Scale-Master Posted March 24, 2015 Posted March 24, 2015 This is an original issue of the 76 kit by Revell Ive had in my collection since it was brand new. The box art on this kit was pretty cool looking, (photos of the real vehicle), but this one is a little rough due to a leak we had in the attic many years ago. And the decals are not going to be usable Fortunately I filed an extra set of original decals away, just in case. They are a little yellowed now so Ill sun bleach them. The body is warped, but not too badly to use. I put a piece of sheet styrene in as a spreader and left the body in the sun for several days.
Scale-Master Posted March 25, 2015 Author Posted March 25, 2015 The engines/transmissions are pretty weak on detail and overall accuracy in this series of kits. Since it will be barely visible once the van is done it isn’t too big of a deal. Plus I’m building this for the nostalgia of the kit, and fun... I had a spray can of Intermediate Blue handy, close enough to Corporate Blue for this one… Sprayed the trans silver and brush detail painted the rest.
Scale-Master Posted March 25, 2015 Author Posted March 25, 2015 I’ve never run into this before. Thin CA makes the plastic fall apart/shatter. Just the smallest application and pieces break/fall away on their own. I’ve seen something similar to it with CA accelerator on stressed parts, but his is not the same. I had to replace most of the front suspension parts, and then fix a couple of those once I realized it was the CA doing it. I assembled the frame as the instructions show, but I did not cement the front of the leaf springs to the frame or the lower ends of the rear shocks to the axle so I can adjust to get all four wheels on the ground if needed. The frame is pretty true, so I used it to straighten out the floor pan which was warped, although not as bad as the body.
Monty Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 I’ve never run into this before. Thin CA makes the plastic fall apart/shatter. Just the smallest application and pieces break/fall away on their own. I’ve seen something similar to it with CA accelerator on stressed parts, but his is not the same. I had to replace most of the front suspension parts, and then fix a couple of those once I realized it was the CA doing it. I'm curious about something. On a 100% styrene build like this, what is the advantage of using a CA over, say, a reputable thin hobby glue (Tamiya etc)?
Scale-Master Posted March 25, 2015 Author Posted March 25, 2015 Well, for one thing speed. CA with accelerator dries a lot faster than solvent glues. And I am using Tamiya Thin for some of the assembly. Plus where I use CA I don't need any putty. I decided to reinforce the body from the inside with some sheet styrene. Unfortunately as soon as the CA hit the yellow plastic it too cracked in multiple places. And it wasn’t even stressed. The Zap-a-Gap green label CA works fine on this plastic, it is the Hobby People house brand thin CA that is causing the problems. I repaired the top areas and cemented the rear valence in at the same time. I went very heavy with the gap filling CA with no cracking issues. (The instructions call for the valence and front spoiler to go on after the chassis is installed in the body, but the photos of the real van show those seams are filled smooth.) Plus the addition of those two parts really strengthens the body.
Scale-Master Posted March 25, 2015 Author Posted March 25, 2015 A light dusting of white primer was applied as an adhesion promoter and then wet sanded with 2000.
MsDano85gt Posted March 25, 2015 Posted March 25, 2015 very cool good start what type of van is that and what scale?
Scale-Master Posted March 26, 2015 Author Posted March 26, 2015 It's a '76 Chevy Van 20. 1/25th scale.
Ben Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 Nice! I'm on the hunt for that kit at a decent price right now. There's a few on Ebay but I think the sellers sniffed the glue rather than use it to build models.
Darren B Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 Nice I have always loved this kit will be watching with great interest, awesome work so far.
Scale-Master Posted March 26, 2015 Author Posted March 26, 2015 It is a cool version, but the kit is not worth in my opinion $100-150.00 as I see they are going for. Unless you are willing to pay for the nostalgia factor. The body is painted (Tamiya TS-16 from the can) and the chrome trim is done so it’s ready for the kit provided decal graphics. I made chrome Mylar pieces for the rear custom window trim. I’m pleased with the way the side marker lights came out…
Scale-Master Posted March 26, 2015 Author Posted March 26, 2015 Thanks. It needs clear, there's a little "lemon" peel. I also made some chrome frames for the sun roofs.
Model Brain Posted March 26, 2015 Posted March 26, 2015 Nice looking job bud! I need this kit too. I have the roof lol sort of a start!
Scale-Master Posted March 26, 2015 Author Posted March 26, 2015 I used gauge and radio decals I drew for the 2007 IPMS Convention decal sheet for the dash. The wood grain is freehand painted. I added a more modern (90’s era) DIN mount stereo where the CB would go according to the instructions. I’ll move the molded CB to the overhead panel, where they already engraved another CB…
Scale-Master Posted March 26, 2015 Author Posted March 26, 2015 The rear doors get a graphic that goes across them. Even though the decal is done as two parts, I wanted to make sure they lined up once the van was assembled so I glued them together. I also added the chrome trim.
MsDano85gt Posted March 27, 2015 Posted March 27, 2015 looking fantastically good what scale is that van?
Scale-Master Posted March 27, 2015 Author Posted March 27, 2015 “Period correct” bedding colors… Refrigerator and T.V.; I hand painted the wood grain and used a wet coat of smoke for the T.V. screen.
Scale-Master Posted March 27, 2015 Author Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) I was a little apprehensive about the decals being so old. I sun bleached them and all the yellowing went away as expected. But I was more concerned with them being brittle. I was pleased when they not only released from the paper quickly and even more so when they all slid off without cracking. They responded well to a little decal solvent too. The door lines are printed on the decals, not a big problem for the driver’s side… But on the passenger side they don’t line up and are overall too long. I cut the decal at the front door line and moved the section on the front fender back to line it up with the molded in door line. But the other lines will have to be as they are since the design doesn’t allow for any adjustment without it looking worse. Edited March 27, 2015 by Scale-Master
Scale-Master Posted March 27, 2015 Author Posted March 27, 2015 It has those not so popular two piece vinyl tires. But by using a contact cement I was able to glue them together strongly enough to be able to sand the tread without the halves slipping around and they trued up nicely.
Scale-Master Posted March 27, 2015 Author Posted March 27, 2015 The chrome on the wheels didn’t look too bad at first… Then I noticed each one had a goober in the chrome. And while trimming the sprue off them the chrome began to flake off as well so I stripped them and shot them chrome silver.
bigdrag1 Posted March 27, 2015 Posted March 27, 2015 I`m really enjoying your build of this van. I had this kit when it was new and had a lot of fun building it . Keep up the good work....
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