Volkswagen T4 1/43 - Chapa y pintura... (limited edition: 1 piece)
well, start by the beginning and the end.... real deal, die cast before any torture was done to it, and final result. now it is not longer a 500 limited edition
untouched die cast to start with. nice blue color
starting to disasemble
measuring the decals that i will need to source later. i wish i would have been so careful with the rest of the planning (including other decals)
door openers and all the other plastic and metal details needed to be removed. masking would have drove me insane... and I only broke one piece. and carpet monster did not get any of them (not that it did not try several times)
bumpers, grills, all must go. I tried to remove the headlights but it was impossible. so they were masked for 4 years.
nice vent. i needed to repaint that later. now, I wonder why i did not make a custom decal for it. it would have been quite easy....
nice vent too... but it should not be there. i saw it but forgot about it until quite late.... it would have been much easier to start with it 😛
that black stripe needed to be repainted later, of course
that plastic box should have been was a bit of a pain later, since the silver was gone from it with the minor touch....
the grill there was the only one that broke, i tried to replace it since anyway was not 100% like the real one but could not get satisfied, so eventually used the original one and the joint is not really visible.
those pins hold the glass windows.... i manage to get all but one without issue. the other was ok, but there is a risk that one day it may fall off...
the cover, i wanted to make a second one, to present the model either with the cover open or closed.
those holes were the bike holder were attached needed to be removed. pitty to destroy the VW logo in the process, but i was planning to use a decal anyway.
first step. my brother van did not have a wheel there, so it had to go
wheel gone. after that was painted/retouched/painted until hard to see it was ever there
wheel was not to be discarded, since i needed one for its correct location
added some extra holes like the real one, and added plasticard to make it the right thickness
bike holder was ok, but my bother had one custom made.... so i wanted to duplicate the one the had. was one of the distinct feauthures of the van, so it would have not been complete without it. started with metal wire of the right thickness
added some aluminium tubing to simulate what can be seen in his bike holder
some more aditions
drilled some holes to add the screws that hold it together
wheel holder is made from a metal plate and a tube, almost the same as in the real one. i use wire-end for the tube
drilled a hole in the plate and put the tube through it
a bit of convincing with a tiny hammer and ....
wheel holder ready to be added
black primer
wheel had a cover with the logo. i use my laser printer to have some black squares with the logo on it (easy to make with Inkscape)
bent the paper around the wheel, cut the back side correctly, and added a metal string around it, painted also in black. basically like the real deal.
compared with the real deal (no cover on that picture). i chose to fold the lower part, to make it less vulnerable.
most of the interior in pieces, ready to be repainted and details added
the floor was covered with some fake aluminum with a pattern. i tried first with some engraved plate, but the effect was too much, so i have to forget about it. i realized that to be true to scale (since it was not real engraved plate in the van) the only way was to use a thin flat piece of aluminum
furniture, to be painted and detailed. for example some sand color in some parts will be added. a bit of panel wash was also added to make the lines more visible. also added an extra line were my bother made an extra panel
added a handle and hinges.
also added extra opening he did in the original
this is the real deal. later i also add the module in the top left of the picture, with the speakers. but i have no picture of it.
this is heating vent that was totally wrong in the die cast model (well, that was not the one he had in his van). i will not be make such a complicated structure (only way would have been very thin metal that woudl have no doubt bent eventualy). i got as close as i could
a few pieces of metal cut to more or less rough size
put together aproximatelly
sanded until almost right size..... then felt apart... gluing it back would have never give the correct result so.... back to square one
drill holes in the same sheet of metal
cut the pieces
add a metal wire so this time it will resist the sanding etc
once done, wire was cut. compared with the original one in the model, before i removed it.
next to the one molded in the plastic. there was a second also molded, that had to go since this van only had one vent.
a bit of a butchery to remove and stick the new one... but it will be corrected with putty etc until nothing can be seen
easy to see where the second vent was in this picture.
easy to see where the second vent was in this picture.
not very clear, but here you can see it, painted in black. also the metal colored flooring and the thin lines of alu to simulate the guides for the extra lines of seats
a piece of paper, white glue, embroidery powder and we have some nice little carpet. a few rests of powder lying around will be removed later.
i added some tiny details, almost not possible to be seen, but it was one of the most fun parts of the build
power socket for 220v, of course has its two tiny holes in the right place
general view... (without a front seat). but something is missing. of course, he had a fire extinguisher
let's take an aluminum tube, a bit of steell cable flattened, some red paint....
and some 1/72 placards for German WWII planes 😛
done
left, real deal, right the details added. no space to add all, but nice enough
nice seats, but quite simple. i should have cut the head rests, but i was worried about the decaling. later i got a color laser printer, so i could have done better decals. but forgot about that part
arm rest made with thick plasticard with small detail added.
dry fit. seems ok
painted and added. driver arm rest was set with glue and pasenger can be moved (but that will requiere to open the van again.... so i doubt they will ever be moved again). added some planel where the wheel to regulate the seat is located. with the wheel, of course. also added the safety belt locks
also added details for the safety belts in the back. i wanted to have the safetly belts too, but it was next to impossible to place them correctly with the windows closed, so i had to give that up
general view before adding front part and closing for ever
painted it with the same color as the rest of the interior, but keeping the dials and other details. panel wash to highlight details
added a glove compartment door
and the base for the GPS
Wheel is back, adding missing VW logo, and home made GPS
Just some scrap metal to create the second roof.
far from the original but getting there
sanding and priming, sanding and priming....
not yet there
not yet there
close to it
finally getting there!
difficult to distinguish from the original... but it will not be used at the end. i wanted to have that one as a "extended" one (extra space to sleep on) but it is better that the van stays in the glass box without anybody touching it.
a few steps back (this was done very early in the build). masking the lamps. covering holes etc
same in the front
black primer
remember those vents i mentioned before? yes, it would have been much easier to cover them etc, BEFORE using alclad 😛
looks ok, but with some handling the alcald needs to be repainted. and repainted, and repainted.... did i say that i had to paint it again? 😛
deja vú... that metal plate. i knew it was there (here in the real van, when it was not yet painted silver).
and of course, like the vent, this could have been done BEFORE alclad. even before primer!!
masked the surroundings to add primer to the brass
and black primer added
i see now the picture... an realize that i forgot to paint some area in black.... too late! 😛
after repainting with Alclad i do not even know how many times... i decided to give it a go to 2K clear. that should protect the paint
looks nice! left it to cure for several days
and some days later, disaster!! no idea what happended... those are flakes of 2K clear. with a tiny bit of alclad in them (they do not look like, but they were basically transparent)
fortunately it was mostly in the top of the van... that will be covered with the cover. so... fixed the best i could and it will never be seen again. do not tell anybody. the very front, not hidden under the cover was hidden under some rubber band (simulated with isolation from a thin wire) that projects the van from getting water when it rains.
masking time. i was scared that the paint was going to be lifted in other places.... but it held!!
cover hiding the damaged area
i also removed the mirrors at the beginning of the build. i wanted to keep them in the best shape possible, and drill the space between the two parts. since just gluing would be prone to break, i added a metal shaft and drilled a hole in the van to insert it. and added the tiny mirrors my brother had in his van
getting there
a bit of trimming was done after this picture
compared with the real one (mirrors trimmed later)
and it is finished!
those reflections look good... and hide an error i found when i was closing down. out of nowhere, something like glue damaged a bit the inside of the window.... 🙁 I did not have time to fix it (it was 04:00 and i was flying with it next morning one way or another....). well, it is a camping van, they are never clean right?
some details can still be seeing inside
right fog light was added. for some reaon there was none in the plastic. it looks darker than the left one, just like in the real van
i really like how that worked out. here can be seen the last details added at the bottom.
number plates were also done with the printer. they look really good, but i had to remove them from the pictures
number plates were also done with the printer. they look really good, but i had to remove them from the pictures
Opmerkingen
17 11 January 2022, 11:12
Peter HardyA labour of love! A long time in the making but worth every minute! Wonderful work Spanjaard!
11 January 2022, 22:27
Album info
my brother used to have the T4 that you see in the first picture. he was truly in love with it. it was sold some time ago, and then he got the die cast that you see also in the first picture. he wanted me to just paint it silver so it would resemble more his beloved camping van. i said yes, back in September 2017! A "few things" happened after that, that left me not so much time or energy for modeling... so i was working on and off on this project, and finally finished right before Christmas and took it to him as a nice present. it had been quite a chaotic rebuild, with a considerable number of plans made, scrapped, new plans made, things forgotten, and things i could have done much better. but at the end, the result is not so bad, and above all, he is very happy with it. album may seem strange since some steps seem to contradict others, but since i was going working on one part or the other, the pictures we a total mess. so i posted in groups, even if the build was certainly not done in that order.
