A MAXXA Designs WIP
 

Here are the bulk of the updates. Reading along you'll see what type of WIP it is.
I'm pleased with how this is coming along.

Here we have a picture showing the front fender, the front headlight looks a little messed up but I'll do a full damage assesment after primer. So far that fender is done for now. I already have a plan for the headlights anyway ;). See how low you get with the smalls all round? If I had the stock lip it would be scraping the ground .

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/7161/sa400001eq4.jpghttp://img140.imageshack.us/img140/8497/sa400002ur2.jpg

Now here's the rear fender under construction, the actual how-to pics for this come after (strangely enough). Alot of cutting and a little shaving produce our rear fender...

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/415/sa400005ij4.jpg

Actually some more cutting and shaping was done after this, see?

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/7742/sa400007fy7.jpg

Because the body is clear, the camera has a little dificulty picking up the details I want to be seen, so I had to place my hand behind the car to offer a background.

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/5931/sa400008zg3.jpg

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/9607/sa400013hj0.jpg

Now the body's mounted and it's looking pretty good. But the skirt's too wide for the rear wheels :cpain: . I was thinking that I wanted some pullback wheels for the rear to fill out the wells, but it seems I don't need them anymore....

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/7571/sa400021xp4.jpg

ouuuuuu sexxehhhh

I'm only allowed 10 images (including smileys) sooo.....


Here comes the How-to

Well first you need to have a donor body, that's how you get the shape being so good. It's like the stock kit only fatter. You get to retain some of the bodylines.

Here's the donor, another clear lancer from Darktari (big up! :-o)

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4435/sa400026ng7.jpg

After cutting out the fender with a dremel, xacto etc, you'll need to tack the fender onto the main body. This takes patience and a steady hand. What I do is; tyr to position the body how I want it and tape half of the fender down so it doesn't move. I normally leave the half that is snug to the body exposed. This way you can use a couple drops of superglue to slip into the small space between the two plastics.***Make sure to mask your windows so they don't fog***. Now let the glue set. Then you can remove the tape that's holding it in place, gently.

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/9311/sa400027ed3.jpg

Now that it's gone, it's time to fill the huge spaces that are definately going to appear, more around the top than the wheelwells. Just take some baking soda and fill the space and smoth it with your finger to make a nice surface. I normally use a Q-tip to "sweep" away excess powder.

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/5817/sa400029kp4.jpg

Good. Now that you have that space filled it's time to make it permanant. Take your tube of superglue and gently, drop-by-drop add it to the baking soda. It is very important that you DO NOT POUR. Rather, what you want to do is let each individual drop be absorbed by the powder. This keeps the shape of the powder so you'll have less sanding to do when the time comes.

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/7773/sa400009ri4.jpg

From the picture above you can see the glisening of the freshly applied superglue on the rear fender, just underneith the window.


Hmm, that's about it. Now all you have to do is sand smooth to your desire. Primer is always a good option when doing bodymods such as kits and ground effects as they show up the minute flaws that the eyes or touch-tests didn't pick up.

Just so you guys know, I've done both rear fenders now, the left rear needs sanding.

Major update:

Well, it's been a while since I've updated with pics. Wait no longer :)

I've gotten the body itself to an acceptable state so I've decided to move onto the chassis in the meanwhile.

So it's time to gut it, cuz it's going under the knife
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/8859/sa400001pi3.jpg

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, buzzzzzzzzz
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/7923/sa400006yg8.jpg

Here's what I'm going for. I've run into a little snag but I know how to over come that. I'll explain the snag in a bit...
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/3710/sa400002qq9.jpg

Well, the first snag is that I can't keep the PCB flat and still have the rear wheels attached. Because that corner of the PCB is where the ground wire is attached, I can't even trim it so that the gear would be free to move. So I have to slant it like so...
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/5169/sa400003wi1.jpg

Problem with the slant is that the PCB still 'rests' on the gear which stops it from turning. So I'll have to shim it slightly. I may not have to tho, because when I run the wires under the PCB it may provide the spacer effect I need.

Oh, by the way, to get the PCB tucked in so neatly you have to cut a notch at the bottom of the column that holds the screw for the steering cover, and also remove the walls from the slanted part of the chassis that is behind the front wheels.

Here is a mock-up of what the finished assembly should look like. Is it just me or does this scream 'lipo-mod' to you too?
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/2308/sa400009zg1.jpg

Here is a side-by-side with a stock bit. This was just to give a height comparison. Notice anything funny about the cell?
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/4982/sa400010ct1.jpg

Primer anyone?
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/3726/sa400021jq5.jpg

I think I'll keep the rest of the cards to myself for now. This is one of my contest entries for the Bitpimps competition, so I'll slow down my updates till I unveil the finished ride.

Oh, and I need come Comments & Criticism... need help on the finishing touches, that's always the hardest part.

Maxx