# Vacuform bodies?



## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Does anyone do vacuform bodies out of stuff other than lexan?, something like thin plastistruct? Any ideas or methods?

Rich

www.myspace.com/northtexasslotcars


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

Rich, I use .010 PETG, available from Tower Hobby for $5 a pack of 3 sheets. I can get 12 cars per package with my vacuformer. PETG differs from "lexan" in that it will take and hold regular hobby enamel paints very well. I've been using it for a very long time, it had a low melting point and forms well. And it's really durable, some of my bodies are still racing 25 years later. I personally have some bodies I drew 18 years ago and I still race them. I also hand make my own molds from scratch.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

How do you make your own molds? What kind of vacuformer? I have one I picked up about ten years ago, but its a toy, and doesnt work very well. I figured if I could modify it, it may work better, but I would like to get a better one altogether.

Rich


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## shooter8115 (Apr 21, 2008)

This sounds very cool


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## Dragula (Jun 27, 2003)

I punched out a ton of lexan AFX 57 vette bodies using a mattel vac-u-form,with clear sheets made for the Mattel unit by Ron Callari modelworks on ebay.i picked up the mattel unit for 2 dollars at a flea market,then scored another for 5 bucks a week later!The mattel unit does 1 at a time,but works fantastic.
DRAGjet


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

NTxSlotCars said:


> How do you make your own molds? What kind of vacuformer? I have one I picked up about ten years ago, but its a toy, and doesnt work very well. I figured if I could modify it, it may work better, but I would like to get a better one altogether.
> 
> Rich


My original vacuformer was hand made in 1985 and was sold as part of a package when I sold out my HO stuff last year. My new one is about the same sort of design. 










The mold I do are often built up on old broken chassis, like the A/FX sprint cars. This is my original design sprinter from 1985 and a 1988 midget mold, both were sold last year after being updated.










I also did NASCAR stockers, super mods and a Daytona Prototype car that saw limited production but extensive action, especially in the Bakersfield area.










Again, these molds were hand build from sheet styrene, expody and modeling putty for the most part. The last mold I made last year was a Copper Classic style sprinter that fit the Tomy Turbo chassis. 










I made a total of 30 of them and the mold was sold off with my Empire. I have 3 of them left, one painted and two unpainted.










You have to be pretty careful here, there is a kid named Dunk that has been trying to sell non-working vacuformers on e-bay as well as taking other people's molds to make and sell for himself. The guy that has all my old molds has offered to return some of them but the new ones I'm making are better designed, as is the vacuformer. I gave away most of my stock to guys that wanted to race my designs, something I'm sure I'll do again once I start drawing cars again this fall.


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## PD2 (Feb 27, 2003)

Pete McKay said:


>



This is one SWEET car! I love Martini racers and definitely love DP's/LeMans looking cars! You have got to draw another body like this, paint it up and sell me one bro! Too cool!

PD2:thumbsup:


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

That one went to Washington, not sure who wound up with it but last I heard it hadn't even been mounted yet. The Odyssey was my first WSC style body and had an R/C car type wing you added to two posts on the back. I had engineered some deep radiator vents in the front to give it a stiffer front end. With a lot of lexan bodies you hit something, the body flexes and then you have pick up shoe issues. With this car the body didn't flex as much and was designed to keep shoe damage to a minimum. 

I did a late model for the T-Jet that was sort of the same thing except that it had an aerodynamic fixture on the front fenders that kept the body from bending at that point. It was pretty generic, this example was done as a Dodge but I also had a couple of Fusions I ran. 










I also made an open wheel indy style body for the MT/XT chassis that used the stock pot handle chassis tabs for mounting. 










This was a huge seller, I made probably over 200 of them and sold them worldwide (Switzerland, England, Italy and Japan) as well as had a complete series for just this body. Again, the wing was a seperate piece.


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

You do some nice work there Pete


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## Dunk21 (Mar 23, 2007)

as for me i've stopped trying to make money off slot car bodies i now have a job and a micro sprint car i'm putting together so i don't check in as much anymore


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Glad to hear it Dunk ...attaboy!


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

I wasn't planning on starting a factory either. I just cant get enough bodies. I want to paint my own collection of nascars from each year, with every body style from the early sixties to the late eighties. Something I could run and crash and damage, and build all over again. Something you couldn't get somewhere else. Does that sound crazy? My wife thinks I'm sick. So.


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

I've taken one of the Monte Carlo sotckers I got from Bob and have been building it up as a CoT vacuform buck. No pics yet, but when I have some drawn examples I'll take some. I've been busy with my LifeLike series lately, too busy to even complete my new vacuformer. I have been ramping up for a late summer/fall return to vacuforming though.


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## fordcowboy (Dec 27, 1999)

Pete what is petg plastic. would you give the part # to us . thanks alot fcb


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## fordcowboy (Dec 27, 1999)

*help*

Bttt:drunk:


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

Just for FYI: PETG is a glycol modified PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and is a copolyester similar to ABS, but with a lower melting point than PET. You use it every day in products such as clear Pepsi bottles and bubble packaging.

Material Specs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PETG

Tower Hobbies .010" plastic sheet:
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXR781&P=0


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## Montoya1 (May 14, 2004)

Pete - You still going to do some Toyota 88CVs?


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## Yoshi Nagura (Feb 9, 2008)

Montoya1 said:


> Pete - You still going to do some Toyota 88CVs?


Ditto.


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## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

Pete was my inspiration for building my own vac u form machine.

I run a restaurant,and we have these one pound lexan to go containers,for salsa and that kind of thing.

I always looked at the lids for these things,they are about 4 inches across,and also lexan,and my little Rube Goldberg type brain said to me many times over that I could make slot bodies out of these.

Well,I made a pretty swift contraption out of a pvc floor drain,some pvc fittings,and one of those Orek hand held vacs that that bald guy picks up bowling balls with on the TV.

I made a few bucks out of plaster of paris.I used modeling clay,found a diecast car that I wanted to make into a body,press it in the clay and make a mold.

At any rate,I heated the plastic with a hair dryer in the jig with the buck,got the lexan soft,turned on the vac,and it worked.

The lexan is just a wee bit too thick I think.The hair dryer takes awhile.If I got a heat gun,it would probably work a whole lot faster.
But the nice thing is,I could care less about the weight factor,is that the bodies are pretty much indestructable.
I can live with the .0005 slower lap times.

At any rate,if you are the clever do it yourself type,you could walk around Home Depot or Lowes and find the stuff you need there to make a former on your own.

Petes the man tho.He does nice work.

Mike(Ice9)


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

E-mail sent, sorry, I was self involved this last week. Yoshi is dating my oldest daughter and I had to go gun shopping.

Deane, yes I do as well as a few others. I'm trying to give the rest of the summer to finishing up my current racing series then doing the kid's open wheel series. Look for me to ramp up production in mid to late September.


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## coach61 (Sep 6, 2004)

Mike(^RacerX^) said:


> Pete was my inspiration for building my own vac u form machine.
> 
> I run a restaurant,and we have these one pound lexan to go containers,for salsa and that kind of thing.
> 
> ...


So Mike if i stop in for lunch now to go, I get a Vac body on top...? sounds like a slot heads heaven.. munchies and a body lol...

Dave


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Hey,
I could use the sides of empty windex bottles!!!! No, for real, we could go green with this vacuform thing. The packaging of tomy cars, 2 liter bottles, cd cases, it can all be recycled into slot cars!!!!! Just imagine it.

WHat else could we use?????????????


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## coach61 (Sep 6, 2004)

NTxSlotCars said:


> Hey,
> I could use the sides of empty windex bottles!!!! No, for real, we could go green with this vacuform thing. The packaging of tomy cars, 2 liter bottles, cd cases, it can all be recycled into slot cars!!!!! Just imagine it.
> 
> WHat else could we use?????????????



Your Tyco bodies..lololol...:wave: J/K

Hey I am off Friday ( So far) you guys racing anywhere?


Coach!


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Yeah Coach!

Friday night we are racing at Mike's Hobbies in Carrolton. About 7:30....ish. Take i35 south to the exit before Beltline. On the service road, just as you get to the ramp exiting for Beltline, it's on your right. See you there!

Pics from last week are on the slide show.
www.myspace.com/northtexasslotcars

Rich


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## coach61 (Sep 6, 2004)

NTxSlotCars said:


> Yeah Coach!
> 
> Friday night we are racing at Mike's Hobbies in Carrolton. About 7:30....ish. Take i35 south to the exit before Beltline. On the service road, just as you get to the ramp exiting for Beltline, it's on your right. See you there!
> 
> ...


Send me a email at [email protected] and I will do my darndest to come down and get my ass kicked.. lol.. what will be running? will have to dust the cars off. whohoo!:woohoo:

Dave


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

We're running all vacuformed bodies. The one with the most fenders left wins!


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## fordcowboy (Dec 27, 1999)

thanks for the help Pete. fcb:wave:


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## Dunk21 (Mar 23, 2007)

richard kipp used to use antifreeze containers for nascar bodies


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

So he had a Kyle Petty 1990 Peak Pontiac?


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Here's an article on building your own vac box a friend did for a site I used to be an editor on.

http://www.largescaleplanes.com/tips/RatoMarczak/jigs/vacuumform.html


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## Pete McKay (Dec 20, 2006)

I have a camera that will record video now so give me through the weekend and I'll see if I can record the process. Right now my kitchen...er, workshop is a wreck from Thanksgiving. It's not as hard as you think, you can use something as simple as a favorite diecast car.


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## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Looking forward to it!


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Lookin back through the archives. I pulled this up because I'm lookin for some replacement 
glass for my Tyco 512M. Anyone out there vacuforming glass?


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## basement racer (Jan 22, 2010)

*youtube*

Check youtube.You can find videos on just about anything.




BR


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

*My Original Vac-U-Form Machine*

I bought this around 1989-90 and traded it away when I got out of the business of making clear bodies. I do not have the company's name any longer, but I remember they were made in Chicago. Does anyone recognize the unit and if they are still made? I paid $200 for this new back then and it did a 8"x12" area. They had a larger model also that did 12'x18". It worked great too.

-Paul


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## bobwoodly (Aug 25, 2008)

I bought a dental Vacuum molding Machine on ebay for about $120. The working area is about 4"x4". I've just used the heating element to bend some polycarbonate around small molds. I've only tested the vacuum capability so far. I have not vacuformed any windshields yet since I am doing convertible windshields and they are easier to precut and heat rather than wasting a whole piece of plastic on one small part. I do have a couple of Atlas hard tops that I think will make great candidates for vacuforming but wanted to make multiple molds so as to not waste the polycarbonate making 1 or 2 tops.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

If I built one. What kind of screen surface would you recommend?


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