Der Beetle Bus

[Psychographic]

Darren, thanks for the suggestion on the resin. That was my first thought when I had the idea to do see-thru ends. I have a 1/16" hole in the top of the tank for cap to fit in, I think it would be easy to add water to display it and then drain it out as needed.

 

I bit the bullet and decided to start on the front rims. I took some release paper, cut a hole to fit the jig so when I epoxy the PE to the wheel half it won't stick to the jig. I taped one of the empty hoops to the one rim that still has the spokes for centering, applied some slow cure epoxy to the  inside edge of the rim and clamped it together. I need 8 hours for it to cure, but so far it looks good.

There's no going back now.

 

 

I masked off the oil and trans pans, the blower, and rear suspension arms so I could touch up the Alclad from handling the parts. The engine just needs the wire made up for the alternator, and to mount the one from the starter. These will be done after the body is mounted.

The finished European Hemi. Why European? The distributor is mounted on the wrong side of the road.

 

 

 

 

 

[Psychographic]

The PE wires are a bit of a disappointment and it's most likely my fault. As I don't have a lathe I had to use the Stingaree rims, which once you remove everything but the hoops, they get a bit weak. Just the force from putting the tire onto the wheel distorted the rim enough to bend the spokes. This would be much easier with metal rims.

 

Even though they're screwed up, they look better than injection molded wheels.

 

 

One wheel on the bus.

 

[OldNYJim]

I think those wheels look great, actually!  This thing's really coming together!

[Psychographic]

If the first wheel wasn't bad enough to deal with, the second one had a rim crack.  I got it fixed and in my hurry to put the haves together before something else happened, I forgot to put the hub in. Now I'm without a set of front wheels. I'm not buying another kit just for set of wheels. I'm totally disgusted with this build right now.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Psychographic

[mustang1989]

Good Lord! This thing is just mind blowing Dave!! Lovin' the creativeness put into this build from the overall set up to the details all the way down to the paint work. While I definitely can understand (as well as relate to ) being disgusted with a build I encourage you to take a step back and regroup. The kind of mind that it takes to come up with off the charts ideas like this is also able to think through difficulties like you're having. I've got no doubts about you getting through it.

Edited September 30, 2016 by mustang1989

[Psychographic]

So I thought I should concentrate on finishing the paint while I try to track down another front wheel. A few years back I got a sample of DuPont's Hot hues striping paint, well guess what? That stuff doesn't last forever in the plastic sample bottles, the reducer evaporated and the paint was hard as a rock. No problem, I have some HOK urethane striping paint I can use. WRONG! That can is dried up too.

 

Someone doesn't want me to accomplish anything today. I think I should go back to bed.

[mustang1989]

Man I hate it when that happens!   Hang in there Dave.

[Psychographic]

I found a can of HOK black that had just a little left in it. So even though I shouldn't be doing anything with how my luck has been today, I broke out a quill and started painting.

 

[cobraman]

That looks crazy good ! Just ordered that kit yesterday, But whatever I do with it it will be nowhere as cool as this one.

[OldNYJim]

Oh wow, those graphics are incredible!!!

[Psychographic]

I'm almost done with the graphics, I need to fill in the black on the front.

 

 

[gatorincebu]

 

    I just found this build thread. And read the whole thing. Awesome ideas and execution. Going to be a sure head turner and trophy winner.

 

 

 

    Be Well

     Gator

[Psychographic]

Thank you all for the comments. I know I forget to say thank you and for that I apologize.

I think I'm done with the graphics, and it's on to the final coats of clear.

 

Edited October 2, 2016 by Psychographic

[mustang1989]

Man this thing is just KILLER!!!

[bobthehobbyguy]

Those graphics are over the top..

[Intmd8r]

‘Cmon – stop it already!

Its bad enough you’re making the rest of us look bad with your detailing skills, but do you really need to show off the graphics on the undercarriage?

[Psychographic]

Believe me, my detailing skills are nothing compared to a LOT of people on this forum.  As for showing off on the floorboard graphics, yes I did have to do that!

 

The body is in the spraybooth for hopefully the last time. It looks like I might actually finish something without losing interest, being interrupted by family health problems, or distracted by another project.

 

[mustang1989]

Wahooo! On the home stretch!

[Psychographic]

I just got home and checked on the body. The doors fit by just placing them in place, whether they clear everything using the hinges is another story. I'm going to have to polish the paint which I was hoping to skip, but you can see the graphics in the thickness of the paint. This clear shrinks a decent amount after a few days, so I'll wait a bit before I buff it.

A generous member on here is sending me some wheels so I'm actually going to finish something. I might switch the idea of PE wires to clear centers on the rims, I know I can pull that off without any problems. Now that I've said that, I'll probably find a way to screw those up too!

 

Once I know the floorboard fits (the fit was tight even before the clear), I can flock the carpet area and start assembling the interior.

 

 

 

[bobthehobbyguy]

Wow. That is great.

[mustang1989]

Over the top Dave!

[Davewilly]

This is coming along great!  Keep up all the hard work it really is paying off.  Hit me up if you run into a problem with front wheels again  I have a pretty big stash of wheels & would be more than happy to check it for what you need.

[Psychographic]

Once I knew the interior floor fit, I started doing the carpet. I put down two coats of embossing powder. I tried a mix of black acrylic, tacky glue, and water which didn't get great coverage. I used a hair dryer to speed the drying and did a second coat, this time using Micromark flat clear and got great coverage. I decided to put some parts in place to see how everything looked. From this angle everything looks good.

 

 

But from this angle, the dash looks way out of place.

 

 

So out came a quill and some 1 Shot and now I have this.

 

 

And the VW emblem has been found!

Edited October 5, 2016 by Psychographic

[Psychographic]

This looks better.

 

 

 

 

[Davewilly]

Looking good!