geetee66

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

Man...! I'd love to watch how you do the paint on your builds. you have got tons of talent, although you really don't need me to tell you that! Stunning build. Even my wife commented on this one (and that's like getting blood from a stone!) I'm relatively new to the hobby, so I'm going to have a good look at your work, now I know who you are and what you do. Maybe, just maybe, I'll one day reach a level that is somewhere near your excellence!

I was looking at this kit on the Moebius website, wondering what it looks like built-up. Now I know. Awesome! Some really nice detail work there, my friend. Really good job.

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:

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!!

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!

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:

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...

The engine needs a look, too:

Please excuse me if you've seen this one here before. I had a search for it here and couldn't find it, so I reckoned as I've been sharing all my other builds with you, it'd be a shame to omit this one. Anyone who has built this will know what a lovely kit it is. Anyone who hasn't built it...do yourself a favour and get one! The paint is custom mixed 3K (I think..) and has about 8 coats of clear, wet sanded and polished for ages. Thanks for looking

I like this a lot. Understated and robust looking car. The engine details are nice, too.

I've only seen one of these in real life and that was at the Goodwood Festival Of Speed (In the UK). These cars are nuts! They sound awesome when they're given some beans! Your build is realistic and I love the details. The steering wheel looks like an accurate scale thickness and the wiring details are a nice touch. Very tidy indeed.

Very sleek and kool! I love the little touches of detail, like the scallops on the underside of the car. Very neat. The paint is also amazing. Really deep shine. I've not been building kits for long, so I'm a bit concerned that you mention shrinkage and potential problems with styrene. I had no idea this could happen. I do try and keep my builds in a stable environment and always under glass. I hope they don't suffer over time. Anyway, that aside...I love these builds of yours. Very clean. Loads of skill.

The wood looks realistic and it rides well on those rims. Nice job. Looks authentic. It's made me get on eBay and start looking for one..

This raises the bar a bit, doesn't it? I had to look very closely to see if it is really 1:1...and I'm still not sure! I'm not surprised it took you a while to complete it. It really does look like the real thing. I don't think I can find a way of giving it any more praise than that. Awesome. Just awesome! I hope I can build like you, one day.

Well done, Miss Getchell! Good to see junior builds (and from a girl, too! Nice one!) I hope we see more of your models here.

I wish I had a 1:1 like that, sitting on my driveway! What a handsome beast! Sits well on those rims. Lovely paint and details. I hope you're pleased with it...you should be!

This is the most recent model I've built. I have to admit, it took quite a long time. It wasn't easy. I've never really modified any kits before. I guess it's because building them more or less box-stock presents enough of a challenge. But when I saw the kit came with the facility to turn it into a wagon, I couldn't resist. I tried to find other examples of this kit online and I trawled forums looking for ideas. It seems the wagon version is not a popular choice for this kit. I'd like to have a go at the convertible, one day. I had to cut shut lines for the tailgate and figure out where the hinge would go if it were a 1:1 car. I needed to add the top horizontal bar on the tailgate as this was not present in the kit. Without this piece, the tailgate/glass would've been inoperable. There were issues with warping on the roof, body and floor pan, but it all seemed to line up when I put it together. If you make this kit, beware of using aftermarket distributors as there is very tight clearance with the underside of the hood. I had to do a bit of messing about to get the fit just right. Extras on this build were amps and speakers from Scale Dreams, MCG distributor, Pegasus wheels and Detail Master flocking. I used half round silver wire for the rear bumpers and tailgate trim The engine has an interesting intake arrangement:

I have a soft spot for Ford Pops. My Dad had a stock version in the 50's. I've seen a few at custom car shows here in the UK and I've watched a few race at Nostalgia Drag meetings (I like the outlaws I've seen at Shakespeare County Raceway) Very nutty cars to do a fast quarter mile in. I've got the panel van version waiting to be built. I'll fit that with Hilborn velocity stacks and a Moon tank on the front. Anyway, this one is painted with rattle cans (I haven't graduated to airbrushing yet. It seems like alchemy to me and I'm scared of screwing it up. Plus, rattle cans seem to work for me) It's a stock Ford colour. The Focus ST is in either this orange or a lime green. My panel van will be lime green, as it's moulded in green metalflake styrene. I added a PE seatbelt and made some period correct (I hope) decals with my printer. The push bar is aluminium tube and I've wired the plugs on the engine. I also used coloured acetate for the windows. Anyway, enough jibber-jabber: thanks for looking

Awesome restoration! I don't know much about Corvairs....weren't they described as 'unsafe at any speed'? Nice job, mate.

You did a really good job on this kit! I love the paint and detailing. Top-notch!

Thanks, Bill. I used fuse wire. I don't know if all 59's had lens separators, but the photos I found on Google showed them.

Really nice. I love the gleam on the paint. Good colour, too.

Beautiful! The paint is just right and the stance is perfect. I love the fade on the paint and the window tint is bang-on. I'm guessing you also made a nice job of the engine.... any pics of that?

I'm trying to find the shots I did of the interior before I fitted it to the body, but I think they're on my broken hard drive :-( This is the only one I could find: