anyone interested in a 24th scale VW thing?

[monkeyclaw]

Tinkering on a resin conversion for the newer hasegawa 1/24 scale military Kubelwagen kit; to convert into a 1970's Thing......any thoughts?

[gowjobs]

I've got a few thoughts on the subject, and since you asked:

The VW "The Thing" (the aticle "The" is actually a formal part of the name) or Type 181 was an amalgamation (sp?) of pieces from pre-existing vehicles. The US version, sold only in '73 and '74, was based on a Karmann Ghia chassis pan with a balljoint front suspension (the spindles reworked to allow the lower balljoints to be mounted ABOVE the lower bosses on the spindles, giving a couple extra inches of lift), and the IRS rear suspension. IIRC, they used the heavier-duty Bus (Type 2) transaxle, but slightly wider drums than either the early bug or bus, both of which it shared it's 5-on-205mm bolt circle. Wheels were 14"x5" and were only slightly more offset than those used on the "bay window" buses.

European and South American Type 181's began production in 1969, and featured the earlier bus transaxle, "swing axle" rear suspension and gear reduction boxes. These earlier non-US spec cars had no heater ducts, and any interior heat was provided by an optional gasoline-burning heater mounted ahead of the dashboard. Taillights on these Non-US 181's were flat, bus-style lenses mounted on the vertical panel above the rear bumper, and not the late-bug lenses mounted high on the rear quarter panels like on the later US cars.

Front and rear doors on either side are interchangeable, and so both feature a cut-off corner at the lower rear to clear the rear fender opening. Unlike the Kubel, the body sides on a The Thing are parallel from the windshield back to the leading edge of the rear quarters, and the nose and tail both taper slightly inward toward the ends.

[Jairus]

Yeah, but did they come with an 8-track?

[Zoom Zoom]

Sounds good to me, if it can be properly proportioned. The Hasegawa base may not measure properly for The Thing. I don't care if the ball joints are mounted ahead or behind the muffler bearings :wink: but I do care if the model looks right or not. BTW, I'm surprised Jadadiecastfan hasn't peppered the board with pictures of The Thing that they're doing. Perhaps you should see that before venturing into a major conversion...

[monkeyclaw]

Hey guys; Thanks for the thoughts; I was curious to see if I was the only person interested in this vehicle as a model subject...and with the effort of doing a one off; it's just as easy for me to cast the darn thing to be able to biuld more than one of them.....I appreciate the details info; and I have owned a couple of these over the years; as well as most other VW models...bug, Type III's are my fav's....anyway, it boils down to this...eother do it for the hasegawa 24th scale kit......or the Tamiya 1/16th scale kit....Hmmmm...........choices? I figure it will make a good summer project.............matt

[VW Dave]

If it's well-proportioned, I'm in. As odd as the Thing is, I'd love to build at least one in scale.

[Just Dave]

Hey guys; Thanks for the thoughts; I was curious to see if I was the only person interested in this vehicle as a model subject...and with the effort of doing a one off; it's just as easy for me to cast the darn thing to be able to biuld more than one of them.....I appreciate the details info; and I have owned a couple of these over the years; as well as most other VW models...bug, Type III's are my fav's....anyway, it boils down to this...eother do it for the hasegawa 24th scale kit......or the Tamiya 1/16th scale kit....Hmmmm...........choices? I figure it will make a good summer project.............matt

Did you read the post above yours that mentioned JADA is making a Thing in 1/24. Perhaps wait to get one of those, and use that as a master for a resin kit.

Either way you go, I'd be interested in at least 2 of the body's/kits because I love VW models.

[jbwelda]

i recently sold a 1:1 that i had for nearly 20 years and probably rinsed 20k$ through in that time (gene berg 2.0 litre engine, 5 speed, etc etc etc) so this is a subject near to my heart.

like said above in the usa only it was "the thing" (meaning when you see one on the road the proper response is "there goes a the thing")...in mexico and south america it was called a "safari" (which was to be the name in the usa until it arose that the grand safari wagon already claimed the name) and in europe it was a "trekker".

the gas heater was standard on the thing in 73 but in 74 (and subsequently in 75 when they sold the last of the 74s and called them 75s) they switched over to the standard "fresh air" (cough cough) heating system. in 73 the fan shroud had no fresh air ports.

another interesting concept was that the motor had engine protection hardware used no where else to my knowledge: two "barbeque grill" pieces that fit in the fins of the lower half of the cylinders to protect from rocks, a heavy plate between the trans and the motor (skid pan essentially) and another on the rear of the motor.

another difference between the 73s and the 74/75 was that the 73 was flat sided in the rear with some louvers to keep leaves out of the engine compartment while the later ones had air boxes over the intakes and louvers on top of the air boxes for reduced cooling esp on hot days when the careless driver just threw back the top, thereby blocking the louvers and soon followed by the dying gasp of the air cooled motor!

other difference between the thing and other variants was that the thing had super beetle type rear lights mounted high on the rear end while all others had type 2 (transporter) taillights mounted on the vertical flat surface below where the usa spec car had its lights mounted.

lets see here, oh yeah no other vws were using 5 bolt wheels in the 70s but since it was felt the thing should be a "world car" and there were far more 5 bolt than 4 bolt wheels around, i guess they chose to use up the old stock...

anyway, very cool car that i loved dearly and i would certainly pay for a conversion. in fact i once semi contracted with a guy to build a transkit for a tamiya bug or ghia (as mentioned the ghia pan would be more correct) but it never got done. this conversion was designed to be able to build 73 and 74/75 the thing variants along with trekker and safari types (all were type 181 designation) and would include full engine detail including the very hard to find option of two oil bath air cleaners instead of one (for hard dusty desert conditions) etc.

[JAFFA]

hmmm....

wow, this gives me an idea, IM gonna build a kubelwagen

LOWRIDER-style.

thanx for bringin the subject up on the desk

[BigPoppa]

i'd get it, it's a fun looking car to mess with

[mrglubaum]

The Jada Thing would be the last one I'd use for a master! Jada doesn't know what the word "scale" means. Their stuff just keeps getting bigger and bigger, but they still advertise it as being 1/24 scale. Their Thing is probably closer to 1/20.

I'd be interested in a resin kit of the 181. If you do it, I'll buy at least two copies, one for stock and one for a radical off-roader!

[JAFFA]

yeah, id go with the hasegewa kit, n scratcbuild from there to build "the thing", that way you can get everything just right, and probably more well detailed.

just make sure to do the right research before getting to work on it.

btw thought id might pop these by...

http://www.type181registry.com/indexMain.html

the vw-gear graphics, i just felt that somehow it would be useful for someone so, i thought whatever n uploaded it...

[62rebel]

kubelwagens (and their kissing cousins Schwimmwagens) don't share much other than engine with the thing or typ181. we still have them in our parts inventory since somewhere on the globe every type of vw ever made is still in use or still in production. much of the mechanical portion of the car is production passenger car off the shelf from the era; the body was loosely copied from the kubel but shares nothing with it. (even during wartime production, it was often difficult to maintain kubels because of constant running changes- allied bombing didn't help too much either).

BUT: it would be cool to have an accurate 1/24 T181 to go with my other aircooled Vdubs.

the accuracy of scale and proportion in most if not all diecast offerings is the MAIN reason i do not work with them. something somewhere in the casting of the body shell has got to be going wrong, or the proportions would come out right (or at least "look" right, which they do not) on these models. i can't offer a solution, so i don't attempt to correct it.

[kod38]

I kinda converted one to look similar.

You would be better off scratch building the entire body.

They are 2 way different animals.

The Jada dub body will probably be kind of cartoonish like all their other cars?

The panels are mostly flat with squared off features,you could use the hasegewa as a guide for the basic shape.

I would love to see them casted for sure.

Doug R