David G.

Great progress on this Jim. I wired the engine in the one I built too. I tried to make one of those clamshell wire guides but couldn't quite get it to look the way I wanted it to so I did without it. The fender welt looks great! I wish I'd thought of using styrene rods when I built mine. Another case of what I call "delayed intelligence". David G.

It's coming along nicely. David G.

It's starting to look like a car instead of a puzzle! Excellent work! David G.

Fabulous color work! It reminds me of some of the figure painting techniques I've read about. David G.

The two level base is an excellent idea Si! It's rather like a cut-away of the structure, very cool! Of course, the detail bits you've added are fabulous. David G.

It's gonna look great with all that meat under it. David G.

The body work looks great Jim! The camber on those rear wheels would have the rims striking sparks on the pavement! I love it! David G.

That's a pretty color and it seems right for the time period. David G.

Wow Jim, you've been busy on this one! The body looks fantastic and I've always favored those old style overrider bumpers. If I recall, they're mainly on the US versions if that makes a difference to you. Though I do like the original VW seats, I can see your reason behind the swap. We used to say: "VWs don't have seats, they have chairs! How German is that?" Cool technique on the door cards too. I've done similar things with other materials. I like the 3D printed plates. I've always wanted to have embossed plates on my builds. I've even gone so far as to mount a printed plate to very heavy aluminum foil and hand embossing it. Here's an example I did in the rear window of this 55 Chevy. It didn't turn out quite as I wanted as the glue interfered a bit with the embossing but it gives the right impression... so to speak. I'm also really looking forward to how the stance will work out on this one. Regards, David G.

A good call on the engine swap, this one has nice detail. David G.

Thank you kindly! David G.

Hello Everybody! I've been putting out updates almost as fast as I'm building. My updates are catching up with my build cycle which means that I have to do some more building this weekend. That's a good problem to have. The rear bumper is done! I fabricated a license plate bracket and attached it along with a license plate decal from the parts box. North Carolina 1964, that seems appropriate. While installing the bullet tail light lenses I noticed that the chrome trim collar was cast as a part of the lenses. So I went to the trouble of painting each one with a good coat of Molotow as I installed it. Yeah, it's the little things. It looks like the Molotow needs a little touchup. As always, thanks for taking the time to look and please feel free to post any comments you may have. David G.

Nicely done! I love the stand you made too. David G.

I followed your WIP on this one. It fought you every step of the way and you fought back until you won. Well done Bob! The end result looks fabulous and is well worth the effort you put into it. David G.

Museum quality! David G.

That looks much better! David G.

It seems that the last issue I received was #221. It looks like #222 missed me. Is there any way I can still still get a copy of issue #222? Thanks, David G.

Nice looking build, excellent color! David G.

Great idea using the sprue tabs as tail light lenses! David G.

Wow Mike! First of all, welcome back. It's great to see this one back on the bench. I love all the little features you're adding. That's one of my favorite aspects of this hobby. Finding little out of scale items that work as added-detail features. As I think I may have already noted, you're doing way more for this kit than the designers ever intended and all of it looks fantastic. As it should for a fantasy custom. David G.

Dang, I thought that was the real thing! Excellent work so far and (obviously) a very good photo! ? David G.

Thank you Chaz! Thank you Trevor. The snow tires I bought from a vendor at the Desert Scale Classic in Phoenix, most likely in 2012. I don't remember the name of the vendor. But GLMFAA1 has suggested in their comment below that they may have come from an MPC Jeep kit. Thank you Steve. Yes those details do have a way of popping up. Speaking of which, I do have plans for a pillar mounted spot light. Thanks for the tip though, I always appreciate pointers and suggestions. Thanks for your input Greg. I do have plans for a spotlight on the A-pillar but I hadn't considered one on the rear for the loading area. I'll have to do a little research to see what they may have looked like. I'm surprised that I haven't seen (or didn't notice) rear spotlights on the photos I found online. I'm sure I can find something suitable in the ol' parts box. Also, thanks for the tip on the origin of the snow tires. I'm sure @Bainford will appreciate the information. Thanks, David G.

Hello Everybody! It's time to make with the next update. Here's another of those thousand and one details, the siren/PA unit. I found this one in the parts box. Of course, cleaning up the flash and attachment points prior to assembly damaged the chrome coating. That will need to be fixed. Once the chrome coating is stripped and the remainder of the casting artifacts are cleaned up I can see that the little nubbin on the bottom will not be sufficient to mount the siren to the ambulance in the way that I want to. I cut off the little nub and drilled a 1/16" hole in the bottom to accommodate a piece of 1/16" styrene rod. This should provide a much more positive attachment point. Ah yes, much better! Just a quick spray with some Rustoleum Chrome paint has it looking pretty good. As always, thanks for following along and please feel free to comment if you feel the urge to share. David G.

Hello Everybody! It's time to make with the next update. Here's another of those thousand and one details, the siren/PA unit. I found this one in the parts box. Of course, cleaning up the flash and attachment points prior to assembly damaged the chrome coating. That will need to be fixed. Once the chrome coating is stripped and the remainder of the casting artifacts are cleaned up I can see that the little nubbin on the bottom will not be sufficient to mount the siren to the ambulance in the way that I want to. I cut off the little nub and drilled a 1/16" hole in the bottom to accommodate a piece of 1/16" styrene rod. This should provide a much more positive attachment point. Ah yes, much better! Just a quick spray with some Rustoleum Chrome paint has it looking pretty good. As always, thanks for following along and please feel free to comment if you feel the urge to share. David G.

Sorry to learn of your Covid infection Jim, I hope you can recover quickly. The nice thing about a kit like this is that anything you do to it will likely be an improvement! I always find your builds entertaining and educational, l can't wait to see what you do with this one. David G.