2012.12.16, 09:54 PM
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Reading Pa.
Posts: 4,124
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UID F1 Bumper, Pre-2.4ghz Version...
The wait is over, my final design is in my shop (link in signature below) and it is ready to go!
Now I have made some minor revisions to the design since my testing and I will try to explain them as we go here.
First up, here's my two F1s stylin out with their new gear. The Honda is sporting one of the latest and largest front wings out there for the pre-2.4 chassis:
You can use the existing fasteners for the stock bumpers plus the center one for the tie-rod hold-down:
I dug around in my box of old screws and found two of these beasts. You don't need to have the meaty threads though, stock threads work just fine:
This is where my revisions came in, since I am running an aftermarket alloy tie-rod hold-down, I had to do a bit of grinding to maintain ground clearance. This is not necessary with the new design:
This shows exactly where I had to modify it, once again though... I have revised the design to compensate for these scenarios so you won't have to. On a side note, the black layer of material is only one layer deep so if you grind or sand enough, you will see the white core material:
Here it is, installed:
The ride-height clearance is the same as a stock bumper, in my latest revision though I've increased the ride height by around 0.03" without taking away anything from the strength of the part:
The material is a bit rough and may have enough grit to grab the RCP rails, but that is easily remedied with a bit of sanding. I used a dremel and a steady hand to make quick work of it, just enough to take it down to the white material underneath:
Oh no... the white is hideous! Good thing I have Mr. Sharpie on hand!:
One of my dream sponsors would be Sharpie! I can't tell you how many times I've dressed up little marks and nicks on my Autoscales with these things! (I think a Hot-Glue company would be my first choice though!):
On the subject of testing, I have bashed these pretty heavily over the past 2 days and there isn't a crack in one of them, anywhere from full speed wall smashes down a 27 foot backstretch to driving into a parked car full speed. I'm very confident in the durability levels. As far as performance, well... job one is to protect the wing, body and chassis. That is more than accomplished! Job two, helping the car from sticking into rails?... It does that too! I did side by side comparisions with other aftermarket bumpers and they all start to grab the rail at the same angle of attack. Obviously, any car will do that with enough angle into a rail. But it does protect from straightaway wall brushes a bit better than the others. I had my car full throttle right up against the outside wall with the wheels turned into the wall so slightly and it went all the way down and even made the turn down at the end of the straight against the rail.
The material is very lightweight and perfect for items like this, plus job three was to be able to use the existing stock wing in conjunction with this design... that job was done as well. Also, you will notice a bit more material at the wing mounting points than stock. The countersink screws will find a very snug and sturdy home for themselves in this design. I did have to spin an Exacto in the hole once to get the screw though easily though. I'd rather have a tight fit than loose.
So there it is, my first part for one of my favorite RCs! The new model is already in my shop and ready for sale. Big reminder, this bumper only works for the pre-2.4ghz bodies, I am currently finishing up one for the newer style front wings and I will have it in the shop very soon! I will be posting a new thread for that one too as soon as I release it.
Once again, the shapeways link to my shop is in my signature below. At this time I am only offering it in White and Black, Strong and Flexible. The default material is black so make sure you have it set to what you want when you order! If you want to paint one, I'd suggest the white one. Any questions or comments or even special design requests, please do not hesitate to ask!
Hope you all enjoy it!
No fine print here, just the facts!
I am in no way, shape or form responsible for production or shipping or manufacturing quality of these products. All I can say is that it took 15 days to show up at my house after I ordered it and the quality is top-notch! Shapeways has an excellent record of part quality which is one of the major reasons I went with them for this stuff.
Last edited by imxlr8ed; 2012.12.20 at 12:32 AM.
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2012.12.31, 07:05 AM
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Reading Pa.
Posts: 4,124
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Ok, so the more of these I install onto my club racer's cars, the more I learn.
I just want to be clear here that all of my parts are not really designed to be perfect bolt-on and go parts. It's always a compromise with performance and aesthetics. I just installed this version onto an old-school Kimi F1 body and I had to do a bit of grinding on the nose cone posts down to the wing. The wing mounts to the bumper so there is no need to connect it to the posts on the nose cone. I just ground them down so they could just clear the wings top surfaces when the bumper was installed.
I don't mind doing this and to the racer, the result was way worth it! I just want to be clear on this for all who order these... I'm a racer first, collector second (a very far second) so it's no big deal to me to hack up a body if it means I get a functional result!
Also... I may be revising these wings to help with an issue I came across yesterday. The clear plastic F1 chassis cracks way too easily! One of my racers pulled the primary fairing from the bottom of his car and where the back of the bumper meets the chassis... well, let's just say that my bumper won the battle! There's not a scratch on the bumper but the chassis looks like a shattered piece of glass! I always said something else would fail before these bumpers and I was right. I have a black plastic chassis and there are no cracks anywhere in this area... I think the issue will only be with the clear plastic chassis.
I will more than likely incorporate some kind of flexible area where this occurred to avoid this issue entirely. I will update when I do!
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2012.12.31, 03:13 PM
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SoCal
Posts: 469
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These are great - glad to see new F1 products in general (coolest class there is ) and for sure there was a huge void for a properly protective F1 bumper for pre 2.4 bodies.
As for 2.4 and on bumpers, K's longer bumpers are much better but did not address the snagging issues so kudos there as well...I ordered both since wanna run both styles of bodies on my MF-015 and hoping to get a good fitment out of them which I think I will.
I like these because they retain the original front wings but I'll have to give the winged bumper a try in the near future too once some reviews are in ... with a nicer paint job it should blend in very well with rest of the body.
Good stuff! - F1 Rocks
Last edited by mugler; 2012.12.31 at 03:15 PM.
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2012.12.31, 08:10 PM
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#4
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MINI-Z BODY NUT
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: pa.
Posts: 5,028
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mugler
These are great - glad to see new F1 products in general (coolest class there is ) and for sure there was a huge void for a properly protective F1 bumper for pre 2.4 bodies.
As for 2.4 and on bumpers, K's longer bumpers are much better but did not address the snagging issues so kudos there as well...I ordered both since wanna run both styles of bodies on my MF-015 and hoping to get a good fitment out of them which I think I will.
I like these because they retain the original front wings but I'll have to give the winged bumper a try in the near future too once some reviews are in ... with a nicer paint job it should blend in very well with rest of the body.
Good stuff! - F1 Rocks
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Im getting to see these first hand. I think you will be very happy with looks and durability and function.
__________________
MINI-Z BODY NUT
DG DESIGNS - PN RACING - MANTISWORX
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2013.01.01, 01:16 AM
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Reading Pa.
Posts: 4,124
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mugler
F1 Rocks
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Agreed!
The revisions are still in the works, but it's just going to be some material removal to build in some flex at the back of them. If this becomes an issue for the ones you just ordered, I think that a dremeling of the inner point of the "V" in the back will create the same effect. This should transfer any shock to the sloped mating surfaces and avoid cracking a clear plastic chassis upon collision.
Let me know how it goes... I'm dying to hear some feedback on this stuff!
*UPDATE*
Revisions are complete for all my bumpers, if you want to see where to dremel, just check the models in my shop. You will notice a "U" shape cut into the aft section of them. This should prevent collision energy from transferring directly into the chassis in that area and direct it onto the sloped surfaces only creating a better deflection.
Last edited by imxlr8ed; 2013.01.01 at 02:05 AM.
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2013.01.02, 09:39 PM
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Reading Pa.
Posts: 4,124
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Just in case you didn't catch it on our club thread, here's why this revision was necessary:
Well, at least I'm sure the material is strong enough!
I added the pics to this thread because this is the bumper that caused the damage. I would typically say that because it was Quinny's car that this is just a common occurance with his stuff (his last chassis was broken here too... without my bumper) but because I just replaced this chassis for him around 2 months ago and the damage seems to be pretty localized... I'm pretty sure that this was caused by the bumper.
The chassis was one fresh out of a Kyosho bag, but it was probably around 7 years old. And this was a high speed head-on collision. I'm not in the business of making excuses here, just laying out the facts! I'm actually glad this occurred so I can fix it now.
So if you are one of the two people who have already ordered this, make sure you grind out a spot as shown in my revised models!
Last edited by imxlr8ed; 2013.01.02 at 09:41 PM.
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2013.01.03, 02:02 AM
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Reading Pa.
Posts: 4,124
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I just got done dissecting my Honda to see if it had similar damage. I didn't find anything. There are some tiny chips up towards the nose but these were there before I installed my bumper. The one chip is from running an oversized machine screw into it.
I'm pretty sure theres two things going on here. The black plastic Kyosho chassis is that much more durable than the old clear chassis. Also, I don't think Quinny used the center mounting screw at all. I think this is a tremendous help in keeping the collision forces in check.
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