Nothing to see here!

[ToyZuki]

Building new rigs for nationals this year cause for some reason I don't want to show up with last years rigs! With the points cap at 50 for class 2 I decided I could ditch the hard body weight and get away with a lexan body! That Idea spiraled into cutting all my normally aluminum parts out of lexan too! My latest creation is the angled skid chassis. I have been cutting them out of 1/8" aluminum with great results (as soon as my new batch is ready they will be for sale in the vendor section) so 1/8" lexan it is! Stock scx10 chassis rails weigh 4.7oz, my rails cut in lexan weigh 1.9oz My entire chassis weighs in at 4.6oz





Building my low center of gravity motor mount was tricky because I only had 1/8" and 1/4" lexan to work with. I could have ordered some 1/2" but I am an impulse builder and wanted it now lol. I cut 2 out of 1/4" and bonded them together using MEK just like I do my hard bodies with. coated both halves a few times and let it get good and gummy, then slapped them together and bolted them tight til the plastic oozed out! Hope it holds up through the milling process of the bearing holes.





She's starting to take shape with an axle I had laying around (wish I could make clear axle housings). I will be building new axles with brass beef tubes, xr mod, od/ud like all the other rigs but this will do until I get to that point.





That's all for tonight! Hopefully finish links and rear axle tomorrow night but plans never seem to work out like I want them too! My lexan tcase plates drowned at the bottom of the waterjet tank so I'll have to wait for another set of those. If I could get just 10 people to steal the clear plastic straw out of their wife's fancy starbucks cup and send them to me I could make some really cool links

[mjderstine]

i like it.!

but me thinks that plastic chassis might not be "in the spirit of scale" and i have once heard someone around here say. You know who you are.

either way. this is awesome. which nationals are you talking about? ECSC?

[Zukiiholic]

I like the build.
Clear axles would be cool tho..

[hotwheels000]

I hate you But I liked your post and I like the fact that I liked it hope you like it too

[Highmark]

So fancy!

[OSRC]

I love it! With a coat of black, you'd never notice. But I think it looks great clear! Takes me back - my first few custom chassis were cut out of clear acrylic plate..

[Alpha Male]

This idea is just crazy enough to work. I'm curious to know how much the frame will twist, though.

Nice work!

[ToyZuki]

Originally Posted by mjderstine

i like it.!

but me thinks that plastic chassis might not be "in the spirit of scale" and i have once heard someone around here say. You know who you are.

either way. this is awesome. which nationals are you talking about? ECSC?

Yeah the spirit of scale lol! I have plenty of realistic looking trucks! But I like to be different and still live inside the rules I don't think I'll get any "scale awards" at the concourse but i like to build things that are out of the box different than anyone else and also trucks that perform! Ive never been a shelf queen builder lol. Colorado scale nationals in april.

Originally Posted by Alpha Male

This idea is just crazy enough to work. I'm curious to know how much the frame will twist, though.

Nice work!

The chassis has way more twist than I had anticipated. Mainly in the large area between the skid and the motor mount where there's no cross bracing. Once I get it all set up I may have to address that. I think the metal rock sliders will help. After all this will be a 50pt rig so it cant all be clear. Metal bumpers, sliders, internal cage, bed roll bar, and who knows what more I will have to add to point it out. Weight will be the basis of this build so every component will be as light and low as possible. I may have to add a pound or two to the axles to make it crawl lol.

[808DA6]

Hmmmm. Are the motor mounts going to be offered in this material now? How about Delrin?

[ToyZuki]

Originally Posted by 808DA6

Hmmmm. Are the motor mounts going to be offered in this material now? How about Delrin?

I wouldn't sell a product I didn't have faith in. I don't know enough about plastic to rely on it. With the extreme force of gear pressure I'm worried that the bearing pockets are going to stretch thus losing gear mesh and stripping gears. Also clamping plastic into a vise on the mill is risky. It flexes when you squeeze it making it hard to be accurate. I would 3d print them but I know there's a fine line between hard enough to withstand the gear pressure and to brittle not to snap the mounting lugs off. Not worth the risk of unhappy customers. There's a ton of extra material that can be removed from the aluminum one if you want it lighter. I've done a few for customers that have asked but its very time consuming on my old school mill. Once I convince the wife I need a cnc in the garage I'll probably lighten them all.

[holycaveman]

Looks awesome! Love the angled skid area!

[chino63]

So much like in this post already, not sure if I can keep looking.

Really wish I could make April, I'd love to get my as handed to me by this.

Keep posting progress... I'll try not to look anymore.

[Derek Larsen]

Originally Posted by ToyZuki

Once I convince the wife I need a cnc in the garage I'll probably lighten them all.

You should ask her for a laser cutter too.

Actually, how are you cutting this lexan specifically? How much melt and chaff are you having to clean up off the pieces? I tried working once with 1/4" lexan using a dremel and the routing setup. Low speed just chewed, high speed melted the edges.

I am very excited to see how this build plays out.

[Reflektr]

I see right through what you're trying to do here.....










...and it looks good!

[hotwheels000]

He is useimg a water jet.

[hotwheels000]

No chaff or melt, just a slight haze caused by the abrasive sand in the water jet process

[ToyZuki]

^^^^^ What he said^^^^

Always a step ahead of me.................................. on the internet :P

[hotwheels000]

Originally Posted by ToyZuki

^^^^^ What he said^^^^

Always a step ahead of me.................................. on the internet :P

Wut eva sucka, I was ahead of you even when we were trying for high score that day

[ToyZuki]

But I beat you when we did the fpv comp lol! We need stiffer competitions

[hotwheels000]

Good times, nobody knows what stunts we will pull next