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Has anyone modified a back to the future spinner car?

 
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BeastMaster
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:02 am    Post subject: Has anyone modified a back to the future spinner car? Reply with quote

I dug out the decals I got off phil and found the toy still boxed up. just wondering if anyone has moded one themselves or have seen a moded one?

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superjedi
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, I did the "Spinnerization" of the Medicom car.
It turned out great (if I do say so myself.)

I have to go to work in a few minutes, but I'd be happy to post some pics later if you're interested.
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BeastMaster
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Please do! Smile
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The Loyalizer
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember seeing this article online awhile back. I don't think the article is still there fully, but it had a lot of pics and detailed the whole conversion process.

http://hometown.aol.com/nkw1965/BRSpinner.html

Hardest part of this project is probably finding the medicom car to begin with. They seem to go for a mint on eBay when they come up there.
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BeastMaster
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

really? I better hang on to mine then Wink I'm not sure whether to mod it now or just leave it original. sounds like it's becoming a bit of a collectable!

cheers for the link.
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BeastMaster
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wierd. The ones going on ebay all have yellow perspex windscreens?! not much good trying to mod those Neutral
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superjedi
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 11:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yellow windshield? Shocked That sounds pretty weird. Never saw one with a yellow windshield.

Here are the pics of my converted Medicom "Future Car." It was strictly an exterior, cosmetic conversion. I didn't do any physical mods to the interior at all. The only things I did to the interior were paint it (gray primer like the rest of the vehicle) and paint the strange black and yellow X on the dash. I also measured that oddly shaped depression and added a thin piece of white styrene.

For the paint job, I completely disassembled the car beforehand to make handling and painting the details easier. I used a Duplicolor paint called "Old Ford Blue" for my topcoat. It's darker than the studio models, but appears more like it did on screen, at least to my eyes.

I used a set of Phil's decals as well. They're excellent!

I also scratchbuilt a set of roof lights out of .020" styrene and some miniature Christmas light ornaments. Anyway, here she is.

















Still a couple of things I'd like to do eventually, like adding the single mounted light on the driver's side. But I like the way it turned out.
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BeastMaster
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 4:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

great job superjedi! I think you've persuaded me to mod it after all Wink

I'm particularly interested in the christmas ornaments you used. Can you remember what they were? Thats a tricky part, the siren lights.
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superjedi
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 11:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks! The conversion was fun. I hadn't seen any tutorials or anything (like that other link) when I did mine, so I took some extra time during the disassembly process to make sure I didn't damage anything. . . and to be sure I knew how everything went back together!

The roof lights were made from this set of mini ornaments. I got them at Michael's Arts and Crafts.

NOTE: I don't take credit for this idea. I got it from an RPF member who used the same items to convert his Spinner. Can't remember who it was. Confused



I removed the little 'plugs' on each ornament (they just pulled right off), then snipped the little plastic tab that goes into the 'plug.' Then I laid a piece of sandpaper flat on my bench and sanded a flat surface onto each one.
I then glued the light onto a small scrap of .020" styrene with super glue, and once it dried, I filed the styrene to match the profile of the light and painted each base silver.
The light mount posts and bar were also scratched out of .020" styrene, painted black.

Hope that helps!
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BeastMaster
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

cheers superjedi, I'll be making a trip to ebay on those.

so are you planing to make anymore modifications to it? I had ideas of cutting that small side window piece out and replacing it, but that might be a bit of a headache.

also, did someone here post a link to a really good spinner reference dump?
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superjedi
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 2:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I doubt I'll cut out those side windows. Like you say, too much hassle. The plastic is pretty thick in this area, and being that this is "toy" plastic, and not normal styrene, it's very hard to smooth/sand when it's cut.

Also, regarding this type of plastic, since it is a different type than normal models, it's VERY important to make sure the parts are free of oils before painting. After I disassembled the car, I washed all the parts with mild dish soap before priming. Make sure to use a good quality primer as well, and use light coats. This type of plastic has a tendency to make your primer "bead up" on the surface.

As I mentioned, probably the only other mod I'll do is to make that rail that runs up behind the driver's door with the single light on top. An interesting thing about the Medicom car: if you look closely, there are some odd indentations where some of these add-on lights would go. It's as if they started designing places to put the lights, then wound up not including them.

I wonder if their originally intended to market this as a BR vehicle, but couldn't get the license.
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The Loyalizer
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

superjedi wrote:
I wonder if their originally intended to market this as a BR vehicle, but couldn't get the license.


That isn't the first time I've heard that theory, I think they went with the BTTF license as it was easier to get, and the spinner does appear in the film. Might also have been a cheaper way to license it.
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Masao
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 11:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Any good sources of these??
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The Loyalizer
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There's always a couple of them being sold on eBay, usually from some guy in China or Singapore. Occasionally some turn up, but usually they end pricey. I always check the hobby/collectibles shops in Japantown whenever I'm there, but so far no luck.
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Masao
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 10:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe some enterprising individual will cast a few up.
Wink Wink Wink
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BeastMaster
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 5:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

All the ones I've seen on ebay so far have yellow perspex windscreens for some reason Confused

Not sure if I should mod this up now. Looks like they could become quite collectable Rolling Eyes
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