New World Cabs?

[bigwalton]

Eric - good call on the gray primer.

Next I'll get a little more serious about the photography, probably take the model outside to get enough light for good depth of field and also to get a natural background.

That's the hotness!!!

 

[jscherb]

I thought the safari one was without the step... i'm cornfused. have to look back through.

I don't see the resemblance between those two when there's the step, it's the non-step one that looks something like the 110 The step one looks like an Xterra and pretty much nothing else to me. The shape of the sides, the curve at the top, they're all completely different as shown in your drawing. The rear window setup completely differs too, 1 vs 2 separate.

I guess it looks a little more like the 110 that a stock hard top, but still way different to my eye.

Hey I'm just reporting what they're saying.

As for the nomenclature, I'm calling all versions Safari Cabs. The step roof I call either the x-roof or the step roof. The lower roof I've been calliing the "normal" roof. If you've got better names or clearer terms I'm happy to use them - aren't you the marketing guy?

 

[jscherb]

That's the hotness!!!

Hotness and hotness-er?

 

[donaghy]

much better

grey.. much better and easier to distinguish outlines and body lines.

still looking at the pictures of the halfcab and soaking them in.. let me look at them some more before I weigh in..on comments..

would love to see the other versions in grey as well.. but I'm sure the primer is probably drying as we wait.. :+)

dimensionally, the length the halftop is same length as yours on the real retro but scaled?

matt

 

[jscherb]

dimensionally, the length the halftop is same length as yours on the real retro but scaled?

matt

I really didn't measure when I made the half cab, I just threw it together to show how the parts would be used to build a half cab because I had most of the parts made already. This whole modeling exercise is really about the rooflines on the full-length cabs, so I haven't focused on the half-cab model that much.

The final TJ half-cab would be the same size and length as the Retro cab.

 

[bigwalton]

If you think the body line looks out of place on the van version, go take a look at the World Cab side panels in your basement - you'll find a similar line on them, although I might make the line slightly more pronounced on the Safari cab.

I did and I don't have anything I'd call a "body line" there on the sides. At best, there's the area where the more flat bottom part starts curving, but you basically have to look at it with the light hitting it just right to notice anything at all (I actually pulled the side out and did exactly that to try and find what you meant) and I still wouldn't call it a "line" as I can't imagine you'd notice it at the distance represented in your pics.

Did you exaggerate it on these mockups for effect? I'd almost call it a bead as I see it.

 

[jscherb]

I did and I don't have anything I'd call a "body line" there on the sides. At best, there's the area where the more flat bottom part starts curving, but you basically have to look at it with the light hitting it just right to notice anything at all (I actually pulled the side out and did exactly that to try and find what you meant) and I still wouldn't call it a "line" as I can't imagine you'd notice it at the distance represented in your pics.

Did you exaggerate it on these mockups for effect? I'd almost call it a bead as I see it.

I definitely don't intend to make a bead! it's just a place where the side transitions from vertical to slightly angled in.

It would probably be just a slight bend, but I could also make it like the line on the door just below the paddle handle.

Yes, everything on the models is slightly exaggerated.

 

[jscherb]

One of the other rooflines I'll try...

In the late seventies, Jeep Venzuela produced a hardtop for the CJ-7; they called the package the Llanero (Spanish: "plainsman"). If you look at the photos in this ad, you can see that the Llanero had longitudinal "troop-style" seating in the rear, and because the seats were on top of the inner fenders, the roof had to be quite high to allow for headroom.

I did some photo editing on the CJ-7 Llanero photo to come up with the image below; actually I made my edited Jeep the same length as an LJ. Then I drew what the lengthened Llanero roof would look like on the LJ:

Tomorrow I'll post photos of all three styles of roof for the LJ - the lower "normal" roof (we'll call that the "Low" roof now, the stepped "x-roof" and the Llanero roof. Then you can all tell me which roof looks best in a 3-d model.

 

[donaghy]

ACME profile?

that side profile of the top looks almost identical to the ACME full cj8 tops..

trying to find a good side pic to post

I'm going to go out on a limb already and say that one would be my least appealing to my eyes. my .02

matt

 

[jscherb]

that side profile of the top looks almost identical to the ACME full cj8 tops..

trying to find a good side pic to post

I'm going to go out on a limb already and say that one would be my least appealing to my eyes. my .02

matt

Hey, the voting hasn't started yet!

I want to explore a range of design possibilities for the roofline so when I decide on one, I'll be confident it's a good choice. And if I end up not liking it when it's built, hey, it's a modular design, so all I'd have to do is make a new mold for a different roof panel...

I know what you mean about the Acme, I actually like them. Truck has an Acme, maybe he has a side view photo.

 

[jscherb]

The light is much better for photos this morning, I updated the half cab photos in post 203...

 

[jscherb]

And here's one more half-cab shot.

 

[CajunHiker]

Are the half-cabs intended to run without a roll-bar?

 

[jscherb]

Are the half-cabs intended to run without a roll-bar?

That would be up to the end user (or up to whoever might manufacture these for commercial production... AEV's Brute is designed to have a half-cab and the rollbar they recommend is the factory roll bar with the rear bars cut off. Or, I think Gr8Tops sells connectors to allow you to keep the rear bars, have them go through the cab, and tied together with bolt-on connectors.

I did the Retro Wrangler and the Gaucho the same way as the AEV Brute - main hoop plus the windshield connectors; rear bars cut off, and (in the case of the Gaucho), main hoop additionally tied into the pillars behind the doors on the tub.

 

[jscherb]

Here's the TJ Safari Top.

 

[jscherb]

And here's the LJ "Van" version (no side windows). Kind of like an Alaskan Postal Safari?

 

[bigwalton]

Here's the TJ Safari Top.

Winner winner chicken dinner

That's freaking awesome.

I love the van version too and it does look very similar to a Postal, but I wouldn't opt for the blind spots if the normal one was available.

BTW, it appears the "line" I saw and mentioned before was the edge of the piece of paper the window was printed out on. My bad

 

[jscherb]

Winner winner chicken dinner

That's freaking awesome.

Where and when do I show up for my chicken dinner?

I love the van version too and it does look very similar to a Postal, but I wouldn't opt for the blind spots if the normal one was available.

BTW, it appears the "line" I saw and mentioned before was the edge of the piece of paper the window was printed out on. My bad

The "line" is very clearnly visible on the Van version - does it look a little more like your World Cab side panel now?

Working on the different LJ roof version photos now...

 

[jscherb]

Here's the "low" roof on the LJ with windows. This roof is the same height as the factory World Cab roof, the only difference is the drip rail. On the Safari Cab, the drip rail is a straight line from front to back; on the World Cab the drip rail rises about 2 1/2" behind the doors and then continues straight back at that higher level.

Compared to the factory LJ hardtop, which peaks at a little more than 4" higher than the top of the door frame, this roof peaks at 5" above the door frame, so it's about 1" higher than the LJ factory hardtop.

 

[jscherb]

And this is the "stepped" roof. The roof starts out the same as the "low" roof, then there's a 3.5" step behind the door that brings the total height to 8.5", so in the back it's 3.5" higher than the "low" roof.

I think the angle of the step should be shallower, but I haven't made another roof to try that.

Hold your comments until I get the "Llanero" roof posted as well.