VW Kafer- painting

Before i started painting the body of the car i added the body damage here, and there.

Few dents, and scratches, also the deep rust in most common places.

Then the painting began.

 After salt was applied i sprayed the body with layer of hairspray.

Another layer of hairspray was laid.

Stiff brush, and some water made the paint removal so easy.

VW Kafer- dashboard

The dashboard straight from the box is one piece.

...so i dismantled it:

 ...and built all the parts from scratch:

 Added some colour. The body of the car will be in blue, while dash trim will be finished in ivory.

...and here the dash completed:

VW Kafer body prep

Due to the molding process, there's few imperfections in the body of the car which need sorting out.

Most noticeable the area around the headlights.

Horn grilles are also of the wrong shape.

1950 bug has round horn grilles, instead of oval ones.

I have removed the piping from the front fenders, to make preparation of the body easier.

I will replace the piping after the car is painted.

I filled the grilles in, and i drilled one single hole for the round horn grille.

It was only one opening for the horn grille in the real car, as the other grille is only used as decoration, and there was no opening in the body beneath it.

 Rear fenders piping also removed. I used the CA glue as filler, and sanded it roughly.

Then i sprayed the car using matt grey primer to highlight the imperfections

Primer sanded, and Mr. Surfacer 500 used to fill here, and there again:

Body parts were dry fitted. It's not perfect, but i'll manage i think:

New line was added where piping will be fitted:

Same round the rear of the car. Lights positioning pins were removed, as i discovered today, that lights are much lover in 1950 cars:

Chaos Black primer is on. Generally it looks OK, just few places to sort out, before i start adding special effects like body damage, and rust.

VW Kafer 1950- engine grilles

I received the PE parts produced by my friend Pawel.

First, and most difficult job was to replace the engine grilles, which by Revell look poor:

...small holes were drilled:

  

...and original grilles removed:

 ...i marked the outline of the PE part, and cut into the body to make the room for the new grilles to be glued flush with the bodywork...

...grilles in place...

 ....here with dry fitted engine lid:

SHL M11 W engine brake in

This time i present you the short video of engine run in. Thanks to cold weather, and still no snow i am able to run the engine effectively.
I believe in running the motorcycle as normal during the process, but with much more oil in the mixture- hence the blue smoke behind the machine.
Hope you enjoy the clip:

SHL M11 W- engine rebuilt.

Today i finished rebuilding the SHL M11 W from 1968.
New piston from the seventies, bored cylinder, reconditioned crank, all new bearings, and clutch.
Now i have to carefully run it in before the spring.

VW Kafer 1950- crotch cooler

Is the small things that make the difference.

We all know that devil is the details.

Looking at the body of the car i was thinking what to do to make the model stand out from the crowd, and decided to improve the crotch cooler detail. Straight from the box it didn't look much inspiring.

...so i cut the flaps out:

...the drivers side was scratch built, and set in closed position:

...and passengers side, with added mesh was set in slightly open position.