mbdesignart Posted February 14, 2018 Posted February 14, 2018 (edited) Here for your enjoyment is another van that's going under the knife. I've applied some 10mm Tamiya tape to use a a cutting guide on the easy parts which equates to near enough a 9.5" chop The fun will be working out the screen and door cuts, although I may do without the quarter lights in the doors. Handles will disappear along with hinges etc for a clean look. I'm thinking of another Guinness scheme but using metallics for the black and cream. It will be lowered too with a suitable set of alloys added. What could possibly go wrong...? Edited February 25, 2018 by mbdesignart typo, title edit 4
Pete in Lincs Posted February 14, 2018 Posted February 14, 2018 Ooh, some nice ideas. I have a Hasegawa version idling in the stash.... (I'm not sure if it's the same kit?)
Hamden Posted February 14, 2018 Posted February 14, 2018 Interesting project I'll take a seat at the back and watch and learn Roger
Marco F. Posted February 14, 2018 Posted February 14, 2018 Interesting project! I'll keep an eye on this A chopped Guinness Van, what a lovely idea Suprise us with an extraordinary project Cheers Marco F.
mini man Posted February 15, 2018 Posted February 15, 2018 Chopped manys a car but never a van,so will follow along.
mbdesignart Posted February 15, 2018 Author Posted February 15, 2018 Welcome aboard one and all, plenty of room in the back I thought I'd pile into the chassis and get the suspension/steering fitted. It's not often you have to use a hot knife on a kit these days but the steering arm required it's lugs melting over the axle uprights. Anyway thinking ahead I thought it best to check the wheel fit under the arches. The stub axles were a tad too long so a couple of mm got lopped off the ends, no doubt the rears will require similar attention. Now I'm thinking the ride height needs dropping. 3
mbdesignart Posted February 15, 2018 Author Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) Well best laid plans and all that. One of the front hubs is off and I've made a start slicing off one of the rear inner arches. A new hub locating bracket has been added to take the kit hub with a carbon fibre pin for support. Hey ho! The ride height has dropped by 5mm with about 1mm clearance between tyre and arch. The rear suspension looks like another scratch affair with a straight beam axle - more on that story later... Edited February 15, 2018 by mbdesignart correction 3
mbdesignart Posted February 16, 2018 Author Posted February 16, 2018 The arches are out, big up Dremel. Template made for replacement inner wall then to be added some curved liners from plasticard. Kit rear axle shown, to be replaced with straight tube. 2
mbdesignart Posted February 18, 2018 Author Posted February 18, 2018 A quick update. The rear arches have been relined and along with the front indicator & door handle recesses filled. New rear axle added, the existing hubs have been chopped off the kit axle to be remounted. There are some extra parts on the sprues from the Samba Bus which I'm utilising to convert the cargo area into a 'Snug'. The plan is to add a Guinness beer tap onto the bulkhead with a bench seat forward of the rear arches and maybe a wood panelled floor. Now for some more surgery. 2
mbdesignart Posted February 18, 2018 Author Posted February 18, 2018 Sides have been chopped and here's a test fit of the roof. This now requires slicing down the centreline to widen it, I'll have to check what radical action is required for the screen before undertaking this. Talk about play it be ear, ha! 2
mbdesignart Posted February 19, 2018 Author Posted February 19, 2018 (edited) Roof sliced in half and a joining strip added, now left to set overnight before packing and filling. UPDATE 21/2/18 - The roof has been split again. Even after measuring about 3 times when I'd more or less properly aligned the sides with more tape the roof was found to be too wide. I think a more considered approach is needed, oh and two more pairs of hands to hold the damn thing together. Edited February 21, 2018 by mbdesignart update info 2 1
mbdesignart Posted February 24, 2018 Author Posted February 24, 2018 (edited) Roof join No.2 Following a more thorough taping together of the body I found the roof needed to be splayed 3.5mm at the rear 7mm at the front. It's all good fun?! Now I'm considering a cutout for a sunroof... Edited February 24, 2018 by mbdesignart photo added 3
mbdesignart Posted February 25, 2018 Author Posted February 25, 2018 Bonus found in the box! Whilst digging around in the spares box for a likely transparency for the sunroof I recalled seeing on the instruction sheet parts marked 'not for this kit' and amongst the items were several windows for the Samba Bus. Brilliant 4 moonroofs for the err roof. Four cutouts over the snug and now onto the filler. 4
kpnuts Posted March 2, 2018 Posted March 2, 2018 Some major work going on here, pulling up a seat and eager for the next update.
mbdesignart Posted March 3, 2018 Author Posted March 3, 2018 Thanks for the comments. Not much progress this week, other van conversions getting in the way. Anyway the gap is filled and I think a GT40 style, or Zagato hump/s in the roof over the front seat/s would be needed in the real world. 1
mbdesignart Posted March 5, 2018 Author Posted March 5, 2018 With a few spare minutes I decided to print out a bespoke floor for the 'snug'. 2 1
Marco F. Posted March 5, 2018 Posted March 5, 2018 Cool!!! A Guinness floor....looks great. Instead of humps / bubbles in the roof, did you ever thought about bomber seats? They would look cool and the height is pretty low... https://www.thescalemodeler.com/product/2000519/bomber-seat-set-1 Here you can see what I mean Cheers Marco F.
mbdesignart Posted March 6, 2018 Author Posted March 6, 2018 A neat solution, thanks Marco. I was thinking of sanding some thickness off the base of the kit front seats to increase headroom. Or getting Quasimodo to be the chauffeur!
heloman1 Posted March 7, 2018 Posted March 7, 2018 Looking good Mark, I was going to mention the front seat height but I was beaten to it... Colin
mbdesignart Posted March 7, 2018 Author Posted March 7, 2018 24 minutes ago, heloman1 said: Looking good Mark, I was going to mention the front seat height but I was beaten to it... Colin I need to find a 1/24 driver figure just to see if the are any headroom issues.
Marco F. Posted March 7, 2018 Posted March 7, 2018 Hi Mark, If you send me your Adresse via PN I will send you two testdriver... Marco F.
mbdesignart Posted March 10, 2018 Author Posted March 10, 2018 (edited) Having had a look at the Bomber Seats on t'net I thought I'd have a go at something similar, a bit of plasticard and some drilling should while a way a few minutes. Draw up a template, print onto adhesive paper, stick onto plasticard and drill away. Edited March 10, 2018 by mbdesignart typo 2
mbdesignart Posted March 10, 2018 Author Posted March 10, 2018 A quick mock-up just to check for fit 5
Marco F. Posted March 10, 2018 Posted March 10, 2018 Hey Mark, the mock up looks great!!! Your bomber seats will look perfect with the right colour on...👍 The hight seems to be comfortable for the driver Marco F.
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