Jeep JL Wrangler 4 door High Tide

[ea0863]

My son recently upgraded from a 2003 Jeep Rubicon to a 2023 4 door High Tide, and I decided to give him a 1:18 scale model of his vehicle as a gift. The closest I could come to his "Sting-gray" hardtop was a resin 2019 Jeep Rubicon in yellow made in limited numbers by GT Spirit (it amazes me that there are no other 1:18 scale models of the 4 door Jeeps, nor really any in other scales either).

To get there, I had to take the entire model apart (do-able if you're careful as these resin builders use hot glue to bond the rudimentary parts together). The body went into an isopropyl alcohol bath for four days (the paint is super hard as though it is baked on, but luckily the resin is also quite tough). From there:

- the hood vents were filled in with bondo and hood reprofiled.

- interior repainted in tones of medium and dark gray, as well as black.

- body painted in Tamiya gray TS-66 (the OEM Sting Gray was both too hot for the resin, and too dark in scale)

- custom made High Tide and Jeep Wrangler decals on body.

- antenna added with piano wire.

- scratch built gas cap and inlet instead of filler door.

- tires and rims from a 1:18 Maisto Ford Bronco (the rims looked very similar to the ones that came with my son's Extreme Recon Package, and the tires were the taller and wider profiles needed for the proper look)

It came out pretty much right on the money when compared to the 1:1 vehicle. The only issue was that this was my first experience with a resin body, and I could not get it as smooth as I would have liked for a glossier paint job. Overall though, I am very pleased and will be looking forward to giving it to my son as a birthday gift in a couple of weeks. Here is the full size:

And here it is in scale:

 

 

[Rattlecan Dan]

Man, You nailed it! Very realistic build. A virtual miniature clone. I'll bet he loves it. If I may make one superficial critique it would be thinner antenna.

[ea0863]

1 hour ago, Rattlecan Dan said:

Man, You nailed it! Very realistic build. A virtual miniature clone. I'll bet he loves it. If I may make one superficial critique it would be thinner antenna.

I totally agree with you. Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can find thinner piano wire and replace this one. Thank you.

[kelson]

Looks great!

[Pierre_tec]

Nice replica! And nice choice of Jeep, look amazing well from factory. My only dislike at least in Puerto Rico, is the $76k price tag 

[ChrisR]

Nice!

[ea0863]

On 6/25/2023 at 7:15 PM, ea0863 said:

I totally agree with you. Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can find thinner piano wire and replace this one. Thank you.

"Flexible Beading Needles" from the jewelry making section of Hobby Lobby had these thin braided needles that are perfect for a Jeep antenna because the braiding looks like the profile of the real antennas and is a good thickness in scale.

 

[slusher]

Great build!

[ea0863]

3 minutes ago, slusher said:

Great build!

Why thank you Sir. 

[slusher]

I honestly didn’t know until just now that you built a perfect copy of your 1:1.   Excellent copy!