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adelowe

....and my F150 Baja starts taking some shape

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Don't have many tools but a nibble slowly approach followed by a scalpel and sand paper did the trick nicely.

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Lots of masking and layers later I'm really pleased with the finish.

Bits of touching up with a tiny black brush and then onto decals ...

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More follow ..

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Not a fan of too many sponsor decals all over the body, so I thought of a good place for them all to "live" together.

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Next step is to paint the cage device that holds the spare wheel in the back (grey and black I think) and then its onto building the actual vehicle itself.

Addiction well and truly underway!

Adrian

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Well, I'm amazed by your body trimming using the ''nibble slowly and then scalpel and sandpaper'' trick. Lexan scissors will make your trimming soooooooooooo much easier....

Looks great!

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I like the black paint scheme; it looks aggressive.

If you're looking for lexan scissors, consider a set of small embroidery scissors bought from a sewing store. They come three to a pack with different lengths and curvatures. They work very well for me. Like you, I follow up by sanding the edges to smooth out the lines.

Example:

http://www.joann.com/metal-embroidery-scissors-3pk-2-1-2-3-1-2-4-1-2-/xprd357431/

-Paul

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Cheers Paul, Pizzachaude,

I'll definately get some scissors in for the next body job, enjoyed trimming the body using the nibble and sand technique but it's a good 2 hours I could have spent moving the project on more quickly.

Involved various grades of sandpaper and then various diameters of tubes from pringle tub to toilet roll right down to a pencil wrapped in fine sandpaper.

Once I've painted up the clamp device around the spare wheel I'm looking to try and make the lexan shell as tough as possible. I'm thinking of using clear gloss pva, loads of layers of it to give it a rubberised and incredibly crash resistant exterior.

Any thoughts?

(Oh, I think that the driver is going to be completely stripped and started again btw, not liking it at all now. I may just stick a cheap JLS doll in there as the local Sainsbuys has them in the clearance bin; how ironic.)

A ..

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Cheers Thommo, great information there.

This, being my first build since I was a teenager long long ago will be pretty much a stock build (apart from steel pinion, sealed bearings, alloy mount and load sof water resistant gloo) to get me up to speed with building and understanding machnes.

Already have a plan for build no.2 which will be very different, lots of mods, hops and bespoke stuff.

- A .

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Even for light running, bearings, steel pinion and the alloy motor mount are essential so you are on the right track. I would encourage you to get an alloy TA02 prop shaft also as the kit one bends under load. I use a Yeah Racing dog bone type alloy prop shaft with a couple of o'rings in the cups to eliminate end float. This works great.

You may have picked up from the other threads that the front tyres will rub on the body in corners. It's the only frustration with the kit set up but otherwise these are a fantastic little truck. The easiest fix is to cut some extra out of the front guards (fenders) but that will detract from the look.

Enjoy your build and keep the pics coming.

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Once I've painted up the clamp device around the spare wheel I'm looking to try and make the lexan shell as tough as possible. I'm thinking of using clear gloss pva, loads of layers of it to give it a rubberised and incredibly crash resistant exterior.

Any thoughts?

A ..

Actually I do have thoughts on this. Don't do it.....

Maybe inside the shell (not on the windows) but I wouldn't put anything on the exterior of the shell. Polycarbonate is tough enough IMO.

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I've found that fibreglass-reinforced self-adhesive tape is great for reinforcing lexan bodyshells. Put a few layers on the inside of the shell in vulnerable locations, and you increase the strength a lot with only a tiny weight penalty.

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Tape used on inner corners and joines, great tip, the whole body does feel much more sturdy now.

Is there a particular varnish that any of you would recomend to protect the decals and outer shell?

-A

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Glad the tape worked for you.

As for varnish on the outer shell, to be honest I wouldn't bother. I once had a buggy shell that I sprayed with Tamiya PS55 clear laquer in an attempt to protect the decals, and while it did offer a small measure of protection, it didn't do a great deal. To make matters worse, when the laquer did get scraped, the damage was all the more noticeable, and very difficult to put right.

If I were you, I'd leave the shell exterior un-laquered. Then if you get a minor scrape, you can polish it out using fine rubbing compound, and if the decals end up looking tatty but the shell is still good, you can always replace the decals with fresh ones. Neither of these options are really practical if you laquer the shell exterior.

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Glad the tape worked for you.

As for varnish on the outer shell, to be honest I wouldn't bother. I once had a buggy shell that I sprayed with Tamiya PS55 clear laquer in an attempt to protect the decals, and while it did offer a small measure of protection, it didn't do a great deal. To make matters worse, when the laquer did get scraped, the damage was all the more noticeable, and very difficult to put right.

If I were you, I'd leave the shell exterior un-laquered. Then if you get a minor scrape, you can polish it out using fine rubbing compound, and if the decals end up looking tatty but the shell is still good, you can always replace the decals with fresh ones. Neither of these options are really practical if you laquer the shell exterior.

+1

Any protection a lacquer will offer to a decal will be more than negated by showing up minor scuffs everywhere else on the body. Leave as is.

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Following all of the great advice and information available through this forum I'm delighted to say that my Baja is now alive.

Mostly stock, apart from the alloy and bearings recommendations, waterproofed with lasy goo stuff. More water proofing to follow via RUB boxes sealed with the goo.

Hope you enjoy the video, all filmed o it's first outing, across grass, dirt, concrete and sand.

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