Chillyb1 Posted February 1, 2015 Posted February 1, 2015 This Tamiya kit is right near the top of my all-time favorite kit list. If you like VWs, German cars, historically significant cars, or super-cute cars, then get this kit and build it. For this one I used Tamiya TS-41 Coral Blue for the exterior and Tamiya AS-20 Insignia White for the interior. I used BMF for interior trim and window trim, and aluminum foil tape for the trim on the running boards. Chrome is Alclad II. I added some wires in the engine bay and a few decals. I put a lot of work into the wired distributor, which disqualified itself from being used by agitating me during construction, which, in turn, led to its destruction (stupid thing!). I added valve stems and used photoetch wipers, the blades of which are a weird rubber material used by fisherfolk in making lures. These pictures come pretty close to capturing the actual color, but I'm not really satisfied with them. I'm using a new and better camera though the light refused to cooperate. Enjoy: Several more photographs can be found here: http://smg.photobucket.com/user/ChillyB1/library/Coral%20Blue%20VW%20Beetle?sort=3&page=1
Mike_G Posted February 1, 2015 Posted February 1, 2015 Nice build. We bought a brand-new Bahama Blue beetle in 1964 and went down to the port of Long Beach to watch them unload it from the ship.
espo Posted February 1, 2015 Posted February 1, 2015 Beautiful build, you even have the black welting around the fenders.
Guest Posted February 1, 2015 Posted February 1, 2015 (edited) Beautiful! How did you do the welting? Edited February 1, 2015 by midnightprowler
Chillyb1 Posted February 2, 2015 Author Posted February 2, 2015 Beautiful! How did you do the welting? The welting was the result of very tedious, very precise application of Tamiya masking tape and using my airbrush.
slusher Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 Outstanding build Curtis. Beautiful color and finish. Very clean.
TooOld Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 Very nice , you can't beat a well done Beetle !
Zarana-X Posted February 2, 2015 Posted February 2, 2015 Looks showroom fresh! Few people tackle the fender welting, yours looks superb.
RAMBENNA Posted February 3, 2015 Posted February 3, 2015 this bug is fantastic, great job looks so real
rmvw guy Posted February 4, 2015 Posted February 4, 2015 The welting was the result of very tedious, very precise application of Tamiya masking tape and using my airbrush. Beautiful job! I love a factory fresh Beetle, looks like all the extra effort paid off. I would love to see some pictures of how you did the welting or a more detailed discription maybe? I tried this with little stips of half round styrene a couple times but, yours looks perfect!
Chillyb1 Posted February 5, 2015 Author Posted February 5, 2015 Beautiful job! I love a factory fresh Beetle, looks like all the extra effort paid off. I would love to see some pictures of how you did the welting or a more detailed discription maybe? I tried this with little stips of half round styrene a couple times but, yours looks perfect! I've built this kit maybe a half dozen times and never really found a satisfactory method for doing the welting. And I wracked my brain trying to come up with something fairly simple and foolproof, even thinking of your idea of styrene strips. In the end I decided this time just to bite the bullet and try it with masking tape. I used the 6mm Tamiya tape and burnished it down with (and this is my secret weapon, so don't tell anyone else!) a GUITAR PICK. Then it was just a matter of masking everything else off and shooting paint through the airbrush. Over the curved part of the fenders you can use a single piece of tape; on the flat parts of the car I think I used maybe three pieces, trying carefully to make each piece conform to a bit of the curve before transitioning to the next piece of tape. I usually shoot some clear coat before color to seal the masking tape but I don't think I did that with this job. Until and unless I come up with a better method (that is, an easier method) I'll be using this tape and much patience.
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