Happy Holidays and hope you all had a great Christmas weekend! I loved how the Surfwagen turned out. The whole design, flow and style of bodylines. So what do you think? You can post a comment annonymously, but do you guy like the Surfwagens & ”new fresh designs”?
Check out the latest samples of the surfboards! They are the coolest little surfboards on the planet! I’m here at the factory in China and I’m prepared to haul these back to the States in my carry-on! j/k. Our schedule is on track for this premiere release of the Surfwagens. Final approvals have been made and the assembly will take place in the next few days, then the shipment will be expre$$ air to our warehouse. With new tools and constant changes to get the best quality for our new release, I’m ecstatic that it’s finally here!
Above is your Surfwagen shipping box proofs. It turned out pretty sharp! but wow, them surfboards are clean and tight! Very authentic in this tiny scale. That was the goal: getting away from that cheap plastic looking toy boards.
The “Over-Chrome” Hot Pink sample (even at this stage, this is not the final version) Just a few minor changes and QC.
As a note: No FACEBOOK allowed in China, so I’ll keep you all posted with this WPress blog… Final production pics in the next few days. :)
The Evo Drag Bus just got injected with a lot more horsepower! This is the Brand-New EVO SURFWAGEN™. Check out that shotgun blower motor and the stamped brass plate resembling wiring. What’s also special is each edition will feature it’s own set of Surfboard designs exclusively to each edition. They look so Cool! I love it! More pics to come as this is the only pic we have for now… I’ll add more to this post. Keep in mind, this is only a pre-production sample at a very early stage so there will be some changes to the details in the graphics, wheels selection, and tire treatments… 
Above: Our “Featured Edition” 1/888 in Satin Black. Features a great paint and deco scheme, cool graphics and rides on our “Hub” style wheels with a new rim deco!
Above: Our 2nd ”Featured Edition” 1/888 inFlourescent Green. This Edition features some cool wheels and tire decoration. Our 10 spoke rims with ”Black Chrome Dip” VUM treatment. Looks Hot!
Above: Over-Chrome Orange: 1 of 240 (Special “K” Chase Edition.) One of our new colors and it is gorgeous! It too also “Black Chrome Dip” VUM wheels with the 6 spoke design & white rubber tires!
Above: Over-Chrome Hot Pink: 1 of 240 (Special “K” Chase Edition.) Our Hot Pink “Over-Chrome” returns again! Who don’t like Chrome Hot Pink in die cast?
Above: The “Special ‘K’ Mystery Chase Edition: 1 of 240. This color flops 2 different colors under different lighting. (Hint: It too is also Chrome Plated)
Above: “Black Gold” in Black Chrome: 1 of 48 (Super Chase.) This is the “Black Chrome” treatment for our coveted trademark “Black Golds” This Edition features a yellow to red gradient flame design and limited to only 48 produced.
Above: “24K’s” in 24kt Gold Plating: 1 of 48 (Super Chase.) Another favorites is our “24K’s”, another “Super Chase” with gold 10 spoke rim design!
I’m going NUTS over the PINK, I should say HOT PINK! Over 4 years ago, we tried to hit this color, but they just couldn’t get the correct hue, and previous colors tend to be rosey pink to reddish salmon. Just couldn’t nail it. So the other day when after seeing it in person, it is sooo HOT PINK! Yes, I was happy and so the pink has to be my fav, but then again, the…..lol.
The correct factory production numbers have changed and are as follow: (click to see big honkin’ pics)
Above: Candy Green/ Semi Flat Black: 1 of 600 (Not 888)
Above: Candy Red/ Semi Flat Black: 1 of 600 (Not 888)
Above: Over-Chrome Hot Pink: 1 of 240 (Chase)
Above: Over-Chrome Ice Blue 1 of 240 (Chase)
Above: “Black Gold” in Black Chrome: 1 of 48 (Super Chase)
Above: “24K’s” in 24kt Gold Plating: 1 of 48 (Super Chase)
Above: Mystery Chase: 1 of 240
Some shots from the factory featuring all the great colors of our “Happy Holidaze” Series. As mentioned before, all chase cars will be silver plated with liquid (kandy) paints or the 24k’s gold plated. Silver plating brings the ultimate shine! Then there is the Black Gold edition, which features a different black chrome process. The colors are brilliant! We should have our official photo’s up soon and more photos added to this post.
Limited production runs for this series are:
Kandy Green/ Black Roof: 1/888 Feature Edition)
Kandy Red/ Black Roof: 1/888 (Feature Edition)
Over-Chrome Hot Pink/Magenta: 1/240 (Special K’s Edition)
Over-Chrome Ice Blue: 1/240 (Special K’s Edition)
MYSTERY CHASE: 1/240 (Mystery “K” Edition)
Black Gold – Black Chrome Plated: 1/48 (Super Chase Edition)
24K’s – 24kt Gold-Plated: 1/48 (Super Chase Edition)
Killer Roof Art by John Detrich (link: see more)
Pre-production photo: notice the tongue is missing the colors as it is applied during the last process:
THIRD GENERATION KUSTOMCITY® “EVO BIG TOW”
Sweetness from the CAD files above. These 3D files are created from our final resin/styrene prototypes samples. This is the stage where we make even more changes to the final design for our mold makers.
The Brass Master! This solid chunk of brass is quite heavy. It’s the first stage in the making of the body mold. Thanks to Rocky, our mold maker for this great shot of the production process.
It’s been quite a challenge going over all our molds and refining them over and over to get them perfect, but that’s what it’s all about: the perfect design! So…let me introduce to you, Your EVO BIG TOW!!
A rare peek of a aged and un-refined 2006 Concept, handmade by our model-maker in China. He is amazing! To think from verbal instructions and sketches, he builds this masterpeice. It’s difficult to tell but the whole body is absolutely a different shape from the height and width of the body compare to the final version. This is one of the later version resin prototype.
The very “First Shot”, from the mold testing stages. This very first painted version was used for fitting of all the parts. Although it looks great, every mold was sent back to our mold maker for fine tuning.
I love how sleek this monster looks from every angle. Your gonna luv it!! Let me know what you guys think… Dave C.
…and here she is!!! in all her splendid glory.
…a bit of info, this new casting will be the last time the dual side “treasure box” will be employed. It is being removed as we speak, so you can say this will be the only time this body will have the side ”treasure boxes.”
Built for the 2010 Summer Smash in Rhode Island – Downhill Challenge Race
What started out as an engineering challenge for us, we have found out this baby is too low to the ground and will not fit on the standard downhill track.
So I’ll personally build another one with a lot of cutting and adjusting, and hopefully with enough ground clearance to make it to the finish line.
1st Place for this Summer Smash Downhill Challenge will be this original EVO built for the race! A 1′ off EVO SS with the CNC’d Brass Rims, plus a Pre-production EVO “BIG TOW”
Rules are: Anything goes as this race is the “World’s Fastest Challenge”
But- The vehicle must be technically altered and cannot be stock. Technically altered mean it must be drilled out with some form of modification for speed.
4 more days, so here’s the entry #1 for me. but another version being built tonight w/o a body!
As you requested, here are some very cool images of the Brass Master in all it’s glory.
(photo’s taken by Rocky at the Mold Makers)
Once the Brass Master is fine tuned, it’s used to make the mold. These processes can take quite some time to complete. And the molds have many pieces and quite awesome to watch in action as the alloys flow through the mold. I don’t need to say, it’s pretty warm where they make the bodies!
Here’s another cool shot of the insides of our molds. Bet you don’t see this everyday!
Another shot below of some of our molds. These are extremely heavy. Reminds me of a funny story, one of the top guys at the factory, not big or tall by stature, but quite strong as he can actually lift one of these off the ground a bit. Everytime I see a complete mold like this, I think of him greeting me during one of my visits last year and cracking my rib. He bear hugged me like trying to pick up a mold. lol. True story–Ouchhh!
