Tamiya Volkswagen Beetle - 1966

[willimo]

So a while ago I stumbled across this picture of an oldschool VW beetle:



That beetle is awesome and the girl is pretty stylin' too so I wanted to build the whole thing as a little diorama. The tough part was finding the right paint. Then comes Hiroboy with his RAL colors, where you can get colors for mixing. Now, I'm no mixologist so I don't intend to mix that color, but I was able to get a brown paint for the project, which was a much better match than Tamiya Maroon. Also, it would be great for me to test the paints before using them on my Celica (Lexus hotrod) or my eventual project 1:12 NSX.

But of course, I'd have to cut the door open. This is the progress so far, on the hinge.

I cut the door out and added some plastic to the interior to flesh out the door panel a bit. Then I removed the molded in hinges. I drilled out some styrene rod of the appropriate diameter, and attached them to the door with bits of cut styrene strip. I used piano wire to make sure the hinges were aligned on the door.



I then taped the door to the car to place the hinges on the body. I did the top one first. The styrene strip was cut long so that I would have room to adjust it, and the wire was again used for alignment. I added a tiny bead of glue to the excess strip to hold it in place (see arrow) and then removed the door to glue it in securely.





I repeated the process (which would've been much easier if I had left the runningboard off instead of using it for reinforcement) for the bottom, and now I have a very simple, and thankfully scale accurate, hinge.





When I put in the final hinge wire, I will use resin blobbed on the end to adhere it to the plastic rod I drilled out, for a strong bond and so I can file it smooth. I will use one length of rod that will go through both hinges (as pictured) to ensure alignment, then cut it off carefully with a Dremel.

C&C welcome. Thanks for looking!

[klutz_100]

Great legs...err I mean great project!

Super job on the hinge

[bhop73]

So, you're going to add the girl too? Do you have a figure source? or scratchbuild?

[gionc]

Did you planned some hinges also on cool girl?

Cool project, I love pure classics but have to say that I like this lowered stuff, great.

[MPWR]

Cool project. The inspiration pic is terrific- almost makes me want to build one!

The figure shouldn't be hard to find. Fujimi's driver figure set is easy to find (and cheap!)- the lady in the bathing suit would be perfect. I have the set, and her legs look up to task. Would take some work, but then all good relationships with women do. I'd probably use tissue and glue to do the skirt, and the sweater can almost be painted on- with a little bit of putty to do the collar and wrist cuffs.

I'm abit unclear about the 'oldschool' classification of the Beetle-



I thought this was how they looked back in the day....

[tonioseven]

I think he means old-school in the sense that it's an older Beetle plus those wheels have been around long enough to classify them as old-school as well; at any rate this project is hot, the girl is hot, the car is hot, and from what I understand, that kit is hot. Paris would approve .

[bhop73]

Originally Posted by MPWR

The figure shouldn't be hard to find. Fujimi's driver figure set is easy to find (and cheap!)- the lady in the bathing suit would be perfect. I have the set, and her legs look up to task. Would take some work, but then all good relationships with women do. I'd probably use tissue and glue to do the skirt, and the sweater can almost be painted on- with a little bit of putty to do the collar and wrist cuffs.

I'm abit unclear about the 'oldschool' classification of the Beetle-

I used that Fujimi figure as the base for the girl that's with my Silvia. It will take A LOT of work.. those Fujimi figs are junk. The legs are two different diameters, the face is horrible.. ugh.. But it would be a decent base to start with to get the right scale anyways...

As far as oldschool.. well, "1966"... if that's not oldskool to you, then maybe you could hook me up with some senior citizens discounts somewhere?

[Enzoenvy1]

This is going to be badass!!!

[voyageur]

Great project, I'm really looking forward to see it in progress - and finished, of course.

[sportracer02]

Hi,

nice job on the door hinges, good step by step explaination

[deedlit]

You are, finally, building a Vw

Can't wait to see some progress 'cos the work you did on the doors is impressive I'll have to take some inspiration

Some explanations about the differents styles you have in aircooled V-dubs:

Oldschool -> pre-70 car, rims you had in the 60's (BRM, Rader, 356, Empi Sprintstar,...), 1915cc dual carb engine, lowered as hell (if possible with a little rake),...

Old-speed -> same base as an Oldschool but with an engine equiped with performance parts from the 60's (Okrasa, Empi, ...)

German look -> post-70 car, Porsche rims (Fuch, 911, ...), Type 4 engine with Porsche fan, racing seats,...

... and also, Cal-look, Resto-Cal, Vintage, Drag, Offroad, Baja, ...

[willimo]

Wow, I got backed up by deedlit. Actually, I was gonna PM you to ask if you had any good pics of the inner door jamb (or: how VW reconciled the ends of the dash with the sides of the car?). I actually have a neighbor with a Beetle I could annoy but I don't think he's too friendly.

Thanks for the words everyone. To answer the collective question, I'm going to use the same kit set for the girl I've used for the others I've made. The Prieser 1:24 Eve figure set. You can see what I've done previously on my Hilux liftup and my M3.

[freakmech]

Cool project! The body seems heavily modified though (both of them). LOL Hey Jimmy Flintstone might mave a better suited "chick" for you to use. Good luck with this one. Should be Hot!

[deedlit]

Originally Posted by willimo

Actually, I was gonna PM you to ask if you had any good pics of the inner door jamb (or: how VW reconciled the ends of the dash with the sides of the car?).

This is from my '63 but dashboards are the same, if you need hi-res pics, PM me your email address

[mike united]

Great subject, great legs
Looking forward to seeing this.

Mike.