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mongoose1983

Scorcher 2010 VW body corrected

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Okay, so I was not happy about the Blitzer body that comes with the re-release Sand Scorcher VW vehicle. What to do instead of just cursing? I decided to fix it to make it look more to what a real early 70's Baja VW would. My inpiration was the 1:1 Sand Scorcher made by Walter Jelinek last year.

So far the results are excellent. I got to cut the front fenders just like the classic baja fenders and they now look much more realistic. I also cut and rounded the ends of the fenders to get a more pudgy look, although I kept the sidesteps intact. There is a very nice trick that I found that you might want to try, too. Since the fenders of the original body were cut to make the Monster Beetle body the fenders have a fat profile that you can sand down to get the roundy look that they don't have anymore. You have to sand the upper side and keep the lower intact. That will make a roundy effect that looks much more realistic. Have a look at the pictures. :o

Only the rear cage is missing in my SS project! Oh, I'm almost there! B)

That's for now. You all have a good Tuesday! :blink:

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That looks great Erich. I'll have to check the flat fender that you are talking about. Thanks for that pointer.

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I'm not really au fait with the Scorcher body, what have you done to the rear of it exactly?

Hiya Rosey,

Decided to upload some pictures for you to see the differences. The flat fenders are thick, but you can work that out to make 'em look curved even though they're just what Tamiya wanted: Flat as Florida!

Now I'll post these to my showroom.

Cheers! :unsure:

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Even though I've already painted the body, I'll have to do the mods you've done! That looks awesome!!!
Thanks for the compliment, mate. I think you can also get a spare bodyset to try the mods.

Have a look at a cuople of side-by-side comparison pictures with the real Bug Box Sand Scorcher HERE.

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Ah i see. Well it is certainly a mod worth doing, all aspects of it. And thanks for the pictures, already copied them as a future guide :)

Haha love the 'flat as Florida' quote, made me laugh

No problem, mate. Don't forget to share some pictures when you start your Sand Scorcher build. it's always nice to have a look at other TCers' cars.

Have a good Friday! :blink:

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Okay, the driver dude is ALMOST ready. Only the buckles and hair paint is missing. Of course, I tried to get the looks of an early 70's south Cali mofo.

Can you see my own early 70's BELL helmet on the background? ;)

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The guy looks as if he's high on coke. Now how do I get rid of the expression of his eyes? :P

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Now how do I get rid of the expression of his eyes?

Make the coloured area of his eyes (retina?) larger. Look at your own eyes in the mirror - the coloured part takes up most of the eye with a bit of white showing either side rather than a small dot of colour surrounded by white (the terrified crack-head look!!).

Of course I realise this is easier said than done... :P

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Make the coloured area of his eyes (retina?) larger. Look at your own eyes in the mirror - the coloured part takes up most of the eye with a bit of white showing either side rather than a small dot of colour surrounded by white (the terrified crack-head look!!).

Of course I realise this is easier said than done... :)

Thanks, man.

I corrected the guys retina today. Looks good, although my south Cali mofo now looks sleepy, a bit as if he shifted from coke to shine from one week to another. :lol: Have a look at the pictures.

Anyway, the last picture shows some updates on his ride. I yet have to work the inner sides of the front fenders to add more realism to the Sand Scorcher. By the way, the box-art scheme was a total PITA to make!

Any ideas or any comments are welcome.

You all have a super weekend! :blink:

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The Sand Scorcher as it is now:

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Hello fellow TCers!

Well, I have been slowly working on the Sand Scorcher. June and December are the busiest months for me so I go with the hobby like a f--in' snail, you see. :lol:

As you can see, I installed the radiobox last week. It's not the original but a Kamtec (UK) optional one which is really nice. These ones allow you to use the traditional battery packs. You can't do that with the original one. Anyway, I have to thank fellow TCer, Stickerbod for sending this excellent part so I can finish my project.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, ANDY!

Also, I got the rear cage from an Asian Tamiya parts seller last week. Should be here by the end of July. Buying the last missing part of my Sand Scorcher buggy was my way to celebrate my own birthday :lol: Back in January when I started this project I was in hopes to finish it much before but... it just was not possible.

So, I worked the box last week. I made three small holes to fit a Futaba FP-148 servo. Prior to that -as you can see in the pictures- I had to shave the right bracket off the servo, and mounted it with two bolts and had to use four used plastic bushes (the ones you use as bearings in all the Tamiya kits). The thing now works and looks excellent. So if you are looking to replace the original SRB radiobox try these ones. They look good, and better than that, you can use the regular battery packs!

Well I hope you will like the look of the new radiobox and the buggy, too. And thanks again, stickerbod!

You all have a great weekend! :)

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Hiya Erich,

Quite a few TC members keep both mounting ends on their servos and seem to use the long square section plastic servo posts from TA01 / 02 and put screws through both sides of the Kamtec radio box instead of screws in the front of the box. That way the servo is held at 2 mounting points.

An example from hellbelly's showroom ;-

http://tamiyaclub.com/pictureframe.asp?t=n...006212353_5.jpg

http://tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?c...1886&id=278

...which is probably the method that I'll be using (if my Junfac - Twinset style chassis ever arrives)...

But then I notice that a stick pack still doesn't seem to fit in without being placed on an angle front to rear (like a ramp) like this seems to be in Grubby's showroom ;-

http://tamiyaclub.com/pictureframe.asp?t=n...009125739_3.jpg

http://tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?c...81&id=25710

If you put the servo further forwards, protruding through the front of the radio box, presumably to enable the stick pack to fit without sitting at an angle, then I think the steering geometry might be messed up IMHO, here's what I mean in Hondabiker's showroom ;-

http://tamiyaclub.com/pictureframe.asp?t=n...011123952_5.jpg

http://tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?c...930&id=4190

If you would like a NiMH battery pack which fits without causing this issue then there was (is?) a seller on Ebay of hump pack batteries just like the original Tamiya hump packs but without the plastic hardcase. I bought 2 of these with Vapex cells in and Tamiya connectors.

I have been contemplating using no radio box, even though I bought a Kamtec one recently, to allow the ESC to be cooled by drilling a couple of holes in the Junfac / Twinset style chassis and tie wrapping the ESC down onto the chassis instead of using servo tape so that the metal body of the ESC that I am considering using (Mtroniks Eco 20 or RV15 with the Tamiya / Mabuchi Sport Tuned motor that I bought) will be heat sinked onto the chassis and will stay nice and cool under heavy loads and not cook inside that plastic box LOL.

A setup like this can be seen on Tamiya101.com ;-

http://tamiya101.com/images/blog/blog3_(15)_t.jpg

(for large version of the image see "After a mad few days.... By moosey - Friday 21st May 2010", it's the 3rd picture down on the right of this article)

http://tamiya101.com/blog.asp?b=true&nav=6

Cheers,

Alistair G.

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Hiya Erich,

Quite a few TC members keep both mounting ends on their servos and seem to use the long square section plastic servo posts from TA01 / 02 and put screws through both sides of the Kamtec radio box instead of screws in the front of the box. That way the servo is held at 2 mounting points.

Hi Alistair. Always nice to hear from you, mate. Well, actually I happened to have a pair of those available, but since my steering bars were of the same length I needed to have a turning point the nearest possible position near the middle point of the chassis and radiobox itself. So I had no choice. But anyway, I'm very satisfied with the results. :lol:
But then I notice that a stick pack still doesn't seem to fit in without being placed on an angle front to rear (like a ramp) like this seems to be in Grubby's showroom ;-

http://tamiyaclub.com/pictureframe.asp?t=n...009125739_3.jpg

http://tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?c...81&id=25710

If you put the servo further forwards, protruding through the front of the radio box, presumably to enable the stick pack to fit without sitting at an angle, then I think the steering geometry might be messed up IMHO, here's what I mean in Hondabiker's showroom ;-

http://tamiyaclub.com/pictureframe.asp?t=n...011123952_5.jpg

http://tamiyaclub.com/showroom_model.asp?c...930&id=4190

The angle your talking about can be a problem if you don't make another lil modification. None said life is easy, specially in this hobby, ha ha. Well, I just haven't had the time to do it yet, but the battery pack will be lifted right behind the steering servo by using a custom aluminum bracket. That will allow it to stay flat and that way it does fit perfectly. I know it because I already tested the height of the custom piece by using a piece of wood.

If you would like a NiMH battery pack which fits without causing this issue then there was (is?) a seller on Ebay of hump pack batteries just like the original Tamiya hump packs but without the plastic hardcase. I bought 2 of these with Vapex cells in and Tamiya connectors.
Those batt packs are awesome, but they're very much out of the picture for me.
I have been contemplating using no radio box, even though I bought a Kamtec one recently, to allow the ESC to be cooled by drilling a couple of holes in the Junfac / Twinset style chassis and tie wrapping the ESC down onto the chassis instead of using servo tape so that the metal body of the ESC that I am considering using (Mtroniks Eco 20 or RV15 with the Tamiya / Mabuchi Sport Tuned motor that I bought) will be heat sinked onto the chassis and will stay nice and cool under heavy loads and not cook inside that plastic box LOL.

Cheers,

Alistair G.

Well, I do believe I will have to test the Sand Scorcher borrowing the Tamiya ESC I have on my 4x4 Bronco, but I would like to find one of the older MSC because those are silent. How I hate the dang squeeshy sound of Tamiyas ESCs! And you know, a couple of years ago I sold two of the older original Sand Scorcher MSC that I got in a lot of old parts because I never thought I'd come across one of these buggies at such a low price.

Thanks for the ideas, Alistair. Hope you have a great Sunday! :P

Erich

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Okay, I haven't had much time lately but I have made some stuff on my Sand Scorcher project.

Here's a side by side comparison with Walter Jelinek's 1:1 Sand Scorcher. I'll upload more pictures of my buggy when I receive (and install) the elusive rear-cage.

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You all have a great Thursday! :P

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Some more updates on my Sand Scorcher project. Still not finished! :huh:

I had an idea and decided to give it a try. I put very tiny bit of red reflective decal sheet over the face of the red rear lights. The idea was to mock a functional light by using the reflection of the sun light on them. So I put the decal bits and used a little loctite to ensure they'll stay there come h*ll or high water. After that I painted the borders, etc. The results are awesome. It's something easy that anybody can try. Here's a picture (pic doesn't make justice IMHO):

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After that I have been working on inner sides of the front fenders. I decided to use small parts of a coffee can and some black rubber. These pictures show the kind of thing I been doing. The parts are thin although pretty firm. They go bolted in between the green chassis plate and the front beam.

In a few days I'll get the rubber ready. I think the final results will look really good. So take these pictures as some sort of "teaser", ha ha.

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Oh, almost forgot. I received this lovely re-re NIP rear cage from somewhere in Asia :)

I had to work a bit the lower posts as they don't fit the original gearcase perfectly. Wonder if this happened to anybody else here in TamiyaClub?

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So far this is my Sand Scorcher VW buggy. The inner parts of the front fenders will be finished --hopefully-- by the 2nd weekend of August. I have to use some rubber pieces and matt black paint. Gonna look real nice. Well, here's the SS as it looks today:

You all have a super weekend! :)

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i thought i replied in this post the other day when i saw the wings, my connections a bit doggy i lost a couple of replies today as well. i really like your corrections, perfect, makes the shell look so much better, wish i had been that brave. that steering setup looks sharp as well . the tin as inner arches is just genius i take my hat off to you. that reflective patch works really well, it going to be a stunning scorcher when complete. top build thread.

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Well, I happened to be the happy owner of my time this afternoon (we have a HUGE -and violent- students' strike in here). So I spent an hour and a half watching episodes of two of my all-time favorite TV series (The Fall Guy and The Rockford Files) AND... got to finish the tin+rubber parts I worked for my Sand Scorcher project! :) I think the results are nice. Here's some pictures of it.

You all have a GREAT Friday! :)

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you have great taste, colt and jim are some trucktastic shows i love them both :) very nice progress on the scorcher, arch liners in black, look great. glad you made happy time from the revolting students ;)

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WOW!! Thats amazing! Technics SL-D303 Direct Drive Turntable! My first ever DJ decks :)

Jokes aside, really nice mod work! Certainly adds realism and solidity to the overall look.

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WOW!! Thats amazing! Technics SL-D303 Direct Drive Turntable! My first ever DJ decks ;)

Jokes aside, really nice mod work! Certainly adds realism and solidity to the overall look.

And a Bee Gee's poster. Three times the awesome :)

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WOW!! Thats amazing! Technics SL-D303 Direct Drive Turntable! My first ever DJ decks :(

Jokes aside, really nice mod work! Certainly adds realism and solidity to the overall look.

Yeah, that's the SL-D303! :angry: Ha ha, now that you mentioned that, I yet have to fix a prob I found with my Technics turntable. I got it second hand back in 1992 when it was already ten years old!

And a Bee Gee's poster. Three times the awesome :)

Oh, yeah. That's the promotional poster for their 1981 "Living Eyes" LP. I was still in school when I saw it in a local record store and wanted to buy it, but the owner would not let it go. The guy sold it to me when the record store moved almost ten years after I first saw it. I have two posters in the TV room. This one and the promotional poster for Bachman-Turner Overdrive's (BTO) 1976 "Head On" LP. These are my favorite bands ever along KISS, and April Wine.

ANYWAY... back to the Sand Scorcher, I want to say THANKS to TCer TamiyaManDan for sending me the last decals missing to finish my Sand Scorcher!! Thank you for helping me, Dan. I hope to finish it next Sunday. I'm excited.

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You all have a GREAT weekend! :)

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It took me a bit longer than I expected but here's the final step of my Sand Scorcher buggy (see pictures below).

The bodywork with this buggy is really something. I mean, this is not a paint-scheme that you'll be able to make from one day to another. It does require an awful lot of time to get it all ready. But anyway, I'm hopes my work somehow can be of help to fellow TCers working this exceptional Tamiya model, whether it's the original vehicle or the newer version.

A BIG THANK YOU to all the people who helped me to reach the final step. I'm happy now with my Sand Scorcher!

You all have a great Tuesday! :)

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that looks absolutely fantastic!

great work, well worth all the effort

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That looks super nice and classic! But why only 2 screws in the front wheels?

Cheers,

Skottoman

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