Astute Restoration

[Xeostar]

Hi all,

I've wanted an Astute to restore for ages, I've kept my eye out but never seen one that didn't go for silly money.

I've seen a fair few really good condition ones which commanded a really high prices and I've seen some really batted examples from which not much could be used. Finding something in the middle that would make a good base to start from seemed harder to find.

Finally the time seemed right and I bought this one:-

It looked in not too bad condition but still in need of some work.

I thought I'd post my progress during my little project, it might be interesting and maybe even some use to somebody

:-)

[Xeostar]

First job was a tear down and a good clean.

I also noted all the bits that needed replacing or were just missing.

A lot of the fasteners were rounded or the wrong type just used as make shift repairs.

[Xeostar]

All the parts went through the sonic cleaner for a first pass. If you've not tried one they are great machines for cleaning RC car parts.

They work more successfully on metal parts but also do very well with plastic. Some of the really cheap ones don't do anything but once you get to the 40-50 pound mark they really are quite effective. I'd also recommend one that heats as well, it just helps soften all the grime.

The one I use is this one:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/JPL-8050-Professional-Ultrasonic-Cleaner/dp/B000YCGWKQ/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1379698671&sr=8-18&keywords=sonic+cleaner

[Grastens]

It is always great seeing another Astute undergoing a restoration! Looking forward to seeing the refreshed car in all its glory!

In the meantime, these cars are a lot of fun with all the bearings and screws, eh?

[z00ter]

My eyes are glued mate will be very interesting read im sure

[Xeostar]

Got a few more parts through the cleaner and gave them a going over with an old electric toothbrush.

[Xeostar]

One pic from the cleaning

and gave the existing tyres a cleaning until I can get some new ones.

[Xeostar]

Next stage was to get a few replacement parts before I started the rebuild.

[Xeostar]

First up one the rebuild was to put some clear coat on the chassis. The chassis had a fair number of scratches and scuffs and I wasn't sure if a layer of clear coat was a good idea or not.

It really made a nice improvement giving the dulled stuffed patches a nice new shine, it won't mask the deep scratches but worth doing.

Also the front arms were badly scratched so I gave them a good sanding moving to finer and finer wet and dry to get an reasonable finish but I think they'll need replacing at some point.

Some pics of the reassembly.

[Xeostar]

More reassembly. Cleaning each part as I went along if it needed a little more, also tidying any poorly cut stubs on any parts when they were removed from the tree. Looks like not a great deal of care went into assembling it the first time around.

[Xeostar]

[Xeostar]

[mheald]

Looking lovely! I've got one of these in my restoration queue, so this article is a good kick up the backside! Nice work!

[Xeostar]

It is always great seeing another Astute undergoing a restoration! Looking forward to seeing the refreshed car in all its glory!

In the meantime, these cars are a lot of fun with all the bearings and screws, eh?

Thanks for the comments and you're right about all the screws and bearings. It feels well made engineered though. I was originally going to replace all the metal bearings with ball races but it doesn't seem worth it for all the pivots so I've just done the drive train and front wheels.

Looking lovely! I've got one of these in my restoration queue, so this article is a good kick up the backside! Nice work!

I've got a few projects like that but once I've got started I seem to gain momentum and get going. I think its looking OK so far, it needs a few parts replacing but they'll get done over time.

[Xeostar]

A few more pics of the rebuild.

[Xeostar]

Next up is to start on the new body and under tray. I got a reproduction and it looks very good so far I've not finished with it but so far it looks nice.

Got the under tray cut out, sanded down and washed with warm soapy water. Its not very often I get a large flat area on a shell to work with so I thought I'd try a couple of thing out with the tray.

Next step was to print out some lettering on to paper, cut them out and use them as a template to cut letter form sticky back plastic. I'm not so sure how well the picture have come out but you can probably make out what I'm going for.

Once I was happy with the lettering I started the painting.

[Xeostar]

At this point I had a decision to make, either just paint the letters in plain colours or try to use some black to outline one side of each letter to make them stand out a little.

Bearing in mind my painting skills aren't the best I wasn't sure if I should risk the black. Well I thought if I never give anything new a try I'll never get better so I went for it with the black. If the worst happened I could always soak the tray and start again, it water based paint so it should come off.

At this point I'm thinking this looks really bad I think I've made a mistake here. It didn't help that I didn't really think and used opaque black rather than transparent which would have give a much more even coat.

[Xeostar]

Anyway even with my doubts I cracked on with the main red coat.

Backed the red with white

The colours look slightly odd as the over spray film very blue and gives everything a funny hue.

[Xeostar]

Next I removed the lettering mask.

Then got ready for the yellow for the letters.

[Xeostar]

With the yellow sprayed its starting to look better and I'm now thinking it might be ok.

[Xeostar]

Almost finshed with the tray now, all that was left was to spray the read, blue then back it all with white.

Blue done, on with the red.

All done bare the white backing.

[Xeostar]

Just before I backed with white.

All backed.

and the finished with the backing removed so you can see the true colours.

[Klausen]

Man I was skeptical seeing the first pics, but it turned out really good. Great job.

[ddaenen1]

Very nicely done! One question though. You mention that you are using waterbased paint. Does this stick on Lexan?

[Xeostar]

a few pics with the tray on the car.