VW Beetle.... I mean why not? - Finished

[JeroenS]

I built one of these a while ago and it's a great little kit that goes together really well so I know I'll not be having any issues finishing it on time. 

 

 

I absolutely love these little machines. This is what I built a while back.

 

 

In fact, this is the shiniest one in the cabinet for sure. Now, that's not going to happen over a weekend so I'll be going for something a little less shiny. And like last time, not the police version either. See you all next week!

[Hockeyboy76]

Looking forward to this one dude. 

[JOCKNEY]

Inspired choice mate, 25 million people can't be wrong 

 

Cheers Pat 

[AdrianMF]

One gorgeous model there! Looking forward to seeing what you do with the next one.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[JeroenS]

5 hours ago, JOCKNEY said:

Inspired choice mate, 25 million people can't be wrong 

 

Cheers Pat 

Actually, I think they can, but not in this matter 🙂 

[Enzo the Magnificent]

I had a VW Beetle 35 years ago.  I was posted to RAF Gutersloh and it was my second car.  I used it for driving around camp and town to keep the mileage down on my XR3i.   I bought the Beetle for five crates of "Wobbly" or Warsteiner bier.  At the time a crate of Wobbly was about 15DM or £4.25.   Three years later, when on a detachment to TLP in Jever, I swapped the Beetle for a flight in an F-16.   

 

I learned that whatever goes wrong with a Beetle can be fixed with a hammer.   

[81-er]

You can tell I'm from Essex as (although I like Beetles), I'm far more interested in the XR3i 🤣 I reckon you got a good deal both acquiring and disposing of the Beetle

 

James

[JeroenS]

Good morning everyone, it's go time. I have other stuff to do today but the morning should be all clear so I'm ready to give it a good start. I'm not sure yet how I'd like to finish the little Beetle, I'm leaning towards barn find, but just dusty and perhaps flat tires, not completely rusted out. Still deciding on the colour. 

 

Starting with some sprue shots. 

 

The body itself needs just a little bit of work to remove mould lines but not too much. 

 

 

I'll be building it with all hatches closed and glued shut, I'm not interested in engine detailing. 

 

Body parts and interior. There's a separate headliner, I like that.

 

 

If I remember correctly it was very easy to build all this up and marry the chassis and body shell so I'm not expecting any trouble. But... it could be lurking somewhere, of course.

 

Chassis parts, for the most part.

 

 

 

These were chromed, I put them in some bleach yesterday, the Revell chrome responds well to that, it was gone quickly. 

 

 

Clear parts and tyres. Windows go in from the outside which is always a bonus. 

 

 

And a decal sheet, of which I'll only be using license plates and dash decals. 

 

 

So, off we go. 

 

[JeroenS]

Alright, that's it for the first session of the day. Body has been mostly prepared, rear engine compartment "hatch" glued shut. 

 

 

On the front, some minor sink marks around the headlights to deal with. There's a bit of filler there, just waiting for it to dry out which should be quick with this Humbrol filler. 

 

 

Engine slammed together. Note the lack of engine parts, they're going into the spares box, I'll be saving on those. 

 

 

We'll only be looking at the engine from the underside

 

 

 

and I can assure you that none of this 

 

 

will ever see daylight. 

 

 

The art of Blitz Building 😉 

 

Anyway, here we are, suspension complete. 

 

 

Firewall around the engine. 

 

 

 

[Bengalensis]

This will be good!

[JeroenS]

15 minutes ago, Bengalensis said:

This will be good!

I hope so!

[81-er]

That's a nice start, and it looks like a good kit

 

James

[Hockeyboy76]

Nice start dude, looking forward to seeing you progress. 

[JeroenS]

Well, turns out I had a little less time this morning than I thought. I had some knee surgery done a little under four weeks ago, had to give the knee some attention, meaning a session on my spinning bike and some strength and mobility exercises. Then, I had to do some 1:1 sanding on pieces of a cupboard I'm making so my wife can start painting those. Then I grabbed a quick lunch and now I have about another hour to mess with some plastic. After that I'm going to be needing a shower (from the aforementioned activities, though the modelling not so much), and then I'm off to a practice match of the volleyball team I'm assistent trainer/coach with. Preparations for the season have started 2 weeks ago and now we're starting to play some matches to get in shape. It's a young women's team, we're playing the third level from the top which is a good bit of volleyball. After having the summer off we're back indoors until around May next year. 

 

 

Anyway, enough said, time to get some stuff done. 

[JeroenS]

Forgot to put on some tunes! It's my Metallica playlist, my daughter and I went to see them in Paris last May and I've been playing them a lot since then. These guys still rock. 

 

Now playing: The Day That Never Comes

 

On repeat actually, because well, my brain is like that. 

[JeroenS]

That's an interior finished, minus the flimsy bits which I'll paint separately. 

 

 

Also, bodywork done and bonnet glued in place. 

 

 

The kit goes together really well and you can quickly see where it's going with some dry fitting. 

 

 

 

 

Well, I'll be back this evening. 

 

[dnl42]

Wow, that looks quite the excellent kit. I'm looking forward to seeing this done, and shortly too. 

[81-er]

Nice progress, and nice choice of music

 

James

[Marklo]

7 hours ago, JeroenS said:

It's my Metallica playlist, my daughter and I went to see them in Paris last May and I've been playing them a lot since then. These guys still rock. 

They are amazing live I’ve seen them twice both times in Marley park in Dublin. Love the day that never comes but I think no leaf clover is my favourite Metallica song. 

[81-er]

43 minutes ago, Marklo said:

They are amazing live I’ve seen them twice both times in Marley park in Dublin. Love the day that never comes but I think no leaf clover is my favourite Metallica song. 

I've seen them twice at their own gigs too, and many times at festivals. I was lucky enough to be at Download the year Lars was sick, and got to see how amazing Metallica were with other drummers. The late Joey Jordison was flat out incredible. Nice song choice too, I love that one and Minus Human. Staying away from the obvious, my favourite is probably King Nothing, which I know is a controversial choice as the Load album is so hated. 

 

James

[JeroenS]

31 minutes ago, 81-er said:

my favourite is probably King Nothing, which I know is a controversial choice as the Load album is so hated. 

Controversial or not, it's your choice isn't it... I wouldn't worry too much about what others think 🙂 .... I love Until It Sleeps from that very same album. 

[Marklo]

47 minutes ago, 81-er said:

I know is a controversial choice as the Load album is so hated. 

I like the load album particularly turn the page it’s St Elsewhere that I can’t listen to … and tellingly Metallica didn’t play any material from that album at either concert.

[JeroenS]

OK, starting a late evening session. I've been procrastinating, watching Team Time Trial in Vuelta (maybe they should have started a little earlier) and World Championships athletics. Then, I had a hard time deciding what colour to paint. 

 

After I shut down my laptop this afternoon I thought wait a minute, I should prime the body so it can dry. Blitz Build rule: get your primer on early! So I quickly did that before I went and prepared for my team's match (we won). 

 

 

As you can see I went with red oxide, thinking, maybe I'll do some chipping. But now I've decided not to. Now, I'm curious what my choice of paint will look like over this primer 

 

I'm going for Savannah Beige with Red interior, which is a late '60's combination. Apparently, Savanah Beige is a bit greenish looking, to my eyes at least. 

 

Here's a link to my source: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/69colors/inside.jpg

 

I went with equal parts White / Khaki / Medium Grey, altough I may add a little extra Khaki. 

 

 

I'll check how the first coat looks on the red primer before adjusting. 

[JeroenS]

So, that was a good session, I'm happy with what I have so far. The body colour came out really nice. 

 

 

Clear coat, first thing tomorrow. 

 

Headliner and a piece for the rear bonnet as well. 

 

 

Interior. 

 

 

I will paint the red tomorrow. Maybe brush paint it, the plan is barnfind so not much of the interior will be seen because of dusty windows. 

 

The underside is in black primer. 

 

 

And these parts got a gloss black base, they will be chromed tomorrow.

 

 

I'm a little over 3,5 hours in.

[Hockeyboy76]

1 hour ago, JeroenS said:

 

 

 

As you can see I went with red oxide, thinking, maybe I'll do some chipping. But now I've decided not to. Now, I'm curious what my choice of paint will look like over this primer 

 

 

Yea gods man, it’s a fundamental mistake, I mean absolute basic mistake, my gast is flabbered, honestly What the Dickens are you thinking………..

 

Pink Primer!!!! Red oxide my bottom, Pink man PINK!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

I have finished with this now, who wants it next?