The post I have today brings some nice additions to the VW bus project. After eight hours of modeling I've been able to complete the front and rear bumpers, refinements to the convertible sun roof, rear tail lights, rear license plate, and minor tweaks here and there along the way to improve various alignment of previously modeled parts.
I was happy that I took the time to collect all of the reference photos for this project. I had to double check several photos to get the trim figured out for the front and rear bumpers along with the piece of trim shown in this photo that is below the rear passenger doors. I also refined the rear view mirrors a bit to get the stem for the mirror to be a bit more correct.
I also removed the indentation for the wiper blades that I had previously modeled just below the windshields. The wiper blades will be next on my to do list in the coming week or so. This will be a fairly easy task to create them as once I get one modeled I will just duplicate another one and place it in the model. I had to figure out also how the wiper blades are placed on the bus if the front windows are open. What is done I found out is to have the wiper blades cross one another like you would fold your arms. A simple thing to model so it will be an easy task to complete.
The rear of the bus was interesting as well to model and find the photos I needed for the parts you see in the image above. I managed to track down the correct font for the Volkswagen name plate that is on the rear door of the bus along with a photo of the "T" handle to open it.
The tail lights were simple enough to model as they are just an elongated circle with a chrome piece surrounding the light. The lights also have a small rubber gasket that goes between them and the body of the rear of the bus. The rear bumper is similar to the front but without the center bumper over-rider tube so that the rear engine cover can be opened up. I originally had it modeled with this center tube in place and thought it was kind of strange that it would be this way and again with my reference photos I was able to correct this before I completed the model.
The front chrome and black trim on the bumper is very similar to the chrome and black trim that is on the body. It is only a little different in shape and size. I was going to add a front license plate but I think I will leave the model the way it is as I like the nice clean look of the bus without the plate covering up a good portion of the front end.
In this upper shot of the bus you can see plainly that the interior needs to be put into the model. So it will be added as planned in the coming weeks. For now the exterior is nearly complete with what I've shown you today.
I was really happy to get the top vinyl folded cover for the sun roof tweaked a bit more. It looks a more realistic now with the folds in the top coming together a bit more believably. So I am constantly looking the model over again and again as I work on it at all kinds of different angles. This helps me get a more detailed model in the end as I pick it apart and refine it when I see something I don't particularly like.
With the additions I've mentioned here the hours have stacked up pretty well with all the work I've added to the bus. Eight more hours to be exact. So the total now for the model has come up to 49.5 hours total. I will be pretty accurate in saying that the completed model will be close to 100 hours time to complete. Another interesting fact of my bus is that at this point there are 179 individual parts in the model. This does not include parts that are mirrored in the model. Lots of parts to be sure but every little piece adds to the detail in the model. I'm again pleased with my efforts so far. I hope you agree and enjoy the images. More posts on this project will be in the works.
Are the files for the bus avaialable for purchase?
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