Reeday

Yeah the basic process once the mould has been made ( Moulds are a mirror of the original part) is to Gel coat which is like a clear paint, then once tacky lay the cloth into the mould wet out with resin either polyester or epoxy then apply your various release films breather etc, then insert into a bag to vacuum all the air out or you can just leave it to set without vacuuming but you've got to very good at the wet lay process for this to be successful. Shells are very easy to make in comparison to other parts as you only have to worry about one side and they are very easy to cut out ( just use a grinder with a thin cutting dics). and yes i would have to buy a some sort of CAD CAM machine to do other parts. Thanks for all your comments this was just an idea to make a little money on the side to help with start up costs for my main buisiness which btw if anyone has is interested in carbon fibre roof skins for and evo 7,8,9 or a scooby ( NOT the new shape one ) then please PM for details.

Just a quick message, please read all this post before commenting, i no half way through it gets a bit day time tv but i've answered questions i'm being asked again, so the general thinking then is that for the weight carbon kevlar shells wouldn,t be strong enough to last as long as the lexan ones? Also manufacturing parts like chassis and shock towers etc is for me and the equipement i have is going to be very difficult so i no alot of you would be interested in parts like these but this is only a side project i a cant afford to invest in the tools i would need to manufacture these parts so for now making shells is the only parts i can make. please everyone stay on topic!

Yeah i think cb6fs has missed the part about kevlar i bet you've never even seen a shell made from a carbon kevlar hybrid cloth, and am sorry but its got to be one thing at once a cant afford to make everyone a test sample to destroy and the traxxas slash is a popular model with a shell that has to protection from shock towers, so for now i think thats the shell al do the development work on if all you guys out there with slash's get in touch with me so i can get some numbers together and start the process. Everything else like chassis's and shock towers will have to wait for now.

Ok so if i made you guys a few slash shells of various different strengths out of fibreglass and sold them to you at say £15 (introduction price) each you'd be willing to pay that for them and give em a good 'test' and hopefully give me some positive feedback, like i said to barnet bashers if one of you guys has a slash shell that you could send me i could probably have the first one made in a couple of weeks.

I get what your saying nick which is why the first ones will be made from fibre glass and sold depending on size for around

Ok so barnet basher just to be clear which shell would you want me to make first and also i need an original shell to start the work i dont mind paying for it my self but if you have a donor shell this would speed things up a bit. Do you want me to make a fibre glass shell first see if i can make it strong and light enough to be usefull, or would it be better to go ahead and make a one layer carbon fibre shell. I have a one layer carbon fibre mini shell that i use for testing new materials on its roughly the size of a small one tenth so if anyone has anything it would fit i could send that out as soon as you like, al try and get some pictures posted on here today probably be later on before i get them one here.

Ok, i see what you guys mean about the price, i think i could probably retail them depending on size at around £50 but i would definately need at least 3 orders for the same shell. Also i can make them alot cheaper by making them out of fibre glass the down side is that for the same strength as the carbon ones they will be alot heavier but i think around £20 would be a reasonable price for GRP. The other problem with GRP is i would need someone to test one to destruction so i could work out how little weight i could get away with in relation to how strong they where, as somebody said for racers GRP is a fair bit heavier than standard plastic so its just question of how many layers will give a good amount of strength in relation to weight. The other problem with making shells purely from carbon fibre is that carbon doesnt have a very good resistance to impact damaged its referred to as its sheer strength so any major impact would probably punch a hole through it. this is why i think that a carbon kevlar hybrid fabric will give the best results. This fabric combines the properties of 2 unique reinforcement yarns. Carbon provides high levels of stiffness and strenght, whereas Kevlar provides huge impact/abrasion/fracture resistance. The hybrid fabric is a little more expensive than just carbon fibre but a high impact and abrasion resistance is surely what you need, i've watched my DB01 do about 40m on its roof down a road and it just destroyed the shell and some of the wiring and chassis, if it had a carbon kevlar shell it would have taken all the damaged away from critical parts, it would however scratch it a fair bit but its nothing a bit of sand paper and some stickers cant sort. Also the hybrid cloth shells would also still be heavier than the standard plastic so i quess these would be more usefull for general bashing than racing, however i think that if i made a one layer carbon fibre shell this is the closest your going to get to the weight of the plastic ones however it would probably be stronger than the plastic but not indestructable but not that much heavier. So really everything is optional i can make shells as strong as you like is just a question of price and/or weight, so if you guys get back to me with your thoughts it would be much appreciated.

The main problem when making carbon kevlar parts is the cost and time to make the mould, this is why i could do with a few people all wanting the same part. If for example i had 4 people that all want the traxxas slash shell then i think a reasonable price would be around

Hi, i am in the process of setting up a company manufacturing carbon fibre and fibre glass parts for the street and race car market, i am based in the uk and because RC cars is one of my hobbys i see a great potential for the manufacture of RC car shells. As you may know carbon kevlar fibre is extremely light, strong and has a high impact damage threshold and would be a great material for manufacturing RC car shells. If anyone is interested please either PM me or reply to this post, if 3 or more people are interested in the same shell i will start the manufacturing process asap.

I think i will probably definitly get the axle extenders, as rolling at high speed is something i definitly do not want to do and could see it causeing many mares! how much are they and where can i get them? As for the other stuff i'll prob just buy the upgrades as and when i break the origionals, knowing me though it will prob be within a week of running it! lol I think i will probably definitly get the axle extenders, as rolling at high speed is something i definitly do not want to do and could see it causeing many mares! how much are they and where can i get them? As for the other stuff i'll prob just buy the upgrades as and when i break the origionals, knowing me though it will prob be within a week of running it! lol <BR><BR><BR> I think i will probably definitly get the axle extenders, as rolling at high speed is something i definitly do not want to do and could see it causeing many mares!&nbsp;how much are they and where can i get them?<BR>As for the other stuff i'll prob just buy the upgrades as and when i break the origionals, knowing me though it will prob be within a week of running it! lol

This will be my first petrol RC car so i'll probably go easy with it to start with, just want to know if there are any drive train issues as this is the main reason im getting rid of my 1/10th electric as ive been through countless gears and shafts etc. As for the baja shocks, is there a heavy duty upgrade available?

Hi, im looking into buying a second hand hpi Baja, was just wanting to know what the general problems, things that will break with these are? I want to be able to ask the seller questions about this, so i dont end up getting one with a knackard drive train etc... All advice is greatly recieved. Thanks

I run TRX connectors, but if space is tight in your chassis ie you need to run the wires through some kind of hole then the deans connectors are smaller, but for sure TRX are easier to solder as you take the contacts out.

Yep ive already stiffened the suspension, but it still not enough ground clearance for my liking, does anyone know if the offset on the traxxas slash wheels is different front to back?

Have been looking at the losi 8 e, and i would probably go for that if i had the readies. The RTR model comes with the losi xceleron system with a 2200kv motor 550 size, is this going to be as good as the 770 size mamba monster max?