David G.

Love the detailing and weathering! He won't get much traction for plowing with tires like that, though! David G.

Nice fusion, sweet paintwork. Well done! David G.

Here's another update! I tried spraying a little dull coat on the bumpers to flatten out the plastic looking chrome sheen. The dull coat didn't lay down well and I ended up having to strip the bumper I dusted off the air brush and sprayed the Alclad black enamel base coat. Then finished with Alclad Chrome. This one's nearly complete. Next step is to polish the body, do a little more detail painting and add some items of interest to the cargo area. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to leave a comment. David G.

Excellent work so far, I admire your patience! I would like very much to build a ship model like this someday but for now, I'll just enjoy following along as you build yours. David G.

You're off to a great start! I think stripping the old plating is an excellent call. You should be able to greatly improve the kit's final appearance with some good detail painting. David G.

Nicely Done! David G.

Wow Darren, I'm sorry to learn of the loss of all your hobby stuff. All those wonderful projects are just gone? If so, what a heart-breaker. You're off to a great start on this Bug though. David G.

Excellent conversion, very well done! David G.

Impressive paintwork! An overall solid looking build. David G.

Beautifully done! David G.

Wow! Hard to believe it's the same car. Are you the one who did the original "custom" job on it? David G.

That is beyond cool! I'm very impressed by your styrene engineering work for the bed mechanism. David G.

You're right, the interior and engine bay look great. The paint looks good too, excellent color choice. I'd be proud to put it in my display case. It was well worth the effort. David G.

Absolutely spectacular! It's like a Barn-find Rat-Gasser. The weathering is very convincing, I can almost smell the dirt, oil and rusty metal. Your photography is superb as well. David G.

Love all the added details! The chassis and engine work is great, all the subtle color variations really add to the depth and realism. David G.

I love those bullet racers! You really captured the feel of the original. David G.

Always happy to help! Thank you Mattias, that's just what I was going for. Thanks Tom. It's a fun kit to build. It assembles easily and has good detail where it's needed. I did have a little trouble with the front axle binding in the relief passage cast into the oil pan and block. I ended up filing the area out enough to allow the engine to sit properly in the chassis and keep just a little friction on the axle. I'm not fond of model cars that roll freely. David G.

Coming along nicely Geoff! Any more shine on the paint than what you have there would probably exceed original factory specs! David G.

Excellent solid looking build. I noticed in the last photo that the side mirror is reflecting the chrome trim on the door. There's also the subtle shadow detail of the seats and body recesses, whatever wash or other technique you used worked perfectly. These are the kinds of details that I call "invisibles". Optical details that many people wouldn't consciously notice but add to the overall feel of realism. Beautiful work. David G.

Nicely done! David G.

I really like where you're going with this. David G.

Thanks Alan, I'm glad you agree. For your wagon you might want to see if you can find a three pedal assembly part from another kit that you can glue up under the dashboard and just remove the pedals cast into the floor. David G.

I know it's been a little while, so here's an update. I'm getting the dreaded 404 Error again, so I'm going to post this piecemeal. There are a couple of design conflicts with this kit. The transmission is a manual shift unit with a hole in the floor for a gearshift lever. The interior has a brake pedal for an automatic and no gear selector or turn signal stalk on the steering column. So I added those, along with the gear indicator or "PRNDL" Here's a different angle that shows the levers a little better. I think the Tamiya Flat Earth is a much better option for the seat inserts than the NATO Brown. I have a bit of touch up work to do on the carpet and one door panel. Other than that this interior is mostly done. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment. David G.

I've had some luck with Dupli-Color metallic paints. The flake size is fairly small and very consistent. I painted this interior with Dupli-Color Medium Quasar Metallic and Medium Maui Blue Metallic. It's an old photo but it should be good enough to convey the impression. Let me know if you'd like the paint numbers and I'll upload a snap of the labels. David G.

Looks like you bailed just in time James! David G.