stitchdup Posted January 28, 2021 Posted January 28, 2021 This is the bestmodelcarparts bug conversion for the tamiya kit. So far I've only worked on the pan and now have working suspension front and rear, and a narrowed front axle. To acheive the working suspension I drilled out the suspension arms and then cut them off before reattaching them with pinsglued only where they go into the axle so the arms are tight enough to hold the stance but still adjustable. At the rear i did the same method but will be cutting the centre from the drive shafts and replacing it with some rubber band so the axles will be solid attached to the brakes and gued to the rubber bands inside the gearbox. This will give me the camber seen on low bugs but the rear wont have the same adjustment as the front.
stitchdup Posted February 1, 2021 Author Posted February 1, 2021 Got some work done on the engine. The colour is hok lime gold pearl over duplicolour silver with lots of metallic. The chrome is all molotowe cleared with gauzy shine enhancer. The next lot of chrome piecea will be cleared with s-02 product to see how it works. I didn't worry about the seam as it will be hidden by the belt and pulleys
stitchdup Posted February 18, 2021 Author Posted February 18, 2021 Got the body and interior parts in the silver base. I'll let them sit a couple of days before the hok lime gold goes on
stitchdup Posted February 20, 2021 Author Posted February 20, 2021 (edited) Got the lime gold on. It laid down much nicer than the hot pink I used on the datsun. No blotchiness so it only needed a couple of coats unlike the pink that took loads of layers to get even. I'm looking forward to getting all the chrome and foil on but i've got a lot of clear to go on before that. I'm using a hebmuller dash to make the rhd conversion simpler Edited February 20, 2021 by stitchdup
Spottedlaurel Posted February 20, 2021 Posted February 20, 2021 Wow, what a colour! That looks great.
89AKurt Posted February 20, 2021 Posted February 20, 2021 I have that conversion body. I've also been tempted to do the working suspension too. What will you use for the torsion bars?
stitchdup Posted February 20, 2021 Author Posted February 20, 2021 31 minutes ago, 89AKurt said: I have that conversion body. I've also been tempted to do the working suspension too. What will you use for the torsion bars? At the front I made it a friction fit on the suspension arms so it will wear out if used too much, and at the rear I'm cutting down some rubber bands to replace the centre of the driveshafts. I will be solid gluing them to the brake drums to make sure the stance does what most slammed vws do for that broken look. I previously tried to do it on my hebmuller using small sewing elastic at the front glued to the suspension arms but it was a little loose once assembled. When you get to your bug you'll need to do some small mods to the rear interior bucket, to get mine to fit I added a small strip of plastic 0.3mm under the upper engine bay part to tilt it ever so slightly back, and the front underhood part needed a little reshaping on the front from just behind the centre of the fenders down both sides but its both very minor mods but needed to get the body on the pan correctly.
stitchdup Posted February 20, 2021 Author Posted February 20, 2021 Clear is on, I think I might get away with the finish straight out of the can on this one
stitchdup Posted February 21, 2021 Author Posted February 21, 2021 I sat down to do the foil on the bug but half way through doing it I realised I had everything needed to a custom camper too. So since I have a load more time than I thought I made a start on it. I'm using the c1 models trailer I got last year as the base with sides cut from some styrene sheets. All the interior so far is from the t3 camper I'm making into a pick up. I'm in the middle of making a swing out cooker to be under a hatch at the rear
stitchdup Posted February 23, 2021 Author Posted February 23, 2021 Got some paint on the interior today and while it was drying I did some more on the trailer. The pull out cooker took a lot of thinking before I just did a simple slide out version. I tried a few different ways to make it slide out including making a small wheeled trolley but in the end a slotted sheet won. I was overthinking it for the first attempts
cobraman Posted February 23, 2021 Posted February 23, 2021 Paint looks good and the camper will be cool.
espo Posted February 23, 2021 Posted February 23, 2021 I agree, the paint color and finish look great. The trailer is interesting and I like how you've replicated the real ones.
stitchdup Posted February 25, 2021 Author Posted February 25, 2021 I managed to drop my sprue cutters on the bug this morning. Being a pearl paintjob I was worried I would have to repaint the whole thing but since I had nothing to lose I tried to touch it up first and it went better than i could have hoped. Since I dont have any luck blending clear i decided to clear the whole body and did the hood and trunk to make sure they matched. I think i got lucky this time. You can still see it but I had a visor I was thinking about using so this has forced my hand.
PatW Posted February 25, 2021 Posted February 25, 2021 Going well stitchdup! I built my teardrop quite a few years ago now..
David G. Posted February 28, 2021 Posted February 28, 2021 Great color for the Bug! I can't wait to see what you do with the trailer. Nice recovery on the paint chip BTW. David G.
stitchdup Posted March 19, 2021 Author Posted March 19, 2021 Some more done on the camper. I didn't like how the slide out cooker looked so I've changed it up for a single slide hidden inside the cabinet. I'll be building a drawer unti to sit under it so one slide is enough as its more to stop it falling out than anything else. I've also added material to the units so they fit the sides better. Now these parts have a set place to fit I cut out a window and door. I made the window a similar shape to the rear bug windows and might add another small window in front of the door. I've also made my own wheel mounts as the trailer would look a bit odd at stock height with the bug being slammed. I've also swapped the wheels to stock bug steels on both again so it matches
TransAmMike Posted March 19, 2021 Posted March 19, 2021 Interesting and impressive. Looking great Les?
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