Jump to content
GooneyBird

Project Rally Bug / Street Scorcher

Recommended Posts

Thanks. My mum says I shouldn't send topless photos over the internet... but what does she know! 😜

F743CC8C-B411-4C33-8E6E-0566DDA06BD6_zps

Here's the join where I shortened the chassis. 

27C4D5B6-85D9-40E6-9B16-18EDF6E96E5E_zps

 

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I realize this project hasn't moved in ages, and I blame my job, as always. ;)

It's come to a point where decisions have to be made, and I need a little help. As the car is running TC-size tires, I am quite free in the wheels I choose. However, I'd love to go with the wagon-wheel look as in above pictures of the 1:1 VW. There are plenty of beadlocking wheels for crawlers out there that have that look, but they're expensive and heavy. I could probably deal with the expensive-part, know that they'd look great under the Pajero should it ever come to that, but the heavy-part not so much, as this is still a TT01 at heart and therefor, doesn't really like all that stress on its drivetrain. There is the option of gearing it lightly and throw in a rev-happy motor, but I'd rather see a nicely matched set of plastic wheels. 

Long story short: does anyone know of plastic wheels that resemble those 5 or 6 spoke wagon wheels, with a normal hex drive (I think it's 12mm?) on the rear, in TC-size, and preferably available in 0 (for the front) and +2 or even +4 offset (for the rear)?

Not like that's a tall order or anything. ;) 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On ‎24‎/‎02‎/‎2017 at 9:56 AM, mr crispy said:

Here's the join where I shortened the chassis. 

27C4D5B6-85D9-40E6-9B16-18EDF6E96E5E_zps

 

Wow. That's one neat, clean & tidy looking join. I tried shortening one of my TL01's and tried to be as tidy as that... but I got impatient while cutting and ballsed it up. :D It didn't look too bad but, in the end, that project got shelved.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, GooneyBird said:

Long story short: does anyone know of plastic wheels that resemble those 5 or 6 spoke wagon wheels, with a normal hex drive (I think it's 12mm?) on the rear, in TC-size, and preferably available in 0 (for the front) and +2 or even +4 offset (for the rear)?

Not like that's a tall order or anything. ;) 

You could try the older 2-Piece, 5 spoke wheels. Here's a pic of one side's worth of the wheels for one of my projects along with a 5 spoke.

DSC_0015a.jpg

The tyre combo might also work for your project. Here's how they fit beneath a Blitzer shell.

 

DSC_0016a.jpg

Obviously the body is resting on the rear tyres (there's a wheel holding up the front slightly) but the size doesn't look bad. Maybe a tiny bit large but not too bad. :)

edit:

I forgot to mention... There are 2 versions, a standard 26mm and a wide 30mm. The standard has the ability to have either 2mm or 4mm offset, depending on which side you screw the face piece on to, and the wide has either 4mm or 6mm offset (if I recall correctly).

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Those 5 spoke wheels look good, and I like the fact that they also come in 30mm wide versions for the rear. I'll look into that, thanks!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, it only took me 3 months, but I've managed to sort out a set of wheels and tires for the Street Scorcher. I've gone with something very much not Tamiya, and from the far east. 

IMG_1950.jpg
IMG_1951.jpg
IMG_1952.jpg

The wheels came from [url=https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hs211082w1-101-9-100mmcrawlertireset.html]Hobbyking[/url]. They came with a set of imitation Kong-tires, which have been put on the spare-parts pile for now. The tires are from Aliexpress. They were something like 6 or 7 euro. As you can see, they're a bit bigger than normal touring car wheels, but smaller than CC01 wheels. And they look sooo goooood!

IMG_1953.jpg
IMG_1954.jpg

Maybe this will motivate me to get off my hindquarters and start throwing some paint on that shell. 

  • Like 6

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Wheel choice is great! I really dig completley murdered out "yo my arches are empty" endless black void rims. It would go well with the Blitzer body.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Those wheels look great! I like it. can't wait to see it finished.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Tonight my wife's having a D&D gathering, so I had the house to myself essentially. I sanded the body down over the weekend (while watching a rather uninspiring F1 race at Silverstone), and so I washed it and starting laying down some primer. 

I don't have a lot of experience painting hardbodies, I'll be honest. I've painted the Pajero, which looks decent, but then it's also essentially a large plastic box with headlights. Nothing like the swooping lines and curves of a VW Beetle. Tonight I've put down two coats of primer, wetsanding them in between layers. It looks decent, I'll admit, without any runs. I think I'll put down a third coat of primer and then start planning my paint scheme. 

On the one hand I'm very tempted to do the scheme like I posted above. Primer body, red sides, and minor traces of rust. Not a complete rust bucket, but a well-loved Baja bug. Someone's daily, perhaps, with some speed shop and surf decals on the rear window. Maybe a small roll bar on the roof with some extra lights.

But then there's a can of flat black calling out to me, along with some gold. JPS Bug? 

I've thought about going box art, but there are too many box art Scorchers out there already, and since it's motivated by a cut-down touring car chassis I don't think I have any right to paint it like that. ;)

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
12 hours ago, GooneyBird said:

I've thought about going box art, but there are too many box art Scorchers out there already,

Too many for what? You're only likely to ever see one, or maybe two if you include the one on the wall at RcP.

But I guess you may not get as much interest in the build in the surreal world of the internet. Plus the masking for it is a right pain in the unmentionables.

 

So failing that, I vote for your first option above. A VW painted like a Lotus seems wrong somehow to me, and I liked that picture you posted along with the somewhat Aussie-style (or perhaps veteran-style) dedication

to the owner's late brother (perhaps without the sweary bit of course, or then again, perhaps not. It certainly gives it character, and basing your bug on a real bug gives it extra scale points).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

IMG_1979.jpg
IMG_1980.jpg
IMG_1981.jpg

I do like this primer'ed color. This is 3 coats of primer, with wetsanding in between. It's soft to the touch, and smooth without being reflective. 

I'm thinking, mask most of it off, paint in the side panel (in red, for contrast!), and leave it at that. Go with plan #1, and smack some vintage speedshop decals on the rear window. 

(And yes, I've gone with the solid taillights. I figured I can always cut them out if I go LED, but for now I just don't have the room in the arches for wiring back there.)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

looking great there! :)

I'm glad to see you got rid of those nasty moulding lines on the arches. I never understood why they leave them there on the XB shells.

Btw, if you need to tilt the body around as you paint it, you can stick it to that can of paint (or other handle-like object) with some of that blu-tack. Becomes more useful as the can gets emptier and needs to be held upright.

But you probably know that already.

Got to love those crisp details on that shell. Top stuff!

 

EDIT, btw, if you want any of the details in chrome, you are welcome to borrow my airbrush and Alclad chrome paints. Or just borrow the airbrush anyway for weathering/fading and stuff should you so desire.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
48 minutes ago, Fuijo said:

looking great there! :)

I'm glad to see you got rid of those nasty moulding lines on the arches. I never understood why they leave them there on the XB shells.

Btw, if you need to tilt the body around as you paint it, you can stick it to that can of paint (or other handle-like object) with some of that blu-tack. Becomes more useful as the can gets emptier and needs to be held upright.

But you probably know that already.

Got to love those crisp details on that shell. Top stuff!

 

EDIT, btw, if you want any of the details in chrome, you are welcome to borrow my airbrush and Alclad chrome paints. Or just borrow the airbrush anyway for weathering/fading and stuff should you so desire.

 

Yep, stuck to the can of brake cleaner with a bit of blue-tack. I love that stuff! I've found that shifting it all around is the only way to get paint everywhere.

I tried to get rid of the mold lines, but the ones on the front fender are stubborn. They're not so much little lines, but they're actual steps/ridges in the front fender. The only way to get rid of them without creating a flat spot on the fender is to build them up with a bit of putty and then sand that to the shape of the fender. Or, in the case of this thing, sand it back as much as you can without distorting the fender's arc too much, and leave it at that. If I can wrap my head around it I might do all the 'baja'-parts (front nose cone, fenders, front of frunk) in flat black (because the lazy bum building this car never got round to painting it. It's half primer, half red, and the aftermarket parts in black) in which case the seams pretty much disappear. 

4614203157_00c251824e.jpg

This idea, but with more primer and red sides.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
13 hours ago, GooneyBird said:

Or, in the case of this thing, sand it back as much as you can without distorting the fender's arc too much, and leave it at that.

That's what I did on both my Scorcher shells, and it looks fine to me. I don't have any flat spots on mine. The only thing that gives it away is that that part of the fender (you've got me speaking American now lol, the shame)

is very slightly thinner than the rest. But you have to look for it. I always avoid using putty on car shells and driver figures, as I've learnt to my cost that when you apply heat to get decals to conform to curves

and seal the edges, the ABS and the putty expand at different rates ruining the finish.

If I have to fill something, I melt shavings of ABS or Styrene in liquid Poly to make a paste.

EDIT: This was just sanded down. No filler used on the fenders. Poly paste used to blend in the nose cone as the shut line on mine was excessively bad, even for a Beetle. Yours looks better than mine did.

P1010061_zpsaxdi7wfn.jpg

 

13 hours ago, GooneyBird said:

If I can wrap my head around it I might do all the 'baja'-parts (front nose cone, fenders, front of frunk) in flat black (because the lazy bum building this car never got round to painting it. It's half primer, half red, and the aftermarket parts in black) in which case the seams pretty much disappear. 

4614203157_00c251824e.jpg

This idea, but with more primer and red sides.

That sounds good, and I like the car in the pic. Are you going to paint the wheels, or leave them black?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello everybody,

I have been following this project for some time since I have been thinking on embarking on a similar project. Somewhere I got lost in the way of this, though. In the end you ended up with a 246mm wheelbase, or did you adjust it again?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Never owned a TT-01 but all of a sudden i'm more interested in them - nice work to date.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
On 28-9-2017 at 11:09 AM, ejtnt said:

Hello everybody,

I have been following this project for some time since I have been thinking on embarking on a similar project. Somewhere I got lost in the way of this, though. In the end you ended up with a 246mm wheelbase, or did you adjust it again?

The wheelbase is still as it stands. I haven't changed that. Eyeballing it says that it's still ever so slightly too long, but the extra length is in the front (as in, the front wheels are slightly off-center), which is actually kind of a cool look.

 

On 28-9-2017 at 10:47 PM, Percymon said:

Never owned a TT-01 but all of a sudden i'm more interested in them - nice work to date.

They're great cars. Cost next-to-nothing, and with a few key changes can actually handle fairly well.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great build - I am just in the process of considering a DT03 bug or a TL01(b) scorcher... This has been great inspiration, Thanks!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Long time no update!

I've painted the body shell, but wasn't very happy with the outcome. Yes, the paint went on nicely, but it just wasn't really what I wanted it to be. When I pulled off the masking tape for the two-tone effect it pulled patches of paint along with it, and the masking tape itself had leaked in various places.
@Fuijo came up with a great solution to tidy up the lines a bit; which is to put a small, thin tapeline in between both colors. This turned out to be a very good solution (thanks! :D ) and it really helped the body shell move along again, after being stalled and parked in the 'someday' corner of my desk.

So of course I got all inspired and made this:

IMG_2213.jpg
IMG_2214.jpg
IMG_2215.jpg
IMG_2216.jpg
 

This is:

- Tape line separating white and grey.
- Door handles and window frames colored in with a detailing pen (this is far less messy than painting it, and creates a similar finish and effect)
- Black line tape around the bottom step. 
- Various details like the fuel filler flap and air vent slots on the rear deck highlighted. 
- Shut lines marked out with black detailing pen.

Still to do:
- Taillights. I'm painting them in for now.
- Assemble headlights
- Create something so that the sunroof is popped open a bit
- Driver
- Glass. Still on the lookout for full, clear glass, as I don't need rear window access

On the chassis I'd like to get a different front body post. I need to find a suitable one in my parts stash. Ideally it's a black plastic post, but with a bit of rigidity to it (as it's the only front body mount). Also; source electronics and work out various gremlins (as it is a chassis made out of mostly used spares there's bound to be some weirdness that crops up)

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's looking much better!

The wheels do fit the arches really really well, and what great looking wheels!

If you need any paints for the lights and such, or any styrene for the sunroof, let me know.

I have tried, but I can't really take a photo of what I made for the sunroof. I just can't get the camera in there. So if you want to see it, you'll have

to have a look next time you're here.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

And she's a runner!

IMG_2220.jpg

Last night I finished up the electrics for the car. Nothing too fancy, just some random servo I had in the misc. parts-bin, a Hobbywing QR1060 ESC and a Carson Cup Machine. It's been a while since I've last done anything with a full-size servo. Never fails to amuse me how large they really are. (And yes, I need to de-sticker the chassis)

Also, taillights! Took two evenings to paint (very, very carefully), and I might clean up the edges with a bit of flat black tonight (after the paint's hardened) to really finish it off. However, I can remember when I've last seen 3-segment taillights on a real life VW Beetle....

IMG_2222.jpg

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's alive!!

Did you drive it around inside the house just a little bit? :D

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...