New build project- Rat Rod Rustler!

[JCsRCcar]

This is an interesting thread. Nice work on those cars.

 

[bozo]

Big block Chevy was know as the "Rat Motor". Perhaps why P-L chose the mold it in its Rat Rod body?

Big block chevy power? Looks like it. For sure then Chevrolet orange on the valve covers. Refreshing to see an engine replica that is not a hemi.

BB Chevy has to be orange.
Had some progress on the chassis and paint...
I decided that the MTs had to stay to give it "the look". Redid the front shock towers and used different shocks front and rear. Added shock travel limiters and some tweakage and now the chassis runs pretty good with the MTs. I'd like it lower, but this is the best I could get and still have it run acceptably. Like I've said, it's not a racer but a tooling rig.
Started paint on the engine- I'm using a combo of spray and brush on both the inside and outside. It's the only way I can get the effect I'm looking for. Valve covers Chevy orange from the inside, blower and scoop Spaz Stix mirror chrome from the inside. Lots of black on the inside to hide undetailed areas. Headers will be mirror chrome, overflow tank will be converted to a NOS tank in blue, and rad hose will be chrome with transparent blue and red fittings. Frame rails will be steel and radiator aluminium. I have tons of cool decals to add to the engine, as well as yellow spark plug wires and braided fuel plumbing lines.
Still not sure of the final color, I'm thinking of doing the accent stripe on the side of the body in orange. That'll tie in the valve covers with the rest of the car. If I do, that kinda limits the body color choice. Obvious scheme would be batmobile-like, black with orange accents. If I do the accent stripe in chrome, I have more color options. Luckily, I've got tons more detail painting before I have to decide. I'd really appreciate any color suggestions!

 

[Doom!]

Lookin' good!

 

[WickedFog]

You're doing a heckuva paint job so far. Looking forward to the finished body!

 

[JCsRCcar]

Nice job!

 

[Tunedfrog]

This rig is bad ass, Awesome job.

 

[Heisenburg]

I wanted to do a Rat 5 years ago, for either my Rustler or Stampede 4x4. Bought the body, but had to return it, didn't fit. Made my own Slagster (Slash home grown dragster) and could only think of 1 beauty body for it. That's right, the Rat, in yellow. It's posted here somewhere here in no prep dragster forum if you want to take a gander.

 

[bozo]

It's posted here somewhere here in no prep dragster forum if you want to take a gander.

I like yellow... looks good and quick!
https://www.rctalk.com/forum/threads/heisenburg-hpe005-rat-rod-dragster.133639/

 

[Heisenburg]

Thanks for posting the link

 

[Greywolf74]

Looks good so far!

 

[ahr43]

Paint? We don't need no stinkin' paint. Gray primer. 'AC'

 

[johnnydmd]

Great job, can't wait to see how that engine comes out.

 

[bozo]

Had some paint progress on the engine, the base coats are about done and drying.

Mirror chrome on the headers and rad hose
Tamiya transparent yellow on the ?carbs? (not sure if they are carbs or injector bodies...)
Tamiya smoke on the scoop
Tamiya metallic blue on the NOS bottle
Mr. Hobby burnt iron on the frame rails
Tamiya black panel accent on blower (will do headers next)

I'll let things bake out and then do outside detail- paint touch up, plug wires, fuel lines and decals.
I added a rubber bumper to the top of the scoop, not scale but it's not real obvious and will hopefully protect it from the inevitable crash
I'm going to add skid rails on the roof and also add another body post in front of the windshield. The body is pretty "flexy" there and some extra support can't hurt.
I'm thinking metallic black with orange accents for the body. Still not sure, still contemplating other options...

 

[Greywolf74]

That looks really good! Better than I prolly would have done

 

[johnnydmd]

Great job, and like Greywolf said, I don't think I could do that well. I've always thought that body is particularly difficult to paint from the inside like that. How are you masking it? Or are you painting with a brush?

 

[bozo]

I've always thought that body is particularly difficult to paint from the inside like that. How are you masking it? Or are you painting with a brush?

You're right, it is a tough body to paint. Pro-Line did a great job on the mold but there's only a limited amount of detail possible with this type of vaccu-forming. I guesstimate this is 1:7 scale or so, and there's a lot of blobby parts of the mold that are hard to tell apart.
I'm using a combo of spray and brush, inside and outside. Spray for the chrome and smoke and brush for everything else. I'm also using a .05mm permanent black ink pen on the outside for accent lines and paint color dividing lines. The hardest thing was figuring out what order to put the paint down in.
Here's an inside pic:

 

[Doom!]

Looks very nice, painting from the inside can be a pain in the butt, looks like you've got it under control.

 

[bozo]

painting from the inside can be a pain in the butt

You got that right
More progress...
Everything from the firewall forward is base painted from the inside. Grill and headlight rings chrome and buckets orange.
The rest of the detail painting will be from the outside. After that is done, then decals, plug wires and fuel lines.
Decided on a final paint scheme- a light coat of Spaz Stix Silver pearl followed by a metallic black.
Paint is on order, should be here next week.

Then orange for the side molding and upper edge of the bed.
Here's the decal for the doors I ordered
https://www.ebay.com/itm/164681595288
And one for the roof
https://www.ebay.com/itm/163743602156
I also added working headlights (actually semi side marker lights), a RPM front bumper, a Traxxas wheelie bar and an hpi-racing wing.
I'll finish up the engine and bed while I'm waiting for the paint to arrive.

 

[WickedFog]

You're going to make me buy this body if you keep this up. It's looking fantastic.

 

[Doom!]

Coming along rather nicely!