23 replies to this topic

[Jairus]

I love me some Dune Buggy!

 

 

So when Eldon "Gene" Adams showed off a new mold he was working on I got very excited.
The Pactra bodies were many and next to Lancer, some of the cleanest.  The "Sand Buggy" Eldon showed off was the only one I had ever seen other than in the old slot car Magazine advertising.  Not sure what is original Pactra or modified by Eldon, but all the cut lines are clear and precise while all the flat areas are clean and shiny with ner a dust speck present.
I cut and painted it soon as I got my hands on one to show you guys what it should look like, although I didn't quite cut all the front valance off wanting to cover up as much of the chassis as I could.

 

The body is molded in two parts and builds up very realistically once the paint is applied.

 

Since this is not a racing car exactly, I tried to ignore the right side seat belt and turned the left side into a shoulder belt. Also attempted to paint the driver in more civilian clothing...
The body does not come with a head so that has to be sourced elsewhere.
Looking back, I wish I had painted the dash panel green intead of flat black, but I was in a hurry.

 

Paint:
Tamiya Candy Lime Green shot underneath after masking off windshield and roof.
Alclad chrome was used to paint the engine.
Molotow liquid chrome pen to paint the windshield frame, gas cap and taillight surround.
Pactra lacquer was used to paint the roof. (Custom mix light tan on the outside)
Testors enamel shot the flat black inside and various enamels were used to paint the driver.

When I get the time, I plan to build a chassis for it and super-detail the body. But for now, it's enough to show you guys what Eldon hath wrought and it's well worth it!

[Martin]

Cowabunga dude

[Pablo]

Really bitchin'

[Pete L.]

Will these bodies be available soon ?

[Jairus]

Peter,

That is my understanding.  But Gene has yet to comment, but he is the one to ask.
(P.S., he goes by Gene/ZR1 here at Slotblog.)

[Gene/ZR1]

Peter,

That is my understanding.  But Gene has yet to comment, but he is the one to ask.
(P.S., he goes by Gene/ZR1 here at Slotblog.)

 

Jairus

The body and interior was done from a boxed N.O.S. unmodified, just the way you would have got it back then.

Must admit it does look cool.

regards g.

[Phil Smith]

Did you paint a tiny bit of black right below the line for the top? At first glance it looked t me like the top was a separate piece. Actually, it looked that way second and third glance as well. It took some scrutinizing to figure out it wasn't two pieces. If that was on purpose, or even if it wasn't, that's way frickin' cool! 

[Jairus]

Phil, that is because the green is painted from underneath and the top painted on the outside.
The shadow is the thickness of the plastic.  (get better when I clean up the overspray around the taillights..... [eyeroll])

[Lone Wolf]

Nice work Gene 

 

That shirt, I can't take it. One of the coolest things I've seen you do yet 

 

Are you using different size Molotow pens? Which do you prefer? I only have the large tip so far. 

 

Nice use of those Flower stickers. Surprised you have not received inquiries on those yet.

 

Not a criticism, just an idea.

 

Since there is a full interior you could have cut a rear window, or maybe 3 small vertical ones as seen back in the day and backed them up with some clear plastic.

[Pablo]

Gene/ZR1 made the body. Jairus painted it.

[Lone Wolf]

Yes, just complimenting Gene on the actual body. 

[Phil Smith]

Phil, that is because the green is painted from underneath and the top painted on the outside.
The shadow is the thickness of the plastic.  (get better when I clean up the overspray around the taillights..... [eyeroll])

 

Jairus, I did wonder why the roof looked so good, and eventually figured out that you had painted it on the outside. But I didn't make the connection with that and the roof looking like a separate piece. I great bonus side effect!

 

Not to diminish the quality and value of anyone elses work, but I consider you the best slot car body painter ever. All hail to the GOAT! 

[Jairus]

Well, thank you Phil.  But there are others who also paint very well.

 

Last few days I have been putting a chassis together for the Sand Buggy.
Most of this I already had available except a couple axles which I had to order.
(Funny how quickly I run out of hardware like axles, washers and pickup braids.....)

 

 

Nothing exotic, just a basic Dynamic frame with no ball bearings or rewound arm.
Simple bolt together and it runs great!
Rear wheels Associated, front wheels some sort of "O" ring jobbies.
Jet Flag guide and a crown gear by Cox.

Note the front axle has no spacers?
Neat trick is to pop on two 1/8" I.D. snap washers and that keeps the axle centered.  This is something Dynamic did in their chassis kits and I thought it was a simple easy fix and keeps the axle clean.
Second trick is once the body width for the mounts is set, the three pieces are soldered together.
Then two pin-tubes soldered to that making a very solid structure to hang the body.


 

[Pablo]

Sweeet. I spotted the front axle "gizmos" right away, can I get a cookie?

Nice old skool car for the Buggy

[Jairus]

Sure, mail that out right away....

[Jairus]

Finally figured a way to put exhaust headers on this beast and make them strong enough to protect the rear end of the car.

 

Connects to the Dynamic motor bracket with no modifications and can be removed with ease.

 

 

Currently primed with metal etching paint and then shot with Rust-oleum semi gloss black.
Take a day to dry before I can put it all back together.

[SlotStox#53]

Very nice up swept Baja style glass pack system Love it

[Pablo]

[Martin]

Exhaust headers, creative.

[Jairus]

 I really enjoy building projects just for me from time to time.  No pressure, no strange requests and no deadlines.
So, I am calling this done for now.
Someday I'll add some more details if I think of any.  But just simple like this it looks better to my eyes than adding more details which only create clutter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now my collection of buggy's has grown 100%... to two!

 

[Pablo]

Bitchin' to the Max 

[miko]

Nice touch with the exhaust headers! Beautiful buggy's!

[Martin]

Love bugs

[Regis4446]

Great job Jairus, beautiful collection