Traxxas

As part of the continued evolution work for the Traxxas 1/16 chassis, I have been looking into ways to stretch the wheelbase for stability and center-of-gravity purposes as well as to give me a platform to improve on the odd proportions defining my body-shell designs.

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After building a new front wing mount I was inspired to make the rXA design a bit more radical. Perhaps a driverless, drone-bot race vehicle. Bodywork is purely about moving through the air...

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Working on an idea for long 'tusks' on the nose of the rXA, I realized I might be able do away with the entire standard Traxxas front bumper and mounting assembly and replace it with a bracket and beam setup (similar to the latest LMP wing mount).

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The ultra-minimal car concept is something I've been working on for a while. Functionally, this body design deals mostly with reducing the drag of exposed chassis components, directing cooling for the ESC and motor, and ensuring good airflow through the front and rear wings. I also want it to be easy and quick to fabricate, so the shell needs a minimum of panels and parts; no enclosed volumes, no roof, fenders, etc.

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A round of refinements tightens the GTR coupe bodywork to a more aggressive and more coherent form language. Nearly every surface of the original concept model has been changed; curved shapes are pulled more taught and angular, simple angular intersections are now radiused to help them flow. The interplay of these forms also creates a stronger connection between the GTR and its cousins, the LMP prototype and ARX off-roader.

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This doesn't need much explanation; all-out hooning on some nicely-graded dirt pads with the Traxxas converted to off-road spec (long shocks, chunky tires) wearing the alpha version of the ARX offroad body.

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To take full advantage of aerodynamic downforce, the chassis needs to provide a rigid foundation for the wing to act on. Previous iterations of my wing mount were prone to flexing. Throw in a crash or two and they would eventually fail entirely.

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Prototyp is celebrating its fifteenth birthday with what is effectively a re-launch: a completely new website, new model designs, and new project cars. All of which deserve a new graphic theme and a new logomark.

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The 1/16 Traxxas VXL is one of very few rocker-arm-suspension R/C chassis available, but even this compact layout still brings a major challenge to creating low-drag, low-frontal-area body designs. The lowest and narrowest possible roofline is defined by three critical components: set high and wide across the middle of the chassis are the receiver box on the left, the Velineon 380 motor, and the speed controller and its chunky motor wires on the right.

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I needed a shell for the Traxxas to keep dirt/rocks/sticks out of the central chassis during off-road adventures. I figured I should make it cool, too...

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The cardboard stock I use is perfect for prototyping parts. It's very stiff and nearly the same thickness as 2mm Stratocore, and it's cheap (well, free with purchase of Bisquick from Costco).

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Toward the end of the GTP and Group C era, the quest for downforce lead some teams to a double-wing setup. Jaguar, Toyota, Joest, Peugeot and many others ran short tails and double wings, usually with massive endplates. The large lower wing was just off the trailing edge of the deck and effectively functioned as an extension of the underbody diffuser tunnel system, while the upper wings tended to be more compact and run at shallower, less-drag-inducing angles.

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The most recent build of the LMP revealed more dimensional problems between the source CAD model and the physical chassis. Since several parts were going to need to be revised, I made the update an opportunity for further refinement of the design concept.

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Most successful livery designs place at least a few colors together to form borders of larger color areas. This makes for more dynamic color transitions and keeps the design from looking like just a bunch of multi-colored panels.

The focus on these Decim8 cycles was to generate more layered and flowing treatments on the TRX LMP.

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It make take a little squinting, but some of the Decim8 outputs conjure reinterpretations of classic prototype liveries: Tulius' Group 44, Leyton House, Silk Cut, even Joest's pink Italya-sponsored car.

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Running more LMP renders through Decim8 . These revisited and refined the intricate color-blocking from the early experiments. Takes a little squinting and imagination to filter out the noise, but some really interesting patterns and textures emerge.

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All the cardboard experimentation I do is leading up to a set of design templates to be used for constructing the final Stratocore components.

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Sad to report that the very fragile prototype LMP body has met its untimely demise. I pulled to the side of the road to make way for a passing car and drove into the couple-inch-deep fermenting algae gunk hiding against the curb around the corner. The primordial ooze dissolved the paper bodywork and cardboard prototype underfloor system; a total loss.

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Test-build of the preliminary tunnel underfloor design. The Traxxas battery boxes angle up from a central low point on the underside of the chassis, so they leave some room for underfloor tunnels that the flat floor wasn't utilizing. The outlet end of the floor, and the rear diffuser, run at about the wheel/axle centerline. Aggressive, but effective...

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Very rough build of the LMP evo body design using very crappy paper... Really just a fitment check and validation for the underlying model, but still can't help but zip it around on the street. This is the first time I've had a complete body, along with a useable wing and full tunneled underfloor running together.

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