Hi folks



Just a brief update on how progress is going with the VW,s. Still having problems getting the fabric cover right.







I used the plastic sheet but after painting it I found that every time I wanted to place the cover over the load bay sides the very flexible nature of the sheet meant it stiffened with the paint but then the paint flakes off when streached. That was with Car primer and then Halfords Vauxhall Leaf green.

Load cover is resigned to the bin as paint had flaked too much. Any suggestions?



Crew cab and caravelle bus have both been resprayed in leaf green and will then be sprayed black cammo then the brown. Windows masked with medical tape.









Nige

Very interesting project and in 1/24 scale.
This is a tough one because it looks like you want the fabric cover to roll up or secure down at your option.
Consider using actual green fabric of some sort.
If it is not to be manipulated, then all I can think of is to sculp detail over a block of wood or other solid material, then thermal form this part in either the open or closed position.

From the pictures it doesn't look bad. Maybe install first then paint it on the model vehicle.

Update tonight on third attempt at cover.

Hi Ko sprue

It is not that I want to be able to lift the cover up and down, it is more the need to represent the modern smooth polythene or whatever the fabric is made of and to get the droop and tension of the fabric in the right places. Since I want to paint the body work then place the pre painted cover over the built up sides and secure it with the right tension it needs a bit of flex to allow me to reform it oover the load bay side panels.

After advice from another site tried the tissue paper method. The tissue does work really well !!!!!!!!!! I used thin plastic coated wire for the front and rear frame and plastruct u channel with holes drilled to accept the frames for the centre top and side connecting rails.



Frame placed in pre drilled holes on wood and a pocket packet of plain tissue papers raided for a two ply tissue with no odd fancy textures. Drew out the shape of the cover as if laid out flat with assumed overlap areas for tie straps to frames.



Dipped the tissue in a very thin milky mix of water and PVA glue in a chinese carry out food tray and immediately laid over the frame. Added additional water/glue mix over the tissue with a basic wide brush to allow the edges to take form and keep the tissue moving.

I rolled the rear flap up over a thin piece of the wire again to keep the role tight and in shape. Cover is laying out to dry at this time.

Any idea what to use to stiffen the tissue up if need be and also what primers and paints have people used on this? Will Halfords car spray primers and paints take to this mix?

Pleased with the look, texture and shape so far. I hope it will still give me a bit of flex to allow me to place this last on the model. The rear load bay panel will likely be in the up position after a load (possibly portable water pumps from the Merc 280 G waggon and possibly some tools) is added in the rear before the cover is placed on the model.

Cheers Nick from IPMS site,,,,,,, Help appreciated as allways.

Nige

Nice use of a nice car! I'm also modifying a VW Politzei bus at the moment, trying to get i ready for the national model show in Norway. If I manage to get it done before the show I will be impressed by myself! I'm making a offroad camper bus (syncro from scratch)

Your last fabric cover is looking good to me. I don't think you should use primer, the cover will look to stiff with to much paint. How about using an extra layer of paint on the inside for some extra support?

Looking forward to see your end result.

Hi there folks

An update on the Crewcab. A spray of matt black from a rattle can to hopefully accentuate the creases and then a spray of the leaf green.



It seems to sit very well over the load bay sides and rear of the cab cause I wetted the tissue with a brush to allow it to take the form over and let it dry again on the body. It dried nicely and kept its shape.

Here it is on for checking.




Tonight I added the blu tack to spray the black using the only pics I have. Waiting to see if I can get a response re the shape on the rear and roof of the cab as these are not clear on my pics.




If no response I will need to guese on the rear panel and cab rear



Nige

Hey, that canopy is looking great! Sorry I don't have info on the camo.

Yehah

Finally found what I was looking for. The camo for the rear and colours of interior a bit clearer!!! Found it on a used Bundeswehr vehicle dealers website. Very useful for pics.





I can hopefully fix the blu tack ready for some black paint tomorrow night. I think I am going to keep the canvas one colour for some contrast though.

Nige

Kjell

Have you started a build blog of the VW yet? I saw a couple of the Politzei VW's by Revell on Evil Bay a month or so but the bids went way over my limit. Did you buy them off e-bay around then?

Nige

I have tried to buy a few vwbuses off ebay, but as you say the price is way over my limit. I bought my vwbus from the norwegian ipms markedplace on the norwegian ipms website.

I haven't made a build-blog, I need to consentrate on building. Less than a month for the big show and I haven't started painting the body yet! First primer is on the body and the chassi is done. I'll try to make a post-building-blog when I'm done. For now look at my picasa for pictures My Picasa

Hi Kjell

That camper looks great. It looks like you are giving it a lift kit and bigger treads for off roading.

Nice. Let me know when it is complete so I can look in your build log to see how you did it.

All the best

Nige

Got around to spraying the black then hand painting the brown camo.

Having looked over the model I realised the roof was missing a large patch of green where I had forgot to mask and that the black was far too large there. A quick fix with a paper mask to respray the green patch.

The real vans have varied degrees of overspray and patching up so I am not too disappointed with the slight over spray in local areas.











I have definitely decided that the canvas tilt is staying green one colour to keep a bit of contrast.

Nige

Am attempting to rebuild the quarter light that was broken in the packet (windscreen with both quarter lights as one piece originally) using micro kristal klear. Dunno if it will build up such a big gap but is worth a try.



Will leave this overnight to see if it hardens then see if I can build up the middle tomorrow.

Nige