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Ford F150 Body Upgrades

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When I was a kid, my friend rebuilt his Blackfoot. He shaved off all the "Ford" script from the hood and tail gate for that "custom" look. Then he made a custom grille out of styrene to look like it had an aftermarket insert. Truck looked cool. A few months later he bought the Super Blackfoot. Weirdly, he was upset that the truck didnt have the ford script and had a grille just like the one he made on the old blackfoot. I guess the grass is always greener somewhere else...
Oh well, in the mean time, I made these:
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Sprue is there for alignment and should be cut off after glue sets for lettering placement. The sprues are fragile but I had to make them thin as the printing gets exponentially more costly with a thicker print. The side emblems are on a 0.3mm pad that will allow them to be painted and places after the body is decaled to fill in those annoying holes left by the decals to normally go around the original molded lettering. They are available here:
Make sure to select the "print it anyway" check box if prompted in the line item when checking out. If you are not prompted then ignore me.
I have a few other things planned for my Super Blackfoot shells so i'll keep you posted.
I am sure you have seen the light kit:
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All those bits are in my shop here:
There is a section called Blackfoot where everything resides. Hope you like!
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NICE!!! will def get the side lettering for my BF3 runner. methinks your products will be great accessories to the Blackfoot re-re, unless pigs suddenly start flying, etc. :lol:

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Very nice. I would love to get some of your lights for my ranger.

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Fantastic job on the lettering pintopower - sent you a PM on a related subject ;)

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Hi folks, I made a video of how to install the light lens set and how it looks once operational. Enjoy!

 

 

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Here is one I think you will like:

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I still need to add mounts to the rear of the grille to make it bolt to the body since I chopped off the original mounts on the back of the front panel. 

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2 minutes ago, Pintopower said:

Here is one I think you will like:

27694351653_819518730b_c.jpg

I still need to add mounts to the rear of the grille to make it bolt to the body since I chopped off the original mounts on the back of the front panel. 

52afc7c3dd079735c8f969170ba4d374.500x275

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The grille is all done. Final prototype is on the truck. Right now I need to see if I can trim some fat off since the price to print this it through the roof on shapeways due to the material needed for the detail. I'm going to try the nylon but I think it will look like garbage. 

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On 7/19/2016 at 6:37 PM, Pintopower said:

The grille is all done. Final prototype is on the truck. Right now I need to see if I can trim some fat off since the price to print this it through the roof on shapeways due to the material needed for the detail. I'm going to try the nylon but I think it will look like garbage. 

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Hey @mongoose1983 I haven't forgotten about you with the Blackfoot parts.  One of the things I've been holding off for is that @Pintopower's prototype 3d-printed Blackfoot grill is for you.  I donated the BF3-style grill and when he's done Alberto's going to send me back the upgraded one and I'll be sending it on down to you with the other stuff.

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1 hour ago, beefmuffin said:

Hey @mongoose1983 I haven't forgotten about you with the Blackfoot parts.  One of the things I've been holding off for is that @Pintopower's prototype 3d-printed Blackfoot grill is for you.  I donated the BF3-style grill and when he's done Alberto's going to send me back the upgraded one and I'll be sending it on down to you with the other stuff.

Its done and I will send it back this week!

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2 minutes ago, Pintopower said:

Its done and I will send it back this week!

Looks awesome!

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Ok folks here is the deal. The design is done and tested. It fits awesome, looks awesome and is easy to paint unlike the original which requires a lot of yelling. Problem is, the size is quite large and the cost on shapeways for this is ridiculous. It is $33.86 for the stupid thing. I can't sell it for much more so I am pricing it at $34.99 which is already way to high. Nylon works but I question the finish so I ordered one to test it. That one is very well priced. I can also print one at the office for less but the material we have, despite the high quality and finish, it is very, very hard and therefore brittle. I tried a thinned out version to drip price but it was so weak there was no way I was going to make that an option. I feel that you would be best spending good money on great parts and not money on junk. Here are your options:

1. Shapeways High Detail Plastic - Very very detailed, perfect surface to paint with minor finishing and some slight give for flexibility but it is still very stiff. 34.99 (not for sale just yet)

2. Shapeways Nylon - white, unplolished - This will be flexible and durable with a high loss in detail (need to confirm) but at a lower price ($20 ish?). Paint will bond great but higher amount of finishing will be needed

3. Order from me - Very, very high detail but very hard and brittle. Light finishing needed (about the same as the high detail shapeways). Subject to color changes on the printer (you may get black, grey, grey blue, white or clear depending on what we have) though I perfer black due to durability. Cons are that it I can't send to europe since at that point shapways is cheaper for you since they have locations there. It might take a few days to mail to you and I will only ship in a box. I think I can do it for $27ish for black and clear. Slightly less for the other colors but I dont trust the greys. 

Thoughts?

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Personally I think this is one of those rare occasions these days where people are happy to pay for quality, rather than just wanting the cheapest thing

that does the job. I could be wrong, but when you look at what people (including me) are prepared to spend on rere SRB bling like bumbers and wheels, 34.99 is well within reason.

My argument would be 2 shells, one for shelf or very gentle running and one for bashing. The shelf shell would get spoilt rotten and the basher shell would get, well, bashed.

For only one of these would I bother with a scale grill, and I'd rather have a nice one. Might just be me of course, but I doubt it.

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Option 1 sounds good, but could go for option 2 if it's ok. 

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Thank you for the input. I know it is just the two of you for the time being but I must say that I am surprised to hear this. I agree that quality is far above cheap garbage but I know that it is still a steep price. I must say that I have fallen for the fact that you can see through it. I love real grills. 

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Oh and here is the surface finish with a few swipes of 400 grit. Sprayed with low gloss black. 

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And the updated support from the rear. This does away with the L-brace.

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That looks pretty good to me. I'd be very interested to see what a coat of automotive filler-primer does in the way of

filling, while hopefully not affecting the detail too much.

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4 hours ago, Pintopower said:

Ok folks here is the deal. The design is done and tested. It fits awesome, looks awesome and is easy to paint unlike the original which requires a lot of yelling. Problem is, the size is quite large and the cost on shapeways for this is ridiculous. It is $33.86 for the stupid thing. I can't sell it for much more so I am pricing it at $34.99 which is already way to high. Nylon works but I question the finish so I ordered one to test it. That one is very well priced. I can also print one at the office for less but the material we have, despite the high quality and finish, it is very, very hard and therefore brittle. I tried a thinned out version to drip price but it was so weak there was no way I was going to make that an option. I feel that you would be best spending good money on great parts and not money on junk. Here are your options:

1. Shapeways High Detail Plastic - Very very detailed, perfect surface to paint with minor finishing and some slight give for flexibility but it is still very stiff. 34.99 (not for sale just yet)

2. Shapeways Nylon - white, unplolished - This will be flexible and durable with a high loss in detail (need to confirm) but at a lower price ($20 ish?). Paint will bond great but higher amount of finishing will be needed

3. Order from me - Very, very high detail but very hard and brittle. Light finishing needed (about the same as the high detail shapeways). Subject to color changes on the printer (you may get black, grey, grey blue, white or clear depending on what we have) though I perfer black due to durability. Cons are that it I can't send to europe since at that point shapways is cheaper for you since they have locations there. It might take a few days to mail to you and I will only ship in a box. I think I can do it for $27ish for black and clear. Slightly less for the other colors but I dont trust the greys. 

Thoughts?

my 2 cents, you've done an awesome job and your target market is one where people will pay for quality, so while the price is probably high, its not a big issue. Also its not like you've set the price artificially high either, it is what it is. Plus if you think you might sell a few, you could try molding and casting them, for a larger run that should bring the price down, but a lot of fiddly setup time.

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10 minutes ago, yogi-bear said:

my 2 cents, you've done an awesome job and your target market is one where people will pay for quality, so while the price is probably high, its not a big issue. Also its not like you've set the price artificially high either, it is what it is. Plus if you think you might sell a few, you could try molding and casting them, for a larger run that should bring the price down, but a lot of fiddly setup time.

Yes I briefly contemplated making a pour-able mold but it would take so long for me to get that right. Once I do the opportunity cost would be so high that they would cost $50 each, haha! I think something I could inject would be great too but the print for the mold would be in the $500 range so then there is that problem too. I guess $35 isn't so bad at that point. 

Oh and thank you for the kind words. It was an easy thing to design but a pain to make fit. 

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Couple of questions...

1) How did you remove the center of the original grill? I'm guessing a dremel with cutoff wheel, if so, how did you get yours so perfect?^_^

2) What kind of adhesive do you recommend for applying the FORD badging to the styrene body and do you have any pics of a body with them applied?

Once again, you've done an incredible job!

 

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2 hours ago, RushRebel said:

Couple of questions...

1) How did you remove the center of the original grill? I'm guessing a dremel with cutoff wheel, if so, how did you get yours so perfect?^_^

2) What kind of adhesive do you recommend for applying the FORD badging to the styrene body and do you have any pics of a body with them applied?

Once again, you've done an incredible job!

 

Actually it wasn't a Dremmel tool. What I did was running X-Acto knife very carefully around the inside corner. I scored it about five or six times around the entire perimeter. Then I busted out the Dremmel and cut a line through the center of the grill horizontally and then several vertically. Each corner was drilled out to prevent cracking and then all I did was push the pieces that I created straight out of the grill. It worked amazingly well. I was surprised at how clean the edges were considering how fast I did this. It took me less time to completely remove the entire center section of the grill than it took me to paint the center section of the grill on my original Blackfoot Grill. 

In terms of adhesive I would recommend any high quality modeling adhesive designed for model cars or airplanes. Do not use superglue nor should you use any kind of chemical bonding agent as it will melt the styrene and not be compatible with 3-D printing material. The reason I say no super glue is i find it too messy and I've seen it damage cosmetic services of styrene. As for any images I only created those for friend so I've never installed them myself. I know beefmuffin has so I can ask him for some images. 

Thanks for the kind words!

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Fantastic work!  :wub:

Just the missing puzzle piece for my Custom Ford Ranger!

I'd also go for option 1, I've just paid much more for one of James' Sand Scorcher drivers.

Question: What we see in your pictures, is that the fine detail or the nylon version?

Thanks

Christian

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I'd also go for option 1.  I think if I really hate the BF3 grill that much, and I'm prepared to go to the trouble of cutting it out and mounting one of your grills instead, I'd rather pay for the top quality version.

 

It really is top work you do on these upgrades, I really wish I had your skill (and patience!) :)

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9 hours ago, Dante77 said:

Fantastic work!  :wub:

Just the missing puzzle piece for my Custom Ford Ranger!

I'd also go for option 1, I've just paid much more for one of James' Sand Scorcher drivers.

Question: What we see in your pictures, is that the fine detail or the nylon version?

Thanks

Christian

Well it is closer to the fine version. This is a printer here at the office which has amazing resolution but the material we use isn't great. I ordered the nylon one from shapeways to see how it looks but I am not holding my breath.

Thank you for the kind words. 

5 hours ago, 73robb said:

I'd also go for option 1.  I think if I really hate the BF3 grill that much, and I'm prepared to go to the trouble of cutting it out and mounting one of your grills instead, I'd rather pay for the top quality version.

 

It really is top work you do on these upgrades, I really wish I had your skill (and patience!) :)

Thank you very much. You guys are making me much more confident in the price. I have (tried) to sell things I have designed for my personal full size cars to the the Ford Pinto club and the responses I have gotten over the years have been despicable. I once made a battery tray with incorporated heat sheild for one of my cars. It was so great I made 24 more, 5 for my other cars and 1 for my sister. I asked $65 for the galvanized tray (badly rusted originals missing the heat shield sell for $90+ on ebay). You should have heard the people calling me a crook! Not to mention the stainless steel hear line set and the tranny cooler lines. Needless to say, I dont deal with them any more. You folks have always been a pleasure to work with, even getting me to make stuff that I don't need. I would NEVER do that for anyone in the Pinto group. 

Sorry, rant over. 

Ill let you know when the nylon one arrives and please feel free and continue the feed back. 

Thanks again 73robb

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1:1 cars are a whole different ball game. Trust me on this, I've been working with them most of my life. You have to remember that critisism of anyones full size

car is a direct affront to the owner's manhood. Therefore they will begrudge spending anything much on improving the original because it calls into question their

buying decisions of something that should be encoded into their DNA. Being really, really cheap somehow negates that. I don't pretend to understand it, but there we are.

I suspect 1/10 versions that are heavily viewed through rose-tinted goggles are not so afflicted.

Not judging anyone, or trying to offend. I'm just stating my observations from a lot of years in the motor trade.

 

EDIT: I would also add that it's not impossible that we may get a rere F150 Ranger XLT on the same shell where the budget for "improvements" will go way up. It's

a gamble for sure, and I'm really not a gambling man, but even I'd stake more than the price of your grill on that one.

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