CabDriver Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 So, I started a drop-top Bug build earlier in the year and got REALLY close to finishing it but there were three or four little things bothering me about it, and I had three or four more ideas on things I could do…but I really didn’t want to ruin the work I had done on it already. I’m still kinda nibbling away at it but I wanted to try a version with a ‘clean slate’ too. Luckily, styrene is cheap(ish) so I’m going to do just that…picked this up from the Lobby of Hobby for under $10 a while back… Now, clearly, this is the sedan version - but I like how these kits go together (they practically FALL together, in fact) and it was cheap enough I won’t be mad if I ruin it… First up - roof chop! I’m really not any kind of a Beetle expert, and I doubt I’ll ever become one - there’s so many subtle variations between different models that it’s tough to keep track of them all…but an obvious difference between the regular sedan bodies and the drop tops is the height of the belt line and the shape and height of the top of the windshield: So, first step on this project was separating the pillars from the body, adding some super-thin gauge steel rod for strength and reassembling with a flatter top piece: I need to add back in the rubber gasket detail that I’m missing here, which makes the frame look too large…but first, I added some height to the doors to more accurately reflect how the 1:1 drop tops look: Only just getting started on this one the last couple of nights, and obviously plenty to do…I’m sure I’ll make some mistakes that will jump out to VW aficionados but this won’t be a stock build by a long-shot anyway so hopefully I have some wiggle room…next job will be squaring off the top of those pillars and adding whatever you see from the top view… Thanks for looking - more soon! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stitchdup Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 cool project and if your looking for an uptop or convertible boot they are in the imai/aoshima/italeri boxed 1303s kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted May 6 Author Share Posted May 6 On 5/4/2024 at 1:23 AM, stitchdup said: cool project and if your looking for an uptop or convertible boot they are in the imai/aoshima/italeri boxed 1303s kits. I actually don’t have any of those kits, but I have a couple of the Revell boots here somewhere for sure…thank you! So, next project on this one, now I’ve got the body sorta half done is figuring out front and rear suspension. I really like these air-ride Beetle setups: I like the technology, I like that you can sit a car right in the dirt and raise it up in seconds and I like the relative simplicity of them, so I’m going to modify my Revell pan to somewhat resemble one of these… First step, a 3D printed dropped front axle (designed for the Tamiya 1:24 Beetles, but works ok here too with a little rescaling): I modified the chassis a little to mount the front end (the kit has part of this detail molded in) and modified the kit swing arms to fit, but nothing too complicated… The rear end needed some tweaks too so I could get the wheels I’ve chosen to snuggle into the arches - I relocated where the wheel centers land relative to the swing arms (which is kind of a cheat, but would work in 1:1 too I’m pretty sure) and made some new, more angled, driveshafts to reflect what dropping the rear end this far would do to them… The airbags for the rear end will sit just forwards of the driveshafts up against the floorpan, which meant the stock Beetle exhaust (which I think routes backwards to provide heat to the interior?) won’t work anymore, hence the aftermarket exhaust… It’s much cleaner looking anyway, which I like, so I’m happy with that… And as you can see, I selected a wheel - something kinda modern, VERY simple, kinda classic and not something you see commonly applied to a Beetle…these are Smoothie rims by Slowly’s Models: I’m doing the stages I think of as “sketching in” the build right now - just getting the major components kinda in place and correct before working back thru and adding detail…next job will be the interior. Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenmojr Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 Cool conversion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted May 12 Author Share Posted May 12 On 5/6/2024 at 6:09 PM, Kenmojr said: Cool conversion. Thank you!! Some more progress this week… I’m modifying the interior somewhat to kinda smooth it out and simplify it - trying to hit that balance between TOO simple, and tastefully simplified…made some new ‘fabric’ inserts to clean up the door cards, plus smoothed out one of the two dashes that come in the box: Started gluing in some filler pieces for the turn signals too - I’m MOSTLY leaving the body alone apart from a few tiny little fills and de-clutters… Somewhere I’m adding detail back in is under the (front) hood - the kit doesn’t come with any of the metalwork you’d normally see on a 1:1, but even if it did I’ve lowered it so much now it would probably be useless. Cut some card templates and started making my own… I think I’d like to leave some open spots in there so some of the suspension pieces peek through a little, but I’m not totally set on that yet…piece looks like this, in place: Next up was finding a gas tank (modified from a Polar Lights Beetle kit) and making a tank for the air ride: I need some little air compressors to fill the tank…found a cool file by Matty’s on Cults3d that actually had a tank too…but most importantly had the compressors I needed… That tiny doodad is the remote to control the ride height, in case you were wondering… I was struggling to figure out what I wanted to do for seats for this thing…I wanted something simple and different to the kit’s stock seats, even tho the whole interior on this kit is REALLY nicely done. I tried some parts box seats, which I KINDA liked… …but they weren’t really in line with the smoothed-out concept I’m going for…but I think THIS could work: Separated an extra rear bench seat and tried it in the front and immediately LOVED it…I don’t recall seeing this done before (although I’m sure it has) but I think that’s the winner for me. Probably going to add some accessories to the interior for some visual interest - boombox and a cooler maybe? LOTS to do still, but I’m nearly done ‘sketching’ with parts here…it’s starting to come together! More soon, soon as I’ve done more! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted Sunday at 03:08 AM Author Share Posted Sunday at 03:08 AM Well, we’re into that stage of a build where you’re just endlessly priming and sanding and priming and sanding…but we’re getting closer to being ready for paint now, finally… Finished up the tin work for inside the hood and shot a base of primer on the body to see what would need attention… And, as you can see, printed a curious bystander… Couple of rounds of filler, and we’re getting closer…did some careful work on top of the front fenders especially… Not done, but closer! While that endless cycle was happening, did some work on the dash…spun up a flower vase, like the early Beetles used to have and added a grab handle: Still need to fix those recesses at this point, but it looks about how I imagined… And then, onto the engine - which actually builds up nicely, if a little unconventionally compared to a regular domestic kit engine: What I’d like to do tho is give this a similarly smoothed-look to match the rest of the build, like some builders do with their 1:1s: So, a little cleaning up and simplifying later… Turned a simple air filter, alternator, pulleys and oil cap on my lathe and added that 3D printed distributor and drilled everyone that will get wires and hoses ready for, err, wires and hoses, and that’s another piece of the puzzle completed. Plenty more to do, but I’m excited to be almost at the color stage now…more soon, soon as I’ve done more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B. Posted Sunday at 07:25 PM Share Posted Sunday at 07:25 PM Very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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