How to repro a body...

[YZ-10]

well done mate

[ROH73]

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.

[Tadracket]

The plastic sheet needs to see about 150 F for several days prior to vacuum forming.

Robert

That looks great Robert. Nasty drying time though. It might be worth the cost of drying to go with Lexan. The .030 stuff requires 1 hour at 90 degrees.

You are going to burn up your savings in drying time unless you have a solar solution.

Top looks great though. Keep us posted on your success.

I finally got a decent mold and hope to post some stuff in the next couple weeks. Time has not been kind to me lately (since last Spring ).

[MOmo]

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 "lexan" wasn't very thick, but his rationale was he could make multiple bodies and essentially used them as "basher" shells. I think he used a TC shell for them. Might have to call him and see if he still does it, haven't talked to him in a # of years.


On another note. any ideas how you might go about repo bodies that are cut out and perhaps even painted? I race w/ a guy who has an old stadium "jeep" body but its mounted and painted. I was trying to think of a way to fill in the areas where the lexan was removed IE wheel wells, and the fr and r.


MOmo

[ROH73]

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 cheaply by building a drying box with incandescent bulbs as the heat source. A couple of 75 watt bulbs can get pretty hot in a relatively small enclosed space. Add a dimmer switch to "control" the temp and I think that should do it.

I'll keep posting my results. I have a lot of traveling to do in the next 6 weeks, so it might not be for a while. Time hasn't been kind to me lately, either.

[ROH73]

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 "lexan" wasn't very thick, but his rationale was he could make multiple bodies and essentially used them as "basher" shells. I think he used a TC shell for them. Might have to call him and see if he still does it, haven't talked to him in a # of years.


On another note. any ideas how you might go about repo bodies that are cut out and perhaps even painted? I race w/ a guy who has an old stadium "jeep" body but its mounted and painted. I was trying to think of a way to fill in the areas where the lexan was removed IE wheel wells, and the fr and r.


MOmo

Thanks, MOmo.

I haven't tried any cut and/or painted bodies. Painted bodies would seem to be kinda tough to repro, as the molding material will pick up all the details of the paint's surface. Bodies that are just cut out would certainly present quite a challenge, but it might be doable. As the inside of the body must be liquid tight, I imagine something (maybe lexan sheeting) would have to be glued over any openings. Of course, that could destroy the original body, but it might be worth it.

Robert

[Tadracket]

In any case, I think I can get the time and temperature I want pretty cheaply by building a drying box with incandescent bulbs as the heat source. A couple of 75 watt bulbs can get pretty hot in a relatively small enclosed space. Add a dimmer switch to "control" the temp and I think that should do it.

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.

[Brandon G]

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 "lexan" wasn't very thick, but his rationale was he could make multiple bodies and essentially used them as "basher" shells. I think he used a TC shell for them. Might have to call him and see if he still does it, haven't talked to him in a # of years.


On another note. any ideas how you might go about repo bodies that are cut out and perhaps even painted? I race w/ a guy who has an old stadium "jeep" body but its mounted and painted. I was trying to think of a way to fill in the areas where the lexan was removed IE wheel wells, and the fr and r.


MOmo

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 course you would have to support everything when pouring in the material, but you would have to do that anyway. Just tape over any holes in the body too. Can Ultracal and the like be sanded after setting? Any difference in texture of the tape would be cut out anyway.

[ROH73]

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 course you would have to support everything when pouring in the material, but you would have to do that anyway. Just tape over any holes in the body too. Can Ultracal and the like be sanded after setting? Any difference in texture of the tape would be cut out anyway.

If everything is supported very well, it may work. I don't know about casting resin, but wet gypsum is quite heavy.

Ultracal-30 sands easily.

Robert

[ROH73]

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 can work the bugs out and let me know .

Robert

[MOmo]

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 be if the body was cut out, trying to replace the lost material and recreate a body that way. Then letting the body dry, it would create a mold for making a solid mold. So, essentially the reverse of what others are doing, though i guess its the same. starting with a piece of plastic and making a mold of it. Making the mold from the outside not the inside.



MOmo

[ROH73]

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 be if the body was cut out, trying to replace the lost material and recreate a body that way. Then letting the body dry, it would create a mold for making a solid mold. So, essentially the reverse of what others are doing, though i guess its the same. starting with a piece of plastic and making a mold of it. Making the mold from the outside not the inside.



MOmo

Sure, that could be done. The only problem lies in the detail that's lost from the thickness of the polycarbonate. When you take a mold from the inside of a body, you're for the most part replicating the original mold it was formed over. When you take a negative from the outside and then make a positive, the repro body will look less like the original. It will be about 0.020" bigger and will have less detail.

Still, that might be better than nothing for a painted body, etc.

Robert

[MOmo]

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.
MOmo

Sure, that could be done. The only problem lies in the detail that's lost from the thickness of the polycarbonate. When you take a mold from the inside of a body, you're for the most part replicating the original mold it was formed over. When you take a negative from the outside and then make a positive, the repro body will look less like the original. It will be about 0.020" bigger and will have less detail.

Still, that might be better than nothing for a painted body, etc.

Robert

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 about that too, the detail, and figured that it would be a given that it could be lost doing it from the outside.


MOmo

[ROH73]

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 about that too, the detail, and figured that it would be a given that it could be lost doing it from the outside.


MOmo

I think You're right; many people would be happy with just the overall shape.

Speaking of reproductions, there's some information/pictures about making a mold at this website:

http://www93.sakura.ne.jp/~time-tunnel/toma%20body-01.html

It's in Japanese, but Google will translate it well enough to get the gist. In the end, very nice work.

Robert

[Tadracket]

If your body is cut right (mounting holes, wing holes, wheel wells, etc.) you could glue some lexan to the out side of holes, windshields, wheel wells, whatever, to keep plaster inside. The difference in depth will actually make it easier to cut out the next body. And since it is one the outside, there should be only a few negative effects on pulling the body from the mold. If you don't like the high spots, sand them down to match the original body.