Claude Thibodeau Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 HI! Those among us who lived trough the late 60's will remember that, in the face of declining musclecar sales, Hot-Rod started to feature more dune-buggies (!) and... Custom Vans! The Keep on Trucking mantra took hold, and no vanner worth his salt went to a Van-In without some custom paint, mags and groovy interior with an 8-track tape. Ah, the good old days! The VW van always tickled me, and I found this Revell California Roller dirt cheap at a show. Good news: all-opening doors and hatches built in. Bad news: a zillion parts, with adjustment issues that called for just a "quick styling job". So: scratchbuilt rear shelf and tubs, lowered suspension, front wheel pans that craddle the scratch-built seats, a custom roof rack (gotta go to Woodstock, eh?), an HOK pearl and Gel-Pen "Psychadelic" paint effect under Tamya's TS-13 clear. Molotow Chrome brush-painted here and there. Snap NewBe rolling stock, and the 66 Riv Low Rider bike thrown in for fun. I guess you had to be there to understand. Apologies to all! CT
iamsuperdan Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 Definitely more of a 90s vibe than a 60s vibe. And the 90s I remember! I really like the paint, have never seen that done on a kit before.
TarheelRick Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 Nice work. Really love VW vans, owned a '72 Wesphalia once, traded it for a '74 Rabbit (must have bumped my head the day before). Got to agree with Dan, it is more a 90's, the 60's would have not been as ornate plus it needs a "peace sign" somewhere on it. That being said, your work is outstanding and I really like it.
Claude Thibodeau Posted January 27, 2021 Author Posted January 27, 2021 1 hour ago, iamsuperdan said: Definitely more of a 90s vibe than a 60s vibe. And the 90s I remember! I really like the paint, have never seen that done on a kit before. Hi Dan! I agree... I'm just an old guys who sees thing trough the lense of his youth, sometimes. Far from upsetting me, your comment makes me feel more "contemporary", if anything! As to the paint effect, it was just a flash that struck me as I was gazing at my coffee mug filled with those pens that I use to be creative with my grand-daughter. Who knew? You just have to leave it untouched for many days before clearing, and do such in light dusting first: this stuff takes forever to dry on a non-porous surface. Thanks for the comments! CT
Claude Thibodeau Posted January 27, 2021 Author Posted January 27, 2021 48 minutes ago, TarheelRick said: Nice work. Really love VW vans, owned a '72 Wesphalia once, traded it for a '74 Rabbit (must have bumped my head the day before). Got to agree with Dan, it is more a 90's, the 60's would have not been as ornate plus it needs a "peace sign" somewhere on it. That being said, your work is outstanding and I really like it. Hi Ricky! Thanks for the comments. The decals that came with the kit included a peace sign, of course... but it looked a bit off-register, so I skipped. Hence the gel-pen pattern. Peace and love Man! CT
cobraman Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 Another great model from the House of Claude ! Very cool ! I may need to get one of those pens.
espo Posted January 27, 2021 Posted January 27, 2021 I like the paint effect on the sides of the body. Great looking paint color and finish.
Claude Thibodeau Posted January 28, 2021 Author Posted January 28, 2021 8 hours ago, cobraman said: Another great model from the House of Claude ! Very cool ! I may need to get one of those pens. Thank you Ray! Please, try it and show us what you did with it, I'm certain I've only scratched the surface. I once used it to pinstripe the border of contrasting panels on a funny-car, and it proved great for that too... CT
Claude Thibodeau Posted January 28, 2021 Author Posted January 28, 2021 2 hours ago, PappyD340 said: Extremely COOL there Claude, well done!! Hi Larry! Cool as it was back in the 60's. Memories... CT
Claude Thibodeau Posted January 28, 2021 Author Posted January 28, 2021 2 hours ago, espo said: I like the paint effect on the sides of the body. Great looking paint color and finish. Thank you David. This HOK color is always a crown pleaser, if I refer to countless custom paint jobs I've done on HD customs... CT
PatW Posted January 29, 2021 Posted January 29, 2021 Superb! Stance, Rack, Colour and bike, all superb!
crazyjim Posted January 29, 2021 Posted January 29, 2021 Way out man. You really did the paint with gel pens?
Claude Thibodeau Posted January 30, 2021 Author Posted January 30, 2021 3 hours ago, PatW said: Superb! Stance, Rack, Colour and bike, all superb! Hi Patrick! Thank you. Yours is cool too. I like your roof rack! As to the bike that came with the 66 Riviera Low-Rider... That was the best use I could finf to integrate it in a build... CT
Claude Thibodeau Posted January 30, 2021 Author Posted January 30, 2021 3 hours ago, crazyjim said: Way out man. You really did the paint with gel pens? Hi Jim! Thank you. Yes, I used metallic sparkle gel pens (from Michael's). About 2$ each, in a wide variety of tints. Long to get dry, however. Handle with care until cleared (2-3 days later). My wife always tell me that my hands are not always steady. So, I put that "tremor" to good use on the gel effects. Kind of a poor man's cobwebbing... CT
Koellefornia Kid Posted January 30, 2021 Posted January 30, 2021 Very nice! Really the gel-pen graphics!
Claude Thibodeau Posted January 30, 2021 Author Posted January 30, 2021 1 hour ago, Koellefornia Kid said: Very nice! Really the gel-pen graphics! Thank you Oliver. You should try it: quite easy! CT
BeakDoc Posted January 31, 2021 Posted January 31, 2021 Very nice. I really like the stance and choice of rolling stock. The drive-by Silly String effect you created with gel pens is pretty cool and really works on this piece.
Claude Thibodeau Posted January 31, 2021 Author Posted January 31, 2021 1 hour ago, BeakDoc said: Very nice. I really like the stance and choice of rolling stock. The drive-by Silly String effect you created with gel pens is pretty cool and really works on this piece. Thank you Chris! It certainly gives credence to the old suspicion that "some custom painters a really just lazy"... I know I was on that one: all in all the gel effect took less than 60 minutes. CT
ozmodeler Posted February 3, 2021 Posted February 3, 2021 Great job on the kombi van, Claude.You know they say if you remember the 60's you weren't really there ??!
stitchdup Posted February 3, 2021 Posted February 3, 2021 Very cool, the bike in the back is a nice touch
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 3, 2021 Author Posted February 3, 2021 5 hours ago, ozmodeler said: Great job on the kombi van, Claude.You know they say if you remember the 60's you weren't really there ??! Hi Lou! Thanks. Well, let's just say I remember SOME of it... Mostly the model cars part, back when a new kit at the pharmacy (!) was 2$... Memories! CT
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 3, 2021 Author Posted February 3, 2021 3 hours ago, stitchdup said: Very cool, the bike in the back is a nice touch Hi Les! Thank you. I had to cant the handlebars slightly... or they would have rubbed againts the roof! CT
christian-w Posted February 10, 2021 Posted February 10, 2021 This is sick! The paint looks fantastic! The bicycle is a great load for it. That fits to the style of the VW. Very nice done! Thank you for showing it. I never saw one with the opened door. The open wheel house is strange but cool.
Claude Thibodeau Posted February 10, 2021 Author Posted February 10, 2021 4 hours ago, christian-w said: This is sick! The paint looks fantastic! The bicycle is a great load for it. That fits to the style of the VW. Very nice done! Thank you for showing it. I never saw one with the opened door. The open wheel house is strange but cool. Hi Christian! Thanks for the comments. The open wheel house is a modification I did to lower the front end, and I chose to let it "open" just as you may have seen sometimes on extremely low riding pick-ups. Their tires often protude over the front fenders at full drop. It looks strange, but any observer links it to extreme lowering at first glance, I think... CT
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