We are privileged to be in a hobby that has spanned almost 70 years. Although the golden age of HO has always been thought of as the late 60’s and early 70’s, we have more to play with today, than ever before. The level of design and aftermarket goodies are more plentiful than anything we hoped to see in the “Good Ol’ Days”. Add to that, the variety of bodies and incredible detail we now get from major manufacturers and cottage industries. Those cottage businesses fill the gaps of specific vehicles, variations or oddities that can’t be addressed by the mainstream makers. Whether these are fabricated from resin or Lexan, these offerings allow us to recreate different subjects of the racing and street world and add them into our scaled down version. A lot of these new offerings are targeted to fit specific chassis, having the mounting tabs molded in place. But what if you want to mount your new prize on a different chassis? Maybe your racing club only allows a certain chassis but this new body doesn’t mount that chassis. Maybe the body comes without any mounts, like a Lexan clear body. So what do you do? There are many options to body mounting. You can use tape, tubes and pins, special mounting tabs or even velcro. Today we will look at using double-sided foam tape to mount a resin body. This method also works with Lexan bodies. Tape is the easiest method to use, is cheap and works well on any material. So let’s see what to do in getting a resin body mounted to some wheels and flying around your raceway…
Tools and Tape:
First off, we’ll assume the body is trimmed and properly spaced to match the wheelbase of the chassis to the wheel wells on the body. This method will work on any body or chassis. You may need to examine where to strategically place the tape. We’ll take a look at that later in the article. The tools used to mount the body are pretty common in most slot boxes, nothing special is required. A small pair of scissors, tweezers and a hobby knife is all that is needed, along with a piece of track to set the car on to make sure nothing is dragging or setting too high.
for body mounting using foam tape.
There are many varieties of tape that will work for this purpose. I recommend that you use a commercial grade tape, that being a bit more rugged and less likely to weaken under racing conditions, tire cleaner or lubrication of the chassis. I use a contractor’s grade carpet tape that is a bit thicker has a foam core, along with a picture framer’s tape that is thin, but the adhesive is very strong and durable.
the package on the right is picture framer’s tape.
The picture on the left shows the contractor’s carpet tape up close. The foam is about 1/8th inch thick
and has adhesive on both sides, with a protective paper cover on one side. The tape on the
right is picture framer’s tape. It’s only about 1/16th inch thick and has protective paper on both sides.
This tape has a very strong, durable adhesive.
Now let’s get into the mounting process. Our sample is a Speed Inc. Ford GT40 Mk IV and it will be mounted up on an Auto World Super III chassis. This particular body is a resin cast and uses a slightly longer wheelbase that fits nicely on the AW chassis.
Place the body over the chassis and examine the wheelbase spacing, pick up shoe clearance and look for any places the body may rub or touch on the chassis and adjust accordingly. Turn the body and chassis over and look at the gap on each side of the chassis and body, along the rocker panel area. Estimate the size of the gap to help plan how many pieces of tape will be located on each side. In this case it will be 2 pieces on each side.
The picture above shows the placement of the 1st layer of tape. Because the gap is fairly large, we will use the carpet tape with the thicker foam core. The tape is placed at the lowest point of the chassis, but do not cover or touch any moving or performance pieces. In this case, the tires and adjustable brush tubes are avoided.
The picture on the left shows the body being test fitted after the 1st layer of tape was added. Take note of the size of the gap. This mount will take one additional layer of tape to make a secure mount. The picture on the right shows the removal of the protective paper from the 1st layer of tape. Don’t remove this until you are ready to apply the second layer of tape. This will reduce the chance of dirt or accidently touching the tape and reducing the adhesive “stickiness” on the surface.
The picture on the right shows the 2nd layer of tape in place, layered on top of the 1st piece of tape. Make sure you remove the 1st layer’s protective paper. Test fit the body to the new added layers. You should have to squeeze the tape a small amount so it is pushing against the inside walls of the body.
Once you have the body fitting snuggly against the tape layers, peel the protective paper from the 2nd layer.
Place the chassis in the body shell and get the wheels aligned and clear of the wheel wells. Make sure no other parts of the chassis are rubbing on the body. Once you have everything aligned, give the body a GENTLE squeeze to set the tape in place. Don’t squeeze too hard or you may break the resin body.
You may need to wiggle the body around to get clearance or just to get things lined up straight. I use a #11 blade to wedge between the last piece of tape and the body to break the connection, to re-adjust things.
You can use the method on resin, clear bodies or even mass produced bodies you want to place on another brand of chassis.