Love the Viper body. Wish I had your fab skillz!
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I don't but that's a fine idea.
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When he used to do large parts he actually had a vibrating table he would clamp the mold to.
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Finished the form this weekend, other than I need to drill some 1/16" holes in some of the little pocket areas to allow air to get sucked out and get a tight detail.
Hoping to form a couple this week.
Going to paint it like this:
Hoping to form a couple this week.
Going to paint it like this:
WickedFog
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On your next mold, give Hydrocal a try man. See if that isn't a lot easier to work with. This one is looking way better than the first attempt. Good job man!
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Hydrocal and Durham's are essentially the same thing but looks like Hydrocal is a bit cheaper so I will definitely try it out next time.
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Looks great! Like the new paint scheme!
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Looking good, can't wait to see it on the car.
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Sad sad sad. I made 3 attempts at pulls on the rear half tonight. All fails. In fact, the sheet wouldn't even come close to forming around the car. There is no freaking way this is the same type of poly they sent before. Unreal 
Anyway, in order to preserve what little of my sanity is left, I did the only thing I could do - I put the forms on a shelf for a rainy day, and ordered the BittyDesign Viper. All of this work is not completely lost though. I will use my light designs, wing, mirrors, and blower. I'll be honest - I aint touching vacuum forming anything this large unless Bitty stops making these, lol. Crazy how the previous order of poly formed real nice though. Figures now that I had the good forms, I get the crappy (or flat out wrong) poly sent to me.
Too much time and money spent on this little endeavor.
Anyway, in order to preserve what little of my sanity is left, I did the only thing I could do - I put the forms on a shelf for a rainy day, and ordered the BittyDesign Viper. All of this work is not completely lost though. I will use my light designs, wing, mirrors, and blower. I'll be honest - I aint touching vacuum forming anything this large unless Bitty stops making these, lol. Crazy how the previous order of poly formed real nice though. Figures now that I had the good forms, I get the crappy (or flat out wrong) poly sent to me.
Too much time and money spent on this little endeavor.
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Sorry to hear about the problem with the poly. Your lights will make the Bitty look 1000 times better. The decals just don't work for me.
can't ya just return it and reorder the poly? It would be a shame to quit now
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Well at this point I've gotten to the point where spending more money and time really requires success, and even with the right material it's no guarantee. The size of this thing is really too big for my vacuum former. I'm saving the forms, and one day I will probably build a larger one.can't ya just return it and reorder the poly? It would be a shame to quit now
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This pic, with that first front form, you can see just how tight the thing is to the frame. It was ok for PETG, but I did get a fold on that first rear part I formed a couple of weeks ago. I strongly suspect the new batch they sent me was lexan, and it just isn't as soft and formable. The rear was even tighter of a fit, and considerably taller, making it really, really hard to get a good pull anyway. Larger frame would make that much easier.
Bottom line - I'd have to build a new box and frame. Good news is that it'll fit inside the cart and with that much room I would be able to get really good forms every time. It's a project for another time though. I've got a lot of other things to catch up on, I am so far behind on building chassis, and fixing the broken Nova that my brother in law crashed. So I've got the forms finished, and they're on the shelf for now.
I can definitely work with the Bitty Viper, and apply my "features" to it. I'll miss the more detailed front fascia, but that's ok. I mean it's just a race car, it's gonna probably get the crap knocked out of it, lol. Heck maybe I'll sell some light kits and wings for it
Bottom line - I'd have to build a new box and frame. Good news is that it'll fit inside the cart and with that much room I would be able to get really good forms every time. It's a project for another time though. I've got a lot of other things to catch up on, I am so far behind on building chassis, and fixing the broken Nova that my brother in law crashed. So I've got the forms finished, and they're on the shelf for now.
I can definitely work with the Bitty Viper, and apply my "features" to it. I'll miss the more detailed front fascia, but that's ok. I mean it's just a race car, it's gonna probably get the crap knocked out of it, lol. Heck maybe I'll sell some light kits and wings for it
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Body coming tomorrow. Meanwhile I've mocked up the paint, accessories, and livery.
I got my stickers from Vistaprint, with the adhesive reversed, so that I can apply all of them on the inside. The yellow-green will be backed with metallic chrome, so it'll look more metallic than this. Already got my blower, mirrors, canards, lights printed out and the CF parts cut.
I got my stickers from Vistaprint, with the adhesive reversed, so that I can apply all of them on the inside. The yellow-green will be backed with metallic chrome, so it'll look more metallic than this. Already got my blower, mirrors, canards, lights printed out and the CF parts cut.
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I'm going to miss your detailed grill but I understand completely. She's still a real looker.
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Yeah, that's the bummer for me, plus I liked the flared look I did on the wheel wells, but that's ok.
Sometime next year I'm going to work on the vacuum former and build a second box that is larger, and I'm going to rework the mounting of the heat lamps, and properly do this thing. It's kinda held together with clothes hanger wire and duct tape at the moment. One thing it really, really needs is for the frame to have guides on it to drop down perfectly straight. Doing it by hand often causes wrinkles if I'm not very precise.
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Alright, so the body came, and I've gotten to start working on it, and got some impressions.
The one thing is the body is proportioned a bit differently, as expected. It's pretty much all over, a little taller in spots, slightly tweaked in others. The significant thing is that the front is narrower than mine was, and narrower than the Vette, necessitating that I ditch the Slash front a-arms for Bandit. I remember this now about Bitty's bodies - they are all like that. That's fine - I've got some STRC arms on the way.
The fit and finish otherwise is pretty near perfect. The decals look much better in person than the promo images. In fact, I think I'm going to forgo using the lighting system and use them. I have some concerns that with the narrower arms the tires will rub against the headlights when the suspension is compressed.
I've gotten most everything fitted, other than the blower, which I'll do tonight. My wing fits perfect, and I was able to get the splitter and canards on easily enough. I was much more careful about alignment this time too, measure six, cut once.
I really do love this body though - and it's a heck of a lot easier to buy them then vacuum form them, lol.
The one thing is the body is proportioned a bit differently, as expected. It's pretty much all over, a little taller in spots, slightly tweaked in others. The significant thing is that the front is narrower than mine was, and narrower than the Vette, necessitating that I ditch the Slash front a-arms for Bandit. I remember this now about Bitty's bodies - they are all like that. That's fine - I've got some STRC arms on the way.
The fit and finish otherwise is pretty near perfect. The decals look much better in person than the promo images. In fact, I think I'm going to forgo using the lighting system and use them. I have some concerns that with the narrower arms the tires will rub against the headlights when the suspension is compressed.
I've gotten most everything fitted, other than the blower, which I'll do tonight. My wing fits perfect, and I was able to get the splitter and canards on easily enough. I was much more careful about alignment this time too, measure six, cut once.
I really do love this body though - and it's a heck of a lot easier to buy them then vacuum form them, lol.
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Awww, I loved those headlights. I know she's gonna look great no matter what.
I know she's gonna look great no matter what.
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Got everything mounted and fitted. I will paint tomorrow Still waiting on the new front arms.
Going to do some hoses for the blower too, just a little extra detail. Still gotta paint the lower half of it as well. I will form a new wing because the green surely won't match the new color I got, and there's not going to be an orange stripe running down the body. Gotta love the nitro "bullhorn"
Still waiting on the new front arms.Going to do some hoses for the blower too, just a little extra detail. Still gotta paint the lower half of it as well. I will form a new wing because the green surely won't match the new color I got, and there's not going to be an orange stripe running down the body. Gotta love the nitro "bullhorn"
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Done. At long last, DONE.
Couldn't be happier, in all honesty. While I lament wasting about 300 dollars on trying to build my own, in the end I got what I wanted to build. Over the Winter I'll probably paint a couple of spares too. Thinking of doing one in orange/black.
I wound up keeping my Slash width a-arms in the front and replacing the 12mm hubs with some much narrower ones - replacing the arms didn't get it quite narrow enough, IMO, and it also meant having to modify my linkages some as they didn't have enough travel to fully adjust. The fit is pretty perfect I think. I like my wheels to fill out the car, not a fan of the fronts being tucked way in.
Note that all of my stickers are on the inside of the car Also, you cannot see, but the front is supported by a chassis mounted brace so it doesn't get bent down by the wind when at speed.
The body is far smaller than the Proline Vette.
Speaking of the Vette, the OG Invader will likely find it's way back on a chassis over the Winter.
Couldn't be happier, in all honesty. While I lament wasting about 300 dollars on trying to build my own, in the end I got what I wanted to build. Over the Winter I'll probably paint a couple of spares too. Thinking of doing one in orange/black.
I wound up keeping my Slash width a-arms in the front and replacing the 12mm hubs with some much narrower ones - replacing the arms didn't get it quite narrow enough, IMO, and it also meant having to modify my linkages some as they didn't have enough travel to fully adjust. The fit is pretty perfect I think. I like my wheels to fill out the car, not a fan of the fronts being tucked way in.
Note that all of my stickers are on the inside of the car
Also, you cannot see, but the front is supported by a chassis mounted brace so it doesn't get bent down by the wind when at speed. The body is far smaller than the Proline Vette.
Speaking of the Vette, the OG Invader will likely find it's way back on a chassis over the Winter.
