Coelacanth
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2014
I wasn't sure what section to post this in, so I figured this would be the most suitable area. In the RC world, people refer to their RC cars as "rides", so I guess it's the right place. For the record, I think it's silly as you can't ride a 1:10- or 1:12-scale toy, but it is what it is...
I always wanted an RC GN, but other than a goofy 1:10-scale toy of a Buick Regal blasphemously jacked up like a monster truck on huge-diameter Dubz, an RC GN simply doesn't exist. I did come across a 1:12-scale Lexan Monte Carlo body that was pretty close, I figured I could create the illusion of a Grand National, but it would take a lot more than just painting the 'Carlo body black.
I took a bunch of pictures of my own car's details (headlights, taillights, sidemarkers, emblems, etc.) and searched out a bunch more from the Internet, and designed my own sticker sheet, scaled down to perfectly fit this particular body. I used waterproof glossy vinyl inkjet sticker paper. Scaling down and touching up the stickers in image-editing software was the biggest challenge; down-sizing some of the elements to that small a size, it was hard to keep the digital images clear...in fact, I intentionally kept some images larger-than-scale so that they would better show off the important details that distinguish a GN from a Monte Carlo, like the grille, hood, tailgate and fender vent images. I also decided to make stickers for GN, GNX and Turbo T variants of the Turbo Buicks, in case I or anyone else wanted to build those cars.
I'd like to share with you the first convincing hobby-grade RC Grand National, based on a vintage Associated RC12L3 chassis that I resto-modded for modern electronics. It was a project that took me close to a year to complete. I'll eventually take a video of it running but I need to take it to the appropriate track; it needs a very smooth surface.
The paint job was pretty easy...LOL...the windows are tinted mind you, not solid black; and I painted a strip on the front clip at the bottom on the outside of the Lexan to give it a matte black finish, just like the real car's black plastic "chin" spoilers there.
Here's the build thread:
http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=35541
I always wanted an RC GN, but other than a goofy 1:10-scale toy of a Buick Regal blasphemously jacked up like a monster truck on huge-diameter Dubz, an RC GN simply doesn't exist. I did come across a 1:12-scale Lexan Monte Carlo body that was pretty close, I figured I could create the illusion of a Grand National, but it would take a lot more than just painting the 'Carlo body black.
I took a bunch of pictures of my own car's details (headlights, taillights, sidemarkers, emblems, etc.) and searched out a bunch more from the Internet, and designed my own sticker sheet, scaled down to perfectly fit this particular body. I used waterproof glossy vinyl inkjet sticker paper. Scaling down and touching up the stickers in image-editing software was the biggest challenge; down-sizing some of the elements to that small a size, it was hard to keep the digital images clear...in fact, I intentionally kept some images larger-than-scale so that they would better show off the important details that distinguish a GN from a Monte Carlo, like the grille, hood, tailgate and fender vent images. I also decided to make stickers for GN, GNX and Turbo T variants of the Turbo Buicks, in case I or anyone else wanted to build those cars.
I'd like to share with you the first convincing hobby-grade RC Grand National, based on a vintage Associated RC12L3 chassis that I resto-modded for modern electronics. It was a project that took me close to a year to complete. I'll eventually take a video of it running but I need to take it to the appropriate track; it needs a very smooth surface.
The paint job was pretty easy...LOL...the windows are tinted mind you, not solid black; and I painted a strip on the front clip at the bottom on the outside of the Lexan to give it a matte black finish, just like the real car's black plastic "chin" spoilers there.
Here's the build thread:
http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=35541
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