1980 Jeep CJ-7 'tribute'

And we're off!

I carefully took the Jeep apart (that 20-yr. old glue never stood a chance and some of the joints had already popped anyway), swiped the wheels from the Aoshima kit, and found some seats from the spare parts stash that actually match the high-back seats with Bestop seat covers... got everything dusted off and cleaned up. I tried searching for a 6-cylinder engine in the stash, but could only find a 4-banger, so I guess I'll just leave the 304 V8 in the chassis (even though it's painted the wrong color - I don't plan on displaying it with the hood up, anyway). AND, I found an actual Warn 8274 winch in the kit as well - SCORE!



Tomorrow, I have brass band rehearsal for an upcoming gig, so I'll get back to it on Friday.

Lots of work done yesterday. I got the seats swapped out, cleaned up, and painted (found the 'correct' back seat in one of my Desert Rat CJ-7 kits). Also touched up some details on the dash, firewall, and the frame.

Since the axles were 'narrowtrac' axles (as original to my Jeep as well, which I've swapped in 'widetrac' axles on the 1:1), and the Aoshima wheels mount with pins, rather than pegs & caps like the original wheels and axles have, I made some axle tube extensions (sleeves of a sort) out of sprue with small holes for the wheel pins, and larger holes for the axle-side pegs. That also took care of the 'narrowtrac' vs. 'widetrac' dilemma.

Wheels are just tossed on for the pic - still gotta make the drums & discs to mount up with the wheels


Still gotta paint the winch mount & fairlead, finish the winch, and figure out how to get the fire extinguisher on the roll bar.


And finally, I freehanded the SuperSwamper tread pattern I'd masked and sprayed on 1:1 to hide my 'mesquite pin-stripes' from wheelin' out in the sticks over the years.



Got some more work to do today. Hopefully get the engine plumbed and wired [maybe] and get it together. Then, I'll need to work out the windshield (and the all-important Mister 4x4 decal) along with the front & rear bumpers and nerf bars.

So I've been a little busy this past week with various things, but got some time to Photoshop some decals and scratch-build the front & rear goodies I built for the 1:1.

I built this tire rack after I replaced the mangled corners, since the full-size tire was too much for the factory rack.


And here's how we came out on the little one:


For fun, I tossed on the hard top (not even straight, either - grrrr):


Kind of came out pretty much how it's supposed to, eh:



And now, we have the front bumper and winch all mounted up:






Pretty close - not 100% sure I'll keep that bumper - the sprue was too thick apparently, and I cut the main tubes a little short. I guess I'll see what it looks like with the lights mounted up.

So, it's getting pretty close:


Still need to touch up some things (those taillights, for one), make the nerf bars, cargo net, and my camp chairs in the back, and toss on the little tiny pieces (such as the hood loops, tie downs, wipers, license plates, mirrors, antennas, etc.).

It might be time to face the facts, though: I think I might be better at building full-size stuff, than trying to make miniatures of it.

OK - so get the fork ready to stab, I'm calling this one done.

Today, I made the sunvisors, off road lights, some hubs (Superwinch blue caps), an antenna, and a steering stabilizer (that's still drying since glossy paint takes way longer than flat). Also, got the side mirrors, rear view mirror, and everything else stuck on.

I'm pretty happy how it all turned out - a few things could've gone better, but I'm not going to sweat it considering the direction it was going when I pulled it apart and rebooted things. I think the only things missing found on the full size are the rear speakers, Taz rubber floor mats, and the wiring for the winch & lights, otherwise it's pretty much all there.

I had this idea of making the covers using some masking tape - glad I went the other way and just cut some pieces of a hot glue stick instead


I still love how the center console and cargo net came out. Pretty much dead on!






The sun visors are blue because that's the original color of the interior - haven't changed 'em out yet. I'm lovin' the soft top, too.


That antenna is a tad thick, but it's the only paper clip I could find - the skinny plastic one shattered as I was pulling it from the sprue.


The off road light covers look like they have some bug splats on 'em (which the real ones do as well)


Tires are still a little too big, but dang that stance looks cool!


I'm not sure which kit to start next, but I'm leaning toward revisiting my '82 Mustang, since the one I built back in '89 looks like such a horrible replica of the real car compared to how this one came out. Not to mention, I actually scored the correct year model ('79-'82 vs. '83-'84), found the correct wheels, and have some good reference pics. After that, I might have to try something other than a car (I have some cool sci-fi kits and am kind of itching to see how that goes).

Thanks for sticking with me!