[tamar.nelwan]

Hello Guys

@ Gio:
There are two types of lightweight interiors available for a Bentley Continental GT3:
From Slot.it with code S06-XA1 and from MTR32.com (Milan Tomasek)

@ Munter:
Cutting the center section from the roof alone will save you 1,5 - 2,0 gr. The Conti is a big car with big windows and with the Scalex they're the bullet proof kind

@ all concerned, interested
For the GT3 Open class DiSCA wants to use as much parts from the stock cars as possible.
A tray type interior is a prerequisite to fit the O2 chip and AW longcan Motor, so as that needs to be swapped anyway, we might just as well use a lightweight one.
Stock windows can be trimmed as long as they follow rule 1.2

1.2. The exterior of the body shell must appear original and unmodified from the manufacturers design when placed on the circuit and viewed from angy angle.

So as long as the visible part of the windows is there....

with kind regards
Tamar

 

[tamar.nelwan]

John, for a man with your skills and experience....your absolutly right, the eagle eyed might even be pleased because your (vac formed) windows might even fit better.
However painting window frames and applying a proper windshield streamer to retain the standard look of the windows...
...is a skill that most slotracers still need to master (although most couldn't be bothered

)

As for cutting and grinding the centre section out of the Bentley glass house, yep that also requires some skill.
With the Scalex and Carrera bodies you won't run that much of a risk to break or crack them..as they are bulletproof thick.

But take one of the thin Black Arrow and Scaleauto windows and you might crack them by just mounting them in the body...ask me how I know
Best to leave those untouched

with kind regards
Tamar

 

[tamar.nelwan]

Hello Guys

Here's an update on how to put your Scalex Conti on a Diet. As with all weight loss programs...its a case of shedding tiny bits of weight here and there.
In the Disca testing we like to take things step by step, so on the bottom left you see the weigth of my Conti with the steps taken as Gary described in his earlier post.
Removed the centre glass section and the little bits. Gary's estimate of 21gr with a lightweight interior was spot on.
Not bad for a 1st stage, but considering we'll be up against a lot of light BA bodies that will most likely need balast to achieve 19 gr. time for stage 2.
My preferred tools in such matters...the rounded #22 X-acto blade and these Dremel bits. The thing you want to avoid here is...heat.

In stage 2 there are no big lumps left to remove, so instead of whole grams, you'll have to look for area's where you can shave a few tenths.
Find five of those and you do have a gram less. Its as simple as that. You provide the elbow grease and sweat, she'll loose the pounds (or grams in 1/32

)

On the bottom right you can see where I found extra material could be easilly removed. The area just in front of the rear wheel arches I wanted to thin anyway as here the chassis was rubbing against the body. The door panels were a second area, these are the same as those super resistant Scalex bodies so take out your scalpels and scrape away.
Then there's the back of the boot lid, which in certain areas, is about 3mm thick. This area is best handled with the dremel bits.
Last but not least (and not visible in this shot) there's the roof panel. This is about as thick as Sheffield Steel, use the blade to thin this down.
Takes a while, but when you persevere...the scale will reward you

with kin regards
Tamar

 

[tamar.nelwan]

Hello John, Gio
Here are some pictures.
@ John
Yep, this thread is about a stock Scalex Bentley Continental...and what you can do to improve its handling.
As Gio mentioned these cars are build to Disca GT3 open specs, but even for those who run their Conti at home with the stock chassis and a ssd chip...
Forget about the dremmeling and cutting out sections of the glass...
...spending £5 on a vacformed interior would be the best tune up money can buy.

To the left the Stock Scalex Conti, 91,8 gr unchipped. Middle image stock body with full interior 31,5 gr.
The reason why the Bentley is heavier after the diet than stock is due to the engine swap (Long can motors are 8gr heavier than small can) and O2 bits and bytes (chip & hall sensor 4,2gr)
But most of that added wheigth is low down on the chassis.

@ Gio
Vac formed interior (MTR32) with Scalex rollcage and helmet, 1,6gr. Actually the rollcage is not required by the regs, but hey that extra 0,7 gr is worth its weight as eye candy

Set of Scaleauto procomp3 wheels with inserts 3,4 gr.
Cherry on you diet cake would be a slot.it PA01-54H hollow front axle which would save you an other gram.

with kind regards
Tamar

p.s. @ Gio: I see that we're both using the same scale, I also saw that you have used the evo-6 pod...good!
Dont chop off the arms for the side suspension, I will post on that subject soon

 

[tamar.nelwan]

Hello Guys

@ Gio: That's the advantage of the "smaller" 1/32nd scale.. you can get away with "suggesting" detail rather than actually making them.
So thx for the compliment, but in the close up you can see that all I've done is highlight some of the detail with white primer, (gives that nice semi gloss sheen)
and painted the dash and parcel shelf Tamiya Nato black (actually a very dark grey)
Used the stock Scalex helmet and roll cage, pimped the helmet with some flashes of red and green clear, painted the rollcage with wite primer.

@ Gary:I agree that's why I cut up some heat shrink tubes and wrapped them around the rollcage.

@ William: Vacformed parts are usually 0,1 -0,2 mm bigger as they're formed over a positive master.
This is not a problem for bigger parts like windows and interiors, but for light lenses you will have fitting issues.
Not to mention that cutting such small parts to shape can be a pain in the ass...ask me how I know.

Vac formed windows and light lenses are the items Gary mentioned as not allowed lightning suggestions.
As for the Bentley, the lamp lenses have moulded detail on both the outside and inside surfaces, so if you vacform those you'll loose all the nice inside detail.

with kind regards
Tamar

 

[tamar.nelwan]

Looking good Gio.
I'll see what I can do for your missing fog light detail. I will draw them for the decalsheet I'm going to do for the TA71s Conti.