Land Rover FC

[shannwah]

So this idea has been kicking around in my head for about a year and now it's finally time to put it to action. I'm no Land Rover expert, but the FC was produced back when the Series II was being made. There weren't a lot of them produced and there aren't many left around. From my research I've seen a lot that have been modified to suit a specific purpose and quite a few have been restored or rebuilt using Defender parts, particularly the cab, using the Defender windscreen and roof. So I'll be using a D90 body as the base.

A couple of different configurations crossed my mind: single cab truck or camper. But then I stumbled accross this...




You can see the join in this cab at the front of the rear door and so you can see it's two cabs combined, both using front doors. I'll be using the D90 body and cutting my own rear doors into the rear section.

First thing to do was fill in the sunroof.










And then....it's moment of truth time!





The front section from the leading edge of the door to the front tapers in a bit, so the theory is that I will add material to the inside and then file down the side profile to get the shape.

[shannwah]

Started working on the front section. I filed the side in and took a little too much off, so had to add styrene back in 0.5mm sheets to build up some thickness....saved! Then worked on the curve down the top. Still only in very rough form, but I'm happy with the shape. Gotta do the other side now!

[shannwah]

Got out the cotton again and more pieces started to fly.

First the rear fenders.


Then while waiting for some of the plastic to harden on the other side of the front, started working on the right side.





Got rid of some of these pesky little things. There's going to be a door here.



And found this weird hole that needed filling.

[Jonnie Fraz]

Nice work I look forward to seeing more.

[shannwah]

Thanks mate.

Got the left hand front tapering/curve stage 1 completed! Thought I'd follow suit with the other side: once I'd carved it down to taper inwards, I re-skinned it with a 0.25mm sheet rather than filling and finishing the surface. The sheet has buckled a little, but this was kinda in the plan as it may turn out to look like sheet metal in the end.





Now it's onto forming the centre section with it's curves on the sides and small bonet that curves down to the front.

And i have filled in the right rear wheel arch. Started by backing it with a sheet, then adding the piece in to fill the arch, then fill the gap.

[EZ CHOPPER]

I'm all about custom that's about all I do I love building stuff that's different. Cant wait to see some more of this.

[shannwah]

Thanks mate!


So I've got the wheel arches to a point where I'm happy with them......missing! Several applications of putty were needed to account for the shrinkage. My world is putty and dust, I'm going MAD!





Thank God for wet sanding!


Now back to the front. Time to start on the next set of curves. I glued several layers together to form a block which I could then file down to shape.







From here I thought I'd try something. The new curved section I've created doesn't match the same profile as what's left of the existing hood. I thought of laying a thin sheet over the curve that then extends back to the windscreen section to hopefully cover the gap.





Seems to work OK!





And then, through some kind of magic, I'm able to take these photos without holding the pieces together with my hands!





And once again, trying to use as much styrene as possible before resorting to putty.





More sanding and filling required.

And also whipped up the little mudguard things x 2.



More progress than I thought now that I stop to look at it!!

[pixelnate]

Looks great. Bizarre, but awesome. What are you using for glue?

Tappa who?

[joe122]

Wow, this isn't just a build, it's an awesome display of "sculpting" with styrene! Very cool! Will follow this one. What chassis are you using?

[shannwah]

Thanks guys.

For glue: up to now I've been using your standard hobby grade styrene solvent, but have just recently bought a bottle of "PVC Primer" from my local hardware store. It's exactly the same chemical.....M.E.K. but it's less than half the price for a larger quantity!

For the chassis I've decided on the Sawback: leaf sprung and should be easy to extend the chassis to get the wheelbase I'm after. Best value for rmoney too with reasonably scale looking axles.



Soooo it's coming together bit by bit. Started on the front. I'm using the light buckets and lenses from the D90 body kit with just a bit of re-arranging. Anyone that's worked with one of these bodies will see I'm using the same technique of mounting them. The bucket fits into a hole in the sheet and then the lens sits over that and will be covered by an outer sheet.





Another layer now added to match the height of the buckets.



And then the lenses added. They are flipped on their side so the little light sits at the top on each side. I will then use the blinkers that normally go on the rear of the truck which will sit above these.



Trust me, once it's done, it will all come together!!

And on to the grill, this was fun!!



Then, a slight unexpected set back.





But some heat soon flattened that out and right now it's clamped to my desk where it will stay for a couple of days while the glue sets it to the sheet that will be the outermost layer. We'll see if it's worked later in the week eh!



and I had to cut away the front like this as i didn't account for all the layering of the front section causing it to be around 4mm thick. So this will keep it flush.



Aaaaaand....I've also made a start on the dreaded rear doors that I've been putting off. Have started scribing the door gaps in and adding some detail to see how it looks.



I used a steel ruler to scribe this.






Reference pic:

[Hammer!]

Wow! Awesome work with the styrene, looks amazing so far! Honestly I don't think I've ever seen a Landcover FC, so unique choice too

[shannwah]

Thanks mate.


aaaaannnnd......SUCCESS!

[shannwah]

One rear door finished. Would have been more pics of the "during" stage, but I accidentally hit the "delete" button instead of the "bluetooth" button, so had to settle for taking more completed pics! It's late here.


Here's the inspiration. Incidentally, the build very nearly went in this direction before a last minute switch.















To fill in that rear section of the original window, I cut down the original window and trimmed off the raised edges that form the seals. Then re-skinned the whole section with a 0.5mm sheet.



See you on the other side.

[kakachille]

Looks good nice work

[Arctic Fire]

Please Please consider this paint scheme and set up.. Love this support vehicle from the G4 Challenge

[shannwah]

Yeah that's cool!

Thanks again guys.

Onto the door on the other side. i took a few pics and didn't delete them this time!

Here you see the window being cut down and covered over.



And the finished product, minus the glass.



Then, it was onto the front again and time to tackle the curved little bonnet.

First i added a strip across this section to be a lip that the next sheet will attach to.



Firstly, there is a 0.5mm sheet to form the base curve. This is attached to an anchoring sheet that hooks in behind the grill section.



Like so:



A little heat to get things started:



First joint glued:



And then the front glued on to hold it in place. The curve is a lot stronger than I thought it would be. I will still add 1 or 2 more sheets of 0.25mm over the curve and I think that will stiffen it up even more. But a pretty pleasing result so far!

[kakachille]

This is so cool love ur d90 also

[shannwah]

Thankyou guys.


And I've put Sam to work in the shed....

[shannwah]

The bonet (hood) is done. Added 2 more layers of 0.25 styrene. The colour is due to the particular welding solvent I'm using and these are clear sheets.







The inside:



And late last week, a funny looking box turned up.



So it was time for some mockery.

[shannwah]

Much work has been going on of late.

Added some details to the inside of the body.



The front door insides are glued onto the body, not like the normal Gelande interior where they are attached to the floor. This is re-enforcing the theme here that this truck uses a later model 90 body that's been converted to an FC using older series parts.



Then I started on the floor.





and a bit of a test fit for seeking Sam's approval.....his approval means so much to me!



Then started work on the first set of rear seats.....there will be more. The back section of this thing could just about fit 2 of every species!







And the almost finished product.....still have to add the fabric seams as I did on the front ones.



And then some paint started flying. With paint on the front seats, you can now more clearly see the butt indentations!



Then it was time to extend the rear of the frame to lengthen the wheelbase. WB is at about 335mm now. I used brass section inserted into the C channel of the frame. It was the perfect size to just slide straight in snugly!



Here's where things started getting interesting...time to mount the body for real. I started with a piece of alluminium that acts as a body mount, front bumper mount and bash plate.



You can also see the threaded pipes this mount is attached to which are mounted to the front of the frame to get the extra length out front. The Sawback chassis is good in that it has these forward and upward facing holes at the front making it so versatile.



To get the holes in the bumper aligned, I first made a template from some scrap angle. I drilled the first hole, then just slid it along the piece for the other one. This way the 2 holes are perfectly in line. Might not seem like much to some, but it sure made the job easy for me!



Then it was onto the rear and to start the subframe of the bed. I followed the same technique I used on the 110, using angle attached to the frame rails.





More angle was added at the front of the bed and a plate at the rear of the body to link the two together and give a nice solid body mount.





And so this is how she sits as of now.....this thing is huge!