Revell 1/24 VW T1 Camper Bus

[JeroenS]

I built this version of Revell's lovely VW Bus for a friend of mine who likes these buses a lot (who doesn't?) and does own a camper, although not a VW. I have built the 1/16 version a couple of years ago and he likes the colour combo on that one so I went with the blue and white scheme. The kit comes with Westfalia interior and period decals. I didn't use those, I wanted to give it a more modern look. As this was a relatively quick build the only thing I added is the "wooden" floor in Hungarian point. The kit builds well and gives you lots of options for windows, "turret" up or down, that sort of thing. Also, lots of scope for interior detailing if that is your thing. I normally build stuff that is a little less shiny, and the two-tone gave me a bit of a fight on the front panel but I'm happy with the finish. 

 

The paint is Mr Surfacer 1500 grey primer, then Mr Surfacer 1500 white primer, followed by Tamiya's X-2 for the white and a mix of Tamiya X-14 (Sky Blue) and X-2. Clear coated with X-22. All thinned with Mr Color Levelling thinner, I will use no other. No polish except on the roof because of some dust particles in the clear coat. 

 

Kit chrome was of course dechromed, VW logo and the hubcaps repainted with Alclad, all other chrome bits are brush painted with Greenstuffworld Chrome. Lovely stuff. The blue in the interior is a mix of Tamiya light and medium blue XF paints. All shades of grey are random mixes of Vallejo paints, brush painted. I gave the bus custom plates with my friend's nickname on them (pronounced as the English do). I used my Silhouette cutter to make the paint stencils / masks. 

 

The one major letdown in this kit is the engine, it's a sad excuse for the actual engine which is the reason I left it out and glued the compartment shut. What works really well in the kit are the windows, excellent fit, mounted from the outside which I love, and a lot of different options to go with. Even front opening safari windows, however, there are no wiper blades to go with this option. They should be horizontally placed when the windows are open and that's not possible without mods or scratchbuilding. 

 

I enjoyed building it very much and I'm very happy with the result, as was my friend. It has a nice place in his home, and I'll just have to make do with looking at the photo's ... 

 

WIP here: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BMF on the door mirror. 

 

 

Looking at this one makes me realize I had wanted to put some panel liner on these ventilation openings! Ah well. 

 

 

 

 

 

They would have looked great together in my cabinet... 

 

 

Full album here.

 

Thanks for watching!

[Alpha Delta 210]

Wow! I must confess that I'm not a VW bus fan, but you have done an absolutely incredible job! I love the colour choice and all the little details! I'm sure that your friend is delighted.

[Old John]

Great build Jeroen Sure you friend will love it. The front turned out fine after your problems with it.

[keefr22]

Really stunning bus Jeroen - the colours are lovely and the paintjob is beautiful! Cracking details to look at and an allround very neat build!

 

Top job! 👍

 

Keith

[longshanks]

Cracking Job 

 

Kev

[PAUL67]

Congratulations On another great build …thanks for posting..

Paul

[bigbadbadge]

Lovely bus Jeron, you have done a cracking job on this, I hope your friend is really happy with it  they certainly should be.  I love the large scale Samba too.

 

Great work 

Chris

[klubman01]

That is so good.  Lots of lovely details.  Beautifully done!

Trevor

[Bengalensis]

That is superbly nice Jeroen, especially in such a short time. There is so much detail to look at the more you watch it.

For a short time it even made me think it would be nice going camping again, despite I said I was done with that and went for hotels many years ago now...

[JeroenS]

1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

Lovely bus Jeron, you have done a cracking job on this, I hope your friend is really happy with it  they certainly should be.  I love the large scale Samba too.

 

Great work 

Chris

He was very happy with it, he used our word for "awesome" and showed it to everybody.

[JeroenS]

1 minute ago, Bengalensis said:

That is superbly nice Jeroen, especially in such a short time. There is so much detail to look at the more you watch it.

For a short time it even made me think it would be nice going camping again, despite I said I was done with that and went for hotels many years ago now...

Yeah, I'm done camping as well. And I certainly wouldn't want to spend a holiday in this bus, however nice it looks!

[phildagreek]

Very smart!

[othertales]

Great treat to see all the details. Cracking result!

And thank you for sharing paint info—super useful to understand choices others make to achieve such great builds.