Hasegawa 63 VW Micro Bus

[Art Laski]

Hi there,

I posted some pics of this about 90% complete earlier, but finally got it all done. So here it is how it ended up.

Thanks to VW Dave for the parts help that allowed me to finish it.

Thanks for looking!

-Art

[lizardlust]

That is a lovely rendition of that kit - I certainly hope that mine comes out a fraction as nicely as yours did!! BRAVO!!!!!

[Modelmartin]

Very nice!

[vizio93]

Always nice to see a clean build like this one, good job

[Jim Gibbons]

That is a beautiful build. Have to tackle mine one of these days.

[Foxer]

Absolutely one of the cleanest build of this kit I've seen, along with a great assortment of detail touches.

[Guest]

Man, I hate it when builders use pics of real cars and try to pass them off as their builds! Seriously, that is incredible! Hows about some engine and chassis pics?

[Art Laski]

Thanks for the comments, guys. I took this on thinking it would be an easy build. I'm not that experienced, having only done a few models prior to this one, but I underestimated the work masking off all the windows!

I call this the "Murphy" bus, because everything went wrong. I'm sure you've all had a project like that! It's been primered three times, and painted twice because the paint just didn't come out right the first time(s). I lost one of the blinkers and a hubcap, so I made molds and cast new ones. Then, my dog ate the headlight bezels and I lost the exhaust, so VW Dave helped me out with those. I snapped the rear window in half trying to polish it up, so I had to make a new one from lexan. And finally, the antenna broke in half after it was assembled, so I scratch built a new one from guitar wire and Evergreen rod.

Because of all that it took WAY too long to get it off the bench, but I'm glad it's finally done and I appreciate your replies very much.

-Art

[Jim Gibbons]

Well, despite the difficulties, it came out beautifully, and it was worth the effort. As I found out, pets and models DO NOT mix! A 69 Mustang project got derailed years ago because my roommate's cat decided that the engine assembly before paint was a cool toy. Fortunately I found it about a month later when I took a yardstick to check under the stove. A Italeri Junkers JU-52 civilian version model was never finished as two engines and a spatted landing gear assembly vanished into the great cat unknown.

I've given up on molded antenna parts; I now just use the base to mount guitar wire or clipped sewing needles to replicate them. As stated above, I have this kit, and have been thinking of doing a slightly modified version using the wheels/ hubcaps from an old and badly damaged Fujimi Enthusiast's series Porsche 356 and painting it in the '50s combination of black (or metallic brownish grey) roof and lower body area, with that orangy coral color for the middle section. The new version of the Samba from Revell Germany is coming out, and would like to get that and build it stock.

[bsoder]

first off...outstanding job man, my dad & stepmom had one in the mid 60's only in blue and without the board racks

[Harry P.]

Man, that is one clean model! Very nice!

[Art Laski]

Thanks for all of the comments. It's much appreciated!

-Art

[Guest Johnny]

Sweet VW Bus build! Really sharp!

Owned a 1:1 in green and white when we lived in Co. Didn't quite get the resto done and had to sell it! I still have the VW emblem off the nose!

[Scalper]

Wow very nice build. very clean.. That should be the model on the box.