Looking real good so far. Your resourcefulness and modeling skills are bringing this old kit up to a very nice standard. I have no doubt that this will be even better than the manufacturer dreamed of…
Thank you Drums01!
The interior is actually pretty nice in this kit especially considering its age. The seats are well done as is the engraving on the door panels and the floor. But the steering wheels included are on the weak side. One is a stock 60’s VW wheel and the other is a cheesy “dragster” wheel. Since the real cars use a little bit of Mustang, I swapped in a 1970 Mach I wheel. I made an adaptor to fit it to the stock steering shaft.
I added aluminum tips to the exhaust, but left the engine as it builds.
Looking great. The dash does look authentic. My car had round defroster ports on the top of the dash. The seats in the kit differ from my car too as mine had lay down seats similar to those in a GT40, Lola, or Manta. Are you planning on adding PE seat belts?
Also curious, what color will the body be painted?
I like what your doing, keep it up!
I’m not adding seat belts, keeping it pretty simple.
The green seems like a period appropriate choice.
The suspension sits very high if built as it fits together. I lowered the front end almost ¼ of an inch and lowered the rear about 1/8 of an inch. I think I got the camber right on the rear.
The headlights are supposed to be cemented to the body, but that makes them stand too proud and the outer ones would have to be moved more inward to compensate for the thickness of the headlight covers. I drilled out buckets/openings and tried to make the angled stagger the real cars have as much as possible to capture one aspect of the personality of the car.
As usual you are doing a fantastic job.Your attention to detail is great.
Thanks Lurch!
The rear window was missing from my kit so I made a new one from a leftover Monte Carlo stock car back window. (The real car used a '66 Mustang window, but I didn’t want to sacrifice one from another kit even if it would fit.)
Here’s how I did it:
https://finescale.com/how-to/articles/2024/01/fabricate-a-contoured-flush-fitting-car-window
I found an equally vintage bottle of never opened Testors enamel paint (1121 Green) that looks pretty close to Fiberfab Green. It had been sitting for decades and was clearly separated (green/white/carrier) so to really shake it up I put it in my sock for my morning run each day and mixed it for 30 miles. These older Testors paints still work very well. I used the same techniques on this as I used back in the '70s when I was building box art for the model companies with it; reduced with lacquer thinner (I don’t claim to have “invented” that) and was pleased to see/smell/feel how well it dried in the first 24 hours. Now to let it cure for a while…
I reworked the mounting pylons on the side mirrors from the same '70 Mustang that provided the steering wheel to fit the Avenger body. The chrome mirror faces were not with them so I made new ones out of Mylar. I used Mylar for the interior VW mirror that came in the kit.
I let the body dry for the better part of two weeks in direct sunlight. The window frames have been foiled and the headlight buckets painted black. The headlights have been installed and the decal I made for the gas door has been applied. It looks like “that tire” had a light snack on one of the clear headlight covers too so I repaired the damage using the same process as I used on the windshield.
The headlight covers fit OK, again especially considering the age of the kit.
The taillight lenses have been installed and I made a bright silver panel for the interior so you can’t see the engine when looking through them.
Did they call that color pea soup lol
I’m sure some people called it that. It’s not a color that looks good on a lot of cars.
The windows have been installed. I decided to sand out the center support strap on the inside of the rear window.
Really coming along nicely! Love your chrome trim work. [Y] [Y]
Stay safe.
Jim [cptn]
Thanks Jim!
I cut vinyl for the flat black accents on the hood, quarter windows and side scoops.
I machined an aluminum latch handle and made a license plate and decal for it.
The wipers, mirrors and door handles are installed. (The door handles came in the kit.)
The Fiberfab badges that go behind the door windows still need to be painted and attached. There is supposed to be one for the hood, but it’s a short shot in my kit and I like the cleaner look without it.
All done. The last parts were the Fiberfab badges on the sides.
Very good indeed, from a VW Air Cooled specialist!
VERY nice work. At the start, I wasn’t sure I’d like the color but the finished model looks great with that color. [t$t] [t$t] [t$t]
Stay safe.
Jim [cptn]