Bumblebee, Autobot Transformer in vehicular form [WIP - Bodywork and Paint]

 In what seems to be a pseudo-Groundhog Day situation, first quarter (1Q) 2021 finds me seemingly entangled in either just color tests or plain base-coating. February is but a day away from its end, and here I am at the base-coat stage of the Volkswagen Beetle's bodywork. Pair this with my previous color test for the Speeder Bike black section and a near future color test for the Sturmgeschutz III Ausf.B armor, you can perhaps understand my feelings of déjà vu. In short no substantive progress is expected on any project before 2Q 2021. Yet it's still a start beyond inertia, so there's that.

Tamiya 1/24 Volkswagen 1300 Beetle work-in-progress: Bodywork and Paint

 More so than perhaps any other vehicular project I have undertaken thus far, the Beetle required more meticulous prep work to ensure a smooth as possible surface for the subsequent primer and base-coat layers. It helped tremendously that the Tamiya Beetle bodywork parts had minimal mold lines, especially the Bonnet and Boot covers. While the main bodywork itself had some mold line issues (see below) which required some prep work, it wasn't considered too major an issue. 

Main bodywork of the Volkswagen Beetle had some mold line issues ...

... particularly above the headlight cavities ...

... running all the way below the said cavities, and ...

... on the roof surface, located close to all four  side doors, as well as ...

... two lines running parallel to each other near the bottom third of the rear bodywork

 After carefully shaving off the mold lines using a hobby knife with a rounded blade tip, I applied my go-to primer product namely the light gray Tamiya Fine Surface Primer (see below).

Volkswagen Beetle after the priming stage and prior to receiving its base-coat layer

 Having an airbrush system is a prerequisite to achieving the smoothest base-coat paint layer possible. This is because an airbrush allows the consistent application of several thin layers of paint, which translates into a final coat of paint with a fairly uniform thickness. Painting via hand can still accomplish this but it will unrealistically lengthier amount of time. Meanwhile, using a spray paint injects a level of unpredictability due to lesser control over the amount of paint being dispensed. Regardless, an airbrush was used and first to be painted was the Beetle's roof interior.

Area surrounding the roof interior was first masked off before being painted

Roof interior with masks removed; note interior color is a variation of beige

 As for the outer surface area of the bodywork, a previously determined shade of Bumblebee Yellow was airbrushed onto it in several light, thin coats. In addition, a protective semi-gloss clear topcoat was sprayed on top of the paint base-coat. I used a spray can to apply this protective topcoat, which is hypocritical of me seeing I had already established that spray cans did not afford good dispensation control. But not really, for I had used Mr.Hobby Super Clear topcoat, which based on experience is well-formulated to be almost fool-proof. Specifically, if you didn't depress the nozzle all the way down for long periods and at a too-close-distance to the paint surface, the topcoat should even out nicely.  

Volkswagen Beetle with its base-coat and a protective semi-gloss top-coat applied

Closeup from the front; isometric view of the main bodywork

Closeup from the back; isometric view of the main bodywork

 Shown below are photos of yet more angles of the base-coated Volkswagen Beetle bodywork.

Front view of the Volkswagen Beetle main bodywork and bonnet

Back view of the Volkswagen Beetle main bodywork, and the boot cover

Volkswagen Beetle main bodywork, after base-coat as viewed from the left side

Volkswagen Beetle main bodywork, after base-coat as viewed from the right side

 Next on the Beetle's progress I'm faced with a figurative fork on the road. I could choose either to weather the painted bodywork first, or install the headlights, back-lights, door handles, side windows, windshield and such before attempting any weathering effects. The latter seems the likelier route but I'll have to put some thought into it first before I deciding. And if it seems impossible my projects can go any slower, I am afraid it can. For you see, I've rekindled my love of reading in a serious way with a backlog of hundreds of scifi/fantasy/horror titles to be consumed. On that note, I leave you with a Lemony Snicket quote ... “Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” 

Bumblebee, Autobot Transformer in vehicular form [WIP - Tyres, Wheels, Rims and Hubcaps]

 With the pandemic situation in the country going from bad to worse, I have been spending even less time on the hobby in my free time. The lockdown's new normal is infinitely more tiring on an old guy like me because it has made regular errands more time consuming and complicated. So whatever little free time leftover is being spent on less energy-sapping hobbies like computer/video gaming. Thankfully though, I still have some yet-to-be uploaded work-in-progress photos to work with, hence the blog you read today about the Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle tyres, wheels, rims and hubcaps update for my Bumblebee Autobot Transformer in car-form project.  

Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle work-in-progress: tyres, wheels and rims

 Already impressed by the level of detail inherent in this Tamiya scale model kit, I would not have thought it possible to be furthered wowed by the molded details. But I was. Everything about the 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle's tyres, wheels, rims and hubcaps looked like an accurate replica of the real thing, all the way from the hubcab logo to the brand name on the tyres. Putting them together was also simple as the instructions (shown directly below) can attest to.

Assembly instructions for the Volkswagen Beetle's tyres, wheels, rims and hubcaps

1/24 scale rubber tyres are provided as individual parts ...

... separate from the wheel and rims of the Beetle ...

... as well as from hubcaps engraved with the Volkswagen logo

Coated with chrome, the hubcaps only had a wash applied and weren't painted

 Still at two minds as to whether I should weather the tyres, wheels, rims, and hubcaps with a dried mud/dusty effect, I decided to limit the actual work done to just painting the wheels/rims with metallic chrome and them applying a black wash on the said wheels/rims as well as on the already chrome-coated hubcaps. The rubber tyres were left in its original state. Final decision on the dried mud/dusty weathering effects will only be made once the entire Volkswagen Beetle has been assembled.   

All the parts (after paint/wash where applicable) prior to assembly

Rubber wheels after being attached to the wheels/rims

It's optional to either put the hubcaps onto the wheels or not

Like in real-life, hubcaps are only available for the main wheels, and not the spare

 If there was one thing that truly encapsulated how fantastic the molded details on the 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle were, it was the Continental brand name molded onto the rubber tyres (see below). It's such simple attention to detail that to this day still has me in awe of the hobby's potential to mimic reality in miniature form. It's what has been dragging me back year after year, even beating out a long-drawn out malaise that threatened to scupper all interest in miniature painting/scale modeling.

Even at 1/24 scale, you can still make out the brand name on the tyres

 Next in line for the Beetle is its bodywork and paint. In the past, the only option available to me when painting large surface areas would have been spray cans only. While results were usually not bad, the finish was never as smooth as I would have liked it to be. Now with airbrushing as a viable and more accessible technique, I finally get to work on a car's bodywork which requires a smoother than usual paint finish compared to say tanks. Getting back to the hobby in this pandemic should be a good diversion. That's better than raging at hypocritical politicians who continually flout pandemic lockdown rules without repercussions. As they say in The Good Place .... What the fork? Bullshirt ashholes. Okay that's out of my system for now. Rant over. FourEyedMonster, over and out.

Bumblebee, Autobot Transformer in Beetle form [Video showcasing the Fully Painted Interior and Engine]

Amidst a slight lull in the assembly and painting of existing scale model kit or miniature figurine projects, I decided to try my hand at producing and editing a more professional looking hobby-related video. And despite being generally okay with the results of my maiden attempt, there are admittedly a lot of areas that require improvement as I'll touch upon later in this post. By chronicling my initial effort here, I hope to highlight some of the potential issues a hobbyist is faced with during the video shoot as well as post production. Some things you aren't aware of, until you actually try doing them.

Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen Beetle; Bumblebee proxy: fully painted interior and rear-engine

Conscious of keeping things within a small budget I made use of existing equipment whenever possible. So that meant using my mileage-heavy iPhone 7 Plus as the visual recording device. Early videos had been shot using an even older Canon EOS 650D DSLR camera, which remains my primary photography equipment. But sadly videos taken using the camera couldn't match the quality generated by the iPhone, even an out-of-date one, hence the switch. In terms of technological age, the Canon 650D hit the market at around 2012 while the iPhone 7 Plus came out four years later. 

Recording setups for videos (left) and voice-overs (right) of FourEyedMonster Vlogs

On the software side of things, I needed a wireless solution that enabled me to see in real-time what I was recording on my laptop as I was recording them with my iPhone. Because my iOS-based iPhone didn't play nice with my Windows-based laptop, I couldn't do a simple screen mirroring of the video images. Instead, I found myself having to purchase a third-party software that lets Windows and iOS talk to each other remotely. I'm pretty sure tech gurus out there are aware of a cheaper solution but for me the best option available was a wireless screen-mirroring application called Reflector 3.   

Screen-mirroring software that displays video being captured on my iPhone, in real-time on my laptop

Meanwhile, to record better quality voice-overs I plumped for a locally branded low- to mid-price range USB condenser microphone namely the Gaming Freak Chanter Nano. This product has since been discontinued so if you looking for one in Malaysia it might not be as readily stocked as before. Anyway, this cardioid pattern (i.e. highest sensitivity to sound is from the front) microphone has a respectable sampling rate of 16 bit / 48 kHz. All in all, I found this microphone not only easy to use (plug and play) but also provided a decent enough voice-over quality. For someone not blessed with the narrative qualities of Morgan Freeman or David Attenborough, I need all the help I can get.

Chanter NANO is a locally-branded USB condenser microphone at the low- to mid-price range

This budget microphone has a cardioid pickup pattern with a 16 bit/48 kHz sampling rate

Solidly build, the Chanter Nano isn't the best on the market but it's a great choice for beginners

So how did my first 'proper' video production turn out. Well, more misses than hits to be honest. The following is a long list of things, if time had permitted, I coulda woulda shoulda done better:

a) Most noticeable is how fast I seem to be talking in this video. A simple explanation for this is that the hurried voice-over is directly correlated to the extremely short length of the video. When I first shot the video, I hadn't considered what I was going to say in detail hence no script was prepared beforehand. I was essentially stuck in my old mindset of thinking the video would be accompanied only by background music. So when the time came to do the voice-over, I found myself speaking extraordinarily fast to fit a specific narrative within a scene that was too short in length.

b) An inability to autofocus on my iPhone resulted in an irritating visual abberation. Each time the less than ideal manual focus was engaged, the video would brighten up exponentially. Going forward, I might've to find a way to shoot around this and edit the abberation out.

c) Time constraints during video production/editing meant there weren't any visual indicators to point out parts of the scale model kit being talked about. Obviously this can be a problem if you are either new to the hobby or unfamiliar with the kit in question. Thankfully, this is one issue that can be easily rectified without having to resort to lengthy post-production video editing. In the future, all I have to do is use a toothpick to physically point out what I'm talking about. It's that simple.

d) Technically my iPhone keeps heating up and shutting down in mid-shot. Whilst I do not know for sure, I suspect there are two possible culprits in this issue. Firstly, my iPhone is very old and its battery is perhaps no longer working at an optimum level. Secondly, the screen-mirroring software isn't syncing the laptop and phone as seamlessly and effectively as I would've liked. Both could be causing the battery to drain quickly, also implying the phone is being utilized too aggressively.    

e) And because I'm still adpating to doing videos that are more than a 360 degree shot of completed projects, I frequently found myself blocking the lens with my hands. Although it wasn't too much of an issue for this particular video, it became disconcerting in videos that I was doing assembly work. Hopefully this is one problem that will go away with increased experience.

To view the video showcasing the fully painted interior and engine of the Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle (1966 Model), please click on the image below:

Notwithstanding all the issues, there are still nuggets of useful footage to be gleaned from the video above. At the very least, it should give you a glimpse of the potential inherent in this kit. Thank you for taking the time to view it and I'll certainly try my utmost best to make better ones in the future. Again many thanks if you had spent your precious time in viewing my video. Please do not hesitate to leave some constructive criticism if you have any. Thanks again, and have a great weekend ahead!

Bumblebee, Autobot Transformer in vehicle form [WIP: Air-Cooled Engine of the Volkswagen 1300 Beetle]

While a large portion of the Volkswagen 1300 Beetle (1966 Model) engine components (i.e. engine assembly/cylinder attachment and fan housing/engine installation) had already been painted, weathered and placed into the rear interior, the air-cooled engine itself wasn't finished yet as a whole. To complete the engine, I still had to paint and assemble a couple of tiny, fragile parts such as the Air Cleaner/Intake which is connected to the Warm Air Pipe, the Distributor and the Heater Hoses. This blog post chronicles the final few steps towards the completion of the Beetle's rear-engine.   

Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle Air-Cooled Engine [closeup view, right]

Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle Air-Cooled Engine [closeup view, front]

Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle Air-Cooled Engine [closeup view, left]

Work on the Air Intake, Air Cleaner, Warm Air Pipe, Heater Hoses, and Distributor parts (see below) began only after I had put together the interior of the Beetle. This was necessary because parts of the engine like the Heater Hoses actually connect to the frame of the rear interior. The work comprised freehand red warning pseudo-letterings on the Air Cleaner; an orange-black-metal color scheme on the Distributor; and finally a grey-black wash combo for the Heater Hoses. In addition to these new additions, I also painted existing engine components i.e. the Ignition Coil in a light turquoise color while adding a touch of metallic paint to the nuts and bolts securing the Fan Pulley Cover. 

Beetle Engine Components: Air Cleaner/Intake with Warm Air Pipe (left) and Distributor (right)

Volkswagen (VW) 1300 Beetle (1966 Model) Engine Components: Heater Hoses

VW 1300 Beetle latest engine components in a scale comparison to a five sen coin and paperclip

Because all the above fragile pieces were added to the existing engine setup only after the vehicle interior had been assembled, it was a minor miracle I didn't break any of the parts during assembly. However it wasn't all plain sailing as I had struggled mightily to fit both Heater Hoses onto the rear body framework. In fact, the fit was so tight that no glue was needed in the end. Still, I managed not to break anything so all good. Well, not exactly. The true test of whether I have fitted the engine correctly into the rear will come when I secure the Beetle's exterior body onto the interior/chassis.

State of the VW 1300 Beetle Engine prior to completion, with its Ignition Coil painted in light turquoise

Air Intake/Cleaner with Pipe, Distributor and Heater Hoses all laid out prior to assembly into the Engine

Tamiya 1/24 scale VW 1300 Beetle Air-Cooled Engine [closeup, angled top down view]

Apart from the dashboard, the Beetle's rear-engine is the only other section with a significant amount of detail. In the coming weeks, I will probably work on other fairly detailed parts such as the wheels, hubcaps, rims, headlights, etc. And as impressive as the details on these will likely turn out to be, I don't expect any of them to outdo the overall wow-factor engendered by the dashboard and engine.

Tamiya 1/24 scale VW 1300 Beetle Air-Cooled Engine [zoomed out view, front]

Weathering effects on the engine and its surrounding compartment exist ...

... albeit in a subtle manner; all effects were applied using Tamiya Weathering Master sets

As reference I had used a photo I found online on what seems to be a Volkswagen Beetle (1966 Model) restoration project. With the photo as a baseline guide, I had proceeded to paint up the engine so that it had a slightly more than passing resemblance of the actual engine. While I'm sadly not knowledgeable enough to know whether the colors closely resemble those found in a newly minted engine back in 1966, I feel it's good enough seeing that my subject matter is make-believe anyway.

Reference photo of what seems to be an actual VW 1300 Beetle (1966 Model) engine

With my Tamiya 1/24 scale Volkswagen 1300 Beetle (1966 Model) project about halfway done, I am thinking of doing another short video to better showcase the myriad of details on the car interior and chassis. An uninterrupted 360 degree view of progress so far will likely give the average observer a better appreciation of the inherent qualities of this kit. More selfishly, it will give me a chance to play with the VEGAS Pro 15 Edit software, and get better at video editing. So if I've managed to pique your interest, even for just a little bit, then please look out for that particular video in the near future. Until then, I bid you goodbye until we meet again my dear readers. Stay safe and be well.