Leica007 Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 (edited) Seeing several vans lately in the forum gave me the incentive to tackle a Coke van I got on clearance at WM; making a newer version of my 1:1 Ford built back in the mid 70's. I've got 2 of the 1/20 MPC kits to try to recreate a model of the original, just not quite ready to tackle that yet. I want to pay tribute to the original by staying close, but some things are going to be different. It's going to be fun and bring back fond memories of a great time in my life; building my own creation, Truck-ins (partying), Desert Kara Vans & Sun City Vans clubs (El Paso, Tx), competing in shows in the States and Europe, and a really great wife. I guess I'm still a vanner at heart. I,m going to use Testors laquer for the interior, and craft acrylics for the body, both in metallic greens, with green carpet on the inside. I'll try to explain and give good info, and will be glad to answer questions. First item was to lower the stance. I took advice from Fat Brian, cut the coils and drilled the upper arms to lower 2mm. Then modified the I-beam axle mounts to fit and keep wheels level. I also switched to BFG T/A to get lower profile. Next came the fun part, body work. Started by cutting shamrock side windows in the rear sides, then cut two sunroof window openings in the front of roof (the windows will be gull wing, like the 1:1). I added small flares to the wheel wells, and cut the driver side door, one back door, and the sliding side door. Also removed badging and filled in the rear license mount. Here's the beginning photos. Hope you enjoy the build and comments/suggestion are welcome. Next post will cover hinging the doors and hood and some of the interior items I've made. Thanks for looking, comments welcome. Edited February 23, 2023 by Leica007 correct name of member 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 How are you going to deal with the sliding door hinging? I would love to be able to do a closing door on my '77 Econoline but haven't really worked out the logistics yet. My experiment with the wire and styrene hinges for the barn doors worked exceedingly well. They are far stronger than I anticipated and by just giving the wire a slight twist there is enough resistance that the doors stay closed. No doubt many would do this with brass sockets and pins but that is above my pay grade so I had to get inventive. The nice part is te results are very close to scale size! Sorry for the nasty pictures but my poor old camera struggles that close up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slotto Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Looking good Lei. Green cellophane would make great glass for that shamrock window. Just an idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 I like the mods you are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leica007 Posted February 24, 2023 Author Share Posted February 24, 2023 Ray, thanks for looking and appreciate your comment. Steve, I'm trying to decide btw green or smoked windows. I think the green would be lost in the body/interior colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leica007 Posted February 24, 2023 Author Share Posted February 24, 2023 TC, appreciate the closeup pictures. Here's photos of the sliding setup I came up with, I started with 18 ga craft wire, but tried and changed to a sewing straight pin (the head fit perfectly for 1/32 tubing). I folded into U shape with 5mm legs which allows the open door to clear the flares. I did change the lower guide, I'll include pictures in a later post. Hope this explains how it works, the door will slide. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcoat Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 3 minutes ago, Leica007 said: TC, appreciate the closeup pictures. Here's photos of the sliding setup I came up with, I started with 18 ga craft wire, but tried and changed to a sewing straight pin (the head fit perfectly for 1/32 tubing). I folded into U shape with 5mm legs which allows the open door to clear the flares. I did change the lower guide, I'll include pictures in a later post. Hope this explains how it works, the door will slide. So almost like the function of the real thing without the top rollers. Genius! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leica007 Posted February 24, 2023 Author Share Posted February 24, 2023 TC, I did a chevy van with the top roller hinge setup, you can check it under WIP 75 Chevy Street Van. Appreciate your comments. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chirps Posted February 24, 2023 Share Posted February 24, 2023 Love the work on this. Huge van fan here also. What did you use to make such precise cuts for those shamrocks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leica007 Posted February 25, 2023 Author Share Posted February 25, 2023 11 hours ago, Chirps said: Love the work on this. Huge van fan here also. What did you use to make such precise cuts for those shamrocks? Glad you like it, always enjoy meeting another vanner. I have an older variable speed Dremel with an engraving tip that I have learned to use for a lot of my work. Took me a while to get up the nerve, but now it's my go to tool. Thanks for looking and hope you enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leica007 Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 Got the body primed with Rustolem 2x primer and painted with FolkArt metallic Christmas Green. Changed my airbrush tip/needle to .08 and worked a lot easier. While waiting for drying and curing, worked on tires and wheels, engine, interior parts. Used gel pen to do the tires and brush painted the green on the wheels. M 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leica007 Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 Here's pic's of interior work while waiting for paint to dry/cure. Most of the accessories are hand made based on what was in the 1:1. The sink is an old hubcap, the faucet is wire. The T shaped overhead console is sheet plastic with CB, cassette and cd players, equalizer & speakers (from Detail Masters) and homemade aircraft o/h lites. The rear window curtains from the Bad Company kit. Gas/brake pedals made to hang off the floor. I also follow others and added to the door arm rests. A hand made cup holder for the dog house and small table than can be put between the seats. I didn't do a lot of detailing the engine, since you can't see much of it. The other big project was cutting all the carpeting sections for the walls, floor, and doors. I made a template to use for the panel patterns. About ready to clear coat tomorrow, then wait for curing so I can apply the graphics. Did get the Testors smoke window tint done today, pretty good I think. Will post more as the inside comes together. Thanks for looking. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slotto Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 Looking real nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gray07 Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 sweet build, iam a van nut, i own a real 75 dodge shorty van with blue shag carpet and cragers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leica007 Posted March 19, 2023 Author Share Posted March 19, 2023 Here's some updates on the interior: used dash set from Best Model Car Parts, used dullcote for the fabric on seats, speaker boxes made from stock with grilles by Detail Master. Ceiling is real wood. Tools under the bed from parts bin. I put CDs & cassette on the dog house. Used a spare tire and rim to fill the tire cover, which was lettered using a PenTouch gold pen (works well, dries fast, and is very durable). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leica007 Posted March 19, 2023 Author Share Posted March 19, 2023 Got the engine bay trimmed out, except for the oil fill tube and the radiator wall parts. Tried some auto stripe tape for the exterior graphics, instead of masking and airbrushing. Tape kit was from Auto Zone, and worked out pretty well (probably better than I could have airbrushed at this time). The design mimics my old 1:1. That's all for the WIP, I'll post the finished pictures in the under glass forum. Thanks for looking, if you have questions or comments, let me know. As we used to say "Keep on truckin" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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