Dingo Body needs.... something.....???

[cogfounder]

What thickness styrene do you recommend me using to make a full length top? I'm hoping to make it strong enough so that WHEN I roll it over it won't crack to pieces. I'll add reinforcements internally as much as possible and try and tie it into the rollcage so it will just be transferring an impact vs. absorbing it...

thanks!

It all depends on how much "to scale" you want to be?

I used .040 on my topper, but to be honest, .060 to .080 would
be better...

(the round tubes I quartered for the door-over-edges were .030,
so were hard to match up to it...)

It kinda depends on how, just as you said, you support its structure.

The truth is, its still PLASTIC, and your going to suffer loss
if you roll it hard! (just like a store bought hard body)

But no more than cracking a lexan shell.........
and this styrene sheet is MUCH MORE flexible than "hard body"
plastic too.......

With THIS type of styrene, your seams/glue joints will break first,
(the sheet styrene you will purchace) is not brittle, like the common hard-bodies, but the joints are the weak points!!

I would go as thick as you can find, because you are still going to have
to sand your "rounds", or your "angles" anyway. (on a RR top)

What you build, if done well, will not be any less strong than a molded
piece, when using the correct glues, but properly!!!


Just remember what I said about "backing" up the seems with CA,
above and beyond the reinforcements. (Crazy glue -welds-)

You would not believe, untill you learn how to do it,
how strong it makes your styrene builds over just using
a "plastic welding" wet glue.

Show and tell me what your trying to join or mate together, (and how)
and Ill give you my best advice.

(even if it turns out better than mine, I would still have the
HONOR of being asked!!!)

"thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup"

 

[LateNightRoach]

Cog, your work is awesome. You need to get a vendor star and market some stuff if you have time. Seriously.

 

[BubbaEinstein]

Basically I want to do something similiar to what you did for the cab but carry it all the way to the rear of the vehicle...

 

[ProjectSCX10]

Or does the dingo body have too much? I thought so :mrgreen:"thumbsup"

Hacked the fenders right off!

 

[BubbaEinstein]

Have you picked a bumper yet?

 

[cogfounder]

Have you picked a bumper yet?

Naw Bubba, Ive been sidelined with some pretty intense chest pains
the past few days.

Actually, its at my solar plexus, and got 10X worse when I sat down
like I do to build stuff, so I had to take a little break.

 

[BubbaEinstein]

Be careful!

 

[cogfounder]

My gut felt a little better so I decided to hack up a tiny styrene idea
I had for the upper fender vents. (what the hell are those for anyway?)

I regret not cutting them out of the fender boards in the first place,
and inlaying some fine mesh hardware cloth. (bowl screen LOL! seriously!)

But I have seen covers for them on real rigs, so came up with this
raised "umbrella" style just to see how it looked.
I even cut some small tread plate pieces for on top of them,
but just some "NO STEP" stickers might be cool too.

I am not sure I will even use them, but will paint them black in a bit
and see how they hit me after that.

Let me know what you all think about them.

Might help me decide if someone told me what they were for!

I cant imagine an air intake placed where it would funnel in rain???
A look at hood-opened engine pics didnt show me much,
and made me start thinking about brake disk cooling vents???

Hell, If thats the deal, I would want covers on them anyway.
Cold water and hot metal dont mix well.....

Past all that I hacked my driver figure in half to get a rough
test fitting, but Im scatter-gunning little things
because Im having trouble figuring out what I want to do
on the bumpers.....

Ill have a few more things to show in a short while,
but here are those vent covers:

Oh, and the driver. Ill get better pics soon, with a sweater on him,
but I love the look on his face! SOOO intense!

As If in his mind:
It might be the totally WRONG thing to do right now...
But Im going to GUN it anyway! :twisted:

 

[cogfounder]

OK, here is what I came up with to hide 80% of the Tolulene damage to the hood/front end,
but its only the first part of
what I have in mind..... HE HE HE..... HE HE......

I call it "Hammer Heading" the hood panel,
because of its resemblance to the Hammer Head shark.

I have seen 'half round" rubber bumpers on some real
Defenders mounted in this very same spot,
but they looked like boat docking bumpers cut in half
and bolted to the front of the hood to me!? (??, humm?)

Besides, I wanted to match the tread-plate on the hood
decking the best that I could.

I might make half-round "eyebrows" for between the light
cowls and the fronts of the fender decks tho.....
on that angled section thats still bare...

I feel in 1:1 scale, that would do more to protect the
front fenders, (than another small piece of tread plate)
and might just give me a place to mount
some Aussie style cable bush guards up to the roof corners!
(with a basic, no frills front bumper anyway)

Again, Im not much of a photographer,
so you will just have to believe me that it looks better
in person than in my poor pictures.

But the last pic Ill link captures it best...

OH, AND I WONT USE SHOEGOO FOR ANYTHING
LIKE THIS EVER AGAIN!!!! (on big flat surfaces)

The answer was right in front of me the whole time!
I just bought a fresh can, but never thought of it!?

3M, Locktite, or whatever brand, SPRAY ADHESIVE!!!!

Just tape off 1/8 inch (2mm) on the outer edges,
(under-side) like you would mask while spraying paint,
and spray on a nice, even, medium coat....

I would never have damaged my body,
had I thought of this first.

Seriously tho, its just like ShoeGoo,
but in a spray (can) on form. (BUT, MEDIUM COAT ONLY!!)

Too light, it wont stick, too heavy,
it will pull away on curves and "spider-web".

But just like ShoeGoo, yet because you spray the piece,
not the body, and let the carrier evaporate
before sticking it on,
you can rub the boogers off if you screw up,
and it wont hurt your body shell............

HEADS UP!

 

[paleblue46]

very nice work

 

[BubbaEinstein]

I like the hammerhead look! And, thanks for the spray adhesive idea..I have a couple cans in the garage for non-rc use and I never even considered using that!

 

[cogfounder]

.......

 

[cogfounder]

I like the hammerhead look! And, thanks for the spray adhesive idea..I have a couple cans in the garage for non-rc use and I never even considered using that!

Yeah, I know! DUH, HUH? ShoeGoo in a spray can? FCS!!

Too easy a hint for advanced minds like ours... I guess?
Lets leave it at that and move on, shall we, please.... :roll:

(whole effing episode shows me what a dumbass I am sometimes,
when the damn Brand New can was stareing me right in the face
the whole time!!!)

Just remember to tape off +/-2mm on the outer "spray side" edges,
or things can get sticky after applying, and ruin the outer edges anyway.

This method lays MUCH flatter (and evenly) than even thinned ShoeGoo,
and can be removed the same way......

(with a hard thumb rub, like stubborn servo tape goop)

:shock::shock::shock:.................Aw Hell, New Methodology Discovered!

Yeah! For Our Team! "thumbsup"

 

[cogfounder]

Valve stems on the Walker Evans wheels.

Checked their web site for placement.

 

[BubbaEinstein]

Are those turned down bolts? That's a really cool effect

 

[cogfounder]

Are those turned down bolts? That's a really cool effect

No, they are tiny rubber valve stops from inside
disposable cigarette lighters, just as you see them
in my pics. (not modded in any way I mean to say)

The tall thin cheap clear ones, not the short fatter lighters.

There are small springs in them too, that I use to
make scale CB whip antennas. Ill show how soon.

There is, or was, a vendor or at least a link
on here somewhere about a guy who sold these
valve stems.
(there is on some of the other SCALER based web sites
for sure)

But as a smoker, I get mine from my own used-up
lighters.

 

[Geoff]

The Axial Walker Evans wheels Are Crap, Love your hard work on the Dingo "thumbsup"

 

[cogfounder]

The Axial Walker Evans wheels Are Crap, Love your hard work on the Dingo "thumbsup"

Thanks Geoff.

But can I ask you why you feel that way about the wheels?

Are they weak, do they break at the hexes etc,
or just not your idea of a nice looking wheel?

Im only useing them because they came with the kit,
and am thinking about getting some rover style,
plain old stamped dish type wheels anyway.
Wish I hadnt glues the tires already.....

Ill tell you tho, after looking over the Walker Evans
web site, as far as I could see, they dont make an all black wheel. Their black wheels all have silver bead lock rings.

This sucks, because if Axial is going to drop the bead lock
wheels in our kits just to replace them with a cheapo
glue on wheel, but one thats design is licenced,
the least they could do is make them a copy of an actual product, with the silver/chrome ring.

Axial has been doing a lot of things the past two years
that I would call shooting themselves in the foot
to spite their shoes........

 

[Geoff]

Yes it's not my idea of a nice looking wheel, and your right on your comments on Axial. You have put a lot of hard work in to your Dingo, to make it look like a Land Rover, the Walker Evans will not look right.
I purchased RC4WD Landy Wheels for mine, and not cheap as we pay in Pounds what you pay in Dollars for this stuff in the UK.

You have a great looking Dingo Defender, keep up the Good Work "thumbsup"

 

[cogfounder]

While I mull over Ideas for the bumpers,
I thought I might start working on the driver a bit more.

First thing I did was cut a plate to mount in the area
between the dash and the seat that I will attach the driver to.
This leaves me an out if I dont like the way he turns out,
and I will still have the kit stickers in place and undamaged.

Next I positioned my driver where he fit the best for his
allowed movement, with just a bit of trimming under his left arm,
and glued his joints with CA. I didnt glue the neck or wrists,
to allow a tiny bit of final adjustment after he is glued to the deck plate.

Then I cut one of the Axial steering wheels to fit, and glued it on the deck
at an angle that matched the dash board fairly well.

Now comes the fun part!, but since this is a bit of a long process,
Ill break it into a few parts. Im going to give my driver clothes....

First thing I do is cut some cigarette papers into a few different small sizes, and make a thicker mix of Elmers glue and water.

I put a dab of the mix on the body with a Q-tip,
grab a small square of the paper in tweezers,
wet it with some spit LOL!!! :lmao:
and place it into position on his body.

I like to start at the neck, (collar) and where the sleeves end,
at the bicep, or in this case, the wrist for a long sleeve shirt/sweater.

I will keep repeating this process untill I am happy with the way
it covers all of his joints, and with how the shirt smoothes out
over his muscle structure so that it does not look "painted on".

He is not quite finished in the following pics tho....

I am sure there are other, even better ways to achieve this,
but it comes down to useing what materials I have on hand,
and the fact that the finished product is a very light weight addition
to an already heavy driver figure.

The way this paper mache' technique pans out, the "clothes"
get their own natural folds over the figure in a way I
dont have the skills to reproduce trying to sculpt them,
in a putty for instance, while keeping the weight to a minimum.

It worked fairly well for my MOG build driver, IMHO....

Still to come, how to finish off, paint, and detail the "clothes"
with a sticker to give it some flash!