RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

Thanks for the great pics! I remember the carpet course upstairs. Trains 'N' Lanes has such a nice facility. I wish all hobby shops were like that.

Robert

Ah yes, the Lehigh Valley Hobbytown. I was in there late last year...kinda sucks IMO, unless you like toys and games. I remember Raceplace in Quakertown; I bought some parts there in '87 or '88 for my Hornet. I don't think I've ever been in R/C Speed and Hobbies. I remember Wetzels; it was mostly pl...

when i bought my rc10, it was right before the 92-93 indoor season at macungie in the big main building. before that i ran my junior-t in the truck class. my first year at alburtis was the 93-94 indoor season. this is my original graphite team car. it's 95% correct to what it looked like the first ...

i raced at alburtis, too. but it looks like you had stopped racing right before i started. That's cool. I had a lot of fun racing there, especially during the winter when it was tough to run outside. And it was nice and close, as I lived in Allentown then (born and raised), but I live in State Coll...

I got started in R/C in 1986 with a Hornet and then added a Big Grizzly monster truck and Turbo Optima in 1987. I raced both the Hornet and Turbo Optima “offroad” in an R/C club in my junior high school as an after school activity. We marked off a course on one of the baseball fields for the track. ...

Congratulations! Looks pretty good already Are you planning to build this out to a real businees, or just for your own use? (study project?) The drying time will turn the production cost up a lot for small series. Thanks! Initially, the project is for my own use, but if everything goes well, I'll p...

I guess it comes down to the purpose. IF you cared about the detail then yes it woul be lost, but if the overal design was what someone wanted, would it matter? I guess the purist in me would want detail. The realist in me wants the design and the accurate shape. But I see both sides. I thought abo...

I was even thinking of doing a "reverse" mold, though it would be more time consuming, trying to strip the stickers or other material from the ourside of the body. Then laying it in a box with a material ie plaster, bondo etc. and then setting the body in it. Again, the difficulty would b...

That is a great idea. When my dad was big into wood working, we built our own kiln and used a few 100 watt bulbs to keep the temps up. It worked great and was gentle on the power bill. The dimmer is a trick idea also. I like it. Think I might have to copy your idea on that one. Go for it! Maybe you...

I've pondered that as well. If the body was cut out right where the original cut lines were, couldn't you use a wide tape to fill in the sides? We have this ultra heavy 4" wide masking tape at work. If you just made sure it stuck well enough to be leak proof around the edges, it might work. Of...

The body looks amazing considering. I had a buddy who works/worked for Nike (corporate HQ is around the corner from my work) and he was a shoe designer. He had access to a mold machine and vacu-forming. He made a couple of models but i can't recall what material he used for the mold. I know the &qu...

Actually, 150 F for three days was the drying time I was going to use for 0.030" lexan. I've tried similar temps and times (in a standard oven) to what you suggested and I still get the bubbles in the lexan during forming. In any case, I think I can get the time and temperature I want pretty ch...

Thanks!

This has been, off and on, a 3 month project, that is getting close to completion. Hopefully, I can then realize my goal, which is to repro a Turbo Optima body.

Some repro success!! After about a dozen vacuum attempts and building a new heat source, I finally got some good results. Below is a pretty nice repro pulled from the mold I posted before. Almost all the detail has been picked up. I think just a little tweaking of the mold and/or process is in order...

I'm poring it all in at once. I used 1x6's to make a box frame that's just big enough for the the uncut body to "hang" from (hanging from the 1/2" or so of extra lexan around the perimeter). I then taped the body to the frame with duct tape, filling in the open spaces. Then, I flipped...