[WIP] [MOD] Dodge Charger '69 - Low chassis modification of 41999 Boss Crawler

[Void_S]

Hello everybody! A long time ago I got my 41999 and decided to turn the hull back to the car that it was initially - a classic American muscle car. Initially it was just the same car with a lower chassis, but I preferred to make it more authentic and more detailed MOD (and a bit MOC  ) saving as much as possible original solutions and parts. There were a lot of speculations of the exact model (41999-question), but I like Dodge Charger R/T 2nd generation ('68-70), so it's the final target and magic has been started...  

First of all, I started with modifications of 41999 Crawler. It's a great model and I was just happy to see how Egor turned the car shapes into the curved panels, but Boss Crawler was too high, so lowered the chassis by 4 studs (removing the bottom section with Servo and two 5x7 frames), added a front axle with an independent suspension and a rear live axle. Both of them uses a shorter shock absorbers, meanwhile the front axles has a torsion suspension in the real live. I've made a draft of it and will add to the model some later... So, the result is following:

v1. The chassis. Muscle Car 41999 MOC v1 Chassis.lxf

v1. A road version. Muscle Car 41999 MOC v1 Road.lxf

I's a default hull with some minor visual modifications, mounted on a lower chassis. However it's still too high, in my opinion.

 

v1. An off-road version. Muscle Car 41999 MOC v1 Offroad.lxf

I liked @efferman's Station Wagon and @NOS_Dylan's modification, that better meets a lower chassis.

 

v2. A major modification.

And finally the better version that I've made so far: even more lower than version 1, wider by 2L and now has a Big Block - fake V8 engine.

 

Spoiler

The rear side. I'm a LED-maniac and try to add some light everywhere - headlights, turn indicators, parking and brake lights, etc. Therefore the first modification was a rear panel - it looked nice, but there were no place to put the LEDs behind the transparent-red tiles. I suppose that it's the part that I've modified more than any other one, but finally I'm seems to happy with the result.

Also you can find some stages below:

Spoiler

1. First, I replaced a black 2x16 plate (a baseplate for all tiles) by the set of 1x2 red tiles like @kescar did here. Not so much, but starting this moment I got possibility to add some PF LEDs.

2. It worked very well, but I wasn't satisfied with a visual appearance, so I turned the lights into the horizontal ones like at '70 classic cars.

3. However it wasn't good enough - too rectangular, so I used a pair of 1/4 round tiles (25269) and put two Bionicle teeth as "bumper claws", plus a couple of 3L liftarms filled the gap between the lights and bumper.

4. Another modification was a better shaping for a bumper - it must be higher a bit and more flat, so I replaced 3-7L liftarms by straight 7L liftarms (the same metallic silver) + 3L liftarm. Also some reversing lamps appeared here. They are also PF LED-ready, why not?

5. And a better look (bot not yet final) appeared once I increased the width by 2L. I just replaced the exhaust pipes later...

The front side. It also has a flat bumper made of a pair of 7L liftarms, with orange parking lights below (yes, they are also LED-ready) and licence plate that fits perfectly between the liftarms when I made the model by 2L wider. One of the most interesting things is the headlights - they looks like the original ones, 

The sides. Hopefully, it looks organic and proportional now.

 

To be continued...

Edited September 15, 2017 by Void_S

[1gor]

that would be interesting if you put LPE V8 inside it 

[kbalage]

Looks really promising, can't wait to see the rest :) Maybe it's just the perspective but the hood seems to be a bit short for a Charger, isn't it?

[Leonardo da Bricki]

So far so good. Maybe its just me, or perhaps the perspective, but the hood seems a little bit short...

[1gor]

2 hours ago, Leonardo da Bricki said:

So far so good. Maybe its just me, or perhaps the perspective, but the hood seems a little bit short...

On second view front hood is some 13 studs long so it could be to short, so I understand your point of view...

[Void_S]

8 hours ago, I_Igor said:

that would be interesting if you put LPE V8 inside it 

So far it has a fake V8 engine, and I don't believe that LPE could fit here...

 

@Leonardo da Bricki, @I_Igor, @kbalage - thank you guys! I'm also not satisfied with a current hood, so I have to fix it and make it longer. Thanks for a note. 

[rm8]

Looking forward, since I am dreaming of making 41999 usual muscle someday too

[Void_S]

@rm8, yeah, I remember, and it's a reason why I decided to try it . I'm also looking forward to see it once, "a dish from the chef".

[Vectormatic]

I had the same idea a while back, just never pursued it because i figured i wouldnt be able to find the parts at reasonable prices

 

The tires look a bit small to me though, maybe go one size up?

[1gor]

10 hours ago, Void_S said:

So far it has a fake V8 engine, and I don't believe that LPE could fit here...

No when I see the chassis (and wheels) LPE wont fit for sure. I thought it would be the same scale as 41999 set but with different chassis 

[Nebulaire]

I agree about the size of the wheel.

Your charger looks like a low rider with those wheels/tyres.

Why don't you try to fit the rear tyres of the 42050 to make you charger like a drag charger ?

[Ivan_M]

Charges from ~1970 uses wheels 215/65/R15 so if he uses wheels 49,5mm the scale is ~13,3:1 and wheelbase 29 studs - so the proportions to length are correct, maybe hood is too high I didn't measure. What you suggest would meand totally different scale. I think it looks good.

[Void_S]

6 minutes ago, Ivan_M said:

Charges from ~1970 uses wheels 215/65/R15 so if he uses wheels 49,5mm the scale is ~13,3:1 and wheelbase 29 studs - so the proportions to length are correct, maybe hood is too high I didn't measure. What you suggest would meand totally different scale. I think it looks good.

Yeah, I tried to copy 1969-1970 original model that has relatively small wheels (even R14 in some editions), so I it was an initial size that I tried and so far it fitted perfectly, especially since this model wasn't a scale model initially. Now I see that I have to check the dimensions and, right, the hood could be adjusted.

@Nebulaire, well, I'd like to make a dragster version as well (ahhh, the wheelie start with burnout by a pair of buggy motors), but a bit later 

[1gor]

30 minutes ago, Void_S said:

 

@Nebulaire, well, I'd like to make a dragster version as well (ahhh, the wheelie start with burnout by a pair of buggy motors), but a bit later 

That could be interesting, but prepare pillows all around