Trabant 601S

Ard S.
Start with opening the box and mix the colour for the vehicle

Jv
Very cool I have seen the new kit in the shops
Still undecided whether to buy it
Its a car that has a place in history
For sure an interesting car
Looking forward to see what's in the box
Sure to follow your build

Ard S.
Jv. I bought the old kit. Because it is cheaper. For so far I can see there are lots of details in it.

Lawrence Landis
I saw one of the actual Trabants in Philadelphia a few years ago. Definitely an odd piece of automotive engineering and history.

Christian W
Good luck by building this! Don't be afraid: it's a good one 😉
For me as a German you won't believe: I had on but sold is asap. I'm not going on touch with it. Depends on my Beetlemania I suppose.

But I can tell you: I was at Revell on a tour where they told us the way from a car to a kit - with the Trabant. That was quite interesting but still I never build one.

Ard S.
Christian thanks for the information. Since I start with building again and I did not know if I could make it with less then 10% of sight (official blind but there are lots of way to improve the little things you see) I have search for a lot of cheap boxes. I prove on every build so the kits may be more expensive now.. 😂

Lawrence Landis
The really interesting thing about the Trabant is the use of plywood in the construction of the actual car.

Villiers de Vos
Booking my seat.

Lawrence Landis
I went back and re-read the history and I was wrong about using plywood in the construction. It was a resin type of material. I, also, read that at times the waiting period was as long as ten years.

Ben M
Watching this one. As someone who has eye and hand troubles, I hope you don't give up and you find ways to make things work. I use a giant ring light magnifier to see, and I rest my hands on the workbench so they don't shake.

Christian W
It is said, that in it's time , before the wall came down, it last up to 16 year before one was delivered. So it was mostly usual to order one for the kids as soon as possible to get the luxury of a car when they got the drivers license.
For me the most interesting variant was the last modelyears. Then, when the Sachsenringwerke cooperated with VW and the put the engine of the current Polo (little smaller car than the Golf / Fox) in it. Over all the years, I only saw one of it in real life. That would be my choice to buy.
In my shad 10 years ago, there were a couple guys, who were into Eastern German vehicles like I was in the beetle Universum. I was safe by side for at least 5 years until I moved away and another 4 years until I changed the place for my stuff. During those years, the guys never had a Trabant with this VW engine. And they had a huge change in cars. I still have this friendship and didn't notice such kind of Trabant. Very rare.

Christian W
Ugh. In German we call the kind of material for the body "Presspappe". I'd like to translate that as pressed hard paper. Bit the frame and undercarriage was mad of steel. And rust was always a topic.
I heard from the guys, that the Sachsenringwerke built the side panel and door as one peace. They put this Hugh part on the body and then cut out the door. So the gaps were pretty good 🙂 But the other way round, the changing of the doors could be a pain in the butt. Could.

Lawrence Landis
It's really interesting to see how companies engineer things, whether it's cars or planes. The Trabant, that I saw years ago in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania looked to be in very good shape. It was obviously well taken care of.
On the topics of trying to overcome our physical limitations in modeling, my "corrected" vision used to be 20/15. When we changed optometrist, that all changed. Now they don't strive for better than 20/20. My old optometrist knew that I was a marksman and how important that was to what I did for leisure.
I use any one of three different optical visors or magnifying glasses equipped with lights when building, if I remember to use them🙃🙃🙃🙃. Another possibility would be if you have a video camera such as in a cellphone, tablet or laptop. You could use the zoom of the lens to magnify your workspace. I know of model builders, who use such magnifying methods to check their detail work. It's not uncommon for Judges of model contests to use magnification and small penlights when judging models in competition. If we know that they are going to use such excesses, it should signal us to do likewise.
As far as shaking, I steady my hand against the workbench, or against my other hand.
I will soon find out what works best for me, when I touch up some pinstriping on a model. It's something that I dread to have to do because of my own limitations.
Model on.
Remember if it was easy everyone could do it.

Ard S.
Thanks for the information about the history. Lovely to learn more about it.

About my bad sight. Four years ago I got my problem. I always say close to my eyes (not more then 30 cm away) I see the best. Therefore I need to use a glasses and a magnificent glasses with light in it.
For the very small parts or the very small decals I use a special magnificent machine (sorry I don't know the English word but here is a link hulpmiddelenwijzer.n..en/beeldschermloepen )
The problem with that is you need to look at the screen and work with your hands. Hard to learn but it get better every time. So I only can paint my models and not use airbrush cause I need to work close to the objects.

Thankfully I don't have troubles with my hands. But I can think that it will be more difficult.

But so long I am happy with the results and I enjoy making it I think it is okay. I built for myself not for some else...

Lawrence Landis
In my country, the device that you are speaking of might be Chromecast. It allows video transmission from a source (tablet, laptop, or cellphone,or camera) to a TV or video monitor.

Jv
And I think its fantastic you have a great interest in the hubby so that you do it even whed the challenges you face
Hats of for you
Thanks for being an inspiration to all

Lawrence Landis
Yes, you are inspiring to me.

Christian W
I build model cars for relaxing. To get some distance of the stress on my job - when I'm not gardening together with my wife behind the house.
Modelling can be a kind of therapy. Why not? Youre producing something with your hands how you want it. You can be creative and can do what you like.
I don't cars, what other people say (mostly) because it's mine (outside this forum! Not to missunderstand this. . This community is the best for feedback on your skills. Here I appreciate every comment. It is a cool community.

Ard S.
Thanks guys for your lovely words.

@Lawrence I think it is something different. You put an object down and it will be much bigger (I think it could be 50 times bigger) on the screen. The way for me to read a letter or something else. Very nice for the instruction to see what I need to do.

@Christian. For me it is also relaxing. Since my eyes problems I had to stop my job. So I have time enough to build. Beside the housekeeping I need to do cause my wife has post-covid troubles and can hardly do anything. But I have 2 amazing kids (20 and 18) who helps us really much.

Ard S.
Find some time to build. So the project is on his way again.

Christian W
I'm wishing you and your wife all the best.

Ard S.
Thanks Christian

Ard S.
A part at the bottom has broken.
I am thinking for the diorama to build a part of the wall in Berlin. I have some graffiti that I can use on the wall. I have read that the supporters from Feyenoord make their logo on the wall and I will do the same at the diorama.

Jv
Sounds very interesting sure to follow your build looks fantastic sofare
And you sure got us all a history lesson
Thanks to Christian
He know all about kits
The GOTO guy about kits
And the bonus is he is also German so I am sure he knows Al about
The history in this case
I would recommend you upgrade the power plant in the trabi
To piss him of tho
I think you could probably fit a Mazda rx plant in it

Nigel Chapman
Late on board with this one! Looking good so far Ard S. engine looks just right. Keep up the good work.
I was in Leipzig in the early nineties and managed to get a couple of rides in a Trabant saloon and wagon. They took some punishment be it kerbs or potholes. I always remember the fuel cut off was a twist n turn knob on the dashboard!

Christian W
In my former location, I shared a shed with a couple of Trabi-guy. I did my VW Beetle stuff on the right half of the shep and they teir "👎Ostalgika" with Trabant, Wartburg, MZ bicyles, Schwalbe and Eastern Germany stuff. It was a quiet interessting decade in my life. I still have contact to them. They travel a minimum of twice a year to e.g. Hungry to pick up old vehicles during their vacation. Always interessting trips.

Bozzer
@ Christian. I remember my brother owning an OMZ motorcycle. The strange key, that went into the centre of the headlight, to start it. It was big and heavy, but I was only a kid. I also remember a friend, buying a Nevall. That was the first motorcycle, I ever saw, that had reverse gear! I remember him telling me that they had an attachment, for pulling a small plough, in the field? Crazy days, and definitely crazy memories. Oh to be young again 🙂

Christian W
Those two makes I don't know. Have to Google that.
But through your build I got a flashback to that old days. Thank you for that 🙂. I'll keep an eye on your work.

Ard S.
I have been building at the diorama. I am fan of the football team Feyenoord. They played against Union Berlin in the season 2021 - 2022. At match day the fans make graffiti on the Berlin Wall. This diorama is based on that day.

Lawrence Landis
That is pretty neat. It is the way that we personalize what we do.
That looks great.

Jv
Looking fantastic
Fantastic idea whed the diorama

Ard S.
Thanks for all the likes and comments. Today I have finished it and I am happy about the result. Nice kit to build.

Lawrence Landis
Beautiful workmanship. Great results. Congratulations.

Bozzer
Nice work Ard! I'm always a big fan of dioramas. They kinda tell a little part of a story? I think that you just did enough, so as not to take your eyes off the model, but to give it some depth and feeling? That's exactly what you need to do! Excellent results, for all your hard work! 10/10 *

Ben M
That is a great looking Trabant!

Ard S.
Thanks guys

@Bozzer. I like it too. You tell a little story. Makes the model unique.

Ludvík Kružík
I admire your will to fight the situation that life has thrown at you.
Your diorama with the Trabant is very nice and brings back nostalgic memories.

In our country, the Trabant was quite a common vehicle in its time. My father-in-law had one too. When his Trabant ran out of time, he left it (no longer running) in the garden. Our two sons, young children at the time, looked forward to every visit to their grandfather's house because they could get in the Trabant and play in it. They had the absolutely unique opportunity to "drive" a real car. Today they are grown up and have their own families, but they still fondly remember the Trabant in their grandfather's garden. 🙂

Bruce Huxtable
Really enjoying your creation. The aerosol cans are a brilliant touch, and the car interior looks great too. The seats look like suede leather! 👍🙂

Villiers de Vos
Very nice work.

Jv
And I agree whed all that Ludovic said congratulations on a fabulous build
And thanks for all your inspiration to us all