A Kübelwagen in Beetle's clothing **FINISHED**

[planecrazee]

Hi folks,

 

After just completing my StuG for the Panzer III group build, whilst also in the process of being halfway through my entry for the A4 Skyhawk GB, I thought why not join in the fun for another GB 

I think this is a great topic for a GB and it offers such a vast array of options and choices.  I had a few options in the stash that I considered, but in the end I decided to go for the following (cue obligatory box art shots):

 

 

 

I thought this would make for an ideal entry to the GB - not a complex or taxing build but plenty of detail none the less for such a small kit - it's also something a little bit different from some of the usual subjects.  So here's what you get in the box:

 

 

Incudes vinyl tyres for one option as well as styrene tyres for another and also includes a pre-cut mask set for all the windows which is a fantastic little addition.  There's also a very small PE fret (not pictured) for the number plates.  Next, as you can see here - the clear parts look to be crystal clear...

 

 

…and lastly here's a close up shot of the main body:

 

 

The only curious thing I've noticed about the kit so far, is that there is absolutely no reference to any paint callouts except for the main body colour of the car on the rear of the box.  There are no colour callouts in the instructions for any of the other exterior parts and nothing at all for the interior (very strange) So if anyone out there happens to be an expert on these little cars and can shed any light on the colours then your expertise would be greatly received.

 

So that's it for now folks - looking forward to making a start on this at the weekend and looking forward to seeing what everyone else will be offering up for their builds.  Good luck everyone - should be a good one!!

 

Best wishes

 

Kris

[TimJ]

That looks a well detailed kit, shame about the lack of colour callouts.

[planecrazee]

Hi Tim, 

Yeah it's a lovely little model - really nice details - should build up nicely. Just can't understand why there's no colour callouts. I know instructions for model kits can often have their faults but I personally have never built a kit before with absolutely no paint colour references 

Kris

[Brad]

Welcome, as said, this looks really nice. I can only guess that the manufacturers had no idea what the interior colour was so decided to say nothing. However I did find this on youtube it might help.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Brad

[planecrazee]

Thanks Brad - you're probably right - they must have just thought "we won't bother with the colours, it'll give them something to do" lol. Thank you very much for the youtube vid - really kind of you and really appreciate you helping like that  

Kris

[PattheCat]

Good choice. Always liked the Beetle (is it a modified Beetle or the bodywork of a Beetle on a kübelwagen chassis?).

I wish you luck with your build and to find enough colour references.

[planecrazee]

On 4/17/2021 at 11:48 PM, PattheCat said:

Good choice. Always liked the Beetle (is it a modified Beetle or the bodywork of a Beetle on a kübelwagen chassis?).

I wish you luck with your build and to find enough colour references.

Hi @PattheCat - thanks for your comment.  I've done some research but I'm still not entirely sure.  I was under the impression that this version was the Kübelwagen chassis with the beetle bodywork on top but I stand to be corrected by anyone else in the know 

Kris

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

39 minutes ago, planecrazee said:

Hi @PattheCat - thanks for your comment.  I've done some research but I'm still not entirely sure.  I was under the impression that this version was the Kübelwagen chassis with the beetle bodywork on top but I stand to be corrected by anyone else in the know 

Kris

I believe that to be the case, at least thats what Ive been told before. The original chassis had different bodies, Kubelwagen, Schwimmwagen, and the people’s car Beetle. 
 

http://www.classic-car-history.com/kubelwagen-history.htm

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Kübelwagen

 

Dennis

[TonyOD]

That's a great choice, looking forward to the Bug taking shape.

 

You have an enviously clean cutting mat, I really must buy a new one if only for photos...

[planecrazee]

22 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I believe that to be the case, at least thats what Ive been told before. The original chassis had different bodies, Kubelwagen, Schwimmwagen, and the people’s car Beetle. 
 

http://www.classic-car-history.com/kubelwagen-history.htm

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Kübelwagen

 

Dennis

Thanks for providing those links Dennis and for your comments too - very much appreciated.  Looks like we're all of the same mind anyway 

Kris

[planecrazee]

2 hours ago, TonyOD said:

That's a great choice, looking forward to the Bug taking shape.

 

You have an enviously clean cutting mat, I really must buy a new one if only for photos...

Hi @TonyOD - I'm glad you're coming along for the ride - hopefully I'll be able to do the Bug some justice.  It is a great little kit from what I've seen of it so far so should make into a nice little model. With regards to the cutting mat, in fairness, that one is relatively new and is generally only used for construction work on models.  One of my others where I do the majority of the painting - well - let's just say it's seen better days 

Thanks

Kris

[planecrazee]

Hiya folks,

 

Hope you're all well and enjoying getting on with your chosen builds so far - there looks like there's going to be some cracking subjects in the GB so I'm looking forward to a packed gallery in August 

 

So I thought I'd take the opportunity to update you on my own build.  I'm at the point where the next thing to do will be to prime the main parts so I thought I'd better give you some progress shots before I move on otherwise it's not much of a WiP.

 

So here's where I am stage by stage:

 

The main body of the car has had it's headlight innards fitted and the Notek light added on the left wing.  The rear light units have been added and I've done a bit of work on the ejector pin marks inside as these would probably be visible (sorry no pic of inside)

 

 

The main chassis has had the front and rear axles made up and fitted, the exhaust added (with the opening drilled out) and some smaller parts like the pedals, handbrake and gear stick have been added

 

 

I've then been working on what is effectively the boot of the car but of course this is a beetle so it's what's under the bonnet and the main instrument panel/dash. I've added the little fuel cap and again did a fair bit of ejector pin mark filling and sorting as again it will be seen even if it's not that obvious.  I've also done some ejector pin filling on the boot and bonnet doors as I'm planning to have these open so the marks would definitely be obvious.  You can spot my filling work with the little grey circles of Mr Surfacer.

 

 

Here you can see where I've been working on putting all the engine components together.  Now I don't profess to be an expert on said engines but it does at least seem to have the main parts (according to some of my researching) which are nicely moulded.  I may try to add a few wires/leads etc later down the line just to add a little more realism.

 

And in the last couple of pics you can see I've made up the seats for the front and rear - only 3 as per the instructions although 4 are provided and I've also done a test fit of the wheels to the their tyres - some nice detail here too. There's 5 wheels/tyres so there's one as a spare to go in the boot, bonnet - oh whichever it is!!! 

 

 

So that's where I am to date.  I've remembered I still need to add the rear view mirror into the inside of the main body but that's it.  Then I'll start getting everything primed ready for painting.  So far I'm really impressed with this little kit and some of the details are superb.  Ejection pin marks have been the biggest issue as there's been quite a few especially in what will be prominent places but at least they've been fairly straightforward to sort.

 

Hopefully have another update for you as soon as possible once she's progressed a bit further.  Really enjoying this one though - always good to do something a little different 

 

Thanks

 

Kris

[Thom216]

Looks like a lot of wheels for such a small car.

[CliffB]

Everything seems to be prepping up nicely Kris.  Will you be building this with all the 'doors' opened up?

[planecrazee]

Hi @CliffB

Thanks for dropping me a comment.  Originally I planned to have no doors opened and have a driver figure which I was going to borrow from a Tamiya kit but it turned out that wasn't going to work out as the kit seat and the Tamiya driver were not a match made as they say.

So, off to Plan B where I'll look to have boot and bonnet open and probably the driver side door open to show off the interior details - well fingers crossed anyway 

Kris

[JeroenS]

Great choice, looks like a very nice kit with a lot of parts for this scale. The body looks lovely with those dual rear windows. 

[planecrazee]

Thanks @JeroenS.  It is a very nice little kit as you say and not only are the quite a number of parts - there's a lot of details for such a small model.  Yes, the two little rear windows just make it such a unique little vehicle as does the classic rounded down Bonnet (or boot) depending on how you look at it .  I actually got my inspiration for this build from the fantastic modeller Greg at 'Greg's Models' on YouTube.  If you're interested, the link to his build is here: 

 

Thanks

Kris

[bigbadbadge]

Hi Kris

Just popped by as looking at the little Flivver in the GB.

This is a nice kit, is it the same kit as CMK bought out quite a few years ago? I think it was re released by Italeri? 

If it is I have a spare resin offside door (passenger door as a LHD car) if any use to you, it has some PE fittings and will happily send to you if you want it there is also a Jerry can too , if you do want it PM me your details.

Chris

[planecrazee]

Hey Chris - thanks for dropping by 

As far as I'm aware and also according to Scalemates this is a completely new tooled kit by Ryefield Models in 2019.

It's extremely good of you to offer those extra goodies but it may be they won't fit as they no doubt won't be for this model. Really really good of you to offer though - very much appreciated

Kris

[bigbadbadge]

No Worries Kris,  good luck with the Type 82E.   I managed to get an Airfix  Wellington too finally!!!

Chris

[planecrazee]

Thanks Chris - very much appreciated.

Excellent - pleased to hear you got yourself sorted with an Airfix Wellington  - you will not be disappointed.  Just need to get mine finished now - got so many GB's on the go at the minute I don't have time for anything else lol 

Kris

[PlaStix]

Interesting looking project and it looks like you are off to a good start.

Kind regards,

Stix

[planecrazee]

Thanks @PlaStix

 

Yes, made a good start on this one and will be due an update soon.  Just busy working away on getting my Skyhawk finished for that GB too.  Seem to have my hands full after finishing my StuG for your Panzer III GB

Never mind - they don't build themselves do they lol 

 

Kris

[planecrazee]

Howdy all,

 

Hope everyone is keeping well and keeping busy with all their builds as well as other things.  I for one have been having to factor in much more time in the garden (where I amateurishly grow vegetables) and had a bit less time at the bench.  However, I'm conscious that I've a few GB's on the go and needed to crack on and make some progress so as the deadline for this GB is first - I've concentrated some efforts on this one.

 

So since my last update I've basically got all the parts that needed to be sprayed German Grey completed (which is basically everything) and have started to make progress on detailing specific sections in readiness for a gloss coat before starting to bring it all together.

 

So, as you can see in the couple of pics below, I've done some basic detail painting by painting the knobs of the handbrake and gear stick as well as the rubber round the bottom of the gear stick.  Then I painstakingly painted the wooden slats on the floor in Mig Ammo 'Old Wood' and then proceeded to use oils to get a wood grain effect.  Although a fiddly job I think it makes a big difference to achieving a more realistic wooden effect especially once it's had a wash added all over:

 

 

 

Then I've moved on to painting and detailing the engine where I've added various pieces of lead wire to represent the cables and pipes that I saw in a few reference photographs online.  There's not a lot to the engine in real life so no need to go overboard but a few wires etc just help to make an engine look more like an engine:

 

 

 

Also, as you can see in the pic here as well as those above I've started painting some of the sections on the underneath of the chassis and started to weather up the exhaust with some rust tones just to give it a more used and worn look:

 

 

As I mentioned earlier - everything will then be getting a gloss coat so I can do some washes etc to pick out all the details all over the inside and outside of the chassis as well as to the engine to give it that well worn in and oily look.  Then I'll be able to start piecing everything together such as the seats and dash board section to start making her look like a car.

 

The boot and bonnet will be open as well as at least one of the doors - possibly both - and I'll be adding a few bits and pieces to the inside to show that it's in use and being used by somebody - just to add a human element to it.

 

So hope you like the progress so far and I'll be pushing on to get another up date out as soon as possible.

 

Keep safe and well and keep modelling and I'll see you all soon 

 

Kris

[PattheCat]

Nicely done with the wooden flooring and exhaust 👏