Grasshopper body quick project

[mongoose1983]

Well, I had an extra 1984 Hornet buggy that I thought about selling so I could finish the Avante project. But it happened I was given this complete Grasshopper body and now I'm going to work on it and keep it... as a Grasshopper. I've missed the buggy I sold years ago, so I'm happy about having another chance to have one of these legendary RC buggies back in my collection.

The chassis is clean and nice, so there isn't much to work on it. The only thing missing is the bumper. Well, as you'll see below I'm now letting the brake fluid do the trick

Sadly, I could not manage to save all of the stickers. Anyway, if I can get the red completely off of the body I might paint it white. If not, then I'll have to get some yellow spray can to finish it.

Here's a picture of the kind of look I'm after for my buggy:

You all have a good Wednesday!

[mynameisdannyowens]

Yep everybody's gotta have a Grasshopper!

I'm sure this'll scrub up nice.

Can I ask how you remove the old decals in such a way that some can be re-used?

Thanking you,

Danny

[mongoose1983]

Yep everybody's gotta have a Grasshopper!

I'm sure this'll scrub up nice.

Can I ask how you remove the old decals in such a way that some can be re-used?

Thanking you,

Danny

Hi Danny!

Well, to be honest there isn't really an exact method on how to remove the decals to reuse them again, but I have had success doing so in the past. This time with this Grasshopper body i could only save a few, sadly not the stripes which is what's more valuable if I was going to go through the boxart road with it. Anyway, what I do is lifting carefully one corner/side of the decal using a cheap cutter. I go on small steps (never using the fingers cause they'd leave marks on the glue) until I can pull it all by sticking the blade and pulling the whole thing off of the body. It's something I've learnt by doing, never heard of such thing before. It doesn't works all the times, sometimes like with this Grasshopper the decal comes off but the glue remains stuck, so basically what you end up with is a non-sticky decal that's good for nothing. And sometimes the decal can pull up some paint, which also leaves them good for nothing. As most everything with this hobby, it's something that requires patience.

In the end, when I'm done reworking this buggy body you'll get to see two or three reused decals. That will be better than just reading about it.

You have a good Thursday!

[mynameisdannyowens]

Thanks fella

I've got a Falcon runner with missing/heavily scuffed decals on one side and another very rough Falcon parts car that has the required decals intact so I guess I'll give your technique a try to see if I can't spruce up my 'good' one.

Nice work, cheers

[XV Pilot]

The method we use at work for transferring decals involves a heat gun in a low setting to soften the glue, and a thin guitar plectrum to gently lift the decals without damaging them. With a little practice, the results can be flawless.

One thing to bear in mind when transferring decals from one curved surface to another is that it is best to reapply the decal straight away. Flat decals can be stored by sticking them to a piece of waxy decal backing sheet left over from another project, but trying to flatten decals that have taken on the curves of a bodyshell tends to wrinkle, distort and ruin them.

[mongoose1983]

Well, for the 1st time ever the brake fluid did not do anything to the red paint. I'm shocked! I've tried graffiti remover and solvent, but nothing takes it all off of it. I think I need to give caustic soda a try now. Now if that doesn't work I'll have to give up, and put the Hornet on sale again.

[richb77]

Its not "tractor paint" is it? I remember having some of that around as a kid and painting stuff (random stuff around the house!) in it. It was bullet proof and almost impossible to remove.

[GregM]

Try anything that has Methoxypropanol/PGME as the active ingredient, it will work wonders without harming the plastic.

[mongoose1983]

This is how the body looks now. I'm gutted!

Its not "tractor paint" is it? I remember having some of that around as a kid and painting stuff (random stuff around the house!) in it. It was bullet proof and almost impossible to remove.

Hi Rich. Well, according to the original owner the paint is Tamiya. I don't know what to think of that now.

Try anything that has Methoxypropanol/PGME as the active ingredient, it will work wonders without harming the plastic.

Hi there Greg. I found your thread explaining the use of that product. Seemingly it works great, but I happen to live in the poorer hemisphere and can't do much to locate it, either. I suppose it would be cheaper to buy a new Grasshopper body and even pay the shipping costs for that to make it here.

There's caustic soda on the crystal ball as I write this.

[MadInventor]

This is how the body looks now. I'm gutted!

Hi Rich. Well, according to the original owner the paint is Tamiya. I don't know what to think of that now.

Hi there Greg. I found your thread explaining the use of that product. Seemingly it works great, but I happen to live in the poorer hemisphere and can't do much to locate it, either. I suppose it would be cheaper to buy a new Grasshopper body and even pay the shipping costs for that to make it here.

There's caustic soda on the crystal ball as I write this.

If all else fails there's always wet 'n' dry. I painted a mad bull shell recently, washed it before painting, then dried it with kitchen paper. Came out looking like that high grip stuff they stick to light aircraft where the pilot walks up the wings to get in the cockpit. I went over the whole shell with 2000grit paper, just sat in front of a couple of movies sanding away on autopilot, and it came up like glass. Tiresome job, but wet and dry will get you back to white plastic eventually.

[mongoose1983]

If all else fails there's always wet 'n' dry. I painted a mad bull shell recently, washed it before painting, then dried it with kitchen paper. Came out looking like that high grip stuff they stick to light aircraft where the pilot walks up the wings to get in the cockpit. I went over the whole shell with 2000grit paper, just sat in front of a couple of movies sanding away on autopilot, and it came up like glass. Tiresome job, but wet and dry will get you back to white plastic eventually.

Don't think I haven't thought about that, mate. Problem is the areas that can't be reached in the body, as well as the holes in it. I feel gutted

[richb77]

Not sure of the availability in Chile but GregM suggested to me Methoxypropanol. I used it on my vintage sand scorcher and it shed the acrylic paint really nicely without any damage or effect on the body. I think i bought 1L for €7.

I soaked a rag and sat it in place for a minute or so then wiped it off (same rag) continue in smallish areas. Took me 30 minutes to strip a complete shell.

Just do it outside. Its not the worst smelling solvent but it does linger some.

[GregM]

Good to hear it worked for you too.

Mongoose, you might be able to track down Methoxypropanol in other products if you google for the other trade names found in my thread.

[chevelle]

If you have a buddy with a media blasting cabinet you can prep your body for repainting quite easily

[chevelle]

And one with heavy paint

[mongoose1983]

Project failed completely. Caustic soda --the last resort- did nothing to the paint. I'll have to spend money in a new body. Daamn!

[Fruitfly01]

DeSolvit Graffiti Remover worked wonders on my Juggernaut body shell. Did you use this brand? Available from Screwfix.

Red Tamiya paint. Brake fluid barely touched it and it took forever to remove what little it did. Caustic soda did naff all either, although I find that works on certain enamel paints.

But Graffiti remover worked a charm within seconds.

After a quick rinse in cold water.

[pizzachaude]

Why not simply try to sand the body nice and smooth, prime it using the white Tamiya fine primer, and then paint? Should give some nice results, worth a try

[mongoose1983]

DeSolvit Graffiti Remover worked wonders on my Juggernaut body shell. Did you use this brand? Available from Screwfix.

Red Tamiya paint. Brake fluid barely touched it and it took forever to remove what little it did. Caustic soda did naff all either, although I find that works on certain enamel paints.

But Graffiti remover worked a charm within seconds.

After a quick rinse in cold water.

Nice results, but the graffiti remover I got here did not worked at all.

Why not simply try to sand the body nice and smooth, prime it using the white Tamiya fine primer, and then paint? Should give some nice results, worth a try

Hi Martin. That's what I did with the Rough Rider body that was painted with Krylon and worked alright. The problem is that working on a complex body like Grasshopper's is not "simple" as that. There's parts of it where the sandpaper will not be able to reach, and worst of all, I have no decals for it so a bad finish will be noticeable right away at 1st sight. I think I just failed miserable here!

[pizzachaude]

Hey if it makes you feel better, I just ruined a vintage Datsun 280zx MK1 original vintage NIP body....

[mongoose1983]

Hey if it makes you feel better, I just ruined a vintage Datsun 280zx MK1 original vintage NIP body....

Ouch!

[taffer]

I don't mind chipping in some cash towards posting it to the closest tc member so other products can be tried for stripping?

[hopperSr]

Bummer. This is making me re-think stripping mine and leaving the '80s paint scheme intact.

[mongoose1983]

I don't mind chipping in some cash towards posting it to the closest tc member so other products can be tried for stripping?

Thank you so much taffer! Well, unfortunately there isn't any close TC members here. I'll just have to accept the fail and try and go with it. To most TCers it might seem strange to worry about a Grasshopper body because they're cheap in any of the 1st world countries, but to me everything I buy I have to pay dearly for the postage costs involved. In example, I could buy a Hornet body for $20 but then I have to add to that $30+ for postage -now that's the problem with it.

It's funny at first I thought it was going to be an easy-quick project, something to smile about and have fun working on, but it turned out all wrong.

Bummer. This is making me re-think stripping mine and leaving the '80s paint scheme intact.

Since you're in the States you can get a re-re body and try something different? In the end you'll have an original body, and a new one to run. Not a bad idea

You all have a good Thursday!

[Pintopower]

You know a little sanding and some paint and it would make a nice car to run. I always felt that the Hopper and Hornet are happier in a vacant lot than on a shelf anyway. I always think perfection is boring anyway. You cant spot a run from 20 feet away and 5 feet in the air.