David G.

Fabulous work on the Vette James! David G.

Hello Everybody! Progress has been slow on this one lately as I've been focusing most of my attention on my Disney Love Bug build. (link) It's a Polar Lights snap together kit and I've allowed myself to be distracted ease of the build and the quick results. Working on Polar Lights snap kits is rather like the model building version of eating popcorn. Once you start, it's hard to stop as long as there's still something left in the box. Anyway, on with the update. Color sanding revealed some additional paint issues. The paint was kind of thin in some places and I was down to the primer by the time I got it smoothed out. Which is okay as I planned on spraying another coat anyway. No, that's not a shiny spot... that's primer. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to comment. David G.

Thanks Steve. That's one of the things that I love about this hobby, there's always something new to learn. VW wouldn't come up with the Rabbit for nearly a decade yet. So no Rabbit, no holes. This one's going to be a pretty straight-forward build, just some minor tweaks here and there. Thanks for the tip Tom. I kind of worked that one out, all the details will be in the next update. Thank you for that Maxx. I did eventually realize that I didn't have the correct color. Though I didn't buy the actual VW L-87 I did come up with a suitable substitute. I'll have all the details in the next update. Thanks to everybody for your comments. David G.

Cool little scenes Paul. That's one of the best things about large dioramas like yours, a nearly endless opportunity for telling little stories. David G.

Welcome back James. Nice work on the Vette! Paint, CF and engine details all look great. David G.

Ah, the Seventies! There was just no escaping the "Avocado Green"! Seriously though, that's a great looking interior! Nice detail work, I especially like the wood inserts. David G.

Hello Everybody! It's time for the next Love Bug update. My research revealed that the car in the Love Bug movies was painted in VW's pearl white. I decided that Tamiya's TS-45 Pearl White should work well enough. I initially painted the pearl white directly over Tamiya's light grey primer. To my eye, the result looked a little more silver than white. As shown on the trunk lid. This was not quite what I wanted so I tried putting down a coat of Tamiya TS-26 Pure White with the Pearl White over top of that. Though not perfect, the result was much more in line with my expectations. I decided to paint the rest of the body using this method. I think the color is a little too bright but once everything is put together it should look fine. That's it for this round, more updates soon. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to share your opinions tips and observations. David G.

Excellent work Jeremy! Isn't it a great feeling having another go at those nostalgia builds? David G.

Thank you Randy! I'm pretty much done with this one... finally! ...and I'm currently editing my end-of-build photos. So here's one of those photos to answer your question regarding the antenna mount. During my research for this build, I did see several similar mountings for whip antennae. Though I think their ends were attached to the rear bumper or a second body-mounted point. The antenna itself is a 17 gauge guitar string stuck into a base from the parts box. Thanks for the question Randy! I'm always happy to share information and tips. David G.

Great looking resin work! Back when I was building model railroads I usually simulated bodies of water by painting a shallow basin where I wanted the water to be. To simulate the water at varying depths as it would be seen from the surface, I used various and blended shades of browns and greens. Once I was satisfied with its appearance, I would pour some acrylic gloss medium on top building it up to level in thin layers allowing each to cure between pours. Your method seems like it would be much quicker and and seems to add a natural looking depth to the water. Something that's difficult to do well with paint. David G.

Most impressive work David! David G.

Hello Everybody! Now that I have some of the other events and occurrences in my life settled and dealt with, I've found some mental energy to finish up with some of this build's loose ends. As you may remember, I tried adjusting the angle of the gumball beacon on the roof using a bit of styrene tubing. It wasn't an ideal solution but I thought I could live with it. After a few weeks of living with it, I decided that I could no longer live with it and corrected that angle issue the way I should have done in the first place. I removed the beacon and filed its base to allow for the slope of the roof. I like this much better! I also attempted to correct another problem that was bothering me. The window decals. When I originally placed the decals I used Micro-Set and Micro-Sol as I normally do. However two of the decals on this side immediately developed this unwanted texture that just wouldn't go away. All the other decals laid down and smoothed out as expected except these. *All* the other decals, the ones on the body and the ones on the glass, behaved as expected, except these two. I found some Walthers Solvaset and thought using that might make a difference. It did not. Given that the undesirable texture seems to be limited to these two decals and and seems to follow a pattern, I'm guessing that there was some kind of contamination on either the surface or the decals themselves. I guess it's one of those things I'll just have to live with. If anyone has any ideas as to what's causing this, please feel free to share them. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to post any comments you may wish to share. David G.

Dang, that's one sharp looking paintjob Greg, and the color combination is killer!

Hello Everybody! It's beginning to look like this will be a quick build, in spite of all the adjustments I'm having to make to get the parts to fit the way I want them to. With the engine assembled and installed in the chassis, it's time to start test fitting some of the other bits. If one looks toward the front of the chassis a misalignment of the front axle can be seen. As the front suspension assembly snaps into the chassis in its default position, some alignment issues become evident. A bit of filing and tweaking corrects most of the crookedness. This, and the inherent looseness of the metal axle should give me a good base and allow me to make any minor adjustments required during final assembly. Testing the ride height and wheel alignment. The ride is a little high but I can live with this. That's all for this round. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to share your opinions and observations. David G.

Thanks for your kind comment Niko. Color schemes are a big factor for any build but more so for a Fifties era car when paint options were one of the main selling points. I'm very pleased with the magnets so far. I've already started mentally planning uses for them in my next three or four builds. David G.

Thank you Dirk. The kits are still out there and they're not usually too pricey. Some builders have also used Tamiya's 1966 VW Beetle with aftermarket decals. David G.

The painted wheels and dog dish caps look great with the raised whites. The stance is perfect. David G.

Good call on splitting the glass canopy Greg. I seem to remember some fit issues with that from my experience with this kit. The body work looks much better too! David G.

Roadster hotrods are traditionally simple. A running chassis, motor and body are all that one needs, chrome wheels and a nice paintjob are options. The one you've built here captures that elegance very well. Nicely done! David G. Nice display case BTW! I think I recognize some of those builds.

Thanks Carl! David G.

Beautiful masking work! Clean and tight, nicely done. David G.

That's one great looking little roadster Jim! You seem to knock these out rather quickly, what to you do with them when they're finished? David G.

Thanks Jim. I do like the way that they are working out so far. I think I'll be using them a lot more often in my future builds. I mean I do have 300 of the little buggers! ...well, 296 now. But at the rate I build that should still be more than a life-time supply. David G.

If you're referring to the movie from the early 2000's Carl, I didn't see that one. Thank you Brian. I heard that too. At least one of them had a Porsche six-cylinder. I also read that over the course of the first four movies Disney used up about 50 VWs. Thanks Jim. It'll not be nearly as nice as your most recent VW build but it will be just as much fun. Thanks Bob. Aside from the distributor/fuel pump flub and the weird intake manifolds, it's not a bad rendition of a VW engine. There aren't many out there, strangely. David G.

Hello Everybody! It's time for a quick update on the '57 Ford. I've installed the micro magnets in the body and doors. Now it's time to check the alignment and adjust as needed. This is just a crude test fit to check basic alignment and function. Assembly is just a mockup at this point. As always, thanks for following along and always feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and insights. David G.