Small Scale Military Headquarters

Okay bananapirate and mg-42 got me going on their very neat Type 87 customs, so while putting a 1:18 together I found these 1:32s and tried my had at it as I am working on a 1:18, please have a good laugh on me.

Jim

thats really really cool. did the germans really utilize vw bugs??

Indeed they did. Here is a link to a page with plenty of pics.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... s%3Disch:1


-Kevin

Not bad, but if you're going to go for realism/accuracy you'll need to be aware of a number of things when you do the 1/18 version.

Those 1/32 models you have need headlights, tail lights, license plate light, possibly the rear window, rims and other small items altered/changed. The interiors will probably need reworking as well since the military vehicles were sparse on the inside (civilian vehicles were not mass produced until the British took over the factory post-war).

For some reason it doubled my post, but now I can edit this one and add something:

The 4-wheel drive version of the Type 87 has only 4 known surviving examples left in the world. Three are in museums and one is in the hands of a private collector in Sweden.

He drives it around.

Thanks for the remarks, this 1:32 is a 1971 model and I tried to hide it as best as possible, the 1:18 I'm working on is a 1951 model with the split rear window and I am trying to redo the interior as best I can.

Looks real good!

Here are some comparison photos:

Type 87 (~1942):

Photo on left is a Type 877; it has the wrong rims. You'll notice the Type 87 has no front bumper - there is a roller in front for helping climb over brush. The horn vent next to the left headlight is also larger than in later models, and is not a chrome vent. Early Beetles also used semaphores located in the door pillars instead of turn signal lights as you see on modern cars (or on the fenders of the 1971). Early Beetles also had only one exhaust pipe, not two as you see on the 1951 and the 1971. Notice also the bumpers of the '51 compared to the Type 877. The 877 has a flatter ribbed bumper (ultra expensive to obtain an OEM set) as opposed to the rounder non-ribbed later models. You can see many differences between these two and the 1971.

In fact, between 1950 and 1970 there were already over 1000 changes that had been made to the Beetle's design, but they were done in such a way as to make most every part fit any year Beetle (this idea was crushed when VW began exporting to the US and had to begin dealing with safety and emissions regulations here). That's why they all look alike to most people.

1951 Sedan:


1971 Sedan:


I'm sure with a little work you can get the 1/18 to pass muster for your purposes but it'll take a bit of work to get by a VW nut and thankfully there aren't any of those on this forum . For a real challenge, you could try converting a Beetle to a Kubelwagen. The floorpans are very similar but things go awry after that point.

Thanks for the tips, I am still not sure what is correct, the version that I am trying to do is a Afrika Korps one and everything I have found so far shows no roller and with bumpers.

I'm sure that mine will not be correct no matter how much I try, but its something that I have seen and thought that it was such a neat vehicle.

I believe what you want is the Type 82E then. That looks like the Type 87 but is 2WD, not 4WD. It has the bumpers.

http://www.missing-lynx.com/gallery/48/ ... e48_1.html

Check the bottom of the Wiki page for the variants on the chassis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_K%C3%BCbelwagen

The Volkswagen museum of Puerto Rica has a Type 87 on display with bumpers and no roller, it seems there were several different versions.