These bodies weigh a lot… has anyone used Lexan?

[Schr-eng]

These cars would be so much lighter with a Lexan shell than the stock ones. Has anyone tried to fit a Lexan shell instead? Or even a lighter weight model car shell?

[aperson]

where can i get them. if i can keep my XMOD running right for more than a month i might get one.

[Schr-eng]

I don't know where you can get them because I don't know what would make a suitable donor car.

Maybe a mini z or something.

[nrsjs]

Unless you made it really thin, lexan would probably be about as heavy as the plastic that's used on the RS bodies, and it would almost definately be heavier than a custom-made fiberglass body (and the fiberglass body would probably be easier to make too, although not quite as strong). To make it would be a pain but not really that difficult, just make a mold of your xmod body parts and use that to make your new body. The materials needed can be bought at most lowes-type stores; mold material, mold release stuff, and fiberglass mix. You can also find it on the web (tapplastics.com is pretty good).

(I'll also note that I've never tried to make anything from a mold, I just have a basic understanding from googling it, which you should also do before buying anything )

[Comrade_Boris]

im working on a paper body for my car.......hope to make it look like a formula 1 car.....(GO FERRARI!).....the car is sooo much faster and agile without the body.....

[potentiality]

"Unless you made it really thin, lexan would probably be about as heavy as the plastic that's used on the RS bodies"

Is this based on experience? How are you drawing this conclusion?

Lets say for the sake of argument your right.

HOWEVER!

Your missing four other major factors for lexan.

A: You paint the inside, so paint doesnt scratch off.
B: It bends and reshapes itself unlike abs which will crack.
C: It has slightly more chemical resistance than abs.
D: Cheaper to make with a vacuum mold versus molded injection (hence lower price).

On the downside:
Not as much detail
Not as nearly as many moving parts


For bodies? You will have to look for aftermarket mini z ones from your LHS. I believe all the miniz bodies from Kyosho themselves are plastic. You can look for 1/24 bodies for mini x and abc dtm. But some of those come with the mounting holes predrilled, so watch out for that. That and you of course will have to make mounting posts on the xmod. Plus being a lightly bigger scale.

[Bad Company]

I have found some 1/24th slot car bodies that are close to fitting at the local slot car track. Most are a little long and wide, but some models of cars fit pretty well, it's just a hit or miss thing. You would still have to making a mounting system though.

Lexan badies will be a lot lighter than the stock plastic Xmods or Mini Z bodies, and like stated before, you would have the protection of the paint being on the inside.

[nrsjs]

I just alwasy though lexan was heavy, since that's what bulletproof glass is based on and bulletproof glass is really really heavy. Guess I could have read up on it?

But, the way I look at it, the cars come with a body so the easiest solution would be to just use that one. Maybe spray a few layers of clearcoat on it to protect the paint a little more...