Being unable to find scale model cars, toys, replicas etc for my chosen model of Corolla, I've set about making my own. Having purchased a cheap RC car not long ago, I figured I could adapt it to suit.

 

How do you go about replacing a mass-produced, moulded piece of plastic with one of your own shape? Build a 3D replica of what you want to make, take a mould off of it & fibreglass your own is my solution. Preferably using stuff I've had laying around for years & have 'been meaning to use'.

 

So, Step1: Making the plug.

 

Using leftover pieces of high-density foam & liquid nails, I made a block roughly the size/scale I needed.

 

 

Using a photo editing program, adapted a few photos to suit. Printed, cut out & stuck on with contact adhesive.

 

 

 

Hacked into shape using a hand saw.

 

 

 

 

Touched up with a grinder (probably my favourite power tool, ever!).

 

 

 

 

Gave it a rough sand/shape by hand, helps a lot when you've got a full sized one sitting in the driveway for reference. Then a finer grit sand to finish off & a coat of primer. Next up is a final shaping sand (some bits need some love) then bog! :D

 

 

 

 

 

Right on. That's freakin awesome. Keep it up.

Needs more low. ;)

Awesome.

 

Using the fibreglass wouldn't make it too heavy, no ?

thats very cool.

 

how big is it?

 

its sitting on a milk crate yeah?

 

are you into RC cars at all? you could make a 1/10 scale shell ;)

now that is mega cool

Thanks heaps guys, support & positive feedback are always appreciated! I've had a few enquiries lately regarding fibreglass work, so this is a bit of a test to see how rusty I am. :)

 

Chances are the fibreglass item will be heavier than the original plastic one, even though I'm only going to be using lightweight glass (120-150gsm, can't remember which it is). Should be okay as I'm upgrading the motor/battery combination to a more powerful setup. ;)

 

The base vehicle is a 1/18 scale, a baby compared to 1/5 or 1/8 scale beasts but those were a bit above my preferred price limit to buy brand new. Plus I'm not hugely into RC cars (yet anyway, the bug may still bite), just starting out so didn't want to buy a good/expensive one to crash/destroy it in 10 minutes. :) It's 270mm long, about 130mm wide & about 80mm tall, not perfectly to scale but close enough.

 

Milk crates, furniture/workbenches of the poor! :lol:

Edited May 2, 201214 yr by carbonboy

*Facepalm.jpg*

 

I didn't measure twice, cut once. :bash: Made the plug too wide so I had the task of narrowing down, did look kinda cool as an ultra-widebody. :lol:

 

 

 

 

It was so not symetrical it's not funny. :(

 

 

Squared up the sides & reshaped the bumpers/wheelarches (sorry, no pics). Then bogged the hell out of it. :laff:

 

 

 

 

 

If anyone's wondering why there's so much bog on the bottom of the front bumper now, it's because I want a front lip. ;)

looks great man, make me one? hehe

A hatchback no problem, if I make this work there's a few interested people. A seca...might be a little more work! :laff:

 

We'll see how this one goes, if it works, I might do another model. :)

Edited May 6, 201214 yr by carbonboy

You should make the mould and see if you can find a place to vacuum form it.

Should be dirt cheap or DIY it

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhajk_IDTUo

Edited May 6, 201214 yr by B.L.Z.BUB

You should make the mould and see if you can find a place to vacuum form it.

Should be dirt cheap or DIY it

 

:hmm:

 

If I make the plug, I could vacuum form that to make a plastic shell. I have a shop vac I was going to use to get a slight vacuum on the mould & the fibreglass item in the mould as I have some vac bag plastic & tacky tape laying around. :)

 

Could also do both, cheers for that video Jesus. Bloody great idea, it got the mental cogs turning! :2thumbs:

Edited May 6, 201214 yr by carbonboy

Haha that is mad! You could make a ke70 entirely from bog because most them are in real life anyway! :P

 

 

Yeah i did vacuum forming at high school in metal work, Pretty simple. Teacher reckoned it was cheap to get done as well

DIY FTW :)

Hey! Mine has zero bog.

 

*currently bogging front lip