Volvo Portal c303 Builded by a Guy

[imthatguy]

Originally Posted by M J

I agree, you do make it look easy. Hell, I can't even follow through with sourcing materials before I get discouraged and give up.

Nah, all you have to do is jump in and try.

Originally Posted by JSterrett

Absorbing....

Will ask a million questions when I get the balls to try something this awesome. Most "scratch" thing I've done at this point is cut/bend Bomber panels using old aluminum PC case sides, lol...

That's something. Everybody started somewhere!

Originally Posted by J.Peart

Detailing on the doors looks great.

Thanks, accuracy counts!

Originally Posted by hotwheels000

Can you elaborate a bit on the technic used to scribe body lines ? Everytime I have tried, the staight lines end up curved and the curved lines end up like spaghetti

Sure thing. I cut out a buck that matches the body lines I want to do, then very carefully scribe them with a scribing tool. Over and over and over again. Then when it's deep enough, I remove the buck, and go back over the lines with a slightly thicker gauge scribing tool.

Originally Posted by hillbillyrc

I like the scratch built bodies even more now since they seem to be a rarity on here. The craftsmanship is top notch. Wish I had the room and skill for it.

Thanks very much, like anything, practice makes acceptable.

Originally Posted by BigSki

I always enjoy watching the threads from guys like you, Noob and Dready ( to just name a few) that work the styrene like a master. I always try to learn something from each build so that my styrene attempts can get better.

Thanks, that's very lofty company for you to put me in. There's a lot of great builders out there, but not a lot of them get the attention they deserve. Tough when most people are only interested in how fast it goes.

Started cutting up some metal to make the initial structure of the flatbed.



Exciting! Anyone who knows anything about Volvos, knows there's a ton of wood in them, so no reason no to use it here!

[CHEVOTA]

Sweet build! I didn't realize the Mad Moose axles were available yet. The little details will drive you batty sometimes but they really make the difference, thanks for another inspiring build

PS I have seen photos of your first build for a while now and always wondered who built that.

[joe122]

Those axles are sweet, and those mad Styrene skillls, pretty awesome build. I know what it's like to build something, sell it, miss it and what to do it again. Also, I have been stung with the scribe the gaps thing before. On a few of my builds I have added a layer of .015 Styrene in segments over the sides to mimic the door gaps. The .015 gives it just enough depth to accent the gap nicely.

[hotwheels000]

Any chance you have a link to or picture of the scribing tools ?

I have used an exacto knife with the blade backwards... no love. I have also cut out the doors,hood, hatch, etc.. trimmed them a bit smaller and backed with larger piece of styrene, then reattached. That seemed to work the best for me but the lines were not always even.

[imthatguy]

Originally Posted by CHEVOTA

Sweet build! I didn't realize the Mad Moose axles were available yet. The little details will drive you batty sometimes but they really make the difference, thanks for another inspiring build

PS I have seen photos of your first build for a while now and always wondered who built that.

These are the pre-release axles, so they're not technically available yet. Early adopter is me. If you've got a link to my old one, I'd love to see where it's at these days.

Originally Posted by joe122

Those axles are sweet, and those mad Styrene skillls, pretty awesome build. I know what it's like to build something, sell it, miss it and what to do it again. Also, I have been stung with the scribe the gaps thing before. On a few of my builds I have added a layer of .015 Styrene in segments over the sides to mimic the door gaps. The .015 gives it just enough depth to accent the gap nicely.

On the first c303, that's exactly what I did. Had no idea how to make panel lines so skinned the whole vehicle. Wait a pain in the rear.

Originally Posted by hotwheels000

Any chance you have a link to or picture of the scribing tools ?

I have used an exacto knife with the blade backwards... no love. I have also cut out the doors,hood, hatch, etc.. trimmed them a bit smaller and backed with larger piece of styrene, then reattached. That seemed to work the best for me but the lines were not always even.

Same issues I ran into. Here's a link to Micromark for the tools I've used.

[mr.rick]

Such an awesome build... I have always loved Mogs. There is just something about them. I love seeing scratch builds, so much time and attention goes into them. It's a drag there aren't more people doing it. I get so tired of seeing people complain about not having a certain body that they want but no one will build it. You mention scratch builds and they just say no that's too much work, I'll just run __________ instead. Very refreshing to see people actually build what they want to run.

[imthatguy]

Originally Posted by mr.rick

Such an awesome build... I have always loved Mogs. There is just something about them. I love seeing scratch builds, so much time and attention goes into them. It's a drag there aren't more people doing it. I get so tired of seeing people complain about not having a certain body that they want but no one will build it. You mention scratch builds and they just say no that's too much work, I'll just run __________ instead. Very refreshing to see people actually build what they want to run.

Anybody who owns a c303 would slap you with a fish for calling it a Mog. Joking, but I hear you on the scratch builders. They're just not here like they used to be. I post a heck of a lot more on another forum, but I still want to share my junk with folks.

Anyway, Sweden for the victory!

Assembled some metal bits today. Flatbed is about as flat as you can get.



As you can see, it's metal. I was smart, and recessed the cross members just enough to account for the thickness of my wood planking. SMRT.



See? Flush to the side rails. Huzzah! I mounted it to the chassis where the rear suspension mounts are located. I'll also be fabbing up some diagonal cross members to mount to the lower front part of the chassis, part aesthetic, part function. I want to have a little forward protection for the assorted gas tanks, air canisters, jerry cans, what have you that will go under the flatbed. Maybe even a spare. Who knows?




Rather chuffed so far. More progress than I anticipated tonight. Much more to go, including some roll bar bits and other assorted junk. But for now, bed.

[blumaro]

Nice build!

[dezfan]

The scratch built one off rigs will always be the coolest.

Built not bought still has a special meaning!

[joe122]

Love the details, those hinges, very realistic, fab and styrene skills - awesome!

[GWN_Nuge]

Beautiful work on this build! Can't wait to see how it all comes together.

[War Pig]

Just saw this last night. Wow, you sure know what you're doing with styrene! I hope this is going to be at the Ultimate Scale Expo, perfect build for that event. Can't wait to see this come together, and it's great to see custom work.

[G-crawler]

Love it, great job on the whole thing, especially the cab!

[XSRCdesign]

I like.. who makes this body? Link?


nice work as usual

[hotwheels000]

Here you go Andy
Volvo Portal c303 Builded by a Guy

Originally Posted by XSRCdesign

I like.. who makes this body? Link?


nice work as usual

[imthatguy]

Originally Posted by blumaro

Nice build!

Thanks! I like building.

Originally Posted by j.krug

Coming along quite nicely!!

Much appreciated!

Originally Posted by dezfan

The scratch built one off rigs will always be the coolest.

Built not bought still has a special meaning!

I like "bought not bought".

Originally Posted by joe122

Love the details, those hinges, very realistic, fab and styrene skills - awesome!

Cheers Scott!

Originally Posted by GWN_Nuge

Beautiful work on this build! Can't wait to see how it all comes together.

Me too!

Originally Posted by War Pig

Just saw this last night. Wow, you sure know what you're doing with styrene! I hope this is going to be at the Ultimate Scale Expo, perfect build for that event. Can't wait to see this come together, and it's great to see custom work.

Well shucks, thanks Tim. Yes, it'll be at the USE, hopefully done!

Originally Posted by G-crawler

Love it, great job on the whole thing, especially the cab!

Cheers!

Originally Posted by XSRCdesign

I like.. who makes this body? Link?


nice work as usual

Originally Posted by hotwheels000

Here you go Andy
Volvo Portal c303 Builded by a Guy

You guys are funny.


Hooray for tube bending and brazing. My favourite thing to do in my bed or kitchen table with inadequate ventilation.





Thanks to Sczcerba for the ideas on what to do with the flat bed. I'm still considering a couple down tubes on a diagonal to give it a little more comp-ish look.

Thoughts?

[calcagno45]

The 6x6 in your first post isn't a comp truck so my vote is keep it utilitarian.

Looks really good.

[XSRCdesign]

Your spur is showing.. have some tact man there are children around here


Your metalwork is right on par with your styrene abilities. Rare to posses both skills.. thanks for flaunt.. I mean sharing

[imthatguy]

Originally Posted by calcagno45

The 6x6 in your first post isn't a comp truck so my vote is keep it utilitarian.

Looks really good.

Hmmm. Maybe with diagonal downtubes and utilitarian paint I'll be okay?

Originally Posted by XSRCdesign

Your spur is showing.. have some tact man there are children around here


Your metalwork is right on par with your styrene abilities. Rare to posses both skills.. thanks for flaunt.. I mean sharing

I don't have any children, but I think I offended my cat.

Ha, yes, both are terrible! Hahaha, happy to share, but certainly not flaunt.

More tubes held together with melted metal.

[XSRCdesign]

Looks good, utilitarian can still understand triangulation.. which is my understanding to be a good thing to have. Unless you don't have a BEC in which case you might as well throw everything away.

I'm sorry for your cat.