Here's a 'build' I did on a rainy afternoon ages ago. It's the first model I've modified, and probably one of the few I've (nearly) finished. ;D
I started out with the 1:32 Airfix Beetle that is quite common. I got it for my birthday many moons ago and built it up as per the box. A while later, I decided to take it apart and rebuild it with some mods.
What I like about this model is how it is reasonably true in construction to the real thing. A large amount of the original chassis was removed, and a semi-spaceframe made by bending coat hanger wire by hand. It ties into the very front and rear of the chassis - the side parts are one piece and have some quite complex bends, which turned out to be quite annoying!
There's a harness bar and roof bars.
The harness is four-point, and made out of lengths of a small rubber band glued together. It has the original kit seats.
Obviously all of the original beam setup at the front is gone, but the wheels are mounted to the frame using brackets made from offcuts. No model suspension fabbed I'm afraid - this was only a rainy afternoon build after all! At the rear, the wheels are fixed to much shortened original driveshafts. There are no inner arches.
The wheels themselves are off a much larger scale beach buggy which was broken anyway. The big rubber tyres were removed and the wheels themselves were matt blacked for tyres. Various flanges to retain the original tyre had to be removed. The rims were detailed up.
The same beach buggy model donated its V8, which I detailed a bit and mid-mounted. It's not a very accurate model, but it would have been rude not to use it.
All the 'glass' was removed, and the moulded trim, handles, and gutters were smoothed off. The current paint is actually over the top of a couple of other coats, so unfortunately some of the body detail is lost. It's a matt bare metal or aluminium model paint, with some black mixed, other silvers used and the rust details added with a crayon.
Lastly, the twin 'bike cans' at the rear were made up from some offcuts.
If I'd taken more time over it, I probably would have done a better job of the paint (lacquering before rust detail to make the bare metal look better). I also would have filled in the cut-outs where the original bumpers mount, and tidied up the smoothing.
I started out with the 1:32 Airfix Beetle that is quite common. I got it for my birthday many moons ago and built it up as per the box. A while later, I decided to take it apart and rebuild it with some mods.
What I like about this model is how it is reasonably true in construction to the real thing. A large amount of the original chassis was removed, and a semi-spaceframe made by bending coat hanger wire by hand. It ties into the very front and rear of the chassis - the side parts are one piece and have some quite complex bends, which turned out to be quite annoying!
There's a harness bar and roof bars. The harness is four-point, and made out of lengths of a small rubber band glued together. It has the original kit seats.
Obviously all of the original beam setup at the front is gone, but the wheels are mounted to the frame using brackets made from offcuts. No model suspension fabbed I'm afraid - this was only a rainy afternoon build after all!
At the rear, the wheels are fixed to much shortened original driveshafts. There are no inner arches.The wheels themselves are off a much larger scale beach buggy which was broken anyway. The big rubber tyres were removed and the wheels themselves were matt blacked for tyres. Various flanges to retain the original tyre had to be removed. The rims were detailed up.
The same beach buggy model donated its V8, which I detailed a bit and mid-mounted. It's not a very accurate model, but it would have been rude not to use it.
All the 'glass' was removed, and the moulded trim, handles, and gutters were smoothed off. The current paint is actually over the top of a couple of other coats, so unfortunately some of the body detail is lost. It's a matt bare metal or aluminium model paint, with some black mixed, other silvers used and the rust details added with a crayon.
Lastly, the twin 'bike cans' at the rear were made up from some offcuts.
If I'd taken more time over it, I probably would have done a better job of the paint (lacquering before rust detail to make the bare metal look better). I also would have filled in the cut-outs where the original bumpers mount, and tidied up the smoothing.
