Desperado Mk.2 (Pics)
 

"Desperate" + "Silverado" = "Desperado" If you've got a better name for this, suggest it! I'm also *VERY* open to color suggestions, preferably bright!

Ok, this is part 2 in "Making a Chevy Silverado body visually suck less." In part 1, I took a stock body and made basic Off Highway Vehicle mods so it looks more like it can hold it's own, very nice but still a bit homely. Rather than directly continue part 1, I'm starting off with a fresh body shell, and going a bit more radical. I'm not really sure where this body is going, goals are vague. Don't wanna plan, let's just get to work and figure it out in the end.

Step 1, Make truck naked.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ingleCab_1.jpg

Step 2, :eek: :eek: :eek: Break truck. :eek: :eek: :eek:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ingleCab_3.jpg


Hmmm, *WHAT* could I *POSSIBLY* be thinking? :D

(Step 2 WAS going to be "Make truck totally naked" but I didn't have the right solvent for paint yet, so that'll come later. Probably as Step 3, no sence fixing it too soon only to have it ruin your work as you progress.)

Step 2-B, Break truck further, the mockup to check fit

Ok, nobody with an opinion around here? If nobody is following along or wanting to know how to do this, I'll stop and maybe just post the finished.

Making a Single cab Long bed seemed like it'd be extreme enough mod to get a reaction. That's the major part, here are the minor bits:

- I'm going to throw in a bed, or give it a truck cap, or a camper shell ***VOTE***
- Definately a rear window,
- Probably ditch the LED lights,
- Maybe an interior if I think it's worthy,
- Might open hood and have an engine there,
- Changing headerpanel (possibly a Ford Lightning)...

I'm kinda leaning toward Blue, Yellow, or Silver with some kind of graphics. *VERY open to suggestions*

Come on guys, I'm trying to get some interest in this project so the boards won't be quite as dead (Thus making me quit and move on to BitPimps like I should have about a year ago). It's just practice before I get into hacking on a body I like, throw out some ideas if you got any, I'll probably use yours!

Glued in back of cab, and bed rail filler pieces, rough cut in rear window, removed rear door handles, removed Bowtie and argent bar from grille. Still haven't added a single piece of plastic, only added glue and relocated existing body.

Seperate bed from cab like a real truck, or go for the one piece look the Mini-Trucker's like?

alright, I guess this project is just going to be continued on BitPimps board...

Way to go Frizzo!!!! :D

Hmmm, yes. Dark side have I joined.

You were right man, the Pimps are way more active and there are a ton more of them them than the Tiny's.

frizzen,
Personally I think the seperate bed and cab idea rocks! That is quite the attention to detail, not to mention I don't think that has been done yet, so also very original.
It's true these boards are a little slow, but remember; there is more to zips than flashy rims, paint jobs, and bling. I mean, do you want to play with your zips or put them on a shelf to look at. IMO, tiny has much more valuable information to be had. I gave up on pimps after reading about 10,000 threads about paint jobs and changed rims (a monkey could do this). It's all the same and good information is hard to come by.
With that said, I hope you continue your project here...OH and don't forget, I vote seperate bed-cab!:D

I looked at it for a while, and knew seperated bed and cab was the only way to go. That line had been cut in with a file and the windows had been cut down when I realized nobody seemed to care, so I didn't post that here. However I did NOT actually cut cab and bed apart, I just cut in deep body lines, I'm lazy and actually cutting apart won't work on chassis without more work than I want to do. If somebody cares, I'll mirror the buildup here too. I like Tiny and when I joined it was THE be all end all board for these, but Pimps have people that reply there and they took most of our more extreme modders.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention during the "make naked" part that I hacked out the stuff the LED board fastens to in cab. That's why you see the white lines there. Not absolutely nessicary, but I felt like it. Plus I didn't really want to go to all the trouble of putting in a rear window just so you could see wires.

I also filed the tail lights down so they aren't that ugly lumpy thing, some chopping on header panel. With any luck, this will become more of a Ford Lightning single cab, or atleast not a Silverado.

I'm thinking that as much of a PITA as it'll be, I've probably got to put in a bed. A truck cap or a camper shell would probably be easier, and I've yet to see either of those done yet; so I'd like some feedback there too.

frizzen--
Good to see you made the body look seperate. I was also thinking If you ever made the truck articulate, having the cab and bed acually seperate could produce a really cool effect. Mounting the body peices could take some ingenuity though (as well as making it articulate).
I think putting a bed in the body would look really cool if there is enough room to make it a 1/4" or so deep. Any less would be kinda pointless. Then again, a cap or camper shell would look pretty original as well. I saw a post on RCMod where someone made a RV shell for their zip, but a camper on an existing body I have seen not. ;)
If it were my truck, I would probably put in the bed and finish it off with a "Rhyno Lining" look alike, then build a cap/camper for the truck seperate so it can be dropped in and removed whenever you want (more like a real truck). A ball tow hitch made out of a small bead or bearing and a thin strip of bent plastic or metal might look pretty cool too! :)


edit: just look at the pics again, and realized that to put on a tow hitch, you would also require a rear bumper. Depends on how far you want to take this project I guess. It's just an idea. :)

Having cab and bed articulate seperately would be kinda trick, though not too realistic. Might look into that for a future full articulation truck.

The bed depth is limited to around 1/8" (see original Desperado thread) because of the PCB cover. If I were to use thinner styrene stock for the bottom of bed, or ditch the PCB cover and rework the motor clip section, it could drop farther. But I don't really wanna. I do know I'm NOT putting a tonnau cover on after doing this much work.

I got the camper shell idea from seeing an RV a guy built up on a semi chassis over on Pimps board. It could be kinda cool, several windows, a little door, maybe white led inside... Truck cap was kinda the step between the bed and camper, but it'd be more likely to be seen on a trail truck than a camper would. I also considered putting in a bed toolbox so I wouldn't have needed to stretch out the bed rails like I did for doing a full bed. I'd been thinking of making a bed and having the shells removable, but I'm a bit stumped on a secure non-permanent method to hold them in place for driving that also won't look really bad with them removed. -Edit- Maybe drill the slots in bed rails that are used for putting up side stakes/tie down points, have pins mounted in caps that drop into holes. -/Edit-

A trailer hitch could be pretty trick, but this is probably gonna be a ZZ-M body (so the bed has depth and the truck is more useful), so the hitch would be around 1" up. Plus it'd have to be burly enough to pull a trailer or another zz-m in a recovery situation. Possible, but hard to do scale. I do have a rear bumper but it was removed in the "Make naked" step so it wouldn't be harmed during extreme mods or painting when I get there.

Still in Progress
 

Shaved chrome bar, cut in air holes in bumper cover, cowl hood...
http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/ph...ngleCab_10.JPG

This is a way to get a tiny bit more bed depth, the PCB cover is actually the floor for the front half.
http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/ph...ngleCab_11.JPG

Double cab or Single cab
http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/ph...ngleCab_13.JPG

Still a few more things for this, but if I were only cutting down the cab, it would be more than ready to have been painted by now

http://bitpimps.lixlink.com/pages/ph...eCab_smash.JPG

With a guide coat of paint.

Oh yeah, and it's gonna run over this Homie because he's so dorky looking. :eek: Homie go smash!

Hey thats reazlly nice but wht are you using, is it body filler? Is there any special kind I should use and where can I get it?


Thanks, Greg

Thanks man!

Body filler is the scraps I hacked off the body, CA, and Baking Powder or Talc soaked with CA.

If you use THREAD to cut the body, you have a very tiny kerf. So you can pretty much just flow in some CA, let it flash, flow in a little more if needed.

For the deeper mods (shaving the rocker panel line on the bed and such) again prep to bare plastic, place Baking Powder or Talc where you want to fill, flow CA, let flash, shape, repowder and CA if needed.
-
I use CA with a thixotropic agent because: 1. it will NEVER shrink like most fillers. 2. it works better at model scales than like automotive fillers. 3. it is much lighter. 4. it's been a modelling secret for many years, and I wanted to let a whole new audience know about it. 5. bondo sucks. 6. it takes detail better.