V-Dub duo build - T1 Samba Bus and Panel Van

[F1 Insider]

Having got the Lotus 25 out of the way, i've decided to take a break from racing cars and build something that i'd love to own but probably never will.

There are no photos in this introductory post as i am at work (shhhh, don't tell anyone) but i will throw some up later of where i'm at.

The idea behind this build came from my lovely missus. I really should be nice about her as she is currently growing us a baby and wins the title of "Best Work In Progress"!!! Anyway, the only builds she shows even the slightest interest in are VW camper van projects. So i thought i'd build her one to her spec. Not wanting to miss out, i thought i'd build one in my style too!

So the good lady's is based on Revells T1 Samba Bus and will be built clean with a blue and cream colour scheme, lowered a little (advice needed) and using kit or aftermarket wheels. Mine is based on Revells Panel Van and you'll have to wait and see how mine turns out :wink:

Anyway, that's all for now, pictures will follow later.

[roymattblack]

A great little kit - there's one in my stash too...

But I wouldn't go so far as to say I want to OWN one of these hideous, loathsome, abhorrent vehicles.

(Now I'll have started a war..... LOL)

Looking forward to seeing the build.

Roy.

[F1 Insider]

As promised, here is a pictorial update on this build.

The good lady's version is based on this:

And mine is based on the panel van

I started with the normal procedures of removing bits from the trees, cleaning them up and getting the first coats of primer down. As the bus is being painted sky blue and cream, i have layed down a base coat of white. As you can probably guess, white plastic painted white doesn't look a lot different so i've not included pictures of that. Mine, however, has a pretty funky colour scheme and in keeping with my plans has been primered with red and the interior floor pan 'primered' in aluminium.

The livery for mine requires the the 'VW' on the cab front to be filled in, so that's in progress:

But wait!! What's this? I've only gone and filled in the VW on the bus front and not the van!!! B@&%£~#S. I should be able to carry on without the need to order a new cab front tree but that is somewhat annoying!! I feel this may be one of the drawbacks of building two, very similar models, accidently mixing up parts. It was an easy mistake to make. The fronts are only slightly different. The bus version has tiny grooves in the 'V' where the chrome coach-line would live whereas the van doesn't . So i've started to fill that one now:

As the bus is being built to my Mrs spec, she said she would like carpet in it. So i thought about how best to replicate carpet. Then i stumbled across self adhesive, dolls house, carpet!! This stuff is amazing! So masking tape templates made and carpet stuck down after painting the parts that will be exposed, body coloured:

Anyway, that's where i'm up to thus far.

Thanks for looking and, as always, comments critique and abuse welcome

[Silver Fox]

Learned to drive on a T1 Pick-up, organ pedal accelerator and all! Love the things ( at least to look at). Watching with interest

[triumphfan]

Nice work and a very busy project, two at once.

I quite like these vw's but like Roy, I could think of far nicer vehicles to actually own. Especially considering how much these things fetch, sheesh!

Looking forward to seeing the progress.

Steve.

[Pete in Lincs]

I got the Hasegawa 'Moon' Panel van in their sale.

Still not sure how to build it, but it won't be stock!

Pete

[hendie]

I just wish someone would release a T2 Bay Window, given how popular they (still) are, I am sure there would be a market

[brianthemodeller]

I love the Revell kit - can't wait to see how these turn out.

[F1 Insider]

Right, so tonight i have been working on the van. The reason for this is the van is a bit more involved and tonight's task was to lower it.

I won't lie, i have not been looking forward to this. When i say i haven't been looking forward to it, what i mean is, it's terrified me!! The process itself is easy enough but the thought of actually cutting the plastic, knowing there is no going back, fills me with dread.

So i got the relevant bits and jumped it head first:

My intention was to try and graft some spare discs and calipers from an Impreza build onto the van, unfortunately it was too complicated to do so i thought i would just concentrate on lowering it properly rather than half do, two tasks badly. I also intended to take lots of pictures but due to concentrating on not ruining my build, i forgot! Sorry!!! But i have got this picture of the rear axle, mid-modification:

And this is the chassis with the sub assemblies, dry fitted, to check fitment and levels etc. I think its worked out nicely. The is some slight discrepancies but there is plenty of scope to adjust the fitted position so it sits perfectly level.

As a reward for not totally balls-ing up my build, i primed the cab front after rubbing down the filler to check for imperfections and i also wet and dryed the rest of the bodywork and shot another coat of primer. As long as there is no huge imperfections, this will be sealed for the next stage. For what i have planned the paint work doesn't need to be absolutely perfect.

Thats where i am so far. Thanks for looking.

[snapper_city]

Cool. Not seen one of these go together.

Would I own a real one? Not in a million years. Would I ever build this kit. Possibly one day.

[F1 Insider]

What with having my nephew over for a sleepover and then having a pool match later in the evening, next to no work was done on the van or the bus last night.

Saying that, i did rub down the filler in the VW recess on the van cab front and primed it (pictures later). I think its pretty much there now. Just need to let it dry in the airing cupboard today and then wet 'n' dry it later. That will be all major body panels on the van done, barring the floor pan, and they are now ready for the next stage

[F1 Insider]

Progress has been made on both the bus and the van. More so on the van but as I've said before, it is a more involved build.

Forgive my insolence, but I forgot to take pictures of the work done on the bus but I will post a picture when there is a bit more progress to report. Anyway, whilst the good lady was having a 'i'm growing a baby' nap, I ploughed on with some work. For the bus, this entailed masking of the top half of the of the bodywork and shooting the sky blue colour (Tamiya TS-58). I managed to get a couple of coats down, before I had to stop and leave it to dry. It was at this point I moved onto the van....

....as mentioned in the previous post, I managed to fill and smooth the VW recess on the cab front, so that was given the final primer coat and is just drying before sealing.

Tonight the rest of the bodywork that makes up the payload bay was shot with a coat of aluminum on the inside, which is being used as a primer layer for the final colour.

The floor pan, sub-frame and the bottom of the engine was treated to a few coats of satin black. Once the final coat is applied and dry, this will be treated to some highlighting and weathering.

I also mocked up the forward bulkhead and i also sprayed up the spare wheel.. This isn't even the colour the inside will be but it looks good and the spare wheel needs a few more coats to achieve the required depth of colour.

And the final part tonight was to have a go at the weathering I want to apply to the whole van. So I thought I would start with one of the side 'barn doors'. Being small, I felt if it went wrong I could rub it back and start again. So having been sealed prior with a satin clear I then applied a coat of hairspray, when this was dry I then applied Ford Bermuda Light Blue from a Halfords rattle can. I should mention at this juncture that I thought i'd cocked it up. I'd sprayed too heavily, too close and there was a huge paint run. Luckily this mostly leveled itself as the piece was flat and there was so much paint, so I thought I can rub that out, all gooooooood!......

.....Oh no! After drying for a bit, the paint had reacted badly with the hairspray coat and because the paint was so heavy it had started to pit. Nightmare......or so i thought. The pitting was exposing the red primer layer and was creating a rough, rust eaten patina. Just what I wanted! Bazinga. (not sure if its visible in the photo) So a bit of forced drying with a hairdryer and then a wet toothbrush scrub produced the below effect. I'm as happy as a pig in s&@£ with the look, especially as I've never attempted anything like this before. I know I have the whole thing still to go but this has really increased my confidence.

Anyway, that's where i'm up to now.

Thanks for looking and, as always, questions, comments and critique welcome.

[F1 Insider]

Progress has been somewhat slow of late. There is the thing coming up next week called 'Christmas', which has been relieving me of all my time and money. So although i have got some bits done, its not much and certainly not photo-worthy.

I do have some progress pictures from the van build which i'll chuck up in due course but the bus has halted at the moment. Doing two builds at once is difficult, even when they are of the same subject.

Anyway, till later, thanks for looking.

[phildagreek]

The effect you've achieved on the door is great, even if by accident, good effort.

[streetfighterjeff]

did this sort of rat rod effect on my 1:1 bike. sprayed ford Aztec bronze over the whole bike, then random colours on the panels , paying attention to the edges, the primered it.( I know bottom backwards) after it had dried I attacked it with 1200 wet and dry and scotchbrite pads, trying to just cut through the primer and into to paint below. the effect was of a bike that been sat outside and well used. the best bit was when people would ask me how I managed to get plastic to rust. lol . Cant wait to see how both the samba's (sambi's ??) turn out.

jeff

[bigbadbadge]

Nice work so far, like the ratlook. I have the old Hasegawa Samba to build but will be converting to an 11 window Westy, a tribute to a mates bus as it looked so cool.

Keep up the good work and if you need any photos you can look up VW shows on line such as Brifghton Breeze, Vanfest, etc and there will no doubt be loads of inspirational shots on there.

All the best
Chris

[F1 Insider]

Right chaps and chapettes,

With Chrimble round the corner and still woefully under-prepared, it looks as though work on the bus and van will have to temporarily stop.

I fully intend to get some work done over the festive holidays and will post a progress report in due course. If, however, you want an idea of the direction the van is going in, please see below.

There is still weathering to be applied to the decals, but that's where i'm up to.

Have a very merry Christmas. I hope you've all been good boys and girls and get what you wish for. See you on the other side.

Thanks for looking.

[richellis]

Nice, I have plans for the Jargermeister Dub as well!

love this style of van!

carshow 166 by richellis1978, on Flickr

[BrianI]

Loving the builds so far! I recently built a revel T1 Samba bus - great idea on using some self adhesive dolls house carpet, for the interior. I only wish my build was as clean as yours!

Looking forward to seeing more progress.

[st70]

Looking good F1, like the dolls house carpet. Thinking of doing a wood strip floor in mine.

[F1 Insider]

Hi guys.

I have good news and bad news so I shall start with the bad.....

As mentioned earlier in this thread, my partner is preggers. This has meant all work had stopped on these models while necessary preparations are made for the impending arrival of the new little person, which is in June.

Saying that, I have managed to do bits and pieces of my Van and although I haven't managed to keep the WIP going or do any work on the second one, I am pleased to announce that the build is nearing completion so there will soon be pictures in the RFI section soon!