'Car 72' - the seven year itch...

[JMo]

Welcome to my latest and also longest project... originaly started back in 2019 when I first moved to the US full time, and which has sat on a shelf indefinitely until now - hence the title: Car 72 [No Activity] - IYKYK.


A brief history...

The idea was always to build a SCORE Class 5 style Baja Bug - loosely based on the Sand Scorcher of course, but with my own twist on the underpinnings - starting with a custom chassis (cut from 2mm aluminium) which would better replicate a full floor pan, and at the time my intention was to incorporate proper trailing arm suspension too - although as we'll see in the photo montage below, this threw up a succession of issues which ultimately meant I've reverted to an SRB rear end too:

Note for the sake of brevity, I've omitted the very first mock up, which actually used twin chassis rails, and featured a mid-rear motor and a live rear axle on 4-link trailing arms, mainly because it was too experimental - and would confuse the narrative... however, if you're interested, there is a legacy thread HERE on TamiyaClub which shows the original evolution of this project in more detail.


photo. V2 mock up way back when - using a Monster Beetle shell and Axial transmission, and some aluminium trailing arms from a Kyosho buggy.


photo. custom chassis to tie the front and rear subframes together (although the rear shock mounts were still very far away in my imagination)...


photo. unfortunately practically speaking this motor orientation meant the engine was sitting far too high in the back of the car...


photo. V3 flipped the motor forward (in more of a transverse mind-engine layout), and I also incorporated one of Alberto's prototype cages which became the AMPro/Knight Customs Class 5 Baja Bug project (foreshadowing!)


This was better, however the chassis and ground clearance was compromised by mounting the Axial transmission in this way, and I factored that if I was going to have that kind of [transverse motor] gearbox layout, then I might as well just use an SRB transmission after all eh? So I did:


photo. yes, I got though a lot of aluminium sheet cutting multiple versions of what was ostensibly the same chassis plate in an effort to dial in the various gearbox and rear suspension layouts...


photo. V4 was arguably the best iteration so far - an SRB gearbox, and proper metal trailing arms too - although it did mean the rear track width was overly wide unfortunately...


photo. V5 reverted to using an SRB gearbox together with the stock wishbone rear suspension arms too, which meant I could also incorporate the roll hoop as a suitable rear-shock mounting location - we're getting somewhere at last! note. fortunately due to the re-release of the Sand Scorcher, Buggy Champ and Fighting Buggy since 2010, there is a steady supply of SRB suspension and transmission components available from retailers and Ebay kit splitters these days.


photo. and yes, for the penultimate incarnation, I elected to install the Fighting Buggy (Super Champ) rear suspension, if only to mix things up from my other SRB based build the SRB Cage Racer which features a scale Knight Customs engine out back.


And that is basically how it stood for a couple more years - just sitting there, doing nothing... while I eventually robbed the Scorcher body for my Beetle-Juiced project, although was subsequently re-inspired once I'd built the Optic-al Illusion, and had another Knight Customs Terra Bug nose scaled and printed to fit the front end:


photo. hmmmmm... I think this could be finally something I wanted to finish!

cont.

 

[JMo]

cont.

Now I like to think all this procrastination has been for a reason, and certainly if you've followed either AMPro Engineering or SBG on YouTube in recent years, then you'll probably be aware of the collaboration between AMPro and Knight Customs, who have essentially re-engineered the Sand Scorcher using Alberto's 3D printed chassis and cage (and full interior), together with James' scale engine, nose cone and other bodywork modifications - to create something even more scale realistic, and is the perfect platform for a truly unique build.

While similarly I always intended to have a full interior (and completely hidden electronics), I realised that [easy] battery access would likely be an issue, particularly if the body was screw-mounted to the chassis, and once the internal roll-cage was fitted to my flat aluminium chassis, it was almost inevitable that I'd succumb to the beast which is 3D printed parts, and ask Alberto to print me one of his chassis too - not least as his design utilises a hidden battery compartment built into the base of the chassis, and easily accessed from a door underneath.

The final part of the puzzle had fallen into place!


photo. yep, it was inevitable wasn't it? The front and rear aluminium SRB subframes are tied together with a 3D printed chassis and roll-cage assembly, which is triangulated and braced to provide maximum strength from what are plastic parts.


photo. shorty servo means the steering rods can be mounted in this orientation to essentially eliminate any bump-steer too.


photo. the AMPro chassis/cage/interior offers easy mounting of aftermarket seats - in this instance I've chosen these red examples of the venerable Axial Wraith seats. Note. the bare chassis and cage is straight off the printer here - they will be sanded and primed before painting in a suitable finish, although I kind of like the 'plucked worn carpet' look of the interior floor?


Hard Graft

Of course the other fundamental change would be to the bodywork - and while I intended to retain the overall shillouette of the Sand Scorcher, I wanted to put my own unique twist on things, so hacked off the hood, and grafted on a Terra Bug nose cone instead!


photo. Terra Bug nose was scaled (around -20% as I recall) to line up with the width of the Scorcher body... however, I was still going to have to get creative for the base of the windscreen (if a screen is to be fitted) to maintain a 'factory' style finish.


photo. initial body mock up (note is still on the aluminium chassis here) - the idea is that a Sand Scorcher and the Sand Rover had a bug-eyed baby!


photo. new chassis, original cage - and starting to prep the bodywork for paint. The theme is going to be based on the Baja Designs logo (the original version) and very much an 80's style in black red and white.


photo. the final chassis and cage combo, together with some further bodywork mods - plugging the rear windows so I can install some air-intake vents (the premise being this particular car has a mid mounted engine, not least as there is a huge coil-over shock mounted horizontally where a Beetle engine would be!)


photo. AMPro chassis is a thing of [scale] beauty - I'm looking forward to rusting it! Note the easy access battery door so you don't have to remove the body each time - result!

So that brings this build right up to date!


photo. Stance is improved on the new chassis/cage combo - it was always a little too low before, offering limited wheel travel for what is meant to be an off-road racing car of course!


The next stage is to finish sanding and priming the body, then fabricate some kind of mounting bracket to secure the front clip to the cage (fortunately there are a pair of suitable screw holes already in that hood design), since the stock metal clip around the cage actually appears to be more than sufficient to secure the rear of the body.

I'll also need to prep and paint the roll cage of course - and I'm thinking leaving it bare 'metal' in this instance for contrast. I'm actually tempted to leave the chassis and interior floor as it is, perhaps with a flash of flat clear over the top to protect it, while I plan to trim the door cards with aluminium diamond plate and fabricate my own 'racer' inspired metal dash too - although fortunately Alberto did include his exquisite resin printed instrument dials to add some further scale detail to the interior.

So stay tuned for further updates soon... I've finally got my mo-jo on with this one!

Toot toot!

 

[Jii]

Nice bug!

 

[Kear]

It's always interesting seeing the iterations of a build like this.
From tryin' to push the boundaries of a design to ending up back with what you were trying to modify away from in the first place, because annoyingly sometimes the option that works the best is the least interesting.

Buut that floor pan looks pretty sweet, certainly a lot more room for horrors- I mean uh- an interior than the original Tamiya parts. And that Terra Bug nose job looks pretty good! I especially dig the vibe of just cutting some big holes in the hood for a pair of LED pods instead of actual headlights.

 

[JMo]

It's always interesting seeing the iterations of a build like this.
From tryin' to push the boundaries of a design to ending up back with what you were trying to modify away from in the first place, because annoyingly sometimes the option that works the best is the least interesting.

Buut that floor pan looks pretty sweet, certainly a lot more room for horrors- I mean uh- an interior than the original Tamiya parts. And that Terra Bug nose job looks pretty good! I especially dig the vibe of just cutting some big holes in the hood for a pair of LED pods instead of actual headlights.

Thanks - yes, as I mentioned in the introduction, I'd have liked to try and retain those Kyosho metal trailing arms (version 4), although practically speaking, they were comically wide when using SRB wheels and hubs unfortunately... plus the [necessary] transmission layout really compromised the 'engine' location from a scale perspective.

fwiw. I still think there would be some merit in my very first iteration (not shown above, but in the link to TC) which used a pair of metal chassis rails and a longitudinal mounted motor - however, with a live axle that wasn't practical unless I'd mounted the engine up under the hood and only used the silhouette of the Beetle as it were, and which is essentially what I ended up doing with my Beetle-Juiced hot rod of course.

As for the front end styling of this build - yes, a pair of traditional spot-lamps (a la Rough Rider or Sand Rover) would have been the obvious choice, but since I'd always intended to have this painted in a 'Baja Designs' livery (as I have some suitable decals for the sides), I felt that the more contemporary Squadron pod style lamps was more appropriate, and I might even add a [branded] light bar above the windscreen too - we'll see.

 

[JMo]

A quick update while I wait for some more paint to arrive:


photo. printed cage was reasonably smooth, but still needed quite a few layers of primer and some [more] 'bare metal silver' paint before I'm properly happy with it - fwiw. I'd love to be able to print parts like this in actual metal, but I imagine the cost of such would be prohibitive.


photo. body is primed and masked ready for top-coat, although again I still need to add some 'bare metal silver' in a few places for the mildly weathered look I'm planning for this build. (note leftover Vanquish door handles repurposed for added detail on the re-re Scorcher shell).


photo. aggressive rear fender cut and Super Champ cantilever rear suspension mixes things up from the usual Class-5 Sand Scorcher look (as does the Terra Bug nose-job of course!)

More soon - I'm currently working on the front body mounting bracket and custom dash assembly, together with cutting some aluminium checker-plate door cards... this thing is going to weigh a tonne!

 

[AtlasVN]

Cant wait to see this finish