CabDriver Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 So, this is a build for a contest on the Coffin Corner showrod site where members submitted names and everyone got someone else's name and had to build something to suit it. The contest finished last month, but I had a name left and still wanted to finish this one! Well, start it, finally...I've had since September 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 tires 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 doesn't 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 inspired Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted February 2, 2018 Author Share Posted February 2, 2018 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slotto Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 So cool! I know I would have messed up one of those steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamsuperdan Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 Looks great! Would have taken me a couple of tries to get that lettering done in the correct order! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 35 minutes ago, Slotto said: So cool! I know I would have messed up one of those steps. Ohh, I messed up ALL of them - and its particularly obvious to me in these bigger-than-life pictures...but I'm pretty pleased with it as it looks on my bench here! 16 minutes ago, iamsuperdan said: Looks great! Would have taken me a couple of tries to get that lettering done in the correct order! It would've made more sense to just outline the letters after, or do the black first...but its slightly easier to lay the vinyl masks up this way and get it how I wanted. Thanks for looking fellas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DumpyDan Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 This is awesome, that looks great nice effect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 Very nicez work on the paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 Boy ! Lots of work on that paint job but it came out great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Thanks guys! For anyone interested, I was googling for pics of built examples of this kit (some of the directions are vague, at best) and found this STUNNING example! Bar: set! https://www.facebook.com/pg/theartofscalemodelingbyeerokumanto/photos/?tab=album&album_id=873092072761148 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Smith Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 Huh. That’s really cool. What type of vinyl do you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 14 minutes ago, Erik Smith said: Huh. That’s really cool. What type of vinyl do you use? I've got a big roll of signwriter's vinyl here that someone gave me - it's designed to be used on vehicles and and store windows and stuff. It's not ideal - proper frisket would be better as it's translucent and thinner...but the price was right on this stuff and it kinda works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 I really like that groovy signage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Metallic Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 I started this kit as a quick build challenge last year, but ran into paint issues on the body due to mold release(my fault, didn't wash the body) so I stripped the paint and threw it back in the box. Coincidently enough the same color. I'll be following along on yours for assembly tips, you've helped already with the tip on installing the floor supports into the body before paint. I agree, the instructions are vague on many assemblies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddyfink Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 This is so cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sixties Sam Posted February 8, 2018 Share Posted February 8, 2018 Very cool! Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 On 2/6/2018 at 5:02 PM, Mr. Metallic said: I started this kit as a quick build challenge last year, but ran into paint issues on the body due to mold release(my fault, didn't wash the body) so I stripped the paint and threw it back in the box. Coincidently enough the same color. I'll be following along on yours for assembly tips, you've helped already with the tip on installing the floor supports into the body before paint. I agree, the instructions are vague on many assemblies. Another thing I forgot to mention in the post above, is that the heater shroud/firewall piece doesn't fit particularly well, and it's hard to get a positive fit that holds together nicely. A couple of pins and locating holes are WELL worth doing to avoid frustration (ask me how I know that...) Got a link to your build? I'd love to see! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDDan Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 Green is a popular color this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Metallic Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 13 hours ago, CabDriver said: Another thing I forgot to mention in the post above, is that the heater shroud/firewall piece doesn't fit particularly well, and it's hard to get a positive fit that holds together nicely. A couple of pins and locating holes are WELL worth doing to avoid frustration (ask me how I know that...) Got a link to your build? I'd love to see! No, I didn't get past the stage of stripping the paint. It looks like a fun little kit if you take a little care with it. Hope to return to it someday armed with your assembly tips, thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 This is gonna be one sweet ride to the roller rink Saturday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 The engine has a good look in the car. I had a factory green '69 that was close to your color ... all looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mod3l Lover Posted March 9, 2018 Share Posted March 9, 2018 Very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Very impressive work so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 Thanks for the nice comments everyone! I wanted to share a couple of vids of me using Molotow Chrome on the front suspension pieces - this stuff is INCREDIBLE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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