Project: Cool Cat

Final Details - Body & Wing

11/10/06

Progress on this project stalled for a month while I searched high and low for a body that would fit. I looked at shells for the Tamiya Grasshopper and Hornet, and tried a Frog body, but none would work well. I was looking at a repro Kyosho Turbo Ultima Mid for a bit, and even considered a Nikko Rhino, knowing at least that would fit. Then, thanks to a tip from a certain user who goes by the name "iluvmud," I scored myself one of these on eBay:

Yes, it's real, "NOS" (New Old Stock). Who would have thought there was one of those still out there?

Clearly this is a great find, but I'm actually not entirely satisfied with the look of the stock body, so I may get creative with it yet. I'll have to find time to do some Photoshop experimentation.

5/7/2007

Long time no update! To be perfectly honest, I've been terrified of the inevitable next step that faced me -- painting the virgin body. I had to approach it from the perspective of "this is my one and only shot," figuring the chances of finding another would be quite rather slim indeed. You just can't mess up something as rare as this.

Well, I finally went & did it. I wanted an era-appropriate look that would bring back memories of childhood excitement from the days when RC buggies were as high on kids' Christmas wishlists as they've ever been. Here's the rough result:

I know, simple, right? Yes, that's intentional.

Windows have all been re-trimmed to completely reshape the character of the vehicle to be more like the early plastic-chassis Tamiyas and the good ole' Nikko Lobo series. The wing is an old Bandit unit that's placed there for test fitting. Since this photo was taken, I smoothed out the trimming and applied a set of sponsor decals down the sides to really bring the look together.

In this photo you see my street treads for the first time. They're HPI Super Stars all around, discontinued 2.1" buggy fronts up front, and a Super Nitro set at the rear. Yes, the rears are painted in an attempt to fit with the theme of the body. I don't know if they look better this way or not, but if the yellow ever starts to bug me, I can always take it off with an acetone bath. The tires are discontinued Pro Line buggy Road Rages.

On a more functional note, one of the last real problems with the car was play in the rear suspension -- the entire rear pod could shift from side to side a good 4-5mm because of worn-down strakes molded into the chassis that are there to prevent exactly this type of motion. I went ahead and sanded the strakes all the way down to the bone and gluing in a carbon fiber plate on each side to serve as longer-lasting replacements:

Excuse the random bits & grits of carnage, I hadn't reached for the canned air as yet.

Next I need to figure out how to mount a wing, then paint it up & get it attached. After that, I really think it's time for a full-on maiden voyage! What else really needs to be done?

5/8/07

Oh, how I love it when things just work out. I dove into my big non-Traxxas random parts bin and emerged with an unopened Trinity parts package labelled #6013, a wing mount set for some onroad vehicle. I got it from an LHS clearance bin probably 5 years ago, thinking at the time, as I always do, "I bet I'll find a use for this eventually." With just a little bit of Dremelling on one side and with the help of a couple washers, it's perfect wing stay mount:

Add to those the Traxxas Bandit wing assembly, and voilla:

That, my friends, was the final step. This project is now officially complete. Behold a true old school throwback, pimped out with old school parts, brought back to life with fresh modern energy and love.

That's it! She's done! Complete! Finished! Now all that remains is to take her out for some drives and take some video!

Thank you all for following along; this thread has gotten a helluvalotta views and responses! And to think, it all started with this!

Back to the Main Photo Page >