VW T1 Panel Van - Jaegermeister

[Spiny]

I'm really not sure what made me buy this one to be honest. I'm not a huge VW van fan so I can only presume that I had an idea it would be fun to take onh the challenge of a multi-part body. Then I got it, saw that it's going to be a bear to spray and had second thoughts. But, all challenges must be faced and it's time to face this one.

 

First thing to note is that I am just following the box art van, so it is being done in the Jagermeister green and orange colour scheme. The alternative plain blue scheme would be much easier to paint, but this kit comes with a lot of nice looking decals and it would be a shame to waste them.

 

I got a bit of a start during autumn last year with some Halfords satin black on the underbody, then it was a case of masking off to get the engine bay done in the same Tamiya British Green as the body.

 

 

Aftr that I gave the dark green a clear coat with Humbrol Gloss Clear Varnish... which went well - I hadn't appreciated quite how sensitive this stuff is to temperature and especially humidity so suffered an attack of blooming on the wheel arches in particular:

 

 

Fortunately another coat on a better day significantly reduced the bloom and it should be acceptable now, especially as it will be hidden in the engine bay.

 

The other bit of work I tried at the end of last year was filling in the VW badge recess on the front. For that I used the Vallejo white filler which seems to suffer from severe shrinkage, even worse if you try and wet sand it. This was after the second fill, a third fill still didn't sort things out as it continued to shrink back over winter.

 

 

Following Jeroen's advice I got some Humbrol grey filler which appears to have worked much better, it hasn't had any primer on it yet so that will be the acid test I guess.

 

Fast forwarding to this year and I finally got the main body parts off the sprue so thought I'd have a rough build to see how it looks. I will definitely need to drill out the holes in the roof and/or scrape paint of the pegs, but overall impressions are that this may well go together better than initially feared. This is far and away the worst angle (which could be improved very easily with some masking tape holding things together better) so I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

 

So that's the introduction. I have a feeling this one is going to be a bit of a long haul, but the good weather at the weekend meant I got some important early bits primed so it felt like a bit of momentum was coming back into this, although obviously I will have a certain brown sports car to finish first

 

 

 

 

 

[Fnick]

Hi Spiny

 

Good start. I had a look at the box art and it certainly is going be a striking looking vehicle when complete. 

 

Nick

[JeroenS]

Yay! I'll be following this. 

[Spiny]

13 hours ago, Fnick said:

Hi Spiny

 

Good start. I had a look at the box art and it certainly is going be a striking looking vehicle when complete. 

 

Nick

 

Is that in the same way as when you describe a person as looking 'striking' you really mean 'ugly'?

 

[Fnick]

No when I said striking I meant different...😛

[PatW]

Good start I've built a couple of two door and four door pick-up versions and have two campers and a van on the shelf waiting for my hands. We had about 5 Beetles in the family over the years and were so disappointed when they bought some water cooled thing called a Golf! I built a few kit cars based on Ford mechanics (rubbish quality parts). But also looked at various VW chassis based  air-cooled sports cars.  

[bigbadbadge]

Nice, not a VW fan indeed!!!😉  looking forward to this.  I have this in the stash for the tin roof to go on the Camper version .  

They are lovely vehicles and once in your blood there's no escape. 

Good luck with your build.

Chris

[Spiny]

Just a little update on this one, I'm moving at a much slower pace that @JeroenS. With some decent weather over the weekend I got the large parts done in primer, plus some of the other body parts too. Unfortunately, the primer did highlight that even after some filling there were still some sink marks visible on the sides and roof where there is ribbing on the inside of the body panel. Add to that that the VW sign was still visible on the front, but nowhere near as bad as before (I did consider leaving it as it was) so all those bits have a thin layer of filler in the appropriate places ready for more sanding.

 

Leaving that aside, I also got some clear on a piece, in this case the interior floor! It should give an early indication of how this will look inside, the green for the cab floor is the main van colour while for the inside I took the cheap and  lazy route - instead of getting some grey semi-gloss I just gave the primer a clear coat. I'm pretty happy with how that grey has come out, a good job as I'll be needing that technique for all the cargo bay pieces.

 

 

Speaking of being lazy, I also tried the spoon test for the orange paint (Tamiya TS-12 Orange to be precise) on white (above) and grey (below) primer to see if I could get away with just applying the grey primer and not having to paint the top half of all the panels in white. I think the photo below answers the question of whether that would work or not:

 

 

Yes, it will be a bit longer until I have the spraying done for this.

 

Thanks for looking.

[Vesa Jussila]

Looks good so far. I am thinking building one as a service car for something in the 60's

[bigbadbadge]

Good to see some paint going on , mine will be st a glacial pace when I do it.

Chris

[Spiny]

That will make two of us then, I'm fully expecting this to be a 5-monther from when I start on it full time (rather than just adding a bit of spray paint as now).

[Jochen Barett]

There was talk on Jägermeister-Orange before:

 

 

Some sources claim it is supposed to be RAL 2004 and it seems zeropaints do have a dedicated paint

 

https://www.wettringer-modellbauforum.de/forum/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=65802

 

with TS12 you are not alone

https://www.wettringer-modellbauforum.de/forum/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=17085

[Spiny]

Managed to get some primer on the smaller body parts this weekend, and also some clear on the green and grey parts which you need early in the build, but none of them are particularly photogenic or tell a story at this stage. So instead, I'll show the results of sitting in the garden sanding off some of the filler I applied the previous weekend. I finally feel fairly confident that adding some primer won't show lots of sink marks (apart from possibly behind the right hand side doors, so the lighter filler gives a good indication of the number of sink marks on my kit - they certainly follow some of the inside moulding on the big panels pretty faithfully. Hopefully this will be the last of the filling on this build.

 

 

Don't expect much more in the way of pics now until I have the MGB done. Thanks for looking.

[Spiny]

Just a little bit of an update on this one. Spent a bit of time masking up the smaller two-colour body pieces, then gave them a coat of white primer.

 

 

The job wouldn't be so difficult if it wasn't for all the little bits sticking out which tend to throw off the masking tape, or lift it to allow paint underneath. The good news though is that there is a decal to go over that rib around the body, so I do have a bit of leeway, But I will need to do a better job when it comes to the colour coats - it's one thing to expect a decal to cover the difference between the orange and brown due to different primers, quite another to expect it to cover a difference between BRG and bright orange!

[Spiny]

Finally got around to starting this properly. Although when I say properly, what I actually mean is using most of my modelling time masking up various bits and pieces. Usually I find the masking quite relaxing, but this one has been a bit of a pain in the proverbial so far what with all the little bits which stick out just where I want to put the tape. But I'll get there. Those sticking out bits have meant though that I've started off with orange on most of the 2-coloured pieces though as that is the colour which is generally most difficult to mask off (front panel excepted). On the bright side, that does mean that I have some colour on many of the body parts now so it gives a first indication of how it will look. (Ignore the white overspill primer, that's sanded down so will cover when I apply the dark green in a couple of weeks).

 

 

So what did I get done in the build process? Not much is the answer, but I have managed to get the wheels assembled. No idea why the wheels are step 1 in sthe instructions, they will be put aside until quite near the end of the build. The dark green had been sprayed in October, but I polished up the hub caps this weekend. The photo basically shows the assembly process to get to the assembled wheel on the right - the grey plastic bit I think is meant to allow the wheels to turn and the instructions have it no glued, but they're such a tight fit I doubt the wheels will turn once done. The tyres were sanded down using the nut, bolt and washer method on a drill someone on here suggested, I think it may have been @galaxyg but thanks to whoever it was, Just need to find longer bolts for when I get wider tyres.

 

 

Thanks for looking.

[Spiny]

I think the critical path for this build at the moment is getting the body sprayed, so that is where I have been focussing, And unfortunatelt that meant more masking, although it wasn't as bad as last week's. Still needed some doing though, but I think I've done most of the hard masking now. Still, I can at least give an update on where the spraying has got to:

 

 

The only masking for this weekend was the front end, which also had a little blutak put i the wiper hollows to stop the green going in there. In hindsight, it might have been easier to use some Maskol there as the blutak was reluctant to come out afterward. I've done the green first on this piece rather than the orange as the masking for the orange is easier (unlike on the other bodywork pieces) and I figures I was less likely to get overspray this way. The bumpers also got their colour coat, while the remaining pieces in the shot were given a clearcoat of Humbrol 35 clear gloss. I have to say that this is my least favourite of the clear glosses I've used so far due to it's tendancy to dry with a severe orange-peel effect - even the dashboard which I was hoping would be fine out of the can will need some polishing. I really hope Revell hurry up and get their gloss clear back to being readily available as that is decal friendly and dries to a reasonably smooth finish. (Hindsight again, but maybe I should have used Future for this build).

 

The other work this weekend was on the engine, which on this kit doesn't have the best reputation. Only four pieces, and in this shot it looks very basic, even after I tried to add some paint detail to it. There is a flat recess in the kit which is painted satin black and then this engine is mounted on that. The good news for me is that with the lower body being such a dark colour I really don't think it will stand out, particularly as that dark colour will also make the engine bay dark. A like colour like Jeroen's build and I think it would be a different matter.

 

 

You can see I broke the decal on (what I presume to be) the air filter. I also broke the Jaegermeister decal which goes on the front of the roof as the decals seem reluctant to come off the backing until they've soaked for a few minutes, but at least with the visible one I got it all lined up well enough that I can't see the break, even when magnified. And I think we all know how rare/lucky it is for that to happen on a big visible decal.

 

I've also made up the exhaust system, which again Revell would have you build now and install later, although I didn't think to take a photo of that. But it was just a case of throwing three parts together, drilling out the tailpipe as it has a flat end, then putting black paint in the new hole and painting the rest aluminium so not very exciting.

 

That's it for this week, thanks for looking.

[Quiet Mike]

I've been very tempted by this kit, as I love signwritten old vans. (Plus there is a rusty old one in my garage) It looks like a bit of a pig to make though, I don't think I have your patience to do it as much justice as you!

[Spiny]

I'll be honest and say one reason I bought this kit was to try my hand at the challenge provided by a multipart body. Obviously, to say it all goes together easily is very much tempting fate at this early stage, but so far it does appear a very well fitting kit. The test fit with tape shown earlier in this thread suggested to me that it will fit together well, I've just got to hope that's still the case when all the paint is on it. I certainly wouldn't want to put you off buying it, it does seem a well designed kit and you will have lots of spare parts at the end as it comes with al the windows for the samba bus too. (I should say at this point that mine came from Amazon warehouse and does look as though they just shoved a load of parts into the box when it was returned, including two sets of the chrome sprue!)

[bigbadbadge]

Great to see the top colours going on and  masking is a bit of a pain around the front end.  I am sure it will look good when it all goes together.

Chris

[Spiny]

Pleased to say I have a bit more to show this weekend, the photos do make it look as though I've done more work that I actually have. And that's because this was a masking-heavy weekend, every part in the next three pics has had to be masked up before spraying. On the bright side, I have found a use for the election leaflets - only one party delivered anything here, but their paper seems to be perfect for masking purposes, not too stiff so it can be curved easily, but strong enough that it doesn't tear. And who can resist spraying a party leader's face with British Green

 

And after all that masking I still had a few bits of overspray:

 

 

Those hinges are a real pain to mask around, and it's there where the green sneaked through to the orange. Fortunately, a cotton bud and IPA meant I could get rid of the green so no more masking was required there. Unfortunately though, when it came to another area the tape managed to wrap itself around the plastic without me noticing (at least until after spraying )

 

 

Fortunately this one was in an area which was easy to deal with, so just a case of sanding back the lip, masking off everything behind the front door, then giving it another spray. Now that's done, the only masking which should need doing now is for the windscreen surround which will be done next weekend weather permitting. Overall, I'm reasonably satisfied with how this has turned out. The big test though will be whether I'm still satisfied once I've got all the decalling done. There is a small mark in the orange on the piece standing up, but I think I can get away with touching that in and polishing before the clear (it's touch and go whether that will be covered by a decal anyway).

 

 

As for building, the first thing I got done this weekend was fitting the engine to the chassis:

 

 

It doesn't look great in this photo, but once the upper skin of the chassis is fitted it will be dark in there so I don't think the 'black hole' at the bottom of the engine bay will be a major issue, The other job completed this weekend was the front suspension. As this kit doesn't have coil springs that's one long-winded job I don't have to do, and that has made this job much quicker. A tealight (as suggested by someone on here) was used to warm the screwdriver rather than running down the fuel in a Bic lighted for melting down the tops of the pins to hold the struts in place.

 

 

And that's it for this week. Thanks for looking.

[JeroenS]

The two-tone makes for a tedious bit of masking but you pulled it off quite well by the looks of it. 

[Fnick]

Good job with the painting. The decals are going to bring this to life!

 

Nick

[Spiny]

To tell the truth, I don't think it was the two-tone aspect per se which made the masking difficult, but more the hinge bits which meant the masking tape wouldn't stick down flat - I used a combination of 1mm and 2mm tape to mask the hinges but still got lift of the 6mm tape I had behind that, hence the overspray. Without those hinges, I think the masking for this build would be much more relaxing.

 

As for the decals, I think they will definitely add a bit more interest, although in my mind getting the colour on has made it look much better already. Hopefully next week I will get the roof clearcoated as that's had it's Jagermeister decal fitted, just the rest of the body to go but I want to get the clear on the insides first before that step (so at least 3 weeks to the body being decalled.)

[bigbadbadge]

Looking good with the main colours going on, I am glad the one I am doing is a single colour!!!

Looking forward to seeing the decals go on.

Grat work 

Chris

[Spiny]

Right, bad news out of the way first.... spraying.

 

The first bit of spraying this weekend was the final bit of colour coat - the orange for the front end. And contrary to that previous sentance this went very will with the orange laying down nicely and no creeping under the masking tape or overspray. But today was a different matter as I added the first bit of clear to the van on the roof.

 

 

This is why I try to avoid using Humbrol Clear if I can avoid it - some rain this afternoon added 10% to the humidity and the clear became cloud. What's really weird is that shiny spot which is where the barbecue skewer is stuck on the reverse, I can only think that there must be some sort of thermal mass from the glue or stick which prevented the bloom on the clear paint. Revell Clear spray cans getting back in stock can't come soon enough, after this episode I'm almost tempted to risk decals on future projects with TS-13 rather than this. I'm hoping (based on a similar thing happening with the spoon) that this will polish out and I can go back to a nice shiny green. See also the wheel hub covers in the photo at the bottom of this post. As for that decal - I can't remember if I mentioned earlier but I managed to break it into 3 pieces getting it off the backing (it seems to take a long time for the glue to soften), but fortunately I seem to have managed to get it something like straight with no obvious cracks.

 

So back to the build of the chassis. Less progress than I was hoping, but what was achieved has worked reasonably well.

 

 

The delay was mostly down to me doing a bit more painting on the bottom end of the engine/gearbox - that bit you can see is only called out as steel in the instructions but it's had four colours on it plus a black wash over the central area. The axle behind it was also installed this weekend, and I figured this was a good time to temporarily attach the wheels to see how it stands, The good news is that it doesn't look at the moment as though this is going to be a tripod. The wheels aren't fitted properly for another 25 steps or so, but it's good to know they shouldn't be an issue.

 

 

And that's all for this week. Thanks for looking.