The 7Up Special

The 7Up Special Super Champ





Some time ago I traded some of my models with TC member Paul ( Loaded ). This was one of the items of many that I received from that deal. It was just a rough Super Champ chassis and loads of spares. It has been sitting in my “ To Do “ Draw for some time. Then a conversation with TC member Joe ( Volksrod ) produced a Super Champ body. This needed allot of work as it had received some damage and around 1mm deep paint all over.


This all needed stripping off and was in a brake fluid bath for over a month. Once all the old paint was removed I could see all the damage the body had actually had. There were several splits and cracks that needed fixing, but the roll cage was lucky undamaged. The surface of all the panels was very rough and uneven, so this all had to be filled and smoothed down.


I wanted to try something a bit different with this body. Joe ( Volksrod ) had some great ideas on fixing the body to the chassis without having any body posts or snap pins showing. This would give a very clean look to the body, so thanks for that Joe you are a Star.


I wanted the body to look slightly different to the standard Super Champ, so this was done by adding plasticard panels to all the openings at the side and back of the body.


The rear boot lid was hinged so I could show the 7Up damper bottle and get to the body clip inside to remove the body. I also cut a hole to take a cooling fan in the boot lid.


I had to make some aluminium locking cams for each corner of the boot lid so that it would be secure when the car was running. A boot lid support bar was also added so the boot lid could be left open for display.


The driver compartment sides were treated to some flowing curved panels. The roof was next to be modified I decided to remove the signature Super Champ Roof Spoiler and modify the front of the alloy roof to give the driver a better view.


Next to be modified were the side grills on each side of the body and these were cut away with a Dremel tool and changed into air scoops using plasticard again.


Plasticard backings were glued on the inside of the body to cover the 3 holes for the body mount pins and filled and sanded smooth. Two holes were drilled to accept the cables for the body mounted lights and two holes were also drilled into the rear of the body for the rear lights.


I also used plasticard strips approx 1mm square to trim the panels and strengthen the boot lid.
Now it was time for the primer to be sprayed on. 3 coats of primer were sprayed on and rubbed down smooth.


I had always wanted to do a spray job, which would test me a bit, I didn’t want any straight or curved masking work on this body. I wanted to spray the whole thing by hand with an air-brush.
I chose to do a 7up sponsored car as you can get decals from the Tamiya Jordan 191 F1 car. The colour had to be green, so I used 4 shades of green for the body all Tamiya TS and PS shades.


Now came an idea, which I thought would add another dimension to the paint scheme.
I wanted to reproduce tiny fizzy air bubbles in the paintwork as if you were looking into a real 7Up bottle.


I will explain how I did this whole painting process and fizzy bubble effect in a Tutorial on Tamiyaclub very soon.


All the 7Up and BP decals were applied from the Jordan Decal sheet and some extra ones of my own which were made for me by Lee, who makes the Fabulous Tamiyaclub Decals. Top stuff Lee, many Thanks Mate.


The whole paint scheme was clear coated with Tamiya TS Clear and I applied 5 clear coats rubbed them down then did a final clear coat and polished it down to a wet look finish to the paintwork and finished it off with several Carnuba waxes.


The next change for this car was to add working lights.
I couldn’t get hold of any alloy ones on TC, so I used a spare High Lift roll bar Spot light part. I cut each spot light bowl off the light bar and trimmed the spare plastic away with a scalpel. Each light bowl was drilled, tapped and helicoiled to give a strong thread. 2 lights were screwed into the body on small rubber mounts I cut from tubing ( this was done so the lights could take small shocks in accidents ). The same was done for the 2 lights on the front uprights. A Tamiya TLU lighting kit was fixed to the inside of the body and all the lights were installed into the Spot lights on the car. This was so easy to do and fit the lights into and I think look great fitted.


The roof panel was sprayed a different shade of green and left matt to contrast the gloss bodywork.
The cooling fan was added to the boot lid and this was made from a Porsche 934 fan and a Caterham fan surround all from Tamiya static kits. I also used an alloy exhaust shroud from the Caterham kit for a rear light cover, to give a special light effect when the rear lights are on.


The Driver and Instrument panel were next. I wanted to use a Wild One Drivers head, as I like the aggressive look of the Arai helmet.
The driver body was cut from the backing plate this was done because I needed to lower the body by 4mm at the rear so the helmet would fit nicely under the roof panel.
The remaining driver body was glued onto a new plasicard panel and fitted into the body. The instrument panel was made of plasticard and coated in Chrome foil and waterslide decals of instruments were added from a Porsche 934 decal sheet.


Lastly for the body I had help from TC member Clyde ( Misterclyde ) with the window netting. Many thanks Clyde.


The Chassis was in a bad state and needed stripping down and cleaning. Most of the suspension parts were cracked or bent, so all of these were replaced. I sprayed all the alloy cast parts satin black and fitted ball races all round the motor was replaced with a Tamiya Sport Tuned motor. I added some of my Alloy Gear and Motor Cover’s which I had Gold anodised. I also had most of the alloy chassis parts Gold anodised also to contrast with the black castings. I also used a set of Mike00top's Alloy Scorcher exhausts for the rear of the car. A plastic bracket had to be machined to hold each exhaust level with the base of the rear bodywork.


The Chassis plate and Radio plate were sprayed Tamiya PS black. The Rear shock was replaced with a modified High Cap damper for better damping than standard. The front dampers are standard Tamiya SRB units with modified internals so they dont leak and CRP Springs. I sprayed all the Damper Springs with PS green to contrast with the bodywork.


I added one of J-Mans Superb alloy Box Art bumpers to the front. Thanks, John. I think this looks much better than the standard Tamiya bumper. I added a grill to the front bumper also.
The wheels were the next item to be fitted and I opted for my Alloy Rough Rider Box Art wheels and Rough Rider Tyres. The lettering was painted Matt Yellow as with all my runners.


I also fitted my new SRB Skid Plate to the car and these will be on sale soon.
The last thing to be fitted to the chassis was the radio gear and I used a Spektrum 2.4 DSM system and Futaba steering servo. The speed control was a LRP F1 unit.


The Car is now finished and ready for a run on the beach, cant wait to see how it goes.


To finish this project off I have also made some special alloy stands to display the car on and a spare set of Super Champ wheels and Tyres fitted with some Nickel plated Sand Scorcher Box Art Alloys. These are really good for soft sand running.





I would like to finish off by saying a BIG thank you to all the TC members that helped me with this project. That’s what makes this Club so special.





I hope you like what I have done with this 7up Special.



Cheers


Rad