VW Beetle RPU

[volvo544special65]

I got two kits last christmas, the Shelby Mustang I finished earlier this year, and a Yamaha RD500.
Since superbikes really ain't my thing, I traded the Yamaha kit for a Revell VW Beetle convertible.
I've heard a lot about there being lots of flash and mold seams in the old Revell VW kits, and that was correct, and I'm not a huge fan of the convertibles, so I decided to make it into a roadster pickup and build it a bit "ratty".


Rear section of body is made of the roof section from a scrap Chevrolet Van body I found in the parts box.

Gave it a satin black paintjob. With a brush..... Partly because I didn't want it to look too perfect, partly because the body was so bad so a perfect paintjob would have required huge amounts of work.

The wheels I'll be using are from the Revell "Mothers cherry pie" model A delivery, also the front tires since the dimensions are really great looking on a VW.

In the rear, the tires were too high, and also, slicks. So I'll be using some Goodyear blue streaks there instead....

[Mr.409]

Looks interesting! You don't see these Volkswagens built as Pickups too often. Great job on the conversion, and actually that satin black paint job looks pretty good on the body. I can't wait to see more.

[volvo544special65]

Maybe not the most practical pickup truck material with the engine in the back, but hey, everything can just get better on this, to be fair, quite crappy model.

[volvo544special65]

Carpet made of band aids, looks good from some meters away. Ford Courier bench seat (the black piping will get another coat, of course). Door panels cut from some unknown tub in the parts bin (MPC Switchers maybe), nice diamond pattern, will of course be repainted....

[volvo544special65]

The rubber on the running boards got some red too.

The big bumpers that is included in the kit won't fit the style I'm aiming for, so I found this Hasegawa (?) bumper, that I am planning to dechrome and paint white, bling is nothing for this car.
Maybe try to remove the horns too.

The dash needs another coat of paint and some detailing, but overall, I think this concept is working.
Yes, there is big gaps between floor pan and body, I know! The quality overall of the kit doesn't really encourage me to fix that either.
I am planning to paint a stock steering wheel bright red, but I think that I have to find a Hasegawa steering wheel then because the Revell wheel is very bad looking.

[volvo544special65]

I haven't built a bed yet, but I found a piece of wood that had the right dimensions so I could make a mockup for test purpouses, and I think that this can turn out quite tough looking.

I started with the bumper, i cut off the horns at the top and the bottom, then I filled them with pieces of styrene from behind and filed off the horns.....
Much sanding and painting left but good as a start, I think.

[volvo544special65]

The idea was to run a stock steering wheel painted red, but the wheel in the kit is a really bad casting, however, I found a Hasegawa wheel (IIRC) when I was looking for a steering wheel to the Chevy, so, problem solved!

[volvo544special65]

The bumper, almost done.

Cockpit, done.