AMT ‘71 short body Beetle

[atomicholiday]

And just like that, it’s blue again!?

I also shot a couple of spoons for various clear coat trials.

Edited July 31, 2023 by atomicholiday

[slusher]

Beautiful color and finish!

[atomicholiday]

Thanks Carl!  Just hope I can pull off a good clear coat,  then this baby will start winding down. 

[mustang1989]

  On 7/31/2023 at 10:23 AM, atomicholiday said:

Thanks Carl!  Just hope I can pull off a good clear coat,  then this baby will start winding down. 

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Doesn't look like you'll have much of a problem with that seeing how well the color coat laid down for you Jeremy.

[atomicholiday]

First mock up.  I think it looks a little goofy from the side, but I kinda dig the front and rear angles.  It should serve the purpose this build was intended for anyway.

I do want to narrow down the rear axle a little to tuck the tires in more.  I want them either even with the fenders or just slightly outside.  But this is a bit more than I want.  I already trimmed the backside of the rim and it got me closer, so now I think I’ll shave a little more there or maybe trim the suspension where it meets the axle.  I’ll need to cut a little off the metal axle too.

[atomicholiday]

Back at the bench this morning while my wife is out.

 I narrowed down the rear axle to pull the rear tires into the fenders.  Super easy mod to do, and it went exactly as I planned.  As I mentioned in the last post, and all that’s needed is to shave a little material off the back side of the rims where the axle goes in, shave a little more off the rear suspension where it meets the rims, and cut the axle down a bit.  I think I took about 1-1.5mm off roughly.  Here’s a better shot of the offending area.

And here’s the result.  Once assembled the rims won’t be sitting on the tires.

 

 

[Mr. Metallic]

  On 7/19/2023 at 10:18 PM, atomicholiday said:

Rims and tires are pretty much ready to go.  I used a tool I made chucked up in my drill to sand the tires.  Makes the job easier and to me it looks more realistic.  Works pretty good for normal treads.  I’d never used it on slicks before now.

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Are these red line tires prepainted, and if so are they included in this kit?

[atomicholiday]

  On 8/8/2023 at 5:11 PM, Mr. Metallic said:

Are these red line tires prepainted, and if so are they included in this kit?

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Hey Craig, yup.  The tires come with the kit as red-lines.  Actually comes with eight tires total.

This kit has quite a few extra bits and pieces, and a few different building options.

[atomicholiday]

Finished putting the clear coat on last night.  Anybody else tired of seeing this thing bounce back and forth between primer and color and then back to primer again?  I’ve lost count of how many times it’s been in the purple pond.?.  

I’m finally satisfied with the results.  Not perfect but probably as good or better than anything else I’ve shot so far.  

[1930fordpickup]

Looks great Jeremy.

[slusher]

Beautiful paint and color

[ewetwo]

You're making me want to build one. Very cool color.

[atomicholiday]

  On 8/23/2023 at 8:52 AM, 1930fordpickup said:

Looks great Jeremy.

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  On 8/23/2023 at 1:40 PM, slusher said:

Beautiful paint and color

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  On 8/23/2023 at 2:59 PM, ewetwo said:

You're making me want to build one. Very cool color.

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Thanks very much guys! 

David, I recommend it.   Honestly, for an old kit, the molding is pretty decent.   And there are a lot of building options.  I also think it would make a great platform for anyone into scratch building.   Heck, I want to see someone stuff an engine in the front of one of these! 

And to top it off,  they're dirt cheap right now.  I picked one up for $5 at Wal-Mart on clearance.   Ollie's has them for $12.99 right now. 

[Dann Tier]

Looking great!

[Holdon Coupe]

Good subject. Give that paintwork a spit and polish?

Nice build.

Edited August 25, 2023 by Holdon Coupe

[ewetwo]

Primed my kit last night Jeremy. Not sure what color I'll go with. But there's what looks like a 1940 Ford grill in the chrome that the instructions don't show?

[ea0863]

  On 7/25/2023 at 9:25 PM, atomicholiday said:

Well if there’s one thing I am getting good at this year, it’s stripping paint.

91% isopropyl alcohol is amazing stuff when it comes in contact with Testors extreme lacquer.  This body had about six (admittedly too heavy) coats of paint and clear combined.  Soaked it for about two hours and it scrubbed right off with a toothbrush.  And didn’t touch the primer.

On the bright side, I think I’m single handedly keeping the Testors brand alive!  Or not…

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Looked kinda cool just like this!  

[atomicholiday]

  On 8/25/2023 at 7:11 PM, ewetwo said:

Primed my kit last night Jeremy. Not sure what color I'll go with. But there's what looks like a 1940 Ford grill in the chrome that the instructions don't show?

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That’s awesome!  Looking forward to seeing what direction you go with it.?

  On 8/25/2023 at 9:58 PM, ea0863 said:

Looked kinda cool just like this!  

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Yup, there was a split second after clearing all that paint off when I looked at it and thought “barn find!”

[ewetwo]

Is your kit missing parts? I can not find the pins for the front wheels in my kit. 

[atomicholiday]

  On 8/31/2023 at 2:03 AM, ewetwo said:

Is your kit missing parts? I can not find the pins for the front wheels in my kit. 

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Interesting.  I haven’t found anything to be missing yet.  I know it has those pins.  
 

Looking at the way the front wheels mount, you could probably get away with just gluing the whole front end together.  I think the pins only matter if you want the wheels to spin.  That’s what I plan to do.

Or you can contact Round 2.  I’d probably do that regardless, if for no other reason than just so they’re aware of the issue.  Fair warning though, I got in touch with them about another kit several months ago and it took a couple of weeks just to get a response.  I did eventually get a replacement part though.

[Rattlecan Dan]

Cool little Beetle Bomb. Looking good.

[ewetwo]

I'm doing the same kit now but yours is much nicer. I screwed up the motor hood by breaking the tabs. So it's glued in place. I'll just not glue the body to the pan so it will lift off. One thing I noticed with the chrome parts are a lot of them will fit a 1940 Ford. I know the grill is there but the chrome headlights also look like 1940 Ford. And the custom bumper won't work unless you make some sort of bracket to hold them.

[Can-Con]

  On 9/10/2023 at 3:24 PM, ewetwo said:

I'm doing the same kit now but yours is much nicer. I screwed up the motor hood by breaking the tabs. So it's glued in place. I'll just not glue the body to the pan so it will lift off. One thing I noticed with the chrome parts are a lot of them will fit a 1940 Ford. I know the grill is there but the chrome headlights also look like 1940 Ford. And the custom bumper won't work unless you make some sort of bracket to hold them.

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yea, there was an issue with a '40 Ford look.

[atomicholiday]

  On 9/10/2023 at 3:24 PM, ewetwo said:

I'm doing the same kit now but yours is much nicer. I screwed up the motor hood by breaking the tabs. So it's glued in place. I'll just not glue the body to the pan so it will lift off. One thing I noticed with the chrome parts are a lot of them will fit a 1940 Ford. I know the grill is there but the chrome headlights also look like 1940 Ford. And the custom bumper won't work unless you make some sort of bracket to hold them.

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Every one I’ve seen built so far has the engine hatch mounted open.  Apparently there’s a clearance issue between the hatch and engine.  I haven’t dug into it yet to find out what the problem is.  But there’s no way I’m leaving mine open.  I’ll go curbside before I do that.  Hopefully there’s an easy fix.  Let me know if you find an easy fix and I’ll do the same.

Man, I really need to get back to this one.  Just not getting the bench time I want lately.

[ewetwo]

  On 9/10/2023 at 4:25 PM, atomicholiday said:

Every one I’ve seen built so far has the engine hatch mounted open.  Apparently there’s a clearance issue between the hatch and engine.  I haven’t dug into it yet to find out what the problem is.  But there’s no way I’m leaving mine open.  I’ll go curbside before I do that.  Hopefully there’s an easy fix.  Let me know if you find an easy fix and I’ll do the same.

Man, I really need to get back to this one.  Just not getting the bench time I want lately.

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Where the transmission attached to the floor pan. I connected it lower so the engine is tilted back a bit.