Holden HX Overlander Panelvan

I've been some what side tracked over the last few months and just caught up on this again. Love it, great to see a Holden van being done.

Antwon wrote:Just brilliant...............I want one. Your work is outstanding, keep it up and get some paint on this puppy.
(Interior detail is superb)

Thanks Antwon!!

checkmate wrote:I've been some what side tracked over the last few months and just caught up on this again. Love it, great to see a Holden van being done.

Thanks checkmate!

Another small update guys.....:blink:

Made my moldy thingy.....lol!



Added some rice...:thinking:   :huh:



More to come soon...

Poured in my silicone mix....I made it blue.   The actual casting of the flare is gonna be black...

After about an hour or so, I remembered the instructions said, not to add too much color as it could inhibit curing...   The regular cure time is 30 mins ...So pulled up the remainder in the cup...seemed to cure okay...



So...grabbed a pic while I was de-molding..

Woot...! I gots me a moldy thing...! Lolz!  Tonight I'll do the other 3 pieces and then mix up a batch of black and see if'n I could cast me some flares...

Small update ... Didn't get all the molds done last night, so completed them tonight...and made some castings....



Fresh from the molds...lotsa flash...




The circular piece on the right is the remainder of the mix from the bottom of the cup...notice how greasy the flares look? That's the mold release agent still on them, will need to clean it off before putting them anywhere on the body or the paint is gonna be an issue...cascade dishwashing gel is recommended by the supplier of the silicone kit to clean off the release agent, and then it should look like the circular piece..



Trimmed the flash off...




Very flexible....



I washed them off using regular dish washing liquid (Palmolive) but will pick up the cascade tomorrow and clean them properly before putting on the body...



They aren't 100% perfect, got some tiny dimples on the flange area where there were some air bubbles, but I'm pretty happy with them...

So now it's back to body work tomorrow night...!

Forgot this pic...lol...next to the original styrene flares....

That is some pretty cool work mate, "you da' man!!! "

Lol! Thanks DeeCee !

This just gets better all the time.
Love the flares.............nice work on the molds too.
Keep us updated.

Antwon wrote:This just gets better all the time.
Love the flares.............nice work on the molds too.
Keep us updated.

Thanks Antwon! Gonna try to complete the interior this weekend, need to make the paneling that goes between the doors and the tray, not sure what it's called. Then tidy up the lining above the doors. Figure a way to bolt in the dashboard and the seats and center console. Also need to do some work on the upper tailgate...
Kinda antsy to star priming the inside and mounting the roof...lol!

WOW great work on them.

allan wrote:WOW great work on them.

Thanks allan !

Another small update...
Completed the steering column... Figured how I'm mounting the steering wheel column to the instrument panel...its removeable, so the pieces can be painted separately then assembled.
Also figured out how I'm mounting the dashboard to the body...I used magnets, so it snaps in pretty securely. I also tweaked the area where the dashboard sits, so it all looks kinda neat.still need to figure how I'm attaching the instrument panel to the dash...











Tomorrow I will try to get the center console in its proper position, then I will like to start the front indicator detail on the nose panel, as well as try to get the rear bumpers sorted......

Great work on the dash.

allan wrote:Great work on the dash.

Thanks Allan!

Hey guys...not much of an update....more like another 2 steps back....
Just found out that it's not gonna be easy to glue the silicone flares to styrene without some kind of chemical activator...not something I want to do after I paint the body, as I want the flares to be removable.  3M has a special double sided tape that bonds on one side to silicone and the other side to regular materials (plastics, metals etc). One roll costs around 142.00 

So decided that I'm gonna re-cast the flares but this time with some magnets imbedded in the casting, then I could mount magnets on the inside of the fenders, so the flares can be removable even after painting...well that's the plan at this point for the flares... Won't happen till I get back home in September though, as I didn't bring the molds with me...

Did a mock up using some magnets....flares look pretty good on the body...

Some pics, watcha think? Will try to take some clearer pics in the daylight tomorrow ...

Mate!! this whole build is off the hook, those flares look great, pity about the silicone issue, but sounds like you got it sorted, look forward to more updated, very impressive!!!

This just gets better & better, your attention to detail & styrene engineering are second to none.
Keep it coming mate.

with the above two.

Hey thanks guys! Will definitely keep plugging away at it!

Got some daylight pics from this morning by the window...lol

I've just gone through this build from the start and I must say that it's very impressive and mind blowing attention to detail!
Amazing work