Seventies Ford Econoline 'Wizard' Van

[stulee11]

So far: LOTS and LOTS of work on the airbrushing, I can say it is my most comprehensive airbrushwork so far, I even made a video of it, any interest if I put it on youtube?

can you post the link to the video please i would love to see that taking shape

[Eshaver]

Ill second that in 1/24th or 1/25th scale....would be great to have some mid 60s to early 70s van kits come out.

Mark, actually a company did do the "Snoot" Econoline , only it was a diecast with a sliding side door in 1-24th scale . Wal- Mart had them I guess a good Four years ago now . I got the last Ford that the close by store had . They also did a 76 Chevrolet too. I'll give the company this , The Graphics on the sides were kida cheesey, but the overall details were decent .

Meanwhile , I had this ,this old M P C van , has potential , provided ya can deal with the wierd 1-20th scale and the fact it depicted as a 1 ton van . In the real world , they were known as E- 300's . I had one . Oh yeah , it was a gas hog too. Still, I'll give it credit , I went to too many Truck - ins around the Gulf Coast . The heater was a piece of junk though . Thankfully, the newer Econolines that followed in 1975 were much much better .

Hey , truck looks fine, I'm eager to see more progress, regardless of scale ........ ! Ed Shaver

[LAone]

oh man, eric that is looking sweet. super retro feel bro.

[Romell R]

Hey if you ever start over again heres an Idea if you can get a hold of another body

[The Creative Explorer]

Thanks guys! I am quite pleased with it too. I put on a clearcoat yesterday, but haven't had time to sand it and do a second coat just yet, hopefully tomorrow or tuesday.

When finished, I will post pictures.

@Stuart: This is my channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCreativeExplorer?feature=mhee I have made one video this afternoon, but give me some time for the rest, I filmed everything on Full-HD and my computer can't really handle it.Be patient, but I try to upload everything asap.

@Rommel; I do have a second body, but i am not going to redo the van again haha. But it is a nice idea, who knows I can find a third body.

I also have a question; it looks like the rear-tires are missing, is there anybody who might have 2 rear tires?

[hotrod59f100]

Wow yor truly amazing. I love the cosmic look. I wish I lived in the the vanning era .

[DumpyDan]

WOW! Now that is what I call a beauty of a paint job, I am so glad you went back and redid it. LOVE IT!

[The Creative Explorer]

Well, some time has passed and I didn't really got into this project, but it needs to be done before next week thursday, the day after I am heading for the show in Belgium (about 4,5 hours from where I live) and thiss will be the first time I attend with my own booth, so a little bit excited.

In the last 2 weeks, I have mostly worked on the clearpaint. Having a van this size, is a pain in the buttocks to get it nice and even. It took me a couple of days to get all the little smudges polished out.

I will tell some more along with the photo's.

With the kind donation of Casey, I was able to get the matching rear-tires and get myself a rolling chassis. I did used the wrong propshaft, so I need to paint the right one, in the right color.

A dryfit, to see how well the dashboard fits against the body, I wasn't unhappy. Note the rough clear paint, obviously before the polishing.

Same dryfit, but now shot from the inside out

[The Creative Explorer]

The rear wheels are serious wide, the body wasn't put on proper, so it looks extra wide in this picture.

The interior is starting to take shape, I flocked the floor, but also added to that 'shag-feeling', I flocked the sides as well.

The bed, ready for a couple of romantic nights.....

And this pictures makes it so obvious, how bad those mold-lines were. I wasn't able to get it nice, so I decided to hide it with a curtain.

During a modelday near the border of Germany, I could get some devoted work done to the van.

[The Creative Explorer]

I finally finished polishing yesterday and usually it is a sign that better things will happen; assembly time! I added both grilles and colored the lights. Since the headlights were molded in the grille, I decided to give them a '70s look by turning them yellow. I also added some BMF

I think the BMF really sets off the paintjob. and the paint is so shiny, you can hardly see the airbrush art in this picture.

I worked tonight a little bit on the detailling, I wanted to create that 'shag-feeling' a bit more, and how perfect are satn sheets? I found 2 colors of satin and make that into bedding.

[The Creative Explorer]

I finished the dashboard, I decided to make it black and make it stick out from the rest, just to be different in this.

The kit pieces that had to ressemble wood looked terrible, I tossed them and went into my garden and cut a few dead branches up. It does look so much nicer.

I got the side-doors in place and the glue is drying overnight. I hope it will be strong enough

And another dru-fit, with these kits you cant have too many dryfits.

[The Creative Explorer]

For now... nighty night and I close the curtains... :mrgreen:

[stulee11]

WOW dude this is turning out mentaly amazin... after that paint job i didnt think you could top it off but then you just go on and not only think outside the box you tear it up... that interior is wicked!!!! ... how did you make the bad ??? i did try to make one for my "vantasy" but it never turnt out right so i left it out lol

Edited March 2, 2012 by stulee11

[Rob McKee]

That is a far out paint job man!

Love the fireplace inside the van.

[kruleworld]

Man, that is total awesomeness. i think the first bit of 'practice' really helped, because the second was so much nicer. i'm tripping!

[The Creative Explorer]

Thanks guys!

@Stu, the bed itself came with the kit, but I made my own satin bedding.

[Casey]

It's looking great, Erik. The flocking works much better at this larger scale for shag carpet fibers, too.

The only thing missing is an aluminum cooler and a few six-packs of Coors.

[Speedster]

Way to go!

Looks great!

[gray07]

Looking awesome, love these big scale vans, looking at yours has me thinking about getting my Slammer van out, i started on it about 15 years ago and lost motivation on it so i threw it in a box. Keep the updates comming.

[The Creative Explorer]

The last update! I will upload the finished pictures soon too, but for now the last little bits.

Since the engine was a disappointment, I didn't think it would pay off to detail it. So I glued the cover in place and got the dashboard glued in as well.

This is what you can see of the engine, not much.

To prove it really is there: here's the proof.

The undercarriage in the rear.

And some windows glued in place.

[The Creative Explorer]

With the rearlights in place, it starts to look like a finished model

I added some seatbelts and glued the seats in place.

I glued the huge sunroofs (with very poor fit) in place

[The Creative Explorer]

The kitpart for the mirror was quite course and I replaced it with some metalwire.

I also made little hooks, which can be seen in use in a couple of pictures.

With a lot of hard-pressing, the body fits the undercarriage, it was a very, very tight fit.

This is why I made those hooks, they can hold the chain. Which is sometimes used on shows to keep people outside the van, while being able to look inside.

[The Creative Explorer]

I made a small TFT-screen in the 'livingroom'...

I didn't want to use the kit-exhaust, so I made my custom exhaust from some tubing.

...And I added a big TFT-screen in the 'bedroom'.

Finished!

Look for more pictures in Under Glass.