AMT Der Beetle Bus-OOB Version Completed

Thanks Max and Nick! I appreciate the good word.

That's an awesome  VW ! 

Well, that was fun to watch and giggle each time! Good job on the model and your innovation! Fun factor=High!

Max

'Preciate that Joe!

First, Happy New Year Bro. and you sure know how to ring it in. Fabulous finish on your OOB project. The extras you added are incrediblely well done as weel as the overall finish. It really is a smart little project and you did marvelous job. Now, I'm really looking forward to your highly modified project. Thanks for sharing this very fun build with us.

Thanks Pawel and Steve.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Gee, it is an amazing piece of craftsmanship.

  You defiantly brought the model into the new millennium. Proving once again it ain’t the model,  it’s the modeler that make a success  of a build.

^{I’ll go now over into my corner, with all of the empty Champaign bottles and damp confetti and pout, wail and moan  about the unfairness of it all- I’m so good looking, why, why can’t I build a decent  model…..}

Hello!

Congratulations, you got this one finished as close to OOB as you were physically capable of! :-)) It looks quite OK, but I like the modified one better. Thanks for sharing and good luck with the modded one! Have a nice day

Paweł

Initially I wasn't going to build this rascal out of the box. I thought it was hideous when I opened the box but quickly developed a new idea for it which entailed lengthening the body, chassis and roof and using Rick Dobbertin's SBC from the Pontiac J2000 Pro Street kit. Although that idea is now under way, I thought it only fitting that I should build an OOB version in which to display next to the modified one when it was completed to show the contrast between the two builds given that they are the same kit.

  I spent roughly the last two months building this version of the kit up and although it's mostly OOB , there were a couple of drastic departures from the OOB ideas. First off the front wheels stuck outside of the front fenders by almost 1/4" which was waaaaaaaaaaaay too far outside for my tastes. I shaved the ends off of the front axle, used a set of AMT Cragar wheels which I shaved a little off the backside to put the wheel and tire assy back under the fender where it belonged and used a set of AMT "skinny" tires I had in the stash to round out the look at the front. I added a timing cover and a smaller cooling fan to the engine (I wouldn't have wasted my time had I known that none of that could be seen when finished). Next up I trashed the OOB injector stacks and went with aluminum tubing which I polished and installed of the terrible looking plastic chrome pieces. The OOB fuel cell also "exited stage left" and was replaced by something with a little more detail and (for what this is worth given the overall look of the build) realistic. The exhaust pipes didn't look right so I drilled the ends out to give a more true hollow pipe look to them. I chose to ditch the "wheelie bars" as I didn't like those either.

I just so happened to get the "luck of the draw" and got a clear GREEN molded kit with the metal flakes suspended in the molding. I chose to paint the inside of the body gold to give a green tinted gold look as shown through the body looking from the outside. The decals in this kit are IMO just AWESOME!! Plenty of humor to go round with these and I had a blast with 'em! I used some automotive clear to top things off with the finish and I was really happy with the results. This kit was a lot of fun with a few pitfalls here and there but they were fairly easy to overcome. The front bumper fit was about the only real trouble I had with it.

N E ways here are the completed photos of the OOB version ----now it's off to the modded one once again.

The kit:

and lastly.....a mock up of the box art shot:

Heh, I did the same thing for the injector stacks on my Boot Hill Express.  IIRC, I kinda had to, as one was either broken (it was an old, partially-assembled kit), or I screwed one up trying to drill out the top.  I grabbed some aluminum tubing, polished it up, and even belled out the top of each stack a little.  Much more convincing than the chrome-plated sticks the kit came with.

Nice work, so far!

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

Thanks Joe and Toshi. Still on this one. It's down to the windows, head and tail lights and bumpers for the parts list. I've still got to gloss the body and polish it up and then hit all the trim areas with BMF. With any luck I'll be back on the modded build by mid January or sooner.

Great job.  The stacks remind me of those old school calliope stacks.  You're doing a fantastic job on this kit.

Toshi

That is some Bad A outstanding! Great job on the pipes. They turned out great. Looks like you're getting mighty close to finishing this one up my friend.

Ok folks. I'm going to call the motor done. Had to do a small amount of tweaking to get the stacks to sit in the right place but I think we've got 'er down. I also managed to mount that replacement fuel cell to replace that ridiculous looking one that the kit had. I know it's kind of a cartoonish kit and all but that fuel cell was a little over the top for me. I got the exhaust pipes painted with Alclad and the ends have been drilled out to match the intake tubes. Those exhaust pipes were a BEAR to get all lined up and keep straight.

Thanks Joe! I'm putting all of my efforts into getting this one finished so I can move on to the other one.

Wow! That is looking awesome Joe. I love the effects created with the decals. 

Thanks Steve. lol

I  got all the sanding done on the inside of the roofline and decided to add a little individuality to the body. The kit actually comes with some pretty cool and fun decals.

Oh, that color is bit--er---Boss,  yeah, that’s the word;  since we're dealing with a 60s era model

midnightprowler

I may have a spare electric fan if you want it.

 

Sprue: Thanks buddy!

I may have a spare electric fan if you want it.

Some sick progress results going on in here.

Great progress Joe. That paint is definitely going to be boss.

midnightprowler

Joe, instead of a pully driven fan I think a electric fan would be more in order for this. Just a thought.

 

 I hear you loud and clear though which is why I opted for the electric fans on the modded build. Thanks Lee.

Joe, instead of a pully driven fan I think a electric fan would be more in order for this. Just a thought.

Thanks Nick!

I managed to get some things done today on the interior and I got a gloss black coat over the injector stack bases. After that dries I'll shoot some Alclad over them and start working on installation of the stacks.

While the injector stacks were drying I couldn't help myself any longer. I had primed a spare roof section from my cut up bus a couple of days ago and decided to spray the base coat yesterday followed up with the clear this morning. The results are EXACTLY what I was after. In the pictures below you'll see the teal base color but you'll also be able to pick out the blue and purple on the curves and angles. This color has always been one of my favorites due to the sheer wickedness of its look.............

way to go !! 

'Preciate it Steve.

I got the engine installed this morning but before I did I mounted the cooling fan up and made some minor adjustments to the radiator. I've never seen a cooling fan installed..........on the crankshaft pulley???? Too weird and I didn't like it and besides, the OOB fan was too dang bulky and big anyhow. I went with a cooling fan from Revell's Pro Stock Thunderbird kit and it worked great AND I installed it in the "normal" position at the water pump pulley. Criminy!

I'm also in the process of stripping all the chrome from the fuel injector stack bases so I can apply gloss black to them and shoot a coat of Alclad chrome over them.

Anyhow here's this morning's progress report...............

Gotta say your “Polish polish” ( sorry Pawel     ) has “lead” to a heavyweight result. 

OHH my widdle brain hurts; I go nap now.