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Post by kabdriver on Feb 2, 2018 16:53:13 GMT -6
So, the Name Game is done but I know some of us didn't finish all our builds in time - and the contest may be done, but I still wanted to finish this one! Well, start it, finally... The name I got was "Stink Bug" - and I kept thinking and thinking but I kept coming back to the (obvious) idea of using a Beetle kit. I picked up a Tamiya kit, and a Revell one too but neither of them inspired me much as hard as I tried, but then I saw this AMT Superbug kit on Amazon Daily Deals and had it delivered for $18 😍  Its a nice kit - shows it's age a little with some flash and sink marks and stuff but some really nice pad printed tyres and some option parts and stuff - a couple of choices of building options and tires and glass and decals and so on. I actually built the engine up already as per the instructions but decided I wanted to do a more detailed one once I was finished, so I have another kit on the way and I'll come back with some more details on that later. I figured whilst I wait for that I'd handle the body. First up, I glued the separate hood on to see how it fit. I'll leave the trunk lid off so the engine is easier to see - plus I've heard from people who've built this that the trunk doesnt fit anyway with the engine in  The fit isnt awful but can definitely be better - so I filled those recessed trim lines on the nose so I can rescribe them and where the top of the hood meets the body will need some reshaping. So, I shot some primer to get an idea of how much work lay ahead  Not awful - but the windshield needs a little tidy up, those gutters have some flash, and I need to rescribe the lines on the front and level them out nicely. Some sanding and rescribing later...  Whilst the hood fit nice there were a couple of little gaps visible that let light in - really hard to see, but enough to bother me from certain angles so I tucked some round bar styrene in there just to resolve that. Late in the build, if you follow the directions, they tell you to add a couple of mounts inside either door to mount the chassis to the body. I didn't want to mess around with gluing parts to the inside of the finished painted body, so I mounted those now too  Fits great!  I sprayed the inside of the body flat black, and then sprayed the rest with Createx Pearl Emerald Green - this stuff lays down NICE   This is before I've cleared it too! I laid down a couple of layers of clear so that I could mask over it for the next step - this color REALLY pops in the sunlight!  Next up, I'm going to lay down some graphics on the doors there - something vintage gasser looking. |
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Post by kabdriver on Feb 2, 2018 17:17:14 GMT -6
So, after the paint had dried a couple of days and I was confident I could mask over it I designed some graphics to get the build name on the doors.  I cut out the design on my vinyl cutter to make masks - you can just see the cuts on the vinyl if you look closely:  This might get confusing with regards the order of events, but it'll all make sense in the end... So, first I masked up the doors:  And laid down a Createx yellow-gold pearl base color  Then, after that dried for a couple of days gave a gentle gradient from the edges with Tamiya clear red and orange  Next up, I masked again (after a couple of days of drying) with this kinda 60s looking funky spiral pattern...  And misted on some Createx opaque white. I chose the opaque Createx because it covers REALLY well over any color, but you can mist it on lightly to get some variation in shade too  And remove the mask...  Confused yet? I was. Next up, I applied masks for the actual lettering...  And sprayed black  And, carefully started to demask...  Looks ok so far... And tada!  Needs a touchup on the edges but nothing major - and then it's ready for clear! |
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Post by johnverkerk on Feb 2, 2018 17:36:12 GMT -6
That is very kool!! what cutter are you using?
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Post by kabdriver on Feb 2, 2018 17:59:44 GMT -6
Onto the chassis and interior next...my chassis had a flaw or some damage right out of the box that will need some attention - it'll be ALMOST completely hidden anyway when it's done but it was bugging me so I had to fix it...  I cut out the affected area and used a couple of strips of styrene sheet to get the thickness right and build it back up   A little filler to smooth it out and it'll be perfect! I painted the underside black to simulate undercoat, and then painted the interior floor Tamiya flat aluminum. Whilst that was drying I painted the trans tunnel, the front axle, the seats and some inner doors that I scratchbuilt as the kit doesn't have any  I imagined the interior looking like all green vinyl to match the body - but it was too much green, so I added some black to the seat and bottom of the door cards - much better!  I didn't really like the molded-in lapbelt on the seat, so I added a little photoetch and some matt vinyl sign material to the seats  I like it!  More soon, or as soon as I get to it!  |
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Post by kabdriver on Feb 2, 2018 18:06:24 GMT -6
That is very kool!! what cutter are you using? Thanks John! I've got a Silhouette Cameo - an older model that can cut 18in. wide vinyl. They've since released a smaller model that only cuts 12in. wide sheets but that would still be plenty for me. It's not an ESSENTIAL modelling tool, but I have it sitting around here dormant most of the time so it's handy to have, sometimes! For mask material I don't bother with the proper artist's frisket - I've got 200ft long rolls of signwriting vinyl here so I probably have enough to last a lifetime here... |
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Post by johnverkerk on Feb 2, 2018 18:34:00 GMT -6
That is very kool!! what cutter are you using? Thanks John! I've got a Silhouette Cameo - an older model that can cut 18in. wide vinyl. They've since released a smaller model that only cuts 12in. wide sheets but that would still be plenty for me. It's not an ESSENTIAL modelling tool, but I have it sitting around here dormant most of the time so it's handy to have, sometimes! For mask material I don't bother with the proper artist's frisket - I've got 200ft long rolls of signwriting vinyl here so I probably have enough to last a lifetime here... Good to know ,thank you!! |
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Post by kabdriver on Feb 2, 2018 21:12:22 GMT -6
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Post by chromecop on Feb 3, 2018 2:51:39 GMT -6
Interesting, any pics?  |
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Post by kabdriver on Feb 3, 2018 7:30:08 GMT -6
Interesting, any pics? Can’t you see the pics? 😫😂 |
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Post by chromecop on Feb 3, 2018 12:00:13 GMT -6
Interesting, any pics? Can’t you see the pics? 😫😂 Don't know what happened...but I can see them now....AWESOME WORK!!!!!!! |
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Post by kabdriver on Mar 7, 2018 21:00:53 GMT -6
Ever onwards, next thing was building the engine. I actually built a lightly detailed one already, but cracked open another kit so I could make a more detailed version... The inner edges of the engine aren't super flat (and glue won't stick to them very well anyway), so I flattened the two engine halves on a diamond file before glueing:  Next up, flattened a couple of imperfections in the back of the shroud and masked with some poster tack before painting it black to match the box art (which I'm loosely following here):  Then assembled the bulk of the chrome bits and the 2-piece shroud after drilling the engine for plug wires. In that little baggie are some 3d printed distributors that I had made - I'm going to use one on this build  The coil is a pretty prominent part in a Beetle engine bay, so I used a nice machined one for this, and in this pic you can see the pulleys I made from PE parts and some tubestock - they still need a little tidyup at this point...  And here's the little bracket (which actually bolts together to hold it tight!) that'll hold it in place  Like so! That generator is scratchbuilt too, and has a little hole in where the real one would...and a commutator too!   I used the kit carbs, but swapped out the oil filler for a machined piece with a photo etched cap, then (carefully) wired her up and added the fanbelt:    Looks cool in the chassis!  And looks cool hanging out of the back too!  I'm pretty pleased with it! Did a couple of other tiny bits in the last couple of weeks too - fixed some rough edges on the signwriting  And started scratchbuilding a dash  More soon! |
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Post by kabdriver on Mar 7, 2018 21:06:37 GMT -6
Can’t you see the pics? 😫😂 Don't know what happened...but I can see them now....AWESOME WORK!!!!!!! Thank you, brother!! |
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Post by hobbybobby on Mar 8, 2018 13:04:18 GMT -6
A super looking engine, Jim, great detailing all over and i love, how you did the graphics, thanks for sharing this!  |
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Post by kabdriver on Mar 13, 2018 13:59:09 GMT -6
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Post by patw on Mar 14, 2018 2:57:07 GMT -6
WOWEE! What a build jb! Looking forward to the end look, brilliant, well done so far!
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Post by kabdriver on Mar 23, 2018 11:33:57 GMT -6
Thanks Pat! Got a bunch of little details done on this and got it wrapped up this week. Firstly I got the kit steering wheel:  ...and gave it a little detail painting to spruce it up a bit:  Added red lenses to the rear taillights with a little Tamiya clear red:   Got the front axle and trailing arms in place:  Shot some Molotow Chrome on the pedals and got them in place:  Scuffed those nice pad printed tires up a little to take the sheen off them  Building tip for anyone building one of these...those pins on the front axle to mount the wheels are a touch bigger than the hole on the wheels:  Opening them out a touch with an appropriate sized bit will save you having to jam them on there and break something  The rears, meanwhile, have too big of a hole in the wheels to mount them nicely on the kit supplied metal axle:  I drilled mine out a touch and added a styrene rod sleeve to the axle to make them fit properly:  Got the rest of the interior bits mounted:   And with that, it's pretty close to being done! Finished pics soon!   Soon as I can figure out how to make the cardboard diorama that comes with the kit anyway...  Thanks for looking! |
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Post by bugaboo on Apr 11, 2018 5:23:09 GMT -6
That turned out really really nice buddy... Great job  |
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Post by kabdriver on Apr 11, 2018 7:18:55 GMT -6
That turned out really really nice buddy... Great job Thank you, my friend! What are you working on right now? Anything cool? |
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Post by bugaboo on Apr 14, 2018 9:25:30 GMT -6
That turned out really really nice buddy... Great job Thank you, my friend! What are you working on right now? Anything cool? Your welcome :-) Well... I am still fighting the depression and I have ups and downs. Right now its getting better again... But that means that the building stops, then starts again, stops, then starts again - and so on.... I have 3 or 4 cars close to done. One of them are a secret until its revealed.... Then the old Monogram `36 coupe, the red one from the Early Iron series... Also the old red `57 Chevy from Monogram. That is built as a street gasser, 70`ties style. I have a couple of issues with this one, so it will probably take a little time before its finished..... And finally an altered Bad Medicine. Done some modifications to it, unusual color, after market decals... I think it will be cool.... So I have some kits on the table, and I am working on them - on and off... But the urge for building - and getting them done - is growing right now, so hopefully it will not be long, until the first one is finished :-) What about you? What are you building now? |
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Post by kabdriver on Apr 14, 2018 16:09:23 GMT -6
Well, I'm glad you're still at the bench buddy, even if only intermittently.
Is that 36 Ford the one with the separate roof piece? They all sound GREAT, can't wait to see what you did with them all! Especially the secret one!
I've got a Red Baron on the bench right now - I need to get a thread started with some pics of it actually
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Post by bugaboo on Apr 19, 2018 10:17:01 GMT -6
Well, after the Little Italy, the Big kahuna, the Royal Rod, the secret one (which is much modified), and the modified Bad Medicine, I think I need to build a more or less box stock kit. I am somewhere between the Vending machine, the Quicksilver, or the red (no name) Monogram `57 Chevy funny car... Yes, I think all of Monograms `36 Fords have the seperate roof..... This one does... Its this one:  The Monogram funny car is this one:  |
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Post by kabdriver on Apr 19, 2018 16:10:45 GMT -6
Ahh, yeah, I recognise that 36 kit - I've had a couple of those and traded them away or given them away...I need to get another and commit to finishing it That 57 is REALLY cool, I've never seen that one before! I can't WAIT to see what you do with that, too! Love seeing your builds!! |
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