geetee66 Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 As a departure from all the polishing and chrome, I decided to weather this build and make it look like it had a long life by the sea, under a hot sun. I got this kit from evilBay. It's a Revell (Germany) kit, from 1987 and moulded in pink. I don't have any real knowledge of VW Bugs, so I bought a magazine and had a good look at what's in vogue, within the VW community. It seems patina, roofracks, Fuchs rims and lowered suspension are the way to go.... I drilled tiny holes through the ends of the torsion bars into the hubs, so that when I cut, pinned and rejoined them, they would line up. I repeated this on the other end of the torsion bars, where they turned 90 degrees towards the chassis. I put fine brass wire into the holes after the parts were cut. This enabled the geometry of the suspension to remain true and gave me a bit more control when I was cementing the parts together. I adjusted the rear suspension by rotating the suspension arms and bending the drive shafts with my fingers. The kit tyres were a bit too tall for my liking and would've rubbed on the arches after the suspension was moved, so I exchanged them for some from my parts box: I had to re-cut most of the panel lines, as they were vague at best. Some were not even there to begin with.... I sprayed the body with brown paint and a bit of red oxide primer. I reckoned this would look ok when i rubbed through the colour coat: More pics soon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geetee66 Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 I added some external hinges to the doors, as they were missing. Also, I added some louvres to the engine cover, using resin parts cast onto decal paper. You can get these from Archer Fine Transfers: Despite the shortcomings of this kit, it has some nice features, even though the inner doors are blank, the dashboard is nice: I made a bit of 'duct tape' to fix a rip on the dirty back seat: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Looks good so far. I'm curious to see how your body weathering turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krazyglu Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I am big into VW's and this has got my attention. I love what you have going so far!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfa Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 The VW looks good.I have a few sets of Fuchs rims in my stach for the same reson. Keep p the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Roof rack - yes. Rust - NO Isn't that the VW street machine kit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geetee66 Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Cheers guys. I know that maybe VW's aren't to everyone's taste, but they do have real 'character', don't they? Here are some more pics: I made the stinger pipe from plumbers solder and the ferrule from a small paintbrush: The rust looks ok. I did it a bit at a time, using reference photos for the right areas to treat. I made a roofrack from brass rod. I tried to use an elctric soldering iron, but it was rubbish, so I switched to a flame to solder the rods with silver solder. I messed up the window installation last night. I used too much epoxy and got it all over the glass. I'll fix it tomorrow, when the epoxy has gone hard. Luckily I'm using smoked acetate and I've got almost a whole sheet left....phew! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 You're making that sow's ear look pretty darn good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geetee66 Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 Roof rack - yes. Rust - NO Isn't that the VW street machine kit? Yes Jim, it is. It had some wild intake scoops as well as some odd looking nerf bars. There were some very dated 80's graphics on the decal sheet. They were horrible! As for rust, well, like I said, it seems a patina is quite desirable amongst the Bug fraternity. I'm going to add a surfboard and plaster the rear glass with surf logo stickers, which will kinda give it a good reason to be rusty. Also, from the little I do know about bugs, it would appear that rust goes hand in hand with owning a bug!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geetee66 Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 The roofrack has now been fitted correctly. I drilled holes thru the roof for added strength and used CA to fix it in place. I then cut the corners from an old sheet of photoetch and glued them to the legs where they meet the drip rail, to look like clamps. PE boltheads finish the look. More photos soon, when the light is better. Here's one angle I like, though: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 LOVE IT! The rust fades look perfect with that light blue color. LONG LIVE RUST! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyjim Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 The Bug looks good, Guy. But that paint? Don't listen to Dr. Cranky. SHINY :) RULES. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I like it! The weathered/faded paint looks cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmvw guy Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I love VW 's shiny or rust. Your version has definitely hit the mark for me. Rust is more fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danno Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62rebel Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 it's coming along nicely and looks convincing enough.... but those flared wheelarches mean that those mudguards would have been fiberglas, not steel... no rust. crusty gelcoat, maybe, even crazed and cracked 'glass.... but it looks great as you've done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walt francis Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I am not a big bug guy but you are really doing this baby justice and I love the paint fade and rust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry57 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 (edited) I think it looks really good, That is a hard kit to do anything with What did you build the rack out of? Edited December 6, 2011 by henry57 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry57 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Oops, I was reading the beginning of the post, didn't realize you were typing between the pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geetee66 Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 it's coming along nicely and looks convincing enough.... but those flared wheelarches mean that those mudguards would have been fiberglas, not steel... no rust. crusty gelcoat, maybe, even crazed and cracked 'glass.... but it looks great as you've done it. yeah... I toyed with the idea of removing the arch extensions...but i like the added width they give. I've seen bugs with narrowed front suspension and i like the way they look, so i decided to keep the flares. I tried to keep the rubbing to a minimum on the extensions, as i figured these would be GRP or similar and would not rust. I've got to find a rearview mirror in my parts box, only so i can hang an 'aloha' garland from it. i reckon cut up rizla paper and some ink could make it look convincing. i've made some wipers as these are not present on the body and a bullet shaped door mirror. I'll add some eyelids made from alu sheet to the headlights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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