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-   -   Clear body or white - durability? (https://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/rc-giant-scale-cars-234/2497189-clear-body-white-durability.html)

lukehall 01-03-2005 02:12 PM

Clear body or white - durability?
 
Hi,

Having nearly completely 'lunched' my white Marder body I was wondering if a clear replacement would be more durable - as they seem to be more flexable in my experience of 1/8 buggys.

Also, why is a clear one more expensive? Surely these things cost pence to press and mould once the masters are made...?

Luke

arjwhite 01-03-2005 02:59 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
Hi luke i replaced the rear fin on my marder with the polycarbonate one after totaling the white A.B.S one and up till now its its been ok despite some heavy roles But i Havn`t yet seen a clear body avalible for the marder?.My day job is a tool and die maker and has been for 20 years and to manufacture an injection mould tool for a marder body in the uk you`ve got to be looking around the £8000 mark (give or take a couple of grand for quality of materials used/number of cavities) for an A.B.S tool.Polycarbonate(clear lexan etc) is a different kettle of fish as both the mould core and cavity(the moulding faces) have to be polished to a mirror finish as any mark will show in the finished moulding and thus ups the cost of the tooling.plus polycarbonate raw material is more expensive to buy than A.B.S.Although there are some good grades of high impact A.B.S on the market,I`ve yet to see one hold up to the strength of polycarbonate (its what they make motorcycle visors out of).But saying that i would put a rough cost of a Marder shell (not taking into account tooling and the moulding machine costs) at well under £1 to produce.P.s it`s not my department but i`d put a rough guess on a new moulding machine costing in the region of £30,000 give or take £10,000 hence the high costs.Youv`e got to sell a lot of marder shells to get that kind of money back.

lukehall 01-03-2005 03:06 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
Hi, aandy,

Thanks for the info - I guess I won't be buying my own moulding machine just yet then! ;)

There is a clear body available here: http://www.gmmodels.co.uk/acatalog/6100___6200.html at the bottom of the page but as you will see, it's about 14 quid more expensive than the white one...

Best wishes,

Luke

arjwhite 01-03-2005 04:50 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
Many thanks for that luke, thats got to be a better investment than the A.B.S one.I`m now on my second A.B.S shell which is already showing cracks around the beams that hold the roof on and on the top air scoop.Thing is if fg don`t have there own moulding machines there probably getting the things moulded at a sub-contract mould factory and being charged about £5 each for them.makes you sick when you see the price we have to pay for one but after my current shell is eventually sent to the wheelie bin i`ll grit my teeth and get the polycarbonate shell.:(.
Cheers

Andy.
P.s enjoyed the wheelie video(ouch!)

BILKO1 01-03-2005 07:54 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
http://www.krikke.net/shop/rc/enter.html here you will find a 2mm lexan marder bodyshell but needs lots of cutting.

quarterscalelegends 01-04-2005 01:13 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
fyi, lexan bodies are made with a vacuum forming process. You can make a machine to produce copies of your body for about $1000 us dollars. A lexan sheet costs $15.

arjwhite 01-04-2005 01:15 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
Hi bilko1 that looks very good.2mm wall thickness is going to take some cutting but thats the one i`ll go for next.Also noticed the flexible rear fin in white or black which is probably moulded out of polypropylene or polyethylene(the stuff they make tupper ware dishes etc out of)Which means paint application to the fin would be out of the question (no paint appication is going to flex that much without cracking)so your stuck with black or white.Why don`t they mould it in a few different colours? the base material will be supplied to the moulder as natural(opaque) and a masterbatch (colour pigment) will be added to the plastic granules before/during the moulding process (this is a cheaper option to buying a specific colour granule)Although saying that its probably moulded with whatever
they have on the shelf.Still like to see the rear fin in a few different colours especialy at the price.It`s got to cost less than 50p to mould once you`ve got the mould machine and tool.P.s one mould machine can run a variety of different moulds.

ibstar 01-04-2005 01:19 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
also beetle shells not much mare than the marder
which on to go for mmmmm

arjwhite 01-04-2005 01:50 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
Xknax,i didn`t no they made the polycarbonate bodies by vacuum forming,this is not the best method.Youre always going to get a varying wall thickness(thick and thin sections)due to the fact they are basically stretching a pre-heated sheet of material over a shape so any corners or intricate shapes normally end up thiner than the large flat sections.Also different stresses are incurred during this process(weak points/strong points).Guess this is the reason why plastic saftey visors are injection moulded.

arjwhite 01-06-2005 01:08 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
Spoke to a guy at work today who`s very clued up on plastics and he recons even though the 2mm polycarbonate shell may be vacuum formed its still going to be one hell of a lot more durable than the standard white A.B.S shell.Guess this will be my next purchase unless i brake something else in the meantime:eek:.

quarterscalelegends 01-06-2005 01:20 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
1 Attachment(s)
Yea, Raco 1/4 scale did it with vacuum. Here is a picture of the plug. It is of the Raco indy car made in the 90's! Really rare opportunity to see this in person!

CEN_Drifter 01-29-2005 06:30 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
What do you use to lay lexan sheet on? will it work if i lay lexan sheet on other already maded lexan body?

quarterscalelegends 01-29-2005 06:34 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
You can use an already made lexan body but keep in mind the one you make will be a little bigger... about the thickness of lexan. You will also need to fill the original body with foam to reinforce it.

CEN_Drifter 01-29-2005 06:36 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
oh yeah i see your point, but it no big deal cuz it will only increae 2mm to 4mm.

34Ford 01-30-2005 12:32 PM

RE: Clear body or white - durability?
 
Wished there was some way to downsize my 1/4 scale '34 body.

http://home.att.net/~machwon/RadioControl/PA310157.JPG


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