madcap saved from the grave restore

[biggamehunter 127]

hi all , just thought i would share my latest restore , this is quite a sentimental one for me as back in the day my mam and dad bought me a madcap as a chrismas present , they had it from littlewoods catalogue i think , the were paying for it for what seemed like ever ! i did it up after a few years like an astute , then later sold it , and wished to this day i still had it , but managed to pick this one up as a local find for very little money , and set about collecting all the parts needed and rebuilding it to its former glory , the previous owner had been rendering his garage and some of the cement/sand compo , had settled all over the car , nightmare to clean without marking the plastic parts but hey ho , it keeps us buisy ,

the silver can it came with was also shot , and full of the same stuff , so im waiting for a nice pink motor to go in , and i need to get a new resistor cage , but thats about it , i did this thread in one post after the project was finished as they seem to loose steam sperad over the weeks of the restore , all comments and input greatly received and thanks in advance guys

this is how i got it

front end washed and cleaned , new shock springs and all refitted

new bumper and steering rods

rear end starting to take shape

back together and wired

polished out the scratches and gouges from the underside

ta daaaaaaaa

[Champ85 613]

Bah! Awesome job! But how did you get the cockpit decals to look so smooth? Or did you use smoke paint instead? (cheater!)

I just restored a junky Madcap with repro body/wing and original decals and the cockpit decal (top one) is wrinkled because it's too wide for the body and the complex curve is too much for it.

[mtbkym01 4177]

Great job, how did you polish the bottom of the chassis?

[biggamehunter 127]

Bah! Awesome job! But how did you get the cockpit decals to look so smooth? Or did you use smoke paint instead? (cheater!)

I just restored a junky Madcap with repro body/wing and original decals and the cockpit decal (top one) is wrinkled because it's too wide for the body and the complex curve is too much for it.

i painted the inside of the cockpit with ps black and threw the decals away !!! LOL........ thanks for the comment and a great restore too champ

Great job, how did you polish the bottom of the chassis?

thanks greatly for your kind words , i started with 600 wet and dry and worked down in grit untill all the scratches were gone , then fine wire wool , then a cotton metal polishing mop with a good car/automotive polish

theres bigger higher res pics in my showroom now

[Champ85 613]

i painted the inside of the cockpit with ps black and threw the decals away !!! LOL........ thanks for the comment and a great restore too champ

thanks greatly for your kind words , i started with 600 wet and dry and worked down in grit untill all the scratches were gone , then fine wire wool , then a cotton metal polishing mop with a good car/automotive polish

theres bigger higher res pics in my showroom now

Ahh, that's why it looks so nice! I'd never done a Madcap body before so didn't know the cockpit window decals would be such a pain in the ____. Live and learn!

You really did a great job and spent a lot of time making the whole car look tops and it shows!

[biggamehunter 127]

Ahh, that's why it looks so nice! I'd never done a Madcap body before so didn't know the cockpit window decals would be such a pain in the ____. Live and learn!

You really did a great job and spent a lot of time making the whole car look tops and it shows!

thanks champ , if you apply some heat to the window decals , or any other decals that wont take the shape with a hairdryer and smooth repeatedly towards the edge of the decal with your thumb the creases will disapear , the heat makes the decal softer and much more pliable and also re wets the glue on them

[actualday 7]

nice restoration*! I have an old old Madcap as a project that has sat in a storage container for a few years... After seeing this I want to strip it down and rebuild it with some spare parts I have collected over time.

although given the weather at the moment [so sunny in the UK] i think i will wait until the autumn.

great job, well done.

*thanks for the tip about the window... i am going to plan to paint mine with a smoke paint finish, i have never seen the window decals done right yet!

[biggamehunter 127]

nice restoration*! I have an old old Madcap as a project that has sat in a storage container for a few years... After seeing this I want to strip it down and rebuild it with some spare parts I have collected over time.

although given the weather at the moment [so sunny in the UK] i think i will wait until the autumn.

great job, well done.

*thanks for the tip about the window... i am going to plan to paint mine with a smoke paint finish, i have never seen the window decals done right yet!

thanks greatly actualday , its got the correct tamiya front tyres now too

[KalEl63 709]

Vey nice

[biggamehunter 127]

cheers kale163

[Klausen 1228]

Great restoration, looks fantastic.

[biggamehunter 127]

Great restoration, looks fantastic.

thanks klausen , theres a few other of my restores on here in the vintage section , the super sabre one im quite proud of

[Gruntfuggly 570]

Oooooh, Shiney!

Can't say that the Madcap is high on my list of Tamiya's "lookers", but this one is very nice - good work!

[biggamehunter 127]

nice one grunt

[MAD RACER 566]

Wow. Just saw this.

Well done on a super restore. I don't have a Mad Cap. Maybe one day LOL.

[biggamehunter 127]

Wow. Just saw this.

Well done on a super restore. I don't have a Mad Cap. Maybe one day LOL.

thanks greatly madracer , that means a lot .......... especially coming from you mate