StefanL

I just came in after trying out the new body I made for my Marder.

I grew tired of the limited selection of bodies for it so I made my own. This first one is a try out and basher so I haven´t done too much in the way of finishing and a neat paintjob. I figured I´d drive it a bit first.

I´ll make another one later that will be a "show" body...

Waddayathink? Feels good to finally see some mud on it, it felt like a neverending project around halftime.... But now it is finished!

Stefan

original.mb

Whats it made from?

StefanL

Fibreglass.

Light, but very strong. Ok, I haven´t flipped it yet but I have reinforced the upper parts of the body with extra fibreglass so it should survive some hard crashes.

Stefan

HeatFire

damn it stefan.. crash some:P i wanna know if i gonna force you to help me make one or not:P
but it sure looks nice

SELWA

My Feedback: (1)

Very Nice!!! I was going to try my hand at some fireglass work too. But I think I use up some of my bodies first.

Oneill Brothers Racing

Looks good! How long did it take to make?

dazzahughesuk

all i'll say is 'it looks different' and leave it at that.

StefanL

Haha dazzahughesuk! To each his own, right?!

I like your frankness...I really do. I made the body to my taste and I don´t really care what other people think (although it ia always fun to get a "thumbs up").

I like a more "cab-forward" design, and wanted a fuller body with pods on the sides to keep other cars´wheels from getting tangled in mine.


Oneill, it took me about three weeks working on and off. I started with construction foam (in a can) on my bashed up Marder body and went from there. Cutting, sanding etc.

It takes a good while to get the shape right (especially side to side) , and then make a mould to cast the body in. The good thing is, I can make as many as I want!

I made mounts out of metal sheet, curved up in the front, sides and back to keep out spray.

StefanL

This is how it all began. I used my Marder body as a base (it was pretty busted up) so therefore I wanted the body finished pretty quickly. I have no spare body so the car was sitting during construction.



Rough cut.



Stefan

SELWA

My Feedback: (1)

I've heard you can use saran wrap to cover the body while you add layers of silicone. I was going to do that with one of my marder bodies. Since I have the mud marder body with the side pods it would be a snap. Just $20 in fibreglass supplies I believe.

MrMikeG

That is great, I really like it!

J_D

ya know what they say.....

... theres nothing like homemade

when i first looked at it, i thought it was kinda odd. But the more i look at it, the more i like it good work

hugh.jeego

yea its great, you could even add a vent either side of the current one, on those wing thisngs, for extra cooling

hellya

Reminds me of the new mud marder body but not the cost

StefanL

hugh.jeego, I´m going to add vents to the sides, that´s what they are there for. I´ll add some metal netting on the inside to protect from debris... I´ll also see if I have to drill holes in the windshield or if the vent holes are enough to provide proper cooling of the engine. I hope the vents will suffice.

It somehow resembles the mud marder... I almost bought one a couple of months ago as a replacement for my standard ABS body, but felt it was not right for me. I feel the pods on the side look a little weird, and I wanted pods that go all the way down to the chassis plate.

Oh, and regarding the cost... The cost of all the supplies needed for the fabrication of the body would have bought me a mud marder...

It takes a lot of foam, body filler, sanding paper, polyester, fiberglass, etc to make it...adds up to quite a bit in the end. Still, it is money well spent, I have a body that I like, and I can make more if I want.

hellya

You should make a mold and do some fiberglass layups like the RC boat hulls, it might make it more cost efficient if you plan on making any more

StefanL

I already have a mold. That´s why it took a while, making the shape, the mold, and then the body.

hugh.jeego

still, even if it is a bit more expesive, and a lot more time cosuming, it looks the dogs b*ll*cks and is 100% unique!! You wouldnt by any chance make me one for a revo? lol

Savadevod

Looks Great! I want to build it.

badz

My Feedback: (1)

You could have take a stock body....sprayed it up with mold release and built a robber based mold...using say por a mold from thixotropic rubber or silicon rubber molding material...then you'd have a perfect mold and could make your body from gelcoat and glass exactly like the boat hulls...

StefanL

Well, badz, I could have done that. But now I have a fiberglass mold that is smooth on the inside. So I can still make more bodies with a nice gelcoated finish. It was my first try at fiberglass so I´ll most likely do it differently next time.

I was out today together with Heatfire (and his stock Marder) and bashed a bit around a local construction site. Perfect location.

Heat shot some video, and here are two small clips of the action... Here´s the first. They are 6 and 10 megs, on Putfile.

Click here to watch marder1

The second is funny... Heatfire was filming me and said "Hey, whatever you do, don´t hit my Marder over there" (it was parked behind us) I said "I sure won´t!" Do you think I did?

Click here to watch marder2

I am SO pleased with my new aluminium adjustable diff, it makes a world of difference. The car accelerates straight, it doesn´t get stuck like before, and making donuts is a piece of cake. Recommended!

Stefan

HeatFire

too bad i didnt record when you crashed into my car when we dragraced:P
i guess you need to DRIVE straight too the diff aint your co-pilot

i still havent checked if i can remove the paint transfer from my marder body:P