Custom made 1/24 scale plastic model turned RC
I got a wild hair and decided to make a 1/24 model car into a fully functioning RC car.  It is completely for show.  It won't be fast or handle well, but it will be all handmade and look good!

The kit is a Revel 1966 Chevelle Station Wagon.  The only parts from the kit are the body, hood, bumpers, windows, wheels and tires.

Power will come from a Lipo or 4 cell custom made pack.  A mini servo will serve steering duties.  A Novak Spy will control the speed.  The front end is completely custom fabbed, and built around Radio Shack Zip Zap monster truck hubs.  The rear motor and transmission assembly are from a Kyosho Mini-Z Overland.

The chassis is custom made from sheet aluminum.  The battery upper brace is a piece of carbon fiber held up by some sweet aluminum standoffs that I shortened to the right height.

The wheels are from the kit, but are highly modified to be used by the various manufactures parts.  Now for the pics!

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 
More to come.  All above was the work of 2 days, maybe 8 hours total.
Another 4 hours later, the front end is attached and the body ride height is set.  I am still trying to figure out a way to mount the body without anything showing on the outside and without using Velcro or something like that.

 

For the moment, I have a set of screws to keep the rear of the body at the correct height and a brace on the front.  The battery brace was reworked, but will likely be redone again as things get finalized.
 

Steering duties are being performed by a shifting servo from a Traxxas Revo.
 

The motor and trans are scavenged from a Kyosho Mini-Z Overland.  The kit wheels and tires were heavily modded to fit.
 

The battery brace is a Tamiya carbon fiber part which has been cut and drilled to create the needed part.  The stand offs are aluminum, but I do not know from which vehicle they originated.
 

The front hubs were taken from a Zip Zap monster truck, which is a small RC vehicle (about 2 inches long) you can get at Radio Shack.  The upper and lower braces were made from carbon fiber Tamiya parts.  The front wheels were heavily modded here to fit as well.

The zip ties are temporary, while I figure out a way to secure the top brace.  The bottom brace is mounted to the chassis front section.

I hope to get the steering linkage figured out tomorrow...
 

Steering is complete.  I agonized over an easy way to do this, and it turned to be extremely easy to do.  It took redesigning the entire chassis, but the new one is better.  I need to figure a way to secure the servo, I may just Shoo Goo it in place,
 

I no longer need any stand-off at all.  I ordered an ESC that is smaller than a Novak Spy.  I almost went for an airplane one, since they are miniscule, smaller than the servo, but they do not have reverse.  For a few dollars more, I get reverse, very much worth it.  The battery pack at the rear is a 600Mah 4.8 pack from an airplane.  I'll see how well it works, but I might need to go Lipo for more runtime and better power.  We'll see how it works.
 


The new chassis has allowed me to drop the body even lower.  I like the stance a lot better. 
 
Here is the new chassis with everything installed (except ESC), chassis is shaped and polished.  I still need to decide a way to mount the front of the body.

 
In this pic you can see the Mini-T extended rear body mount.  I modified it a little to work for me.  I am also using aluminum body posts, but I do not know what brand they are, or what vehicle they were intended for.  The body mount itself has several places to put the posts, so I used some other holes along with the Mini-T posts as an antenna rack.  I had to drill out the holes to accept the antenna wire.

 
The receiver I am using is an FM Airtronics getting signals from an MX-3 radio.  It is the smallest one I have, and I took one of my T Maxx's out of service by using it!  The battery pack is a modified 6 volt receiver pack.  I removed one cell to accommodate the available space on the chassis, making it a 4.8 volt pack.  The power should be plenty, the Overland that donated the motor/trans ran on 4.8 volts as well.

 
Here is the finished underside of the chassis.  A lot more formed than the original.  I am ultimately unhappy with this chassis.  I may someday tear it back down and put a nice polish on it.  At this time, it has a light polish, the pic doesn't do it justice.

 
The last that needs done is to install the ESC and wire it all up.  I saw the ESC, I just need to wait a few days to pick it up.  Believe t or not, that tiny area on the chassis between the battery and the motor is enough space for it.  It has the footprint of a postage stamp.  The front mount needs invented and the body needs painted, then it'll be done!

I already have my next project lined up...

 
With the front body posts done, I painted the body a nice Chrysler/Jeep gunmetal gray.  I labored over a theme, and settle on a tribute body, that being, September 11th.

Enjoy the pics.  These are my "artist renditions", the finals will be custom decals printed off the files used to edit the pics.

 

 

 

 

 

I can only hope that the finished product looks as good as my edited pics.  I still need to add the chrome parts, etc and spray a good coat of clear over the decals.  Pics soon.
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