.

Just bought a pair of repro rear lights.

Any more updates to come? I really like this thread, brilliant story, brilliant car ect....You got round to fixing that thundershot yet :D

dazaa

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Any more updates to come? I really like this thread, brilliant story, brilliant car ect....You got round to fixing that thundershot yet :rolleyes:

dazaa

Hi dazaa, thanks for your kind words. There will indeed be more updates, as I still need plates, door handle and mirrors (preferably original) before this project is finished.

Not got around to doing anything with the Thundershot yet, but I did by a perfect condition rere off ebay. When I costed up the price of replacement parts for the old one it was getting on for 50quid and I only paid 80 for the rere, so not sure what I'm going to do with it now.

Cheers

Gerry

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Hi dazaa, thanks for your kind words. There will indeed be more updates, as I still need plates, door handle and mirrors (preferably original) before this project is finished.

Not got around to doing anything with the Thundershot yet, but I did by a perfect condition rere off ebay. When I costed up the price of replacement parts for the old one it was getting on for 50quid and I only paid 80 for the rere, so not sure what I'm going to do with it now.

Cheers

Gerry

I will be sure to let you know if I get any of the bits you need in the various lots of srb parts I am getting to build the £30 rough rider, not a great chance there are any ss body bits but if there are any they are yours :rolleyes:

As for the thundershot, I say bodge as many bits back on as possible at minimal cost and "drive it like you stole it" and keep the sand scorcher looking shiny on the shelf...

dazaa

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I will be sure to let you know if I get any of the bits you need in the various lots of srb parts I am getting to build the £30 rough rider, not a great chance there are any ss body bits but if there are any they are yours :P

As for the thundershot, I say bodge as many bits back on as possible at minimal cost and "drive it like you stole it" and keep the sand scorcher looking shiny on the shelf...

dazaa

Thanks for the offer, mate. And good luck with the BC/RR. Can't wait to see it finished and to budget! :D

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Well, in my defense, back in November I had no real interest in this hobby, it was just something I did when I was a kid. Now, however, I have an almost uncontrollable desire to resort this car.

hi mate

great story and great find.get a good lock for your wallet though because this hobby gets addictive and you end up buying more and more :lol:

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A little bit late but.... What a story!!!

Hope you left the driver "as is" As it would ruin it's soul!

I wish I could find my ol' Scorcher...

Badboy

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Hi all, just to let you know that this project is still ongoing, albeit I'm still missing one wing mirror, both brackets and both door handles.

There was a guy in the States, I think, who was doing repros of these parts, but I've long since lost the link to his site and google isn't throwing up any clues. Anyone know if repro parts are still available?

Thanks in advance

Gerry

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Just read through all of this, I've not seen this post before. Great story and amazing to find your old Sand Scorcher like that. You were lucky nobody else got that when you put it back!

Looks like you've done a fantastic job of the restoration, Very nice.

I bought a Scorcher last year which has been restored to a high standard but I fancied building one of my own so I've managed to buy another which I'm waiting for at the moment which needs a bit of TLC by the looks of it. we'll see !

These things don't come cheap nowadays though do they ? I wanted to pick one up cheap to re build but they seem to fetch silly money even for ones that do need work.

You did well to get yours for a tenner but I bet you've spent a small fortune on it ?

Cheers, Matt.

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Hi Matt, thanks for you kind words. Yes, I was very lucky indeed and, thinking back, I can't believe I walked away from it at first.

Yep, it's sure cost me a heap, mainly due to the fact I was chasing parts way before the re-re. Probably spent 300 - 350 on it, with the painted body coming in at £175-00. Could have been worse though, as I did have both front indicators, the nose cone, both headlights and one door mirror.

Here it is today: photo7_zps84863a0e.jpg

If you look carefully at the mirror, you can see the teeth marks of a long dead mouse.

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Yes, I can see the teeth marks!

The car looks superb. It must be a nightmare masking it all off to paint in the blue sections. I've got it all to come as my new project turned up yesterday. It needs a fair amount of work and parts replacing.

It must have been difficult getting the parts before the re release. I guess people who are rebuilding them now are a bit spoilt at the moment but those parts won't last forever !

Did you manage to get an early bodyshell or is it a later one from the re release ?Sorry if I missed that bit but I remember you saying the shell was missing when you bought it back.

Matt.

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Hi Matt, yep, an original shell from ebay as my original one had been trodden on some time in the early 90's according to the mate I sold it to in 1990. I work with him now and he's still into RC cars. The whole car is vintage and 90% of the parts are the ones out of my original kit box. Still annoyed I didn't takes any photos when I first had it, as we had loads of cameras in the house.

Some good tips on painting here: http://www.rc-airplane-world.com/tamiya-sand-scorcher-bodyshell2.html I think if you use quality tape you will be a quarter of the way there.

I managed to source a pair of door handles today, for an arm and a leg, of course. That just leaves one mirror, two brackets and a camlock to go.

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Great job, where did you get the handles from? - I am still in search of some for my SS resto.

James.

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