65 vw baja build

Hi all!
here is the start of my build to replicate my baja beetle which i have been building for the past year and got her on the road earlier this year.In october we will be using her in our wedding so because of that we wanted to have a smaller version on our wedding cake.For the past several months i have been searching for a kit to start with as i was hoping there was already a good baja kit out there or a resin body but no luck.I have deceided to use tamiya's 1/24th 1966 1300 beetle kit which is a very good kit and plan to build a stock version in the future!.started by cutting the front and rear of the body to make way for the new nose cone and rear engine cage and have started shaping the gaurds to match the real 1:1 fibreglass ones as they are very differnt to a stock beetle so to give more clearance for offroad.
Does anyone have any ideas or tips for making the roof rack ? welcome any ideas or information that could help with this build as iam a bit rusty and still learning .
well better get back to building will keep you posted

Looking great so far, Their are 3 or 4 different style of Baja bugs in resin. there are many more in one to one scale as the term Baja bug refers to the style more so than the body kit. If you need help or ideas I would try a few off us over at Desert Racing Modellers we build only off road racing and 4X4 of all types. The body's that I talked about earlier are made by some of the members in the states but they will send them over here no problems. quite a few of the builders also race the real thing and are more than happy to help out. with info or parts here is the link you will have to sign up to get access to the group.

http://doghaus.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=viewprofile

I am more than happy to help were I can have you got a better picture of the roof rack from the pictures I would be looking at brass to get the scale thickness. but have a look at DRM they are a great lot of blokes

Cool - I really dig the style of these dune buggies. My brother had a sand scorcher RC car when we were kids. That thing was kewl.

yep they sure are!. 1:1 sand scorcher is one of my future projects, already have a few parts stored away for that one all i need to find is the key ingredient..... time!

Hey like were you are going with this ,will be watching

Awesome! Another VW nut! Nice looking bug you've got there, model coming along nicely too.... Do you have the hubcaps you need for the wheels (Tamiya has flat caps from memory) I might have some kicking around, from a Gunze Oval, if you need them.

The 1:1 looks cool and work on the kit looks great so far.
Have fun doing that roof rack. I say it would be a brass wire, flat brass solder job.

Cool, this should be good to watch being built.

Chris wrote:Awesome! Another VW nut! Nice looking bug you've got there, model coming along nicely too.... Do you have the hubcaps you need for the wheels (Tamiya has flat caps from memory) I might have some kicking around, from a Gunze Oval, if you need them.

hi chris no havnt found any as yet , that was going to be my next job but if u have some i will gladly buy them off you! and am also after the chrome dress rims. thanks

I'll check what I've got, there may be some options. No need to buy, I'll just send them up! I'll PM you when I've excavated them.

Today i have been working on the rear spoiler which i have deceided to make using tamiya's smooth finish epoxy putty.hasnt turned out to bad so far but still have to do filling and sanding yet.the nose cone was made using the same putty which i have never used before but very pleased with the result it gives!.

heres a couple of progress pics.

like were you are going with this,sould be more bugs built up.

That looks sweet.
I've been thinking about the roof rack and have come to the conclusion that while you could make one from styrene rod it would be very flimsy. Rod or wire soldered together is probably the way to go but your joints are going to have to be really really neat.
I've got an oval window body (Gunze? Araii? Hasgawa? it's got rubbery interior parts) fresh out of the brake fluid which i'll be volksrodding someday soon.

mate thats looking as good as the real nice job sofar

heres an update.have finallygot undercoat on tthe body but still have some sanding to do the rear spoiler but she's getting there.

Great work so far.

Looking good! Still haven't forgotten your hubcaps, hopefully will be able to check tonite. Looks like your real bug is a 65? My VW is too... even tho its a squareback & in a million bits, it's still a 65 VW!

freakin awsome man

heres some pics from tonite.will add more info later.

Looking sweet dude, especially the graffiti on you bench!

Where'd you get that nifty looking clamping arm thing? I could use one of them.

zenrat wrote:Where'd you get that nifty looking clamping arm thing? I could use one of them.

oh that, there great! its for doing electronics any dick smith shop should sell them.

looking good so far really enjoying this build