Nearly Completed and she's Gorgeous!
About a year ago ( Oct 2008 ) Kelly and I ventured up to New Plymouth and met fellow TC'ers Chris (M0torhed) and John (Type49rs)... When I saw John's Willy's Wheeler I was immediately sold on the idea of getting one... I'd never seen one before but now I just love the look of them, Lots of detail and angles in the shell and Willy looks mean... I mentioned it to another awesome member of the NZ TC contingent Don aka Bluefoot and he just happened to have a nice project Willy that he was willing to let me pursue... A trade of my Porsche manual (1st Tamiya RC) and cash she was mine and arrived within a week or 2 of seeing John's. It was a great project and absolutely stoked with it, very tidy and a great start, chassis just a little dusty but very tidy Decals and Lenses are there as well as Willy himself! I sanded the rims and painted with several coats of TS26 Pure White and they came up like new! UPDATE 07.11.09 Well I've just spent 2 days painting and decalling this one up and it looks fantastic... I took my time with the decals and I'm very happy with how they went down, there sure is plenty of them! I also went to the trouble of spraying TS13 Clear to seal everything and hold decals down too :) I'm currently just painting Willy up so he will be installed in the next day or 2... I'm still in need of the Spoiler, proper roll bar and metal bracket to clip body on at the rear... Hmmm I forgot to install the air vents on the bonnet before the photo's doh... Why is everything always a work in progress?!... :p Oh and don't tell anyone it has Quattro rears instead of the correct Wheeler ones 8)
Awesome Project from Bluefoot!
Comments
Skottoman
Wow! So you clearcoated OVER the decals? That thing is the cleanest, most polished Willys Wheeler I've ever seen!
Crash Cramer
Wow, you know what, I didn't notice anything wrong with this. I think I would pursue one too if I had seen it in person. I think I want to pursue one now just after looking at your photos, but my Uncle just called and offered me his RV built on a Toyota pickup, so will have a GIANT 1:1 project to pour money into now. Great work and keep them coming, waiting to see your shelves in numerical order soon, all 100 of them.
BeetleLover
Yup clear coated over everything! Actually I probably did spend more time than I recorded, I sanded the shell with 1000 grit before I started... I always warm my paints, warm the room and air dust between coats...
BeetleLover
Thanks Crash, she's probably the nicest in my fleet quite honestly, I'm in need of more shelving before I seek out more cars!
Henk4Focus
Fun little cars and crazy looks. Very well turned out.
Type49rs
Top job mate. I really like the shiny clearcoat finish. If you find a source for those missing parts then let me know - they're the same bits that are missing from mine.
Swarm
That is one wicked Willies Wheeler James .
It looks excellent all shiny and new .
I must get myself one of these .
Is it as compact as it looks ?.
Thanks for sharing this mate
highflyer
That is stunning James, love the SHINE
!! Wish I still had mine...
jeffy
Ouch my eyes where are my sun glasses. What a shine
LUUUUVLY
WW-nut
That's great James, looks new! Are those decals as horrible to put on as they seem - think thats one of the reasons why I haven't gone down the box art route yet
Q, why do you need another roll bar, I can see one in the pictures?
KEV THE REV
Stunning car James - another little gem
pandafred
great looking wheeler.i recently got hold of one and i cant stop looking at it.
Bluefoot
What! Who was silly enough to part with that beauty?
Super job on that shell and those wheels have come up a treat!
Mouton
Excellent paintjob!
It seem to me like 'my favourite Tamiya' is always one I currently do not have. It used to be the quattro (I have two), then the Hilux (I have one) and then the P34 six wheeler (I have one) and then the Wild Willy (I got one) - and now this, the car Willly stole from his girlfriend. You do know the original Honda City Turbos were a Japanese support class driven by women only? Thus, Willy must have stolen his...
I really hope you do find the missing parts. Not to add salt to your wounds, but you also need the front bumper that goes on the chassis as well as the front guard, which is a second front bumper attached to the body.
TIMECMDR
Superb stuff James, quality!
tamman77
These are the one of cars that make you smile even before their run! Looks great
BeetleLover
Thanks for your great comments, I'd love a real one with the crazy kit on it! My roll bar is all plastic without any armature or threads coming out of it... I don't know why it would be like it is, it's fragile and doesn't attach!
BeetleLover
The Decals weren't so hard just took time, I was however terrified that the decal on the top of the guards wouldn't reach over the side decals so I ensured it had a good overlap as well as to make sure it'd stick down over the corner too...
jeekelemental
It's a beauty! I Love it
BORMAC
What an absolute stunning example. The photos really are super and bring out the very best in this little gem.
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