1/9 Volkswagen Kübel 'Kubelrod'

[The creative explorer]

I am able to work a little bit on the Kubelrod in the spare moments, progress is slow, but at least there is some progress.
Basically because of the warping of the body I decided to put a cross-brace in the rod, giving the body some strength, but also adds to the looks. I put the original seats together and I think I am going to stick with them, although I might going to lower them a little bit, or tweak them into a bench seat.




I also added the floorsills, giving the body some hard-needed strength at the mid-body joint. I will let the glue do it's work overnight and work on it in the weekend again. Even though it doesn't look a lot just yet, I think the modifications to the body are close to be done and soon will be able to start doing the prep work and getting the body ready for it's (intricate) paintjob. I am still in doubt of whether of making all the panels smooth, but something tells me I should keep with the original panels.


And whilst I am waiting for parts to cure , I work on some small parts that needs to be glued together, gives me something to do.

[The creative explorer]

A tiny update, I've been doing a lot of work to it, but it basically doesn't show. Today I laid a coat of primer on the body, to see how bad the seemlines are and I keep having problems with it. I put back some bondo on it again and I guess I got my work cut out for the weekend.

[The creative explorer]

Another tiny update; I started to work on the engine in between the glue and bondo drying times. When browsing through the manual and the parts, I discoverd the Kubel had one tiny carburettor and didn't look all that beefy. Time to dig through the partsboxes and after some thinking and digging, I came up with a carburettor set up of a 1/12 Chevy Bel Air, luckily I have several of these kits, so 2 more carburettors were quite quickly cut out the other Chevy's boxes.
I believe this set up doesn't mismatch the engine and with a nice aircleaner on top, I guess it will fit right in the theme and it sure does will look a whole lot better than the stock part. I already did discover that the airbox on top of the engine needs to be seriously lowered, after the sectioning, it doesn't fit no more :)

Some pictures to give a rough idea:

[Nortley]

Nice project. It's always interesting to see a rod based on something other than the venerable deuce. Looking at the front end I wonder if there isn't some cowling for a Messerschmitt or stuka in the RC airplane parts department that could be fitted to push the air molecules aside in style.

[The creative explorer]

Thanks, I agree that the front end is difficult, mainly because it doesn't have a engine there to fill it up. But I think I've got it covered by using the original sparewheel, the front axle and some extra tubing and hoping that will be enough to make it look ok. I think the whole looks of the project depends on the front end.

Finally! The part of modelbuilding that excites me most has come, painting! All those uniform colored parts come to life and when being put together, creation is starting :)
Again, it is only a small update, only a few pieces of the engine got put together, but it is a start.

[spinellid82]

Talk about different! WAY COOL! This should prove fun to watch.

[Dr Dave]

Well Erik, you sure are 'The Creative Explorer'. I don't think many people would tackle a project like this. Looking good mate .

[The creative explorer]

Thanks guys! Next to fun watching it, it is also fun building it. Even though I always try to build with realism, these kind of builds are not so serious, one can basically do what one wants to do. :)

@Dave, thank you. I just like to do things different and try new things. The upcoming paintjob is going to be different as well, to say the least hahaha.

[Dr Dave]

Take your time and be careful with that paint job. Sounds exciting.

[The creative explorer]

i've not been posting so quickly new updates for a long time, I think I am back to building again after a long time of absence, finally recovery :)



The body work is I believe in it's final stage, I need to work on the ribs on the side and then it should be ready for primer . After that, fixing the doors and I can start working on the paintjob.









And some work got done on the engine, still basic work, but when I am happy, I can work on the detailling of the engine.

[The creative explorer]

Thanks guys,

I have been working on and off with the body, it is my main-focus and it is a lame job to do, but it has to be done. I got some templates coming in from the USA for the artwork (I am calling that, since it can not be called a paintjob when finished) and I am down to the last little details for finishing the body. When the body is finished, I need to do the doors and I can start with the artwork soon after.

This is how the body looks, shot in a good coat of primer :






And after some investigation, I found a couple of problem area's, but was pleasantly suprised by the small amount of them.

[spinellid82]

The body and engine look great so far! This is going to be a really unique and [B]COOL[/B] project, I give it an A+ for imagination and craftsmanship!

[The creative explorer]

Ok, so yes, I am still alive, yes, I still am busy, yes, I still model some and yes, I can give you an update finally.



In the last couple of weeks, I've been working on the body, I think all the major bodywork is now done, all though I've seen a few areas that might need a little attention. But, since there is going to be a intricate paintjob, some flaws will be camouflaged and I can get away with it. Just don't tell anybody!



Since 2 weeks, I shifted from the body to the doors, they have to be custom made and made them from the original doors, it took me some time to get the right sizes and now I am working on the mechanical bits before I can work on getting it paint ready.

I want to use an actual doorcrank, that is operatable. I think I have a setup and now working on getting it to work properly. It is more complicated than I thought, but I find it interesting. It is a new part of modelling for me.



This evening, I worked on hinging the doors. I had in mind to hinge them the regular way, with wire. But thought it would look so out of place in this scale and went browsing through my parts. Finally found some small boathinges that look awesome and are perfect for this model.



The door taped in place and the hinges layed out for final placement





The hinges placed onto the body and secured with screws for a hotrod look.





Go suicide!









Some rough work on the door latch





And in place with the door shut

[The creative explorer]

Boy, do I make small tiny steps with this project. In the time I can build/finish a 1/24 engine, I can hardly make some modifications to the lock. I am seriously doubting whether I can even finish this project before the end of the year. I think I need a good month to finish up the doors and get it ready for paint. In my quest to find a good way of making the doorhandles, I was browsing through the manual and found them: the original handles! But they were a bit too big and I shortened them a little bit. Using the kit handles, does require me to change the whole doorlock setup again, but I think it is worth it. I made some doorpanels, not yet finished though Added a bracket with adjustment holes for the spring, that will pull the handle back in position From a different angle: