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LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2014 11:26 pm
by LightninBoy
Given the recent interest in the X3 car design, I thought I'd share some pictures of the other X cars that came before it and lead to the X3.

I build "X" cars as a way to test out several new (to me) design or build concepts in one car. Aesthetics is not a concern so they tend to be a little rough around the edges. The obvious design elements that stand out are the fender designs, but each car has other more subtle elements too.

The X1 (below) was my first attempt to build a car with fenders. I also had my own ideas regarding the ideal fender design, but didn't know how to build them. So this was a huge learning experience to say the least. I built this in accordance to the PWDR "Limited" rules.

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The X2 (below) built on these ideas and tweaked them for the PWDR "Pure Stock" class, which imposes the stock wheelbase and wheel location.

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With the X3 (below), I was again tweaking the fender design. But the primary goal of the X3 was to build a lightweight body even with all the fender additions. This was built according to the NPWDRL "Street Stock" rules.

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Finally, I'll leave you with a picture of another "X3" based body I built later which was more refined. And you can see that even with all that fender material, wheels and axles, it still only weighs .75 ounces.

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Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2014 9:35 am
by whodathunkit
LightninBoy,
Thanks for shareing your X series cars!

It's neat to see how the first X series cars were built and how it came to be the car it is now.
As skill levels improve in designs and the materials used for makeing it.

Whoda.

Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2014 11:17 am
by sporty
LightninBoy,


Mouth watering, savory ! yum yum !

They all look great and thanks for sharing ! the last one, great picture ! and for mentioning the wheel base location.

That last one is looking pretty tasty !..

Sporty

Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2014 2:45 pm
by Vitamin K
LightninBoy's next chassis is gonna have negative weight and will need to be tied down to keep it from floating off of the workbench... ;)

Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 10:34 pm
by LightninBoy
Vitamin K wrote:LightninBoy's next chassis is gonna have negative weight and will need to be tied down to keep it from floating off of the workbench... ;)
That just gave me a great idea. :idea: I wonder if, after I seal up those chasis cavities with monokote, I could pump them full of helium! :lol:

Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 12:03 am
by sporty
LightninBoy wrote:
Vitamin K wrote:LightninBoy's next chassis is gonna have negative weight and will need to be tied down to keep it from floating off of the workbench... ;)
That just gave me a great idea. :idea: I wonder if, after I seal up those chasis cavities with monokote, I could pump them full of helium! :lol:
Man wanted to try that for many years,

Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2014 5:01 pm
by whodathunkit
LightninBoy wrote: That just gave me a great idea. :idea: I wonder if, after I seal up those chasis cavities with monokote, I could pump them full of helium! :lol:
Not sure if the monokote seal to the balsa would hold helium for very long..
If by some reason the epoxy seal to the balsa had pin holes in the epoxy.

:thinking: :idea:
If you used something like a mylar balloon as a blatter filled with helium in the cavities.
And then the monokote cover then maybe.. Just maybe..
You can get that car to float off the work bench.

Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 11:44 am
by Masco
Any chance you know the weight without wheels and axles?

Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 4:27 pm
by LightninBoy
Masco wrote:Any chance you know the weight without wheels and axles?
I don't recall exactly, but in general you can figure wheels and axles will add up to approximately .5 ounces. So that was about .25 ounces without the wheels and axles.

Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 5:48 pm
by Vitamin K
LightninBoy wrote:
Masco wrote:Any chance you know the weight without wheels and axles?
I don't recall exactly, but in general you can figure wheels and axles will add up to approximately .5 ounces. So that was about .25 ounces without the wheels and axles.
Dang. That's...sick.

In the best sense of the word. ;)

Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 4:48 pm
by LightninBoy
This is for you Vitamin K ... since I promised I'd post a pick of my latest car after the league race. So this is "Mojo". As you can see it is based on the X3 design.

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Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 8:18 pm
by Vitamin K
LightninBoy wrote:This is for you Vitamin K ... since I promised I'd post a pick of my latest car after the league race. So this is "Mojo". As you can see it is based on the X3 design.
That's some really nice contouring work on the balsa, there!

Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:46 am
by DerbyAddicted
LightninBoy wrote:This is for you Vitamin K ... since I promised I'd post a pick of my latest car after the league race. So this is "Mojo". As you can see it is based on the X3 design.
Love those fenders! Love the curves.

Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 8:54 am
by Vitamin K
LightninBoy wrote:This is for you Vitamin K ... since I promised I'd post a pick of my latest car after the league race. So this is "Mojo". As you can see it is based on the X3 design.
Just looked closer at those rears: Are those "Puma Weights" in there, or just some kind of shield to block airflow?

Re: LightninBoy X series cars

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 12:44 pm
by LightninBoy
Thanks guys! I'm not satisfied with that picture, here's a better one for seeing the fender detail. The curve there is quite natural, it sorta just happens as I shape to integrate the front trailing fender with the rear fender.

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