VW Golf Dash Detailing...help

[Jamese30]

Hi All

Im trying to detail up the dash on my Fujimi VW Golf. The detail in the moulding isnt great and jm going for a custom finish.  Does any one have any tips to dress this up a bit more?(there are no decals for the gauges). I've tried dry brushing them but it's a pocketed area so fiddly....

 

Any help is appreciated

 

Thanks

James

[stitchdup]

is the plastic white? if it is i'd paint the guage face whatever black you like then i'd glue a small disc of 400 grit to the to of a pencil, and use that to remove the black from the numbers and needle. then just a red pen on the needle and your finished. it might only take a couple of rotations of the pencil to remove the paint, anything courser than 400 will remove detail fast.

[Beans]

I have on occasion, drilled out the gauge face, printed an image of the gauge, affixed it to a thin piece of plastic and glued it to the back of the dash.  The image has to be good enough quality that it can be sized properly without getting all blurry.  I usually use photo paper as it stands up better if I want to put some kind of clear to replicate the "glass" over the gauge.  I haven't ever done this with square gauges but with the right drill bit and a small file should be doable.

[Russell C]

17 hours ago, Beans said:

...drill out the gauge face, print an image of the gauge, affixed it to a thin piece of plastic and glue it to the back of the dash....

I'd also recommend that. The Fujimi kit is for a Mk2 Golf? Still quite a popular 1:1 car, so if you do an internet search for either the whole dash or just the gauge cluster, you might be able to find a straight-on view you could get a screengrab of and then print out on glossy photopaper after you experiment on what size to scale it down to. My own 1:1 '86 GTI daily driver has its gauges behind a single angled clear plastic sheet, which would be easier to make than two small squares. Attached pic is from the HeritageVW Parts UK website, the buttons might be different for a Japanese market version.

[Jamese30]

Thanks all for the tips. I'd never thought of cutting the dials out or the small file option. 

 

Russell, it is actually the Mk1 I'm building from Fujimi. A pretty basic kit as it was originally a battery car option but relatively good none the less. Nice to hear you are daily driving a mk1 too!

[Russell C]

The odo gear broke on mine around a year after I got it used in '93, my guestimate is it has maybe 330k miles. It's an '86 Mk2 8 valve though. Wish I had a carport, the Arizona sun has been unkind to the clearcoat. Cardboard shades in the windows help preserve the interior.