How To Build A Sheet Styrene
CHAPARRAL 2J 
Yes the infamous "SUCKER CAR". from sheet styrene. You might have run across this on other sites as I have over the years. Me being the CHAPARRAL NUT that I am, I have a couple of these cars already but both in vacume form. i`ve entertained the idea of trying this myself but there was never enough information to get me going. well finally with a little extra time and searching around i`m going to do it!!!!! And as I go along i`m also going to try and make this as informative as I can so someone else may have the courage to give it a try.
Items we will need...
1. exacto knife (new blade)
2. small sharp pair of sizzers
3. .040" sheet styrene
4. .030" sheet styrene
5. .020" sheet styrene
6. Plastistuct Bondene (glue)
7. printer
8. card stock (paper)
9. pocket scale (or any straight edge ruler)
10. pencil
we`ll start off with the "PLANS"
These plans are not sized, so you need to print this picture and size them acordingly. The side panel should measure 4 5/8" end to end. This is close enough for me. The wheel base will fit the standard Fly Classic Chevron chassis. this single plan sheet is all you will need for all the parts that are nessasary for the build. but you will need 2 copies. print both copies on card stock paper as this will be stiff enough to use as templates.
Part-1.
cutting the first 3 peices needed. after you print the 1st plans sheet take sizzers, exacto knife, and the ruler and cut out these peices.
now take the 3 peices and lay them out on a peice of the .040" styrene and trace with a pencil around each one. you will need 2 of the side body panels.
next take a pair of sizzers and a exacto knife and cut the 4 parts from the styrene.
next we will take the same body side peice we cut out of the paper and cut out the door and front wheel openings with the exacto knife. after this is done take the template and lay it on top of each of the 2 sides we have cut from the styrene and trace the door and wheel openings on them. this is just easier done now while flat, rather then after the sides are glued together
now take the 2 side panels and the exacto knife and scribe lightly the areas shown here. this will aid in bending the styrene around the front later. you can also use the exacto knife to scribe the door lines and body lines at this time.
now we`re all set to glue the first 4 parts together.make sure all the glueing is done on a flat surface as to keep the body from twisting.
Part-2
now we`re goint to cut our top part and the bottom bulkhead.
take your plans and with the sizzers cut out the rest of the top section. after this is done you can use the exacto knife to remove the drivers compartment and the front cowl area. for this we`ll be using the .030" styrene as it will make the bend over the front easier. make sure to save the cowl area that you remove,we`ll be using it later. now with this same template we`ll be tracing from the 2 red marks forward. do not cut out the air intake area we want this part solid across the front. this part will be cut from .040" styrene.
here are what you should have after these parts are cut from the styrene.
ok now that we have the parts ready to use, take the parts already glued and the bottom bulkhead we cut.place the bulkhead inside the front of the body.(some sanding will be needed to get the width correct.now place the bulkhead so when you bend the 2 fenders around it they will both stop flush at the end of the bulkhead. put a mark inside the body on each side so you will know where to glue it in.
while holding the 2 sides against the bulkhead add some glue to both seems and hold for a couple minutes, or until it`s set.
now you can bend both front corners around and glue them in place. a little scotch tape will aid holding them in place till dry.
after this all dries well we can now place the top part in place and apply the glue to the seems.we`re only going to be gluing the flat area at this time. because we`re going to be making a serious bend in the front and we want to be sure the glue sets well.
TO BE CONTINUED ...........