fearthecat

Has anyone here ever made, or had made, a custom bodyshell for their R/C vehicle??

I bought an old kyosho Sierra RS 500 recently but it's in a bad state, and is 1/8th scale. This is a bit too big for me really, and I prefer to have the same scale as my friend and as my nitro car (1/10)... however, I absolutely love the RS500 bodyshell, and want to have one made in 1/10th.

Does anyone know who I should get in touch with and roughly how much it might cost?

Any help would be much appreciated!

dpalXRC

It's not cheap to make a mold for a body. Some places can back pour a body and create the same size body. But you want to scale down the body, right? From what I understand it is very expensive to make a one off body. You would have to find somebody to make the mold for you. To produce the actual body is fairly cheap. It's the mold that's expensive.

If you're in the Los Angeles area you might want to check out the plastics department at Cerritos Community College. When I went there (about 10yrs ago) they had a vaccuform machine and were pulling RC bodies. They might be able to help. Or try any trade college with a plastics course. Usually instructors are willing to to the small jobs either for free or really cheap (depending on the job) to help their students learn.

fearthecat

That's what I feared... but I've seen lexan bodyshells being sold for £15-35 (20-50 dollars maybe) which aren't mass production ones.

I don't live in the states, though going around university / college here and making enquiries might be something to explore... however i'd rather find somewhere that's done that sort of thing before.

Thanks for your quick reply... if anyone else out there has any suggestions please do let me know!

W.E.D.Jim

iTrader: (17)

fearthecat, the expense of manufacturing a body is high for someone to absorb personally. The least expensive bodies can be done for about $1500, but truck bodies and sedan bodies, etc can be more then twice that or more.

Just the materials for mold tooling are hundreds of dollars for one body. Although you could save money using less expensive materials, since you only need one, so cheaper silicones and resins, etc. will work.

If you are still interested you can contact us at [email protected]

...Jim

W.E.D.Jim

iTrader: (17)

Keep in mind that the cheap bodies you see are just that, cheap copies made poorly.
I have seen some of these bodies up close and I would not use them for my race cars, never mind to restore a vehicle that might have any value(monetary or emotional).

But if cheap will work and your not very picky then it may be something to explore since it will cover the vehicle.

Keep in mind that the body you have cannot be molded over because it won't survive the heat needed to soften the lexan material..........Hope this helps, Jim

fearthecat

bah, thank you for all the info... I have no attachment to the chassis, and would rather pass it on to someone else... but i want to keep the bodyshell because it's gorgeous...

I'll just have to keep looking for someone who could do it cheap or for somewhere that I can order old cars that arent in production anymore.... heh, yeh that's likely :/

thanks anyways

Soviet

iTrader: (2)

Making a mold isn't hard at all.

1. Get water based sculpting clay.

2. pack inside of body with clay

3. Be sure to have zero air pockets, lines, etc...pack the body TIGHT with clay

4. check body for alignment

5. drill small hole in very top of body

6. using compressed air, place nozzle in hole and blow...body should pop off

7. Fill and smooth air hole

8. Fire clay body plug

9. Make vacum screen and start producing copies of your favorite body.

fearthecat

This sounds a little better. Especially as I've been removing horrible lumps of fibreglass or something from the inside... and have found that most of the lexan is present (though a few big cracks and small holes)

I could probably use the existing holes that were made for the body mounts, right? If i put tape over the outside of them prior to putting clay on the inside?

this might also let me very nervously and delicately smooth out any inperfections due to the damage on the original shell... Only thing I'd struggle with here is the last phases... firing the clay mold and then vacuum forming some lexan / polycarbonate around it. Some quick reading turns up that 'polymer clay' can be done in just a kitchen oven... then it would only be the vacuum molding that i'd struggle with - I'd be worried that the lexan or whatever i use wouldnt form properly around the mold. I've never seen vacuum molding happen and although I have an idea of how it's done... i don't know how umm.. effective, it is.

E.T.

Jim, I sugguest JConcept make some 1/10th ep & gp bodies! You guys really do had high quality & aggressive looking buggy shells. Love to get my hands on those..!! Hehe....!!!

dpalXRC

I think he wanted a a 1/10-scale version of a 1/8-scale body. So back pouring the body wouldn't work unless he pantographed the mold down to a smaller scale.

fearthecat

That is what I wanted, yes. However I dont know how to pantograph anything, dont even know what it means... and it sounds that making it into a 1/10th scale would be almost impossible, so i've lost hope of that. I still want to but there's no way right now.

This putting clay on the inside and making a mold that way then vacuum forming lexan or polycarbonate over that seems a fair idea... presuming i can get this filler type crap off the inside (was used to repair cracks). I have to remove that and some tough paint before i could think of getting clay to make a mold.

W.E.D.Jim

iTrader: (17)

Sounds easy from the description?

How much clay would it take to back fill?

I also haven't gotten how the vacuum screen works either yet?

Maybe you can send your body to Soviet and he can make one or two for you pretty cheap?

The internet is working for you if it works out!

Good luck, that would be great if someone can actually do it that cheap and easy!...Jim

MikeWO

From what I've seen the vacuum screen is difficult to use. It will not adhere properly in places from what I saw so you have to stop it, readjust and try again until it works. You'd either need some experienced helping you or access to a screen for a few hours. Either way you still need a way of reducing the size of the body to make a mold.

I too wish it was easier, but I doubt it is cheap if you do try.

67StingrayJ

I have always loved my Losi TEN SCBE except for the front lexan body panel. They have a carbon fiber version that looks a little better but it still looks off to me.

I'm going to take the plunge and buy some modeling clay and attempt to recreate the existing shell, then begin removing/adding where I see fit. I'll be sure and post some pics if I'm successful.

I'll be following this guys example only I won't have a car mold from wood. Mine will be from clay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooVBJbYac_4

2112troy

iTrader: (53)

Is there a link or photo of the body you are speaking of? I've been known to make some copies now and again.