"Bendy Bus" VW Doka / 5th wheel camper kitbash

[Guest]

So onto something completely different for me, with a high risk of failure, but nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that

Inspired by a picture I saw on the web a while ago, subsequently posted on here by Ian M, I thought I'd have a go at recreating my version of this:

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As a base I'm using two Revell 1/24 kits

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Since there are two kits I've got plenty of parts to play around with. I'd already made a bit of a start by freeing the main body parts from the sprues to get an idea of how they went together. With a separate "chassis" and floor that should sandwich together early in the process, with all the panels aligning to that structure individually, it's going to be tricky to keep it all in shape as I modify it, and I need to work out how to get the floor in afterwards, but I'm sure I'll find a way.

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So today I got going properly by mocking the two bodies up to get an idea of where I need to start chopping. It's a bit like wrestling an octopus with so many parts just pushed together, but with a healthy dollop of tape & blu tack I got something I could work with.

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Then onto the first cut :flushed: The lines were marked up with 3M fineline tape, which also gave me an edge to start scribing to. Once I'd cut a decent furrow I started hacking with the JLC razor saw. Some came out better than others, but hopefully I'll get better as I go along, and besides, I have filler lol

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Roof next. I deliberately cut this a little long so I could gradually sand it to a good fit. There's a bit of a step due to a slightly different curvature front and back, but nothing worse than I've had in some fuselage seams.

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And after a bit more surgery I'm starting to get something I can build on. Still very rudimentary but the basic shape is there. I'll cut a window into the side door and the opposite panel eventually (they only have the door on one side), and thankfully the van kit comes with the same clear sprues as the Samba, so I've got plenty of spare glass!

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I'm guessing this is going to be a long one, depending greatly on how much detail I decide to put into the interiors. I'd love to scratch a camper interior with beds, cupboards, sink & hob etc, but that's likely to prove beyond me at the moment so we'll see what happens.

Thanks for looking in
Andy.

[scottie3158]

Andy,
Count me in for this great project I would love to own the real thing.

[yak face]

Great stuff andy , its going to be a major operation and i cant wait to see the process, cheers tony

[Guest]

Good to have you both along, and yes Tony, I can see it taking a while!

Paul, I had a regular camper in my late twenties. I always wanted a double cab pick up "Doka", but they are like hens teeth and probably worth their weight in gold now!

[Nicko]

This is going to be really interesting. Best of luck with the project....

Nick

[Guest]

Hi Andy what a great project, I'll watch and learn from the sidelines if I may.
Good luck.
Pete

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
Great project. Really interesting. As for the camper interior - well within your capabilities I'm sure. You're off to a good start.
Jim

[Guest]

Thanks for joining in chaps. It'll be a challenge but I'll try my best :smiling3:

[SimonT]

Excellent Andy - looks to be off to a good start

[Steve Jones]

A fantastic project Andy. This will certainly get the mojo going. Good luck

[Neil Merryweather]

A glorious project!. I'm not a petrol head but this is just bonkers and I will be following avidly. Top marks for ambition Andy!

[Guest]

Thanks all.

It'll definitely stretch my mediocre scratch skills and the pressure's on a bit with such an accomplished audience, but as long as I have fun and learn something it'll be a win.

[papa 695]

A cracking start Andy, I’ve just pulled up my chair to join the rest of the rabble to watch this.

[spanner570]

Paul, I had a regular camper in my late twenties. I always wanted a double cab pick up "Doka", but they are like hens teeth and probably worth their weight in gold now!

Nice choice Andy. When we were first married in 1970, my wife and I bought one more or less exactly like the rear vehicle and yes ours had front wheels. Our van had all chrome bumpers, bull bars were not invented then! Worth a fortune now if had not rotted away and eventually broke in two!

This might help if you build the interior. It was factory finished in light ash woodwork and beige velour upholstery, but all very spartan compared with all the nonsense 'Must have' modern camper vans have.
A wide parcel shelf across the back, directly over the engine where no.1 son was transported in his carry cot! A bench seat backed up to that and the other backed up to the front bench seat. In between these and opposite the two side doors was a simple one piece unit containing a small wash hand basin and a two ring gas stove with a small cupboard underneath.

Watching with interest.

Ron

[Guest]

Cheers Ian & Ron, great to have you both along.

Thanks for the ideas Ron. My own had been DIY converted by a previous owner so was very basic inside, but it had everything we needed for a 3 week tour of Europe. I know what you mean about modern campers, with their flushing toilets, massive solar arrays on the roof and Lord knows what else. This will be very much towards the basic end of the spectrum :smiling5:

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A quick tip from the day job that might help if you have some heavy sanding or shaping to do. As you work down to finer finishing grits it's often hard to tell if you've removed the earlier, coarser ones, and sometimes they'll only show up once you get to primer. While they can still be fixed at that stage it's usually better to eliminate them as much as possible at the "dry" stage.

So, give the area a swipe with some dry powder. We have dedicated stuff at work but some dry pigment or pastel/chalk powder in a contrasting colour will work fine. I used black MIG pigment here, wiped over with a make up sponge brush. As you can see, it really makes the deep scratches stand out.

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Then sand with your fine grit until you can see the scratches have gone. The darker bits you can still see are sprue goo filling the gaps made by my dodgy sawing! I had to fill the joint with thin strips of card.

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