Holden FJ Ambulance

When i saw this 1/25 scale FJ holden van, i thought it looked kinda naff and toy-like, but might make a good addition to my collection. It was a gaudy light blue with unrealistic logos thrown on it. I knew i wanted to repaint it, but then i got the "brilliant" idea to make it into an Ambulance. Unfortunately the resin shop wouldn't sell me the grille and stuff from their FJ sedan kit to fix it up. there is no Gowings Distributors. Also, the paint is horrible. I could probably have polished it out, but it looked crazed.






First step is to disassemble it for painting
DSCF8173 by aus_mus, on Flickr

Step 2 was to drill out the side windows., if you've ever modded a diecast, you know this is a soft metal, but still takes power tools and hard work.



a light sanding on the interior tub

DSCF8176 by aus_mus, on Flickr

dremel out the panels and cleaned up the body

Base color is a custom mix of yellow/white



second coat



detailed the chassis


and the interior

DSCF8187 by aus_mus, on Flickr

theres a couple of resin manufacturers that make an FJ, they may be able to supply you with a grille, Dinky Di resin is one and the parts box is another

Will you keep it as a curbside?
How about fitting an early 50s Chevy chassi under it?

Nice work so far.

warra48 wrote:Will you keep it as a curbside?
How about fitting an early 50s Chevy chassi under it?

Nice work so far.

chevy chassis wouldn't fit very well, as it's modeled about as well as a box of chewing gum (it's too narrow and too tall). imo not worth any effort
Time to make this ambulance a stretcher fetcher, with a gurney. there wasn't enough space in the back to put a full sized standing person, so i made it a bit short, but given it can't really be seen, it probably doesn't matter. I made this out of styrene sheet and tube.



I gave it a quick paint and glued it in place


DSCF8202 by aus_mus, on Flickr