TOPIC:

Wheels and bumper added to the chassis...

The body is assembled... It is quite a chore to do it, because of the different screws diameter and length involved... And I noticed some minor mistake I'll have to correct on the rear faces of my bodyshells due to the screw sizes...

Some parts are not yet bonded, and the rollcage doesn't include the lights yet, as I will need to digg ga hole somewhere and I don't know where yet... I'll do this after I paint the body...






And with lights on (Still need to find the proper room for the circuitry...






I'll see when I can paint the body. The car won't run until next year when it is sloted as part of a proto contest in one of the vintage events we have here in France... The stickers are not there anyway, so this will take time... In the meantime, I'm super happy as this car looks good in real too

It looks very nice.

I tore down the bodyshell to parts as I need to prepare the paint...
Doing this, I was thinking that maybe I want to keep the original aspect for inside the car, which would mean masking in the proper way... Liquid mask maybe?
In the meantime, I decided to reprint the fog lights glass, in ABS transparent (or transluscent)... It's better as they don't tend to move out of their position. I did them to be snapped on. And it works well. I may have to make the KC sticker transparent somehow (or just cut the letters)... I may follow the exact same approach for the front, as it is going to be looking more like box art (I can definitely pull a box art for this one, as I'm sure that noone will use the same box art fashion than me (at least for now, except maybe down under, but at least it won't be on the same track )...


The only elements I may keep the way they are currently for the accessories are the roll cage and the winch (I may use molotow liquid chrome to highlight the wire, the hook and the switch) and maybe the jerrycan... If the inside of the car is kept the way it is, the dashboard  inside face also need to be kept this way (the plastic maybe slightly too modern for a Mitsubishi Jeep, but most European cars had already plastic dashboards in 1980), and I would only detail what is needed...

Now what is the best way to mask? I don't think frogtape or other masking tape would work. May be liquid mask would work...
 

Did a quick test on some sacrificial parts with liquid mask... It is workable, but it is difficult to remove in corner, so not suitable for the bodyshell main part at least...

Had some thoughts during the night. I have the CAD model of the bodyshell and a 3D printer... Few minutes in CAD, and we can pull a block mask which is going to work perfectly for this...


I'm extratcing the STL now, and will put the printer at work...

The advantage having a Bambu Lab X1C, it is quite quick to print such part... And it lines up perfectly, as expected...


I've also set a part for the dashboard...

I'm happy to report that my masking plan worked as expected.


And the result is here... It's not perfect, but I'm quite happy, and the stickers will work (whenever they arrive)...



Still have to work out the leds circuitry, to paint the driver (it is going to be long), and deal with the details on the bodyshell and the dashboard...

Very nicely done Marc.

I worked a bit on the driver, I will have to find a better driver or a better solution at some point, but for the time being, it will do the job... There is still a lot to do on that one...


I also worked out the accesories, and the transluscent ABS snap on lenses fit the bodyshell like a charm, giving it a look closer to the original lenses... I also paint the embossed (unperfect) logo...


I conducted a few prints, with additional ideas... A locker to avoid using glue for the steering wheel support


A new approach for the leds on the roll cage, which is much better than what I had in mind originally and this will allow me to hide the wires a bit...


And beside this, I also added some details to the bodyshell with paint...



I need to finalise the led circuitry path and additional locks for the rear and front leds, and finish the driver paint job...

Bouncing Billy starts to get really impatient, now...