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Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4-Door 4 x 4


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I don't know if this belongs here. Its not a pick-up or SUV so I guess I'll put it here.  

My son bought a 2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4-door 4 x 4 and wants me to build a replica of it.  He bought the touch-up paint, Bikini, that I will describe as a Turquoise Metallic. you can see the color on the touch-up pen in the first photo.  The problem is that there are no 4-door models that I am aware of. I did find a Maistro 1/24 scale Die Cast and I thought about buying it and re-painting it.  But since I have two of these 2-door kits that I bought for less than $5 each I am going to try to add a second door to this 2 door body.  If I accomplish getting the body right, then I'll modify the interior floor, frame and related pieces. 

I looked up the dimensions and the width and height is the same but the 4 door is 20" longer. I am going to call it 18" which will be 3/4" in scale. So I cut the left side of the body at the rear of the door line and about 1/4" into the rear quarter panel. I scribed in a new door line about 1/16" inside the cut to make it at more of a right angle and leave a 1/16" door jam.  I'll do the same thing to the other side. Then I'll cut the second body at the door line, re-scribe the door line and cut it again about 1" forward so that the net will be 3/4".  I'll glue in the second door and use the piece of the rear quarter panel to shape the rear door at the rear wheel opening.  I'll lengthen the interior door panel to give the body seams some strength and I may do that before gluing the rear door in so I will have something to glue the rear door to. 

Here the starting photos:

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You’ve got your work cut out for you! That kit is a TJ body style (turn signals in the metal fenders). After that body style came the JK and JKU(4 door), then came the JL which is what a 2020 would be...or JLU? There are as far as I know, minor differences between the JK and JL. This kit may be a better starting point. I have messed with the Revell kit but have not seen the Meng kit so I don’t know how detailed it is. Good Luck!

D7E19789-601F-46AB-B89B-61934BAC0EBA.jpeg

Some good info:

https://carbuzz.com/features/history-of-the-jeep-wrangler-in-five-generations

 

Edited by NOBLNG
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Ambisious project! As Noblng said, the meng kit is closer in size to what the JL (JLU) is. The wrangler grew allot from the TJ model you have to the JK body style that the Meng kit is of. And then from the JK the size remained but everything changet do the JL(JLU as your son have).

 

7 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

You’ve got your work cut out for you! That kit is a TJ body style (turn signals in the metal fenders). After that body style came the JK and JKU(4 door), then came the JL which is what a 2020 would be...or JLU? There are as far as I know, minor differences between the JK and JL. This kit may be a better starting point. I have messed with the Revell kit but have not seen the Meng kit so I don’t know how detailed it is. Good Luck!



Some good info:

https://carbuzz.com/features/history-of-the-jeep-wrangler-in-five-generations

 

 

The changes in between the JL and the JK are almost as big as between TJ and JK. Not many parts are the same just the overal "looks" of it as was the same with the TJ exept for the width change that hapened betwen TJ and JK.

 

There is a thread on here some where about that kit, seems detailed even though it's curbside. Alot of parts 😃

 

 

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This 1/24 diecast would be a better starting point, as it is a JL. Unfortunately it is a truck, but it has the correct grill, fenders, hood, taillights and the four doors. I am surprised with the popularity of the new(er) 4 door jeeps that no company has kitted them???

A446C35D-A55D-4CE8-BC0C-CBD01E93C237.jpeg.14597bad25962ac9051ce8a73e6db94c.jpeg

 

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B08DL94PHL/rocketfin-20

Edited by NOBLNG
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On 5/10/2021 at 5:12 PM, ModelcarJR said:

I did find a Maistro 1/24 scale Die Cast and I thought about buying it and re-painting it.  But since I have two of these 2-door kits that I bought for less than $5 each I am going to try to add a second door to this 2 door body.  If I accomplish getting the body right, then I'll modify the interior floor, frame and related pieces. 

I hope I didn’t kill your plans.😬 A 4-door TJ is still a really cool  project.  It just won’t look like a 2020 model.

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Thanks, All, for your comments and suggestions. I appreciate all the knowledge about these Jeeps and I confess I have none! My son will notice if it is not a 4-door and he might notice some of the other finer points that y'all have mentioned. But as long as it is the correct color and has 4 doors I think he will appreciate the effort.  Besides, it is given me a bit of a challenge.  I am not going to add full doors and a top. My son has aluminum bar doors that he uses when he has the top off and the doors removed. I am not sure if they offer half-doors like are on this kit but that is what he is going to get. 

Here are a few pics of progress so far. I have added the interior door panels, a door jam, rescribed the door lines on the front doors and cut the floor pan to lengthen it. Now I just have to cut the rear doors using the front doors from the extra body and glue them in place and the body will be done. Still work to do on the floor pan and frame. Thanks for looking! 😎

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Thanks, Greg! I appreciate your comment! 

I have cut out one door, cut and fitted the rear floor section that needs to be added, and cut the frame so that everything will fit. I am going to try to figure out how to fit a back seat in place that is level with the front seats instead of the higher position on the rear decking. One more door to cut out and putty up and I can move on.  The only part of the extra frame that I have that is straight, is the piece that is covered by the splash pan for the transfer case. So I may have to cut the splash pan away. I will also have to lengthen the tailpipe and rear driveshaft. That will make the  rear driveshaft longer than the front driveshaft, which might be an issue in a 1:1 Jeep, butr I am going to ignore it. Here are a few pics:

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Thanks, Carl and Andy! I appreciate your comments! The only thing that will slow me down is the weather. Its suppose to rain for the next 4 days and its raining today! 

I think I have most of the changes made to the body and interior. Now I only have the frame, rear driveshaft and tailpipe to lengthen. I am still working on plugging up the pre-drilled attachment holes meant for the door sill plate and Light bar. I am considering adding running boards from the parts box. Here are a couple of pics of progress. 

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Edited by ModelcarJR
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I got some primer on the body before it started raining today. The right side looks pretty good and if the left side turned out as well, I would probably be done with the body work. But the left side behind the second door isn't mated perfectly and that seam sticks out a bit and is too wide. So I added a couple of strips of plastic and sanded that out. Next I applied some putty and sanded it out after it had dried. Everything looked pretty smooth so I applied a light coat of primer and now it looks much better. 

I added a hinge to the door and I know that the doors should have two hinges but the front door hinge is molded in and if I add another it will look too close. So I'll just use 1 hinge in line with the front hinge for the back, just for symmetry. I'll drill some holes in the rear hinges later. Here are some pics of the patch on the rear left door. before and after:

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Thanks, Curtis, Carl and Dan! I appreciate your comments!  Dan, missed you at the IPMS show.  I took a few places and once again bought too much plastic! 

Moving slowly on this Jeep. Managed to get some primer and flat black on the chassis and interior pieces, despite the rainy weather. I puttied up and sanded down the tops of the fenders and detailed the added rear door hinges. I have a few more pieces to paint and I am just waiting on better weather to break out the air brush and try to get the 7.4 ml. of paint from a touch-up paint pen onto the body. I hope I have enough. Here are a few progress pics:

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Thanks, Atin! I appreciate your comment! 

Finished the frame and wheels and taped off all the black paint on the body. I posed the body on the chassis and wheel position looks pretty good. I can't push the body down all the way as the tape is in the way. Just waiting for the weather to clear to paint the body. Still raining today. 😞

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Thanks, Dan! I finally had he chance to paint today although its still very humid.  I used the Mopar paint pen for Bikini PPT but was disappointed. After getting the 7.4 ml. from the pen into a jar and thinning it a bit I barely had enough for a good coat. Plus, when I looked at it it didn't have enough green in it to my liking and I don't think it matches my son's jeep. So, since it needed another coat and to me it looked just like Tamiya Light Blue Metallic, I used it to finish.  I won't be able to finish over the next several days.  My wife and I are headed home to Indpls. for the Indy 500! Thanks for looking! 😎

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Thanks, Carl! I appreciate your comment! 

I wasn't able to finish but I have made a lot of progress. One hurdle was that the body at the back door was either too wide or I didn't make the floor wide enough for the back seat area. So I took a shortcut - I used some tape to close the gap and just painted it black. With the seats and roll cage in place no one will notice anyway.  Its not finished but at least its on wheels and all I have to do is finish the hardware and decals after Indy. Thanks for looking! 😎

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