These bodies, when fully detailed, and with some reinforcing, approach the strength of their hard plastic body counterparts, plus have the ability to get realistic body damage.
F-350 Box-Art Build - Page 1
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These bodies, when fully detailed, and with some reinforcing, approach the strength of their hard plastic body counterparts, plus have the ability to get realistic body damage.
Let me start by saying thank you to everyone who has watched these bodies mature since that first one on eBay – especially my customers. I still have the very first body I ever made, back when all I had was 0.005" aluminum. Since that first body, I have increased the thickness of aluminum three times, up to 0.01" and refined my technique to make the strong quality bodies I am making today.
To showcase the current bodies, I am going to take the first body made from 0.008", an F-350, and take you through the steps from newly made body to a finished body that nearly rivals a hard plastic body in strength, then we’ll take it out for some video!
I will be taking an off the shelf aluminum F-350 body, adding some reinforcement, finishing it to a box-art finish and then taking it out to get some trail-rash. These bodies are not drop-in replacement bodies, meaning it takes some finishing on your part to complete it – similar to how lexan bodies require you to cut out wheel openings, body post holes, paint, etc.
Also, every body is made by hand so the body panels may not be perfect, and the panel gaps may not have Mercedes like uniformity, but I try! The body I will be finishing is a typical example though of what to expect. You can make your windows, bumpers, grilles, etc as is shown in the tutorials or you can use pieces from a similar plastic body.