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Post by stitchdup on Dec 14, 2019 1:57:38 GMT -7
So 3 months to finish a model, should be plenty of time, lol. I'm going to build a fully custom vw pick up. I've been looking for one of the resin crew cabs but none have been found yet so I'll create my own using one of the revell buses and a hasegawa pick up. Normally the bed on a crew cab is shorter so it fits on the standard chassis but mine will be full length. For the cab area I will be using the revell body and hopefully the rear doors will play nice and line up ok so I can use the bus rear body to have the corner windows. I'll be using the brakes and seats from the 356. I plan on using the highlight model studio pe window frames so all the windows will be pop outs. I'm undecided on wheels just now, but 356 rims in a larger size or brms might find their way on. Paint will be yellow bottom with a white top or i might go for the original vw show van colours scheme of red/brown lower, black upper and a white roof, who knows, lol. This build is inspired by the one dave kindig just built on bitchin rides, just with a vintage porsche thrown in the mix. It definately wont have 911 wheels though. I considered a few other builds on this same general theme, from a suburu engined version to the 911 engine and vw golf gti engines but the 356 just seemed the best for it and would tie in with the vintage vw/porsche theme. Pics later once i dig the kits out. ok kits dug out, i still need to find the resin engine but it cant be far away as it only arrived during the last 6 weeks and since i've not been building it wont be buried on the bench.   I'm basicly removing 3 windows from the length of the bus to make the crew cab. They dont usualy have the windows on the corners but mine will, with a full length bed. I'm probably going to add a ladder to the bed area too just so it's got something there. These were pretty popular for orchards due to the light weight and the ladder conversion which was at one point available direct from vw. I'm going to try and fit as many subtle vintage designs into the custom work so hopefully when its finished you'll be able to mistake it for a stock version. This is going to be fun
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Post by DeeCee on Dec 14, 2019 2:18:47 GMT -7
You have this planned out perfectly mate, looking forward to it.
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Post by stitchdup on Dec 14, 2019 2:29:19 GMT -7
You have this planned out perfectly mate, looking forward to it. This is just the rough outline, we had no power on the boat on thurs night so I've got my entire build mapped out, including options if something doesn't work. Its going to be a lot of custom work to have something that doesn't look custom |
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Post by poet on Dec 14, 2019 5:27:25 GMT -7
Sweet! I just saw that episode of BR for the first time and I thought it would be a nice project for someone. I'm glad to see you chose it.  |
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Post by leon on Dec 14, 2019 11:47:00 GMT -7
Looking forward to seeing this!
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Post by lowlife on Dec 14, 2019 18:22:18 GMT -7
Definitely well thought out so far, look forward to seeing this progress Les !
It's true to say there's sometimes a lot of work to make the least noticeable differences, but when complete it makes a build stand out for all the right reasons !
Take some of the Foose builds for instance, they just look right for the most subtle differences !
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Post by stitchdup on Dec 15, 2019 1:53:45 GMT -7
Onlt opened the boxes and my plans have had to change. I think I've thrown away the resin 356 engine when i got rid of a load of empty boxes. I went to order another and there were none left so now I might go for the suburu engine as i think the 911 engine would be a little tight. I really wanted to use the 356 engine as it was more in keeping with the build theme but the only other one i have is in a kit and i want to save it. There is a slim chance its in one of the porsche kit boxes but i'm not that lucky usually. Needless to say there has been some cussing happening
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Post by stitchdup on Dec 15, 2019 4:50:06 GMT -7
So since I seem to thrown out the 356 engine, and there are no more in stock its time to move onto one of the contingency plans. I didn't expect it to be this soon but it could work out for the best. The engine will now be suburu turbo as i think it will fit better than a 911 engine. Since this is a lot more powerful than the 356 would have been the brakes will now be hobby design front and rear. The wheels will be rotiform blq's to clear the brakes but other wise the appearance of the build wont change. I think I'll start tonight with the engine so I have a reference point for the rear suspension. The front will be getting narrowed but more to fit the wheels than anything else. Since I'm using the suburu engine now I'll need to fit a radiator somewhere and I'll probably move the intercooler from the top of the engine to one of the vents on the side. The rad will go in the other one so to show this detail I'll open them up from the inside with sandpaper. I'm not sure if I should stretch the chassis or body first as the body will determin the ride height at the rear and I dont want it to sit funny   just watch, once i get the engine done the 356 one will turn up somewhere daft, lol |
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Post by poet on Dec 15, 2019 8:01:58 GMT -7
cant-believe-my-eyes-smiley-emoticon
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Post by coyotecrunch on Dec 15, 2019 18:58:18 GMT -7
Popcorn%20and%20drink%20emoticon_zpsnbkzs8ys
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Post by RetroSpectKustoms on Dec 15, 2019 21:15:16 GMT -7
This is looking cool as Already, I like where it's going.
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Post by stitchdup on Dec 17, 2019 5:37:35 GMT -7
A third and fourth kit will be donating to this. I though the revell chassis would be the best but with the amount of mods it needs I'll be using a second hasegawa chassis (actually the earlier revell release) as the revell isn't much more than a curbside really. I'm still using the later body as it has better glass and opening doors so should make the cab mods better, and the interior is much nicer. I'm also robbing the entire rear suspension from a tamiya beetle as neither van has anything i would be happy leaving, and it will allow me to lower it more. Since both the vans are curbside I'll be building up my own engine bay after the engine fit is complete. I think I can use the hasegawa front suspension as again it is nicer than the later revell version. Also the wheels are now from a porsche boxster as all my big wheels were hitting the bed floor and stopping it going low enough. Tbh, I'm pretty disappointed by the later revell van, from the box it looked like a full detail kit but in reality only the glass and interior are better and the engine is little more than 2 plates.
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Post by lowlife on Dec 17, 2019 7:09:44 GMT -7
Looks like you've overcome the first few hurdles okay, good luck with the rest of the build !
Hang on, can we start building already ? I've not even received mine yet in the post ! icon_giggles
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Post by stitchdup on Dec 17, 2019 9:10:14 GMT -7
Looks like you've overcome the first few hurdles okay, good luck with the rest of the build ! Hang on, can we start building already ? I've not even received mine yet in the post !  Nothings cut...yet! |
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Post by mustang1989 on Dec 17, 2019 9:59:24 GMT -7
Oh wow!!! This is definitely gonna be fun to watch.
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Post by mmthrax on Dec 18, 2019 13:01:27 GMT -7
This is going to be great!
Looking forward to this Les.
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Post by Deano on Dec 19, 2019 0:56:58 GMT -7
Going to be plenty going on with this one, keen to see it progress!
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Post by stitchdup on Dec 19, 2019 3:00:23 GMT -7
Well i thought i really should get the saw warmed up since I'm effectivelly got half the time due to work. I'm starting with the rear since it will set the ride height due to the bed floor. Its the reason the big rims dont fit how i want so have been swapped for porsche 5 spokes. I am using the tamiya beetle rear chassis since it has gearbox mounts and is simple enough to narrow. I will be using the hasegawa rear torsion arms though as they allow a little more space than the bug versions. I am using the beetle gearbox as the suburu one is about twice the length so it can go in the spares box for now. I've put together the engine block and gearbox to help with mockups and to give a reference for the suspension. I'll be grafting the beetle rear onto the hasegawa chassis but all that will be staying is the the two rails as the bug parts replace most of the rest. The rails will also give me somewhere to build up the engine bay around the engine as neither the revell nor hasegawa offer much in this area and building from scratch will be simpler than modifying the kits. There's really not much to one of these bays anyway and doing it this way will allow me to fit the rads in a space designed for them instead of where theres a gap. I'll get the suspension built up and engine complete before starting this as the engine has a lot of bits still to fit.  the revell chassis, looks nicely datailed at first but no use for this project due to how it all fits together. Its near impossible to lower  The hasegawa chassis. At first glance it looks pretty sparse and undetailed but is actually pretty close to a stock chassis but I'll be doing it custom. The revell inner floor will probably get used after cutting to fit since its nicely detailed and will provide the tubs for the front.  lowered as far as it will go on the stock chassis  engine fit test  |
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Post by DeeCee on Dec 19, 2019 3:31:48 GMT -7
Looks like a great project mate, stance looks tough too.
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Post by stitchdup on Dec 19, 2019 3:50:49 GMT -7
Looks like a great project mate, stance looks tough too. It'll be lower soon, with swapping the rear suspension i can pretty much set it where i want it so probably 2 lolly sticks or less from the ground |
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Post by stitchdup on Dec 19, 2019 8:53:18 GMT -7
So the rear end wasn't sitting as low as i wanted it to. I spent an hour or so modifying the hasegawa rails before deciding it would be far easier to just chop them off and build some new ones. I cut 6 of each rail then glued them in batches of 3 then temp glued these together so i could get the 2 sides the same shape. Obviously I made them so it would sit on the floor on slightly smaller wheels but then my brakes wont fit. I'll be doing more work on the suspension next to ensure it will stay this low so all the mounts will be to suit this stance. I have to build a new engine bay but since vws are pretty much all flat surfaces that shouldn't be too hard and I can build it to suit the engine and other parts.   |
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Post by stitchdup on Dec 19, 2019 8:54:01 GMT -7
 Since I have to fit a radiator I might use the vents from the van left overs on the side panels so I can move the radiator under the bed and give me a much cleaner looking engine bay since the suburu engine is pretty ugly. It means I'll have to open them up to show it off but that also gives me somewhere to put the air tank and pumps and using the van vents will keep it original looking too
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Post by RetroSpectKustoms on Dec 19, 2019 18:12:07 GMT -7
Perfect Stance.
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Post by mustang1989 on Dec 23, 2019 22:49:35 GMT -7
Looking forward to seeing what you do here Les! Looks like you've got good plans.  |
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Post by mmthrax on Dec 24, 2019 8:39:25 GMT -7
Go Les Go!!
Some fantastic fabbing going on here.
This is looking great!
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Post by leon on Dec 24, 2019 9:32:12 GMT -7
Nice work on the fabrications Les!
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Post by lowlife on Dec 24, 2019 9:50:52 GMT -7
Yay...Glad you got it slammed Les it looks so much better !
Well worth all the extra work to get it on the floor, should look CrAzY when finished ! icon_shoutout_zpsg7nrfmdc
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Post by mmthrax on Dec 25, 2019 23:31:46 GMT -7
Hey Les, My buddy Ace found this pic. Thought you might dig it. Cheers  |
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Post by Deano on Dec 26, 2019 1:20:00 GMT -7
Very nice Les, ride 'height' looks killer!
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Post by poet on Dec 26, 2019 16:56:09 GMT -7
I just love this build! Keep up the good work.
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