my RC Model 3 hits the road!

[BigBird271]

The whole having to wait for my Model 3 thing finally got to me about six months ago (plus I got board one day) so I started building my own, albeit in 1/10th scale form! It took about 5 months of afternoons and occasional weekends to produce the mold to make the body with. After that It took a fair amount of trashing Lexan sheets to learn how to vacuum form a presentable body, only to go beat said body to death on the race track in short order. LOL. Good thing I'm better at driving real cars than I am at driving radio controlled cars otherwise we'd all be in trouble! A few days ago I produced another body, painted it and took some pics to share including some with a real Model S on display at the Walnut Creek Gallery (huge shout out to your awesome staff there BTW they really are a first rate crew!) Anyway enough of me yapping here's the pics!

 

[Red Sage]

A nice try. No pictures of the 'skateboard'...?

 

[Mkorpal]

Still one screen, canceling reservation.

Edit, but seriously, nice.

 

[Beckler]

Does this count as a Model 3 sighting?! We better start a 60,000-post thread about nothing - just in case.

 

[JoaoD]

Here you have the confirmation that a metal roof will be an option! Never though it would be so big, but hey!
Nice work!

 

[BigBird271]

Thanks for the complements! Yes I think we can call this a model 3 sighting but since this also confirms that a metal roof might possibly be an option I think it's worthy of a 90k+ post thread and no less than 5 news stories about nothing. With the right controller you can have TWO screens and smart phone compatibility with telemetry if that's your thing....that should be worthy of a site crashing thread and a few dozen news stories LOL! Last but not least I compressed a few more pics including some of the "skateboard" and a few taken at the Walnut Creek gallery over the weekend. Enjoy!

 

[JeffK]

When are you going to add autopilot?

GitHub - hamuchiwa/AutoRCCar: OpenCV Python Neural Network Autonomous RC Car

 

[tracksyde]

So that makes this a Tesla Model 3 P37D right? 37Wh that is (assuming it's a 5000mAh 7.4v LiPo battery).. although its AWD there is only 1 motor.. so many the D designation is wrong?

 

[BigBird271]

An autopilot on an RC car that small, all I can say is WOW!!! Bet you anything that guy is working for Tesla now! As far as the battery goes it's an old 3,300mah NiMh that's on its last legs so I'd go with the car being a P24D (23.74 watts) but I'm probably going to hit up RC Country Hobbies in the near future for a few new LiPo's. Come to think of it here's one to wrap your head around: Back in 1995 (give or take) the best RC car battery you could get was a 6 cell, 7.2 volt, 1.5Ah (10.8 watts) NiCad that cost $17.95 according to the sticker that's still on the battery I somehow still have. Today at about the same size and weight you can get a 2 cell, 7.4 volt, 8Ah (59.2 watts) LiPo with an MSRP of $199.99, and I think there are higher capacity batteries on the market than that. Ignoring the price tags that's a bit less than a 600% increase in battery energy density in about 22 years! At that rate it won't be long befor electric power really does make gas obsolete in every way.

 

[igotzzoom]

So is this going to become like a garden troll thing? Are you going to take a picture of it in every showroom and supercharger?

 

[BigBird271]

While visiting every supercharger and gallery would be an interesting way to see the country I unfortunately do not have that kind of free time. I do however have time to hit up the local supercharger in Vacaville Ca. Enjoy the pics!

 

[Pinot.Noir]

What you need to do is ship that thing around the world to other Tesla owners so they can take photos of it in various Supercharger locations and then mail it to the next guy.

 

[Pinot.Noir]

By the way, I have access to the container terminals where Tesla ships all of their materials in, so we should hook up for a tour of the Port so you can take photos next to the containers and container cranes.

 

[deonb]

So... what does the trunk opening look like??

 

[wallet.dat]

Man, I've been on the fence about getting an XRay X10. I know that I'd smash it into a curb within a week of getting it up and running though

 

[BigBird271]

Pinot.noir, that's a really cool idea, might have to do that but first I have other plans that I think most everyone will find exciting.

deonb, I have been trying to get Tesla to show me the new trunk opening so I could draw in accurate panel lines but strangely they have been very tight lipped about that....wonder why?

Wallet.dat, you're not having fun until you brake something lol! In all seriousness though on road RC cars are extremely durable, I have literally crashed mine 1,000s of times and only ever damaged the body. RC car body's have two jobs: 1) aerodynamics which this one excels at and 2) crash impact absorber which this one also does better than most other body's.

 

[lunitiks]

Is that a D?

 

[BigBird271]

In a manner of speaking yes, single motor with a belt drive to the front and rear wheels.

 

[Red Sage]

Man, I've been on the fence about getting an XRay X10. I know that I'd smash it into a curb within a week of getting it up and running though

Simply... don't race it where there are curbs. Sorted!