Beach Buggy and Bond Bug ***FINISHED***
Beach Buggy and Bond Bug ***FINISHED***
Hi, all... back to the bench with some Airfix Vintage Classic love...
I have made a blue thing. It's better in daylight, but this 'ere nail varnish makes for a good metalflake effect for the full 70s OTT look.
Bits of a Bug. This is definitely one of those early 70s Airfix 1/32 car kits, on a par with the K3 Magnette or Prince Henry, with fine details, and quite a few of them. Fortunately it's also moulded in Airfix's new dark grey plastic, which is reasonably hard but not brittle, so separating those small details is a lot less fraught than with the older kits. Even the engine is pretty reasonable for the scale (never mind that it's mostly going to be unseen).
I may be deviating from the instructions (they aren't that clear!). But looking at pictures of the real thing, the mouldings are pretty seamless, without obvious filled joint lines like you find on a Lotus Esprit or Ferrari 288GTO between the fibreglass sections, though there is a step along the sides. So I've decided to assemble the three main body parts, fill and clean up before painting. Although the rear panel has the boot door in it, only that part is black and opens... the rest merges smoothly into the body sides, and the wheel arches are also seamlessly blended into the body. And yes, I did check with a mockup that it was possible to get the chassis in AFTER building the body this way...
Did I mention the instructions weren't clear? Well, in this case they are just plain wrong. Thanks to a Youtube snippet of a Bug restoration I figured out how the steering box and linkage work. The hole in the steering box faces backwards, not forwards (makes sense, it's where the column fits into it), and the 8 link goes on the pin that's now on the outside. Then the other rod and L lever from the axle all join up quite neatly...
Orange-ness sooon...
best,
M.
I have made a blue thing. It's better in daylight, but this 'ere nail varnish makes for a good metalflake effect for the full 70s OTT look.
Bits of a Bug. This is definitely one of those early 70s Airfix 1/32 car kits, on a par with the K3 Magnette or Prince Henry, with fine details, and quite a few of them. Fortunately it's also moulded in Airfix's new dark grey plastic, which is reasonably hard but not brittle, so separating those small details is a lot less fraught than with the older kits. Even the engine is pretty reasonable for the scale (never mind that it's mostly going to be unseen).
I may be deviating from the instructions (they aren't that clear!). But looking at pictures of the real thing, the mouldings are pretty seamless, without obvious filled joint lines like you find on a Lotus Esprit or Ferrari 288GTO between the fibreglass sections, though there is a step along the sides. So I've decided to assemble the three main body parts, fill and clean up before painting. Although the rear panel has the boot door in it, only that part is black and opens... the rest merges smoothly into the body sides, and the wheel arches are also seamlessly blended into the body. And yes, I did check with a mockup that it was possible to get the chassis in AFTER building the body this way...
Did I mention the instructions weren't clear? Well, in this case they are just plain wrong. Thanks to a Youtube snippet of a Bug restoration I figured out how the steering box and linkage work. The hole in the steering box faces backwards, not forwards (makes sense, it's where the column fits into it), and the 8 link goes on the pin that's now on the outside. Then the other rod and L lever from the axle all join up quite neatly...
Orange-ness sooon...
best,
M.
- DavidWomby
- Modelling Gent and Scholar
- Posts: 11766
- Joined: May 1st, 2011, 8:09 pm
- Location: Florida, USA
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
A real fun pair!
David
David
- JamesPerrin
- Looks like his avatar
- Posts: 13695
- Joined: April 5th, 2011, 8:09 pm
- Location: W. Yorkshire
- Contact:
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
I’d have thought cherry red more your colour Matt. The kit shows the interesting construction of the bug well
Classic British Kits SIG Leader Better to fettle than to fill
(2024 A:B 5:2) (2023 13:8:7) (2022 21:11) (2021 15:8) (2020 8:4:4)
(2024 A:B 5:2) (2023 13:8:7) (2022 21:11) (2021 15:8) (2020 8:4:4)
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
Why do you think the blue's going spare for Buggy painting? ;-P
M.
M.
- flakmonkey
- Modelling Gent and Scholar
- Posts: 3489
- Joined: April 6th, 2011, 9:58 am
- Location: Down in the tube station at midnight
- Contact:
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
I had a friend with a Bond Bug back in the mid 1980s. He drove it on L plates on his bike license. It was perfectly capable of thrashing the Triumph Spitfire IV I owned at the time to 40mph. Unable to live with the humiliation, I bought a GT6 MkIII.
Will it be orange, by any chance?
Will it be orange, by any chance?
Would ya like to learn to fly? Would ya? Would you like to see me try?
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
A man after my own heart… or at least GT6. I have a jar of VERY(TM) Orange waiting in the wings. Given that it’s all fibreglass, not aluminium, does anyone know if the body is as orange underneath? The chassis is clearly black, but did they bother painting the pan bottom with something?
Best,
M.
Best,
M.
- flakmonkey
- Modelling Gent and Scholar
- Posts: 3489
- Joined: April 6th, 2011, 9:58 am
- Location: Down in the tube station at midnight
- Contact:
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
Matt, as far as I can remember, the body underneath was the off white/ cream colour of untreated GRP, and the texture was not exactly smooth, either. Remember, of course, that these were made like boats, i.e, "upside down" in moulds and so the inside surfaces were what one might call unrefined. The body colour itself was a gel coat in the fashion of the Reliant Scimitar, (and similarly prone to crazing) and was applied only "where you could see it".mattbacon wrote: ↑September 29th, 2023, 7:49 pm A man after my own heart… or at least GT6. I have a jar of VERY(TM) Orange waiting in the wings. Given that it’s all fibreglass, not aluminium, does anyone know if the body is as orange underneath? The chassis is clearly black, but did they bother painting the pan bottom with something?
Best,
M.
Would ya like to learn to fly? Would ya? Would you like to see me try?
- bassman
- The Bug Has Well And Truly Bitten
- Posts: 324
- Joined: May 1st, 2011, 7:58 am
- Location: Netherlands
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
Nice. There is a Wheeler Dealer episode that shows many details of the Bond Bug. Maybe you can see what the colours are in this episode.
-
- Modelling Gent and Scholar
- Posts: 1050
- Joined: September 10th, 2013, 4:22 pm
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
a good start i like the blue on the buggy the bug i have painted the underside orange same as the body i thought with it being fibre glass it wold come out of the mould all the same colour but i could be wrong it is just my way of thinking
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
It's been a while since I've updated this. I haven't stopped, though there was a bit of a setback...
Back end and front end of the Beach Buggy are done. The fit is actually very impressive, though the instructions leave a bit to be desired.
Eagle-eyed observers will note that the Buggy is now a horse of a different colour. Bizarrely, after a couple of days, a reaction between the clearcoat and the nail varnish base colour had made the whole surface soft, picking up fingermarks and hand prints as soon as I touched it. So all the paint was removed with overnight IPA and the ultrasonic cleaner and I began again. This time it is good old reliable Zero basecoat and 2K clear in a rather zingy Lamborghini metallic "Viola" I happened to have around the place (I will build Kidston's Countach one day, honest...)
Test fit. The "rear window" is smoked using some sample window film I acquired many years ago. It's great for this kind of thing.
The Bond Bug progresses. You need a lot of shades of black...
The underside is painted with some kind of undead flesh colour from Citadel to look like the wrong side of fiberglass. I liked the random show-through of the orange so left it at one coat, pretending it looks like the semi-translucent fibreglass and resin.
The lid is also a really good fit.
So much so that I taped it in place as a jig while I glued on the side curtains.
The wheel mouldings are still pretty sharp, which I guess is a result of not having been re-released regularly over the last 50 years. Tamiya NATO Black for the tyres. It should be standing on its own three feet tomorrow, with a bit of luck...
best,
M.
Back end and front end of the Beach Buggy are done. The fit is actually very impressive, though the instructions leave a bit to be desired.
Eagle-eyed observers will note that the Buggy is now a horse of a different colour. Bizarrely, after a couple of days, a reaction between the clearcoat and the nail varnish base colour had made the whole surface soft, picking up fingermarks and hand prints as soon as I touched it. So all the paint was removed with overnight IPA and the ultrasonic cleaner and I began again. This time it is good old reliable Zero basecoat and 2K clear in a rather zingy Lamborghini metallic "Viola" I happened to have around the place (I will build Kidston's Countach one day, honest...)
Test fit. The "rear window" is smoked using some sample window film I acquired many years ago. It's great for this kind of thing.
The Bond Bug progresses. You need a lot of shades of black...
The underside is painted with some kind of undead flesh colour from Citadel to look like the wrong side of fiberglass. I liked the random show-through of the orange so left it at one coat, pretending it looks like the semi-translucent fibreglass and resin.
The lid is also a really good fit.
So much so that I taped it in place as a jig while I glued on the side curtains.
The wheel mouldings are still pretty sharp, which I guess is a result of not having been re-released regularly over the last 50 years. Tamiya NATO Black for the tyres. It should be standing on its own three feet tomorrow, with a bit of luck...
best,
M.
- JamesPerrin
- Looks like his avatar
- Posts: 13695
- Joined: April 5th, 2011, 8:09 pm
- Location: W. Yorkshire
- Contact:
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
Great progress Matt and an excellent job on the underside of the Bug. I think the Buggy looks even groovier in viola.
Classic British Kits SIG Leader Better to fettle than to fill
(2024 A:B 5:2) (2023 13:8:7) (2022 21:11) (2021 15:8) (2020 8:4:4)
(2024 A:B 5:2) (2023 13:8:7) (2022 21:11) (2021 15:8) (2020 8:4:4)
- PaulBradley
- Staring out the window
- Posts: 21219
- Joined: April 6th, 2011, 3:08 pm
- Location: Flagstaff, AZ
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
Et viola! Tres bon travail, Matt!
Paul
За демократію і незалежний Україну
"For Democracy and a Free Ukraine"
За демократію і незалежний Україну
"For Democracy and a Free Ukraine"
- Clashcityrocker
- Modelling Gent and Scholar
- Posts: 10823
- Joined: May 1st, 2011, 12:31 am
- Location: Adelaide. South Australia
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
Nice Buggy and Bug!
Nigel
Nigel
- general rocket
- Modelling Gent and Scholar
- Posts: 2791
- Joined: May 1st, 2011, 4:42 pm
- Location: Telford
Re: Beach Buggy and Bond Bug
Thanks, all.... progress continues:
The seats are just placed in position at the moment. I think prepping the crew and getting them to fit in might take some time...
There is a front window in place, honest, though it's quite hard to see!
They make a colourful pair, don't they?
best,
M.
The seats are just placed in position at the moment. I think prepping the crew and getting them to fit in might take some time...
There is a front window in place, honest, though it's quite hard to see!
They make a colourful pair, don't they?
best,
M.