Leo's Willy! **SHE'S DONE!!!**

[crashaholic]

Well I must have done something right with Aaron's Yota build because I had another sucker... uh i mean customer ask me to build them a truck and with the holiday's behind us I finally had some time to start it.

This one will be a Willy's similar to the green one i made but with some changes that Leo (Ljk) wanted. This will be leafed with AX10 axles and a lot more scale details, a full exo and tube front fenders, roof rack, tire carrier Etc.

Anyways here is some progress.

I decided to try some aluminum foil from Dick Blick someone showed me. http://www.dickblick.com/zz605/03/ Since I wasn't going to be in for a couple days I started on the chassis. I began with an exact drawing of an original willy's frame I found on the net and scaled it up to fit the body, then shaped the 1/2" square tubing to match



I sliced it down the middle and wire brushed it clean



then I made the front and rear bumpers



The metal showed up sooner than I thought so I started on the body



This metal seems to be the same thickness but is much softer and easier to form.

I was able to get some detail I couldn't before.





Here is a close-up of the grill. It came out better than my previous ones



Once I complete the cab I'll get the chassis set-up and start on the cage. This should be a fun weekend!

[Stormin2u]

Now that is interesting how cool.

[igotit]

sweet build bro!
how tough is the aluminium,after its shaped ?
or is that plastic parts with the foil shaped over it?

if ya dont mind sharing!

[4RUNN1]

Crazy metal work watching this for sure ...

[warnoffroad]

Here comes the drool!

[caymin last]

Watching this closely!

[Bigbadwhitey666]

Just Awesome! Cant wait To see More.

[roverv8]

amazing metal body, it really looks like a true one !!

Keep up the good work

[cambodian tire]

Wow! where did you learn how to do that?! I used to do models and now some scale stuff but that's incredible! Is there some secret group of people that fab only in metal/tin supported by magazines and web sites that I've never been exposed to? I'll definitely be watching Keep up the great work!...Mark

[SpZero]

sweet these alloy foil skinned builds are always amazing!!!

[chevy55]

awsome skills

[cherokee95]

Dang, your builds just keep getting better

[TrueThorne]

thats awesome work!

[crashaholic]

Thanks everyone for the kind words!

Originally Posted by igotit

sweet build bro!
how tough is the aluminium,after its shaped ?
or is that plastic parts with the foil shaped over it?

if ya dont mind sharing!

Once it's shaped it's pretty strong. The Toy panels are much stronger because of the curves but both bodies seem to hold up well to general abuse.

Originally Posted by cambodian tire

Wow! where did you learn how to do that?! I used to do models and now some scale stuff but that's incredible! Is there some secret group of people that fab only in metal/tin supported by magazines and web sites that I've never been exposed to? I'll definitely be watching Keep up the great work!...Mark

I started by using household aluminum foil on matchbox cars about 25 years ago and have slowly progressed into what you see here. No one taught me this (considering I believe i'm the one that pioneered it anyways ) It was something that I just kept experimenting with and evolving over the years.

I do use some techniques from real life body fabrication but there is no secret underground metal RC car fab group that i know of. Hmmm... maybe I should start one!

Well after getting through my honey-do list, I got some more work done on the body.

Started the floor pan using some paper templates I had made up when I first built the flatty

I traced out the pattern on the new metal. Man I love this stuff!8)



then I cut it out



and broke the edges using my "sheet metal brake"




then I moved onto the inner fenders using the same technique



to get the corners I placed the part on the body and worked the metal around the edge



then I made the front floor pan



and glued the pieces together




It's coming along pretty good and I should have the basic cab done tomorrow.

Time to hit the sack

[nataliemorgan]

Nice Job! Very nicely done.. Cant wait for more.