My new chassis design - bodyless tvp design.

[minor_threat]

Originally Posted by MEDiC

Nice try man.. looks like you and I posted at the same time... Already looks like my trucks body.. heres a link.. MEDIC's Final Product... AX-10 Crawler Fanclub


Good idea man.... good try at least!

his is so much different then yours. omg.

[monkeyracer]

MEDiC's rig is wierd. WAY too many colors. I'm not so sure he understands what the mods he's done to his rig are actually for.

I think he was trying to say that my design resembles the helios body, and according to the USRCCA rule that it has to resemble a 1:1 rig, then that is a good thing. I didn't even think about that body when I designed this. I pretty much ignored him after I went through his threads.

[minor_threat]

if you want a tarantula, or gecko or lizard...go with their scientific names with a twist. like uroplaytus geckos. you've got phantasticus, sikorea, frimbiatus and such. there's a ton about shapes and design that work with nature. just pick a genuis like geckonidae and go from there. you've got leopard, helmeted, spider, viper and then the latins...sorry, i'm a nerd.

[monkeyracer]

Well, I like chameleon, and incidentally, the scientific name for one is chamaeleon. I've created a graphic for it too:



I'm ordering some stickers for the body panels (it's really just a bumper sticker I designed, cut to size) from makestickers.com with this "logo" ready to go.

It's got to be something easy to remember, because if I whoop someone at a comp, I want the name to haunt their dreams. Oh, and if I ever do sell these, something that people can remember to search google for.

[minor_threat]

i got the flm one from gary at a2rc and it's nice but i do like to "truck" versions. they're nice. i wonder if you've given though to a more squat look like the flm on but not so much a hatchback profile but more like a tube style. also, have you considered the roll of these when topside down? what's the chance of me getting back on my wheels with these compared to a couple tubulars i've played with?

[minor_threat]

Originally Posted by monkeyracer

Well, I like chameleon, and incidentally, the scientific name for one is chamaeleon. I've created a graphic for it too:



I'm ordering some stickers for the body panels (it's really just a bumper sticker I designed, cut to size) from makestickers.com with this "logo" ready to go.

It's got to be something easy to remember, because if I whoop someone at a comp, I want the name to haunt their dreams. Oh, and if I ever do sell these, something that people can remember to search google for.

but what type of cham? you should find one that fits. like blue noses are shy and stress out a lot, jascksons are great but brookesia are awesome! even rhempholein which look like dinosaurs and are about 2" long.

just playin' but you can do better then that...

[minor_threat]

well, you should really network with some guys in here, these folks are your clients/prospects and such, not makestickers.com. my two cents from a wasted degree in business marketing and finance. LOL

[monkeyracer]

I'm sorry, but the nerdy, scientific terms aren't really bad-ass, and would detract from the idea of the chassis. What normal RCC driver is going to know the difference between brookesia and jacksons? Or even care.
The Chameleon name fits since the chassis will be able to change shape with a few simple turns of a couple screws. It will all make sense when I get the prototype in.
Did the guy who designed the warthog get asked what specific subspecies it was? No, because nobody cares. It's the stereotype of a Chameleon; slow, stable, climbs well, and has the ability to change it's appearance. I also wanted something better than MR1 or some Letter/Number combo that would be easy to forget.

As far as roll over, the overall height is the minimum that is legal to USRCCA rules, so if the other tuber's you've dealt with are the same height, you can expect a similar reaction. That has more to do with how you set it up than the actual shape of the design.

Makestickers.com will send full color 3x10 stickers for $5 or 5 for $19. I'm sure the guys here can cut vinyls or even print the graphics, but it will serve it's purpose for the time being. Thanks for your input, I'll get into that part of it after I deem if this is marketable or not.

[minor_threat]

wow, what a temper. sorry dude, late.

just to clarify for you, chams don't change their appearance to blend in or such. it's not camouflage. they change color based on mood; stress, anger, horny, weak, feeble. omg

[monkeyracer]

no, no temper, I was just being realistic.

I've looked into a lot of car names, and other product names, and have worked in cell phones for the past 4 years. What I've learned about the general public is that a phone called the V3M means nothing, but if you call it the RAZR, everyone knows what it is. Why else do you think most new "flagship" phones are coming out with names instead of alphanumeric designations? If I call this chassis the Chameleo Calyptratus because it sort of resembles one, or the MR1 which is the codename for the design, nobody will associate it with this specific chassis.

Also, trying to fit Chameleo Calyptratus on a logo is ridiculous. The word is longer than the chassis itself! Shoot, chameleon was pretty damn long too, but it worked.

I don't have a degree in marketing, but I know that a "sticky" name (one that has staying power) is way more effective than a descriptive name. If you happen to get lucky and find a name that has both, then that's even better. You want a catchy name. One that is easy to say, easy to remember, and easy to google.

I know you were letting your dork muscle flex there for a minute, and it was fun, but the 'clientele' here is less interested about the phylum a chamaeleon belongs to than to what chassis will help them win more comps.

[wbillylee03]

Hey monkeyracer you could call it the "monkeycrawler". I like the chameleon name or ghecko, but then everyone would think you're selling insurance for crawlers.
I like the design, another way to bo bodyless without a cage. Keep up the good work.

[monkeyracer]

Well, here's some pics of the build, this is with the slant-back SUV rear plates (think chevy blazer?), but I had two other sets of plates made to allow customization, one to resemble a roll bar, and the other to resemble a camper shell. I still need to make some body panels for it though.









I'll try to get some testing tomorrow to see how it all holds up in the real world.

[DeweyCJ5]

dude thats way sick... i want one

[monkeyracer]

I didn't get any testing today, but I did get some body panels, and some paint on the lexan. The hood and roof panels came from a new bright fj cruiser body (from their cheap crawler) aand for the side panels, I printed a design, laminated it and cut it out. The laminating didn't come out as good as I thought it would though.
I also moved the front shocks to the outside of the plates, and cut the lower links to mount to the front of the chassis plates. Coincidentally, then ended up being the exact same length as the chassis braces (81mm) so that's cool, but kind of strange. With it this way, there's no need to do bent lower links; it moves the pivot point further away from center, and stays out of the way of the shocks. Also, with the bent links, the driveshaft is exposed and more vulnerable. (When I get pics up it will make more sense.)

I'm loving the lexan for this, if I end up selling these (still trying to figure out if it's worth it or not) then it will probably be made from lexan.
Why Lexan over Aluminum:

Lexan is paintable with the paints you already have for all those r/c bodies, so you can do paint effects that would be very hard with aluminum. If you paint the back side of the plates, it's less susceptible to rock rash, where as powdercoated or anodized aluminum will scratch right up.
Lexan returns to it's original position better than aluminum, aluminum bends and stays bent, try to bend it back it breaks, lexan bends then springs back on it's own. Fall off a nice sized ledge with aluminum, and it's likely to get bent out of shape, with lexan, it will likely absorb a lot of the impact, and then return back to it's original shape.
Lexan is cheap and light, but it's just as strong as aluminum.

That's all for my lexan fan boy rant, I'll get some pictures in the daylight, and post them up, but first I need to paint the hood and roof.

[gooba]

Im not gonna lie that thing looks wicked cool cant wait to see some pics with body panels. Carbon fiber would look pretty wicked too!

[monkeyracer]

Here's some more pictures;

Paint and body panel detail.




The paint effect was achieved by spraying red metallic from about 18" lightly, then while it's still wet, backing it with black sprayed from a distance, and then while it's all still wet, some window tint. The body panel is just the laminated printed paper (but I don't recommend it, it didn't work out that great.)

With the "Slant Back" rear plates:





Articulation:




Top view:


Hood Close-Up:


This is textured krylon fusion, on a chopped up new bright FJ cruiser body (the one made from the cheap plastic, rip you know what I'm talking about)

Skid and lower links:

Goobs, this is what I did to help make the chassis flex less, I have a total of 10 standoffs on the chassis.

Here's what I'm talking about with the bent links vs the straight links, in this pic, you see the drive-shaft exposed:


vs:



The links help protect the driveshaft.

How I mounted the power switch:


So, there ya go.

[moabax]

Looks better every time you post. Good job with the detail in the paint.

[monkeyracer]

Thanks, the paint was actually a stroke of luck, I printed the side panels, and wanted to either do black or red to match, and I decided to spray a little red, and ran out, so I sprayed the black, and ran out, and sprayed the tint on the back of everything. I didn't plan on having it match so closely.
I figured if it messed up, I could always spray the other side with black to cover my mistakes.

[moabax]

some of the greatest inventions came from mistakes!!

[racerx_rc]

thats a great looking rig good job