Toyota Land Cruiser BJ44V

[adamsfly]

So...... I feel like the chassis is about 90% complete. I will still need to mount the battery tray and when I finish the body, I will need to find a way to mount that. Oh, there will also be the front bumper and rear bumperettes. I guess it's only about 85% complete. Anyhow, I got all the piece parts painted and ready for assembly.



I really wasn't happy with my handcrafted shackles so I used some links from an ANSI 25 chain. I like these much better.



And, the assembly of the shackle.





I also made some all show,No go, shocks.




Some assembled images.












Even though I still have some details to finish here, I think my next post will have something to do with the body.

Thanks for looking!

[adamsfly]

Well, that was easier than I thought. It only took a few days to make the body. Oh wait a minute, that's just a paper cut out. I do like the way it looks but I think the rear wheel well should be a little taller. Thoughts?





Thanks for looking!

[Raptorn]

Excellent work! I know how hard the little metal bits are to make, so mad respect on those.

[adamsfly]

Originally Posted by Raptorn

Excellent work! I know how hard the little metal bits are to make, so mad respect on those.

Thanks! I'm glad someone else understands the tiny part difficulties.



It is time to take the plunge and begin building the body. Being this is my first attempt at a scratch built body and I plan to do more, I decided to by a couple 4x8 sheets of styrene from a locale plastic distributer. Oh my! what a deal that is and, I have enough for at least several bodies. Anyhow, I got the sides and rear floor cut out.



The rear corners shaped and attached.





Floor and rear body panel in place.





More to come soon. Thanks for looking!

[adamsfly]

Things are moving in the right direction but it is painfully slow. Something like a glacial pace. I knew up front that this was not going to be easy and I am enjoying the challenge but damn! it is slow. This will take far longer than the chassis maybe because I feel that working with metal is easier than plastic or, it might be the chassis, being underneath, doesn't have to look as good. It reminds me of home remodeling. I can hang sheet rock (chassis) but I'm smart enough to have someone else do the finish work (body). The last couple of days the only thing I've accomplished is the rear wheel wells, front floor pan and firewall.

















Thanks for looking!

[chino63]

Don't let the slow pace deter you, you are doing an exceptional job so far.

[adamsfly]

Originally Posted by chino63

Don't let the slow pace deter you, you are doing an exceptional job so far.

Thank you for the kind and inspirational words. I wouldn't say I am getting deterred, It's just that it takes time.

[adamsfly]

So things seem to being going in a forward direction and I am beginning to see some positive results. I have the grill cut out along with the roughed out headlight bezel.



And the grill, bezel and hinge thingy placed together.



I wasn't sure how I was going to make the hood since it has rounded corners, so I decided to make a mold and do a little vacuum forming. Since my current title is Process/Vacuum Engineer, I felt confident I could mess it up real good. Anyhow, I made the mold long enough to include the cowl so I would just need to cut that off. I also made some molds for the rear corners for the top.



The mold with the hood/cowl.



I wasn't thrilled with the way the hood came out. It seemed to have a sag in the middle which is not correct. I really didn't pay enough attention to the mold I made. You know what they say "cr@p in, cr@p out". It was really bugging me so I prematurely started to add extra styrene, put in putty and try to shape it better. The results so far are promising but I'm still not totally satisfied. I might redo the mold and start over. Here is how it's turned out.





Placed on the body with the cowl and grill.







Thanks for looking!

[clarketian]

Those scratch built beautiful body curves......

[joe122]

Wow...coming together very nicely! And Yep...nice curves!

[adamsfly]

Originally Posted by clarketian

Those scratch built beautiful body curves......

Originally Posted by joe122

Wow...coming together very nicely! And Yep...nice curves!

Thanks guys. I too like the way the body curves are looking.

[adamsfly]

Time for an update. I have come to the conclusion that the way to approach this, at least for me, is to get all exterior panels, doors, blah blah, roughed in and then proceed with final shaping. I know this might seem obvious, but I've seen some other builds, on this site and others, where the rough panels look so good that there isn't much finish work at all. At this time my skills are not nearly at that level. I hope after completing this that I will have learned something so that my next build will be better.

So I started working on the front fenders. My plan was to get the base or lower part on and build up from there.







I built up the outside and front edge with .25" wide by .030 styrene followed by a "top cap".





My little pea brain couldn't figure out how to make this a complete assembly with the fender extended beyond the grill and wrapping around the front, so I plan on putting on a piece afterwards.

Putting on the "top cap"











Roughing in the windshield support.





And, moving on to the doors.









Thanks for looking!

[adamsfly]

Originally Posted by q_at96

Looking good. Very interested in how it turns out. Great job


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! I'm hoping it turns out good. I'm thinking it will turn out good.

[yxa]

Really impressing

Entertaining to look at and i could only wish i had the time and mostly the patience to do something like this.

Good work.


Sent from my ruttna äpple using Tapatalk

[17dean]

Fantastic work!!!!!!!

[adamsfly]

Originally Posted by yxa

Really impressing

Entertaining to look at and i could only wish i had the time and mostly the patience to do something like this.

Good work.


Sent from my ruttna äpple using Tapatalk

Thank you. I just have to make time to do this. And, yes! it does take patience.

Originally Posted by 17dean

Fantastic work!!!!!!!

Thanks! It really is a learning experience.

[adamsfly]

As I mentioned before, I am trying to get everything roughed in and then proceed with finishing. So, it is time to start on the top.

Getting the sides cut out.



Putting the corners on. These were vacuumed formed when I did the hood.







And, I was able to get the ever so slight angle in the back.


Time to cut out the rear windows. This thread cutting technique is one of the most useful methods in modifying these plastic bodies.





Placing both sides on the body.







On the chassis.







Thanks for looking.

[adamsfly]

Small update. I haven't had much time lately to work on this project but started to get the sides braced up.





I decided I wanted to have the top removable in order to access the interior or possibly run it topless. I am going to attempt to make the ambulance doors two piece, top and bottom. Here are the results so far.

















Thanks for looking!

[adamsfly]

I thought I would take some time off from fabricating parts and do a little shaping and sanding. The front fenders were bugging me looking all blocky and such. Besides, I was curious if I could make them look good. The results so far are very promising and its given me more inspiration to diligently work on this thing. After all, if I don't get it done by mid May it won't get done until the end of the year. I also think I am getting the rear wheel wells close to what they should look like.













I also placed the "end cap" on the front of the fender as I stated earlier in my thread and I think with some final sanding that this too will look ok.



I know I'm jumping around some, but while I was sanding and what not I thought I would work a little on the headlight bezel.





Thanks for looking.

[adamsfly]

A very minor update. Worked on getting the windshield frame roughed in and i'm not sure how I feel about it. After getting to this point it looks to me that the windshield opening might not be large enough. I hate to scrap it cause it took awhile to make but I do want it to look close to correct. Anyhow, this is what i've got.



And with molding.