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Material Thickness

PostPosted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 9:37 am
by ED209
Will we be able to choose Material thickness of the car thus effecting weight. Have the material thick or thin like a VW bug.

Re: Material Thickness

PostPosted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 10:32 am
by WizzyThaMan
Are you trying to make a tank?

Re: Material Thickness

PostPosted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 10:45 am
by ED209
By thick I mean like the older cars, how you cold hit something with little to no demage.

Re: Material Thickness

PostPosted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 10:22 pm
by WizzyThaMan
Yeah I know, was joking. Old Volvo's had 5mm thick steelplated bodies.

Re: Material Thickness

PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 12:39 am
by Wirenfeldt
this makes me wonder how thick the panels on the one and only Trabant was.. gut feeling says that a 6 year old without a single bone in his arm could punch his way though in seconds

Re: Material Thickness

PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 6:40 am
by WizzyThaMan
It wasnt made of steel. It was made of glassfiber similar thing, if im correct

Quick research has taught me that it's called Duroplast.
Duroplast is a composite thermosetting plastic, a close relative of formica and bakelite. It is a resin plastic reinforced with fibers (either cotton or wool) making it a fiber-reinforced plastic similar to fiberglass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast

Re: Material Thickness

PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 6:43 am
by xABSOLUTIONx
look at japanese cars, older Civics and 1gen Subaru Impreza, they're made out of paper thin steel

Re: Material Thickness

PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 7:11 am
by JussiE
WizzyThaMan wrote:Quick research has taught me that it's called Duroplast.
Duroplast is a composite thermosetting plastic, a close relative of formica and bakelite.

I'm not sure if it is a urban legend or not but I have heard stories from 50s or 60s about horses eating Trabant panels. :D

Re: Material Thickness

PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 7:35 am
by WizzyThaMan
LOL, Haven't heard about that! But, when made of cotton/wool, maybe becomes tasty for the horses? I dont know!

Re: Material Thickness

PostPosted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 2:41 am
by Wirenfeldt
WizzyThaMan wrote:It wasnt made of steel. It was made of glassfiber similar thing, if im correct

Quick research has taught me that it's called Duroplast.
Duroplast is a composite thermosetting plastic, a close relative of formica and bakelite. It is a resin plastic reinforced with fibers (either cotton or wool) making it a fiber-reinforced plastic similar to fiberglass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duroplast


I'm aware.. someone in the area is driving around a green one from time to time, personally i'd love to own one.. still seems like it's about as crash resistant as moist toilet paper.. would still love to own one and do an engine swap.. track beast in the making :P

Re: Material Thickness

PostPosted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 5:27 am
by JussiE
But to get back into the topic (sorry about the OT earlier).

I think material thickness is important because it's true that it has been used in various ways in the past to cut the costs or to make the car more safe or to last longer...

It would also be a nice design choise between safety, costs, how long it will last until it rust away and stuff like that.

So thick material or very very thin material = high costs
Thin material = light but not safe and if not aluminium or "plastic" will rust and break more easily
Thick material = heavy, safe, easy to fix (if we have something regarding fixing/servicing with the body)

Could be an interesting choise for the platform also.

Re: Material Thickness

PostPosted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 6:05 am
by WizzyThaMan
I agree