spencer1984 Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 I've been wanting to add this to my TV/movie car collection for years, and thanks to Robert Burns at Too Many Projects I didn't have to radically modify a body to get it (just everything else, but more on that in a moment). Available in standard white and high resolution brown, his body comes with the main shell, bumpers, nose, roof rack, wheels, hood ornament, window blanks, and lights. The quality is good, with nice sharp edges and minimal striation (an inevitable result of the 3D printing process). Fit is generally good, though like a Moebius kit paint can throw off some tolerences. The only actual problems I ran into were the lights: the front marker lights were a tad too big for their openings, and the taillights were too short to completely cover the reverse light sockets. Both were easily fixable with some custom work. Speaking of which, everything else. The chassis and engine were modified from Polar Lights' old 1960s Comic Book Batmobile kit, which had the exact "similar to, legally distict from" vibe that I wanted. Wheelbase was shortened, floor was narrowed, and suspension was reconfigured to fit the wagon body. The interior panels are all made from styrene, with modified seats from Harts Parts Resin and a reconfigured dashboard from Revell's Cadillac Lowrider kit. Paint was TS-52 Candy Lime Green with my own custom decals for the wood panels and license plates. A full writeup of everything that went into it is available here, and as always any comments/criticisms are welcome! In the movie, it wore the "Lou Glutz Motors" ad plates all the way from Illinois to California. That didn't sit right with me, so I went for the early movie version while it was still on the lot, before it collected the graffiti, damage, and detritus of the Griswold's trip. As far as I know, the interior was a stock LTD wagon. I wanted to try to make "Wagon Queen" its own marque, so the details were inspired by several big American cars of the era but I tried to not copy anything 100%. The donut spare was made from a scrap wheel and the smallest tire in my parts box, mounted to be in the most inconvenient place I could think of. One of the more ridiculous details from the movie was the fuel flap as part of the hood, à la DeLorean, but without the mid/rear engine. So I used the frame notches from half of the Batmobile's dual exhaust system to run a fuel fill line from the engine bay to the tank under the rear floor. The engine was painted lilac with gold heads to represent Wagon Queen's mainline engine I've dubbed the "Princess Power V8." No A/C, since that would have been reasonable for a car travelling through Arizona during the summer, but everything else is wired and plumbed. Finally, a shot of the Truckster with its new friend (played here by Magnum's Ferrari). 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy grumpy Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 That's a lot of work but it paid off you have a nice replica. Great job all around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karbuildr Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Very cool, great job on that wagon. Excellent details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jim Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 That is just awesome! Great job I love everything about it. Just makes want to sing 🎵 Holiday Road, Holiday Road 🎵 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
von Zipper Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 "If you think you hate it now , wait until you drive it " Great Job ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonhawk1066 Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 That's great!! Well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlecan Dan Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 What a fun addition to your "Movie Cars" collection. Got me chuckling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70 Sting Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Ha, that’s awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 (edited) That color looks a little bright for Metallic Pea, but I guess it'll do. And everybody knows the "Princess Power" V8 was lavender, not lilac. 😁 (Seriously though, absolutely awesome build of an all-time classic movie car. I love it!) Edited June 20, 2023 by jaymcminn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classicgas Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bogger44 Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Fantastic build, Bill! Sounds like a lot of work but it sure was worth it. That's an absolute classic of a movie, can't count how many times I've watched it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWT Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Ha I love it... Very nicely done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kah puts Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Big big smile, where's Grandma? 🙃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gustavo Reis Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 Very nice, great movie replica. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncbuckeye67 Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 The dog wet on the picnic basket, Lol. That's pretty awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Van Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 VERY WELL DONE!!!! I love movie cars of all kinds and this one is top of my list! You really caught the look perfect. I'd love to get your Truckster and my Christmas Vacation wagon together!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted June 21, 2023 Author Share Posted June 21, 2023 Thanks, guys! It was indeed a lot of work, but since it was all the fiddly stuff I enjoy doing it wasn't near as bad as it would have been to be doing body work! 12 minutes ago, Dave Van said: VERY WELL DONE!!!! I love movie cars of all kinds and this one is top of my list! You really caught the look perfect. I'd love to get your Truckster and my Christmas Vacation wagon together!!!! Excellent, I love it! That would be awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bainford Posted June 21, 2023 Share Posted June 21, 2023 Love it! You have really done a fantastic job on this. I'm very impressed that you went to the trouble to make this project 'full detail'. Cool the way you individualised various bits. Overall an awesome build. One of the coolest models I've seen yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted June 22, 2023 Author Share Posted June 22, 2023 Thank you! I thought it would be fun to make this as "real" as possible, applying the worst ideas and practices from the era that I could think of 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charger74 Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 It looks great 👍🏻👍🏻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted June 23, 2023 Author Share Posted June 23, 2023 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom99 Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 Nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 COOL!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Ellis Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 Can you put imogene Coca on the roof? Or the dog tied to the bumper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToyTund2009 Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 Love it, never thought I'd see a replica of that car. Looks like a lot of work but man did it payoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.