The Burnt Marshmallow

[The Fisherman]

Two years ago, my now 13 year old, received a Revell Jeep Wrangler model as a Christmas gift. A few weeks ago something motivated him to open the box and start working on it. This is his 1st ever build, but I'm not certain he hasn't been night-lighting somewhere..........

He build himself a make-shift paint booth to keep the rattle can over-spray to a minimum, and started working on the frame.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't realize I would be sharing the process with a forum, so the photos are a tad skimpy between procedures. After the frame was finalized into a rolling chassis, he turned his attention onto the interior bucket. (Note: this is a curbside model, with solid axles and screw mounting points. He spent some time working the suspension springs to get all four wheels to sit on the ground.)

After he was satisfied with that, he started working on the body parts. When he started this, he had a vision of what he wanted the finished Jeep to look like, so kept things plain and simple. A little body work and spot detailing (black washing the cowl vents) was all that really went into the body other then the Testors rattle can white.

He fought with the body/chassis mating; actually ended up removing the mounting posts for the rear bumper to keep things visually parallel. This is where he is currently. A few more small details and he's ready to get it muddy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2015 by The Fisherman

[GMCMAN52]

That's great and looks great get him another kit to keep him focused on modeling

[nicknkim14]

Nice to see a kid doing something with his hands instead of a playstaion 

[Jantrix]

Well done! 

[gtx6970]

That's great and looks great get him another kit to keep him focused on modeling

Ditto

[mustang1989]

The next generation. It's good to see a youngster interested in modeling. Superb job on that Jeep so far at that!!

[GTJUNIOR]

He's doing a great job on that Jeep. I couldn't have done it that well when I was 13. Bravo young man.

[cobraman]

Coming along nicely !

[oldcarfan]

It's good to see a kid doing something with all his fingers, not just his thumbs. 

Mine only play video games these days. 

[DumpyDan]

Well tell your son nice work, looks great and sign him up as a member here

[Sledsel]

Wow... doing great.

Here is a hint of a trick I use. Keep those credit type cards that come in the mail, they make great squeegees for applying filler. I cut them into 1 inch long by 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide strips. Use once, discard

[vintagercr]

Excellent work!  Maybe Santa will bring him another model for Christmas

[Foxer]

I was hunched over plastic bodies when I was his age ... good to see it happening. And he seems to have the eye .. and desire .. to do it right .. HIS way.

The Jeep looks really good!

[DrKerry]

That's great and looks great get him another kit to keep him focused on modeling

Ditto that!!!!!

[The Fisherman]

He appreciates the kudos.............and I appreciate the tips!

Sledsel - I had to chuckle when I saw what he came up with to fill the unused holes in this thing. Guess he only ever saw me work with 1:1 tools and didn't switch the gears to go smaller for a fractional sized repair. 

When asked if he was going to do another build after this one is finished, he said, "Well, I have all those cars in the pictures around my room. I think it would be pretty cool to make a model to match each one of them to put underneath." He has old 18x24(s) of Z/28's, Shelby Mustangs, GTOs, etc. (It's a shame........he comes from a Mopar home.)

[GTJUNIOR]

At least they're all muscle cars, lol.

[Davewilly]

looks pretty good!

 

[misterNNL]

Thanks for helping to encourage another generation to build models.He may just discover some of the nicest people he'll ever meet along the way and develop a new level of patience and concentration he doesn't even realize he has.

[horsepower]

Wow... doing great.

Here is a hint of a trick I use. Keep those credit type cards that come in the mail, they make great squeegees for applying filler. I cut them into 1 inch long by 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide strips. Use once, discard

I do the same thing with my expired cards, and old drivers license, and everytime I can find them I pick up those AOL discs for mixing palettes, you can keep them pretty clean for a long time using a single edge razor blade to clean off the left over fillers or glues.

[horsepower]

Get him a couple of the new kits from Revell that are super snap kits, with some detail painting they come out pretty good, and he can get some of them in both painted and unpainted versions, just for shelf builds I picked up the black ZL-1, Camaro, and the glue promo ZL-1 from Round2, and a friend who is a painter in a local collision repair shop gave me about a pint of water base Synergy Green they had left over from painting a newer Mustang in that color. Those kits should give him some newer intermediate kits to hone his skills on, but it doesn't appear he needs to much before he's going to start helping others out.

[Sledsel]

Great tip on the discs. I use bottle caps for paint mixing with a brush.

[talon63]

Wow... doing great.

Here is a hint of a trick I use. Keep those credit type cards that come in the mail, they make great squeegees for applying filler. I cut them into 1 inch long by 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide strips. Use once, discard

First, nice build, Kudos to you both. In regards to the tools used, I did the same thing at his age, growing up in a family of shade tree mechanics, I applied what was going on in the 1:1 world to what I had on the bench.

Secondly, in regards to the quote, I use those promo credit cards as blanks to make guitar pics, and only recently had it dawn on me that they are suitable for use when building. 

[gino]

great work !    nice to see youngsters get into the hobby.

[bisc63]

Nice job. That's really his first?!

[Art Laski]

Coolest thread out here!