Light Runner shell

[circuitfxr]

Updated....Light Runner shell

Hi all. I am new to this board so bear with me. I have been looking for some cool shells to fit my new 1/6 scale Shedder XT by Redcat Racing. I am sorely disappointed to find almost no bodies available for that size.
In my frustration, I had a great idea. I'll make my own shell and the style I chose is the "LightRunner" from the movie Tron Legacy. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it is a truggy type vehicle that is made similiar to a light cycle. During the movie there is a scene where they leave the game grid and the tires turn into offroad paddle style tires. The way the body sits low and between the exposed wheels, is the same as my default bodie setup.
I haven't decided yet what material I will make this out of, but I am going to make it light up the way it does in the movie. This will be a really fun project and I am open to suggestions on how to get started. I already have the diagrams for dimensional reference. I will do my best to photo document my process and we can all share the joy of watching itr come together.

 

[atom3624]

Hi all. I am new to this board so bear with me. I have been looking for some cool shells to fit my new 1/6 scale Shedder XT by Redcat Racing. I am sorely disappointed to find almost no bodies available for that size.
In my frustration, I had a great idea. I'll make my own shell and the style I chose is the "LightRunner" from the movie Tron Legacy. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it is a truggy type vehicle that is made similiar to a light cycle. During the movie there is a scene where they leave the game grid and the tires turn into offroad paddle style tires. The way the body sits low and between the exposed wheels, is the same as my default bodie setup.
I haven't decided yet what material I will make this out of, but I am going to make it light up the way it does in the movie. This will be a really fun project and I am open to suggestions on how to get started. I already have the diagrams for dimensional reference. I will do my best to photo document my process and we can all share the joy of watching itr come together.

Well good luck on that one.
There've been quite a few threads by people making their own bodies - from injection moulding, wood, re-profiling plastic sheet, fibre glass ......
Check out the SEARCH, there's LOADS on this Forum.

Al.

 

[circuitfxr]

Well guys and gals, I finally bought the raw materials to begin making a wood mold. I have scaled up some images I got online and have started the initial framework cutting and glueing. I'll get some pics at various stages and post them. I am eventually going to lay-up the final coat in fiberglass. This is going to be fun and it will look awesome when painted and lights are added. First things first.....got to get the basic shapes. Wish me luck! :w00t:

 

[circuitfxr]

pictures and update

Hey all. As promised, here are some early process photos. I am making the fundamental shapes out of balsa wood. I haven't decided if I will just resin the wood and paint or if I'll use the wood as a mold for a fiberglass lay-up. Its starting to taking shape. I''l keep ya posted on further progress. Any opinions or ideas are welcome. Click the picture to see full size and full res.

http://rides.webshots.com/album/582649363rPvuhT

 

[Pollishman]

I saw your other post about people not posting on your topics. I have to say, I didn't even know what the shredder was until i googled it. I have been on the redcat website before and didn't see that model. Please continue to post, many of us are interested, we just might not have any feedback. I have personally never built a balsa wood body and wouldn't know where to start, so I don't have any helpful ideas, but do enjoy seeing the pics. Speaking of which, how do you upload pics? Are you using tapatalk on a cell phone? They are pretty grainy.

!

 

[circuitfxr]

Thank you for the response. I put the pics on a pic hosting website called webshots. They have an option that gives you the code for posting your pic in a forum. I just did a copy and paste of the code from webshots to the posting window of this site. The link that is above the pics was my first attempt. It gives access to the entire album on the webshots site.
Please see my new post titled update #2 for further development and more pics. I did not ever use balsa wood for this either. It is light weight and easy to work. I think it will give a good base to use as a mold for other mediums such as fiberglass or polycarbonate. My latest idea is to coat the wood with liquid plastic and then paint.