Project Chaser Ver.2, J Crew Smoke Chaser

Thanks to my great JDM connection Masa (of Team Arai,) I scored mini Japanese RC Drift Crew decals. These are the real thing straight from the team members them selves (with a few fillers from standard decal sheets) We traded our mini "Fire Arai" decals for theirs. I there are any other serious RC Drift Crews from around the world who what to trade, please hit me up at sil40sx@hotmail.com. Maybe we can make a trade and I can rep your team too on my Smoke Chaser...

Check it out...

A big Thanks to Masa, Gil and the Japanese RC Drifters for the cool decals!!!

Smoke Chaser (revisions 3)

Well the Red LEDs for the hood are now in place of the Blue. I think it matches a lot better with the rest of the car. I also have it hooked up to a control unit for a key chain I had. So now I can make it dim or strobe as well.











The Diffuser is also complete and mounted. It is less then half the weight of the original Hot Works one and I think I like the more aggressive look of this one too. I found this strong vinyl/platstic glue, which works pretty good on lexan. I ended up glueing the diffueser straight to the edge of the bumper cut-out. I hope it doen't get ripped off when scraping the walls in drift. But I guess I'll have to see about that one...












I think you can also get a good idea how bright the new tail-lights are now too! =)

Smoke Chaser (revisions 2)

The revisions are going great. Opening up the holes for the custom Vertex-style tail lights really got a light brighter. I also filled the holes with a little shoegoo for extra glow. Plus the custom rear buckets and new flat leds really make it look a lot brighter.


I still need to finish up the mounting for the diffuser, but it looks good so far.
The Red LED hood lights are almost ready too.

p.s. Thanks Masa for the JDM plug http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/chevrolet1128 Sorry it was so dusty. I didn't even notice after the session ' )

Smoke Chaser (revisions 1)

Like I said, I have a couple of ideas to improve my Chaser.

For one, I ditched the heavy Hotworks rear diffuser and started making a light weight lexan diffuser with some left over pieces from Ulys. As soon as I saw the parts, I figured it would work perfect for me.I also revised the LEDs in the hood scoop. Just got some Red Yok LEDs for that. And while I was at it I decided to customize my carbon look with some greddy logos. The next thing I started was opening up the LED holes for my rear Vertex-style light buckets. I am hoping the larger holes will allow more light though and make it brighter. I am also planning to change the rear LEDs to the flat Yok ones as well to get a closer beam to shine though. But first I have to make up some new lighter weight holder/reflectors for the buckets.

Looks are great, but it has to drift well too!

Chaser test run

This past Saturday was a pretty good session. (with great food...thanks Eric!) Plus, I finally got to test out the new Smoke Chaser body. I was kind of worried at first cause it seemed a lot heavier them my usual bodies (because of the inner cover). I was right, it was too back heavy and I felt a lot of understeer. But removing the pre-fab rear defuser helped out a lot. I also noticed the rear tail lights were pretty dim, so I guess there is some more work for me to do on the body. Overall I was really happy witht he new shell though. It looks great drifting and with a few tweeks it was drifting pretty well by the end of the night. The fade looked awesome and you can't beat the look of a couple of Chasers tandeming (IMO)!



So back to the drawing board on building a new lighter weight rear diffuser and rear light buckets... updates soon, I have some more ideas....

Project Chaser Ver.2, Details 3

Here is my LED hood. Seems even brighter then the M on my S14, but I am thinking about maybe changing it to Red. I really like the flat LEDs that come with the new cheaper Yokomo neon kits.
Check it out...

Project Chaser Ver.2, Details 2

Here are some other subtle details that might not be too noticeable but really add to the whole look I think.

Thin painted body lines on the inside of the body, thin chrome trim on the moldings, door handles, and the thing black and chrome window moldings.

I also cut the bottom of the front bumper, side skirts and rear bumper to make it look more like the Speedway Pal bodies. I think it gives a much cleaner look and it seem a lot lower.

This touch also frames the wheels and tires nicely.

The over-fenders also allow me to increase the front and rear track by about 3mm on each side. Besides looking good, this is also functional when drifting. Plus you got to love the deep dish action on the back!!!

(small easy detail, that makes a big difference in the looks.)

Project Chaser Ver.2, It's almost ready!!!

I was going to post up more detail shots before I revieal the new car but I got too anoxious and worked on it all last night. It's pretty much done, I just need to take some nice photos.

It's almost ready for it's internet debut!

Project Chaser Ver.2, Paints done, now for details...

Overall the painting went pretty well. I like the overall street look. I am not ready to show the whole car yet. But maybe you can figure out how it looks from some detail shots.

Here is the font end, with the new deep grill.

and some more mesh for the different cut out vents...












Next task is the lights. (I think I have a pretty good idea for the new LED style tail lights !)

Project Chaser Ver.2, SMOKE CHASER painted hood

Work continues on the paint. Here is the painted hood with the insert. I used Tamiya Smoke in 3 ways for the hood. The Camo, the Carbon Carpet-tape, and the Smoke-Chrome fade...
Next is the Chrome details and the rest of the body color...

Project Chaser Ver.2, Paint, so far so good.

After the heavy masking and putting a light coat of smoke, I decided to do some Camouflage for my new body. But I also wanted it to have more of a street look. So this is part of what I came up with. A mild camo look for the a kind of two tone paint job. I am really happy with the results so far... (actually looks better in person, you can see the different metallics and pearls)

Hope the rest of it comes out good too... Next is the hood vent and then the main body color.
I have decided to nickname this new body the "Smoke Chaser," cause the plan is to use the smoke in a bunch of ways...

Project Chaser Ver.2, Masking, masking and more masking

So I think I know what I want in a paint job, so here goes the masking...

First I masked off the window molding and body molding, then the lower body for the two tone and a little M logo for the hood....
and finally a little paint. I am trying something new using Smoke...hope it turns out okay, cause that was a lot of masking.


Next the backing, that is where we see if my idea will give the effect I am looking for?

Project Chaser Ver.2, more body work

Still not too sure on the paint yet, so I did a little more bodywork.
A diffuser for the rear and a start to the front grill.

(The grill isn't right yet, but it's a start)

Project Chaser Ver.2, Hood

Over the weekend after having a great new year's BBQ session, I got inspired to do a little more work on my Chaser. I stole the hood vent off an HPI FD I had and it came out pretty good....
Now I have to work on the idea I have for the tail lights and start thinking about a paint scheme?

The BBQ session was fun too...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsxSse7wQ_M

Project Chaser Ver.2, Starts

I have decided to retire my white Art Factory Chaser and start a new project.

This time I have decided to follow my own directions by mounting and cutting out the body before painting. (That and the fact that I have no ideas on the paint scheme yet)

Here are some pictures. I like the JDM aero look of the new Speedway Pal LS, so I was careful to cut as little wheel well as possible. I also recycled the wing, mirrors, buckets and overfenders from the Ver.1 Chaser. I did the carbon-DIY to the fenders for a new look. Check it out...