stitchdup Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 Next project on the bench. This is going to be a full custom crew cab ala the version dave kindig recently built on his tv show. My version is going to be a little more custom though as it's going to have a full size bed and the cab body is going to be from the revell bus with 3 side windows removed and one door flipped to the other side. The engine will be one of firerods resin 356 engines and i may use the fujimi 356 brakes and spare rims (my 356 kit had 2 sets of rims) and maybe a few other details if i decide against the scale production 17" 356 rims. I'm planning for this to be easily mistaken for a low stock version when its finished so there wont be chrome bumpers. For the paint I'm undecided between yellow and white pearl or the original vw show vans red, black and white but thats far down the road. I'll be using some highlight model studio pe parts on this such as the pop out windows. I'm thinking also to add a ladder and turntable to the bed just for some extra interest so it will be modified from the heller delaheye fire truck ladder but much shorter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUGIEDOGGIE Posted December 16, 2019 Share Posted December 16, 2019 nice cant wait to see more of this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stitchdup Posted December 19, 2019 Author Share Posted December 19, 2019 Well i thought i really should get the saw warmed up since I'm effectivelly got half the time due to work. I'm starting with the rear since it will set the ride height due to the bed floor. Its the reason the big rims dont fit how i want so have been swapped for porsche 5 spokes. I am using the tamiya beetle rear chassis since it has gearbox mounts and is simple enough to narrow. I will be using the hasegawa rear torsion arms though as they allow a little more space than the bug versions. I am using the beetle gearbox as the suburu one is about twice the length so it can go in the spares box for now. I've put together the engine block and gearbox to help with mockups and to give a reference for the suspension. I'll be grafting the beetle rear onto the hasegawa chassis but all that will be staying is the the two rails as the bug parts replace most of the rest. The rails will also give me somewhere to build up the engine bay around the engine as neither the revell nor hasegawa offer much in this area and building from scratch will be simpler than modifying the kits. There's really not much to one of these bays anyway and doing it this way will allow me to fit the rads in a space designed for them instead of where theres a gap. I'll get the suspension built up and engine complete before starting this as the engine has a lot of bits still to fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stitchdup Posted December 19, 2019 Author Share Posted December 19, 2019 (edited) So the rear end wasn't sitting as low as i wanted it to. I spent an hour or so modifying the hasegawa rails before deciding it would be far easier to just chop them off and build some new ones. I cut 6 of each rail then glued them in batches of 3 then temp glued these together so i could get the 2 sides the same shape. Obviously I made them so it would sit on the floor on slightly smaller wheels but then my brakes wont fit. I'll be doing more work on the suspension next to ensure it will stay this low so all the mounts will be to suit this stance. I have to build a new engine bay but since vws are pretty much all flat surfaces that shouldn't be too hard and I can build it to suit the engine and other parts. Since I have to fit a radiator I might use the vents from the van left overs on the side panels so I can move the radiator under the bed and give me a much cleaner looking engine bay since the suburu engine is pretty ugly. It means I'll have to open them up to show it off but that also gives me somewhere to put the air tank and pumps and using the van vents will keep it original looking too Edited December 19, 2019 by stitchdup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamsuperdan Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Love your plan for this one. Following for sure. I love crewcab VWs. Just wish someone would kit the Vanagon version, like I used to have! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stitchdup Posted December 27, 2019 Author Share Posted December 27, 2019 On 12/23/2019 at 5:36 PM, iamsuperdan said: Love your plan for this one. Following for sure. I love crewcab VWs. Just wish someone would kit the Vanagon version, like I used to have! Which version do you mean? I know some guys call the bay window a vanagon and some the t3. If its the t3 you had it shouldn't be too hard to build one out of the magnum/un/politzei vans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamsuperdan Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 8 hours ago, stitchdup said: Which version do you mean? I know some guys call the bay window a vanagon and some the t3. If its the t3 you had it shouldn't be too hard to build one out of the magnum/un/politzei vans Yeah, mine was the T3. I have a few of the Westfalia vans, but those don't lend themselves to conversion very well. To do it right, converting the bus versions are beyond my scratchbuilding skills at this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUGIEDOGGIE Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 cant wait to see more keep up the great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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