Beetle Bailey Jeep

[spencer1984]

Growing up with the "classic" comics, Beetle Bailey was a staple as far back as I can remember. I wanted to make a tribute to this strip in scale, but with something that more closely reflected Mort Walker's art than a box stock Jeep. So I'm doing a full scratch build and aiming for somewhere between the full detail of Hasegawa's Willys MB (which is serving as a guide for me) and the simplicity of the comic art.

The frame rails are .080" styrene with various other sizes for crossmembers. The bumper is C channel, and the springs are layered .010" stock.

I'm building the body from the inside out, mostly using .040" sheet styrene at this point. I've got some filler on the seams, and once that's set I'll sand and start adding the outer body panels.

The grille is something I drew and had 3D printed at Shapeways, and the hood is a section of .375" tube sliced in half and grafted to a flat piece of .040" sheet. Since this is going to be a curbside, I added some extra bracing under the hood to prevent cracks in the filler.

As always, any comments/criticisms/suggestions are welcome!

[bobthehobbyguy]

Nice start.  Impressive fab work.

[espo]

Beetle Bailey was back when the Cartoons in the paper were as much for adults as children. My father , a WWII vet., used to enjoy him as much as myself.   

[mustang1989]

I grew up with those comics. Ask a kid today who "Beetle Bailey" is and you'll get a blank stare.   I guess we're all showin' our age here.

This is too cool NOT to watch. Bring it Bill.

[Tom Geiger]

Your post reminded me of this cover I have in my stamp collection.  A World War Two piece... of course I had to have it for the Jeep!

[spencer1984]

Thanks, guys! A little more progress tonight, got the tub fully enclosed. The door cutouts are pretty much always drawn as simple loops, so I copied that look here. Next up will be the front fenders and firewall...

[TarheelRick]

Looking really good.  As all the rest I really enjoyed Beetle Bailey, so did my WWII vet father, he drove a Jeep among other vehicles.  These older Jeeps were pretty simple all flat construction except for the hood.  Looking forward to progress.

[Deathgoblin]

This is neat!    I'm watching!

[Rusty92]

Always get a chuckle out of that comic strip. Can’t wait to see this done

[spencer1984]

Thanks, guys! Got a bit more done, with axles and the front of the body starting to take shape:

[Rusty92]

That is very nice. Excellent scratch building. 

[mustang1989]

Too cool. Way too cool!

[bobthehobbyguy]

Really like the way this is coming along.  Could you give some detail how you cut the frame rails?

[spencer1984]

Thanks, guys!

20 hours ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

Could you give some detail how you cut the frame rails?

The main rails are assembled from a few different widths of 0.080" rectangular stock. The biggest sections - between the axles - were .188" wide and taper cut on each end. Then smaller pieces were glued to the tops of these to create the raised sections over the axles and even smaller pieces were used to make the short sections at the ends. So each rail is made up of about five pieces, more or less arranged like this:

I had considered cutting each one out of a single piece, but decided against it since it seemed like I would waste a lot of extra material that way. Plus, doing it this way I know that where I'm going to mount the body will be absolutely level and dimensions would be guaranteed to match side to side.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Thanks. I agree that doing it in pieces makes more sense. 

[spencer1984]

The chassis is now finished except for the front driveshaft. I'll install that once I get the engine in:

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Very cool project. Still moving along?

 

[Tom Louis]

cool!

[Cpt Tuttle]

I was crazy about Beetle Bailey as a kid and I think that the cartoon is the main reason why I have always wanted a Willys, and why I now have one waiting for restoration. So, anything happening with this one?