TRADITIONAL SHAOLIN SPITFIRE (Wu Tang Forever)

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Found a couple goodies while I was out today. Might need to mount this up with the speedo 😉

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I see by that gauge, you'll be running on fumes. That seems normal for Wu-Tang (just a different kind of fume :D )
 
If you've been following my build since early on, you may vaguely remember the day I found this little RC unit at 'Wally World'...

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@kingfish254 guessed I may be going for a 'Killa Beez' headlight... he was close.

When I found it, I thought, "What if I could make this into a tank?" 🤔

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I began by removing the wheels. Then, experimenting with the positioning and seeing whether or not my knees would have clearance with the wings.

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The wings are fun, but I decided they have to go (for the time being). Now I'm getting excited, because this is looking really good!

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And then...VOILA! If I can suspend it and make a 'floating' tank, the curves all fit in the pocket of the cantilever...like it was meant to be 😍😍😍



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I really do like that there!
One more idea. Put the axle back in and trim it so that it doesn't protrude much from the body at all. Then attach some flat WuTang discs to each side. You'll have RC controlled spinning tank logo discs.
 
I really do like that there!
One more idea. Put the axle back in and trim it so that it doesn't protrude much from the body at all. Then attach some flat WuTang discs to each side. You'll have RC controlled spinning tank logo discs.

Great minds...

Stay tuned for more journal entries. I've been working on it for a while, but trying to pace out the posts. 😉
 
If you've been following my build since early on, you may vaguely remember the day I found this little RC unit at 'Wally World
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"He said Walmart, boss. Are you sure you don't need to get your hearing checked? It gets loud doing crime, and hanging out with Prince isn't helping."
 
I really do like that there!
One more idea. Put the axle back in and trim it so that it doesn't protrude much from the body at all. Then attach some flat WuTang discs to each side. You'll have RC controlled spinning tank logo discs.

That was my initial idea. Because the controller is remote, I was thinking of ways to mount the toggles and circuit board in a different housing so I could activate the 'tank' while riding.

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There are a lot of moving parts (literally and figuratively) within the bee itself, so electronics are still on the table. But we'll put a pin in that for now.

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I still wanted to emulate wings, of some sort, after removing the originals. So I thought, why not try a flared header pipe on each side? Because the original axle is a bit involved, I decided to start with my own axle setup that I could mount the headers on.

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Initially, I was going to insert a threaded coupling into this pvc tube. I would then cut the 'S' shower arm in half and thread each end into the coupling, giving me a swoop-back header pipe. However, the threaded ends are different diameters, and the pvc tube fits exactly inside the bee. I needed the caps to be on the exterior so I could tighten the pipe in place.

So then I started thinking about alternative wing-type elements that would be symmetrical with a finished look. Door handles maybe?

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I was thinking about headers and grills, blowers and igniters... how can I do this in a way that looks functional. That's when I hit plan B on the plumbing supplies.

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The wing nut is functional but not final, on this, but I wanted to see how these drain cages translated. I liked where this was going...

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Ok. Now that I have a vision for how the axle channel will be capped. It's time to make this bee look more congruent with the frame.

STEP ONE:

Tape it up.

STEP TWO:

Silver Surfer
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STEP THREE:

Tape it again.

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STEP FOUR:

Ultraman

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STEP FIVE:

Scuff it up.

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STEP SIX:

Method Man



We're getting closer.

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You could make it look like the Dodge Super Bee

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A slight rewind in the process.

After gutting the bee, fitting the cages, and playing with positioning... I decided to keep the original axle housing, and just make new axle bolts.

So I trimmed down the sink caps.

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Then I pulled out the gearing for the wheels and put the caps in their place.

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Electronics are still a very likely option at this point, but again, a pin in that for now.

Things are lining up, and fit pretty well so far.

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