Tobbes RC-cars, Kyosho Scorpion, Restoration

Moore

The restoration is in my opinion one of the most fun parts.
To see the car change (from sometimes a complete wreck) into something beautiful is a very nice feeling.
Restoring a car usually takes time, but of course, that depends on what state the car is in and how much it has been "abused".
I am not a "top-restorer" in any way, I just want the cars to look as nice as possible again by using simple methods and cheap tools.

The chassis

To restore aluminumparts/chassis, is not that difficult (that means if they are not totally damaged). To free the parts from scratches I use a very, very fine sandpaper, and for the final polish I use brassbrushes with 0.06 mm or 0.08 mm brushes. These brushes are available in different sizes: bent ones, short ones, long ones e t c e t c. Important is (using the sandpaper) that you work in one direction. If you work in circles, you might see it when you do the final polish. After using the sandpaper and the brush I wash the parts in water with some dishsoap. This removes the final, small particles that are still attached to the parts after brushing them. If not, it leaves fingerprints when touching the parts afterwards. Cars that haven´t been used, like the GEN 3 Scorpion and the COX GEN 5, I decided not to polish, since those cars already were in a perfect condition.


Brassbrushes		Restored chassis (Click to watch larger image)

The body

There are parts that are more difficult than others to restore and to make them look good. I find that the body is one of those things because Polycarbonate/Lexan is a very sensitive material and to remove the old paint is not always that easy. But there are ways doing this without harming or scratching the body. Using thinners is deadly for the body, since this makes it "blind" which means it becomes milky. Putting the body overnight in the fridge, and then shock it with warm water, pulling the old paint off with your fingers makes the old paint come off in a somewhat easy way. (works only if the body has been painted with LEXAN-paint). This procedure can be repeated over and over again until the body is clean. It might take a while, but it works. Another thing is to use sterile alcohol together with a soft cloth, gently rubbing the old paint off the body. It might be that some other colour has been used and it´s not possible to remove it. I´ve had a few of those body´s, but instead of throwing them away I painted them on the outside, like the white body and the camouflagebody for my runner.

The rims

Glue, scratches and wornout colour sometimes makes the rims look just terrible, and finding new ones for older cars can sometimes be very difficult. Putting the rims in boiling water for a short time makes the glue and dirt come off easy, but be careful, since boiling them (the Scorpion chromerims for example) can also remove the colour. Re-painting them with chromecolour makes them look much better again, but to make them look as they once did when they were new is difficult. But using chromecolour is a good compromise that comes out nice even though you might see a little difference. Before painting they have to be well cleaned.

This picture shows a re-painted frontrim compared to the original rear-one.
Click for larger image

The tyres

As with the rims, it also works fine to boil the tyres for a short while. Dirt, glue and other alien substances comes off very easy using a small brush, for example, a toothbrush. I also used rubberprotectant. This gives the tyre a nice, clean surface and also helps protecting the rubber.


Just arrived		Tyres after being cleaned

Plastic parts

The plastic parts can not be polished in the same way as aluminum, but usually it is enough to clean them in warm water and some dishsoap, using the good old toothbrush. Old stickers, glue and so on, can be removed by using the sterile alcohol.

Note:

These things that I´ve been describing have been working pretty fine for me, but I can´t guarantee that it works for everyone. Be careful what kind of paint you use. Same thing with removing old paint: Never use thinners.

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