Chopped Beetle

[johnboyy]

I am looking to start a project that's been on the back burner for some time, a chopped Tamiya 66 Beetle, wondering if any of you out there has any info on the best way to chop the top while still keeping the roof line looking tidy? I have been practicing on a trio of Airfix kits but can't seem to get the look I'm after!! Any help/info would be much appreciated.

[Harley]

You only have to look at some of the full size chopped bugs around to see that it's not easy to get the roof line right.

The simplest option is the "gentleman's chop" which mean taking a pie shaped cut out of the C pillars and then lowering the A and B pillars to the height you want. This is a very mild chop and does mean the front screen will have to be slanted backwards a bit but nothing radical.

If you want a more severe chop it will inevitably mean cutting the roof off and lengthening it (a beetle is pretty vertical on the sides so you would probably get away without widening it as well). Shortening the A and B pillars won't be a problem but getting the flow of the C pillars into the roof line / rear end / side windows is the really tricky bit. Expect lots of filling and shaping!

Good luck.

[johnboyy]

Thanks for the reply, the 'Gentlemans Cut' sounds like a good option, I have tried something similar on the 1/32nd scale bodyshells and it does save a lot of work. Not sure about the sloping screen though? Maybe if I extend the roof forward a tad...

[Harley]

Splicing in a roof section between the A and B pillars would allow you to keep the windscreen at the same angle and it would probably make tidying up the windscreen surround a lot easier too.

Time to break out the saw!

[andyx]

How about chopping an estate Beetle, looks easier

Attachments:

[johnboyy]

Now that is different! I can't say I have seen anything like that before. Who makes it?

[andyx]

I think it was a scalekraft body, very good on the outside & quite rough on the inside, so maybe someone elses moulding. was said to be of a real car, a hebmuller conversion, though I can only find convertible versions on tinternet

[johnboyy]

Ahh that explains it, I have seen the Hebmuller coupe by Scalekraft, they used to be imported by a guy from the Wolverhampton area (?) whose name escapes me at the moment. They were pretty good castings from what I can remember, so perhaps this is a re-cast.

[andyx]

That would probably be Nick Picken, he went on to marshal races or rallies & gave up with the small stuff from what I remember, good guy to deal with though. Andy

[Harley]

All the Scalekraft resins I've seen were really sharp on the outside but quite thick mouldings. Some truly weird subjects though, I heard the guy behind Scalekraft had a bad climbing accident and that was the end of the business.

[johnboyy]

Thanks for the info guys.... Nick Picken! That's the man, Marshal Model Auto Supplies. I have still got some detail bits that I bought from him somewhere. Wherever he's at I wish him well.