Hasegawa

1/24 Volkswagen Type 2 Micro Bus (1963) w/surfboards

Kit Number: 20247

Reviewed by  Chuck Hermann, IPMS# 33111

MSRP: $83.95 Website: www.dragonmodelsusa.com The Subject: The first generation Volkswagen bus is an enduring symbol of the 1960’s. Based on the design of the original VW Beetle, the bare bones air-cooled rear engine truck was popular around the world in many variations, including a family hauler (the first mini-van?), a pickup truck and several commercial vehicles. This reissued kit is the 23 window Micro Bus, 1963 vintage. Hasegawa has released this model before, as well as delivery van and pickup truck versions – I have those in my kit pile with boxes marked from the late 90’s. What makes this version unique is the inclusion of some surfboards, otherwise it is the same tool as previously offered. The Kit: This is a curbside kit, meaning it has an interior but not a full engine. The kit comes in a sturdy box, with everything packed in separate plastic packages. The box art is a beautiful painting of the subject van on the beach with the surfboards included in the model. There are seventy-nine pieces that are used, along with others on the sprues that are not used in this particular version. The body is molded in an off white plastic, with other parts in gray and black. There are several chrome sprues, the tires are rubber, and there are three sprues of clear plastic parts. The instructions are a fold out sheet with eight steps and thorough painting directions. Body: The body is one main piece. Mold lines are minimal. The VW logo on the front of the body is molded on. These vans featured a folding cloth sunroof, in the kit this is represented by a molded on textured area on the roof. The doors and engine cover are molded in, but there are score lines that would easily allow them to be easily cut open. But there are no hinges, no interior door detail and only the lower portion of the engine. There are twenty three window openings. The window trim is molded into the body, so either painting it (no masking is included) or applying chrome foil is a lengthy task. For my build I painted it out with flat black, using a brush. The window glass is all clear plastic, two main pieces and three separate windows. It attaches from the underside and mine fit with no problems. There were some scratches on my kit parts, but I was able to polish them out using Bare-Metal polish. The headlight buckets are chrome, with clear lenses. Turn signals are chrome pieces, so you need to use clear red and orange paint. There are two sets of bumpers included, one is chromed. Also there are two sets on chrome side mirrors in the box. The wipers and door handles are separate chrome pieces. Engine: Since this a curbside kit, there is not a complete engine. There is just one piece with underside details that glues onto the bottom of the frame. A separate chromed exhaust exits out the back. Chassis/Suspension: The chassis is a one piece unit. There are a lot of serious circular mold marks on the bottom of the chassis, and they are hard to sand off since they are between the molded on frame rails. The suspension is pretty basic. The front features the twin beam suspension, the rear drivetrain is minimal. The wheels attach using the rubber bushing method popular with Japanese model kits. The wheels are unplated, with chrome center dog dish hubcaps. You must use the hubcaps to hold the wheels in place, and there is no hub detail if you wanted to leave them off. Interior: The interior builds up off the top of the chassis. The dashboard attached to the underside of the body. There is no side panel detail, so you just see the inside of the body. This version features three bench seats. Decals and Custom parts: The new elements of this release are the decal sheet and the surfboards. The surfboards are actually resin, not styrene, with two surfboards with separate fins that come in a bag along with two roof racks. One of my roof racks was quite warped. The decal sheet contains the usual body markings along with lots of pinstriping and fin decals for the surfboards. All the VW logos to build a stock version are included, as are the dashboard markings. The Build: I wanted to do an alternative paint job, not the factory stock upper/lower two tone suggested by the box art. There were lots of custom paint jobs on these vans; I wanted to go for something in the hippy style from the late 1960’s. In the end I went with a red, white and blue scheme. The paints used were Tamiya acrylics over Rustoleum White primer, with a final coat of Testors Lacquer Ultra Clear. The interior seats and dash was painted with Tamiya grey acrylic, the floor with flat black, as was the bottom of the chassis. Tamiya grey acrylic was also used for the sunroof, along with some weathering to represent fabric. Summary: Everything went together well; the main flaws were the mold marks on the chassis and some scratches on the clear window glass on my sample. Detailing the window trim is most intensive part of the build. It builds into a nice curbside model, somewhat simplified but a serious modeler could add a lot of details, especially if the doors were opened up. After some issues with the body paint job I was satisfied with the results. Thanks to Dragon Models USA and to IPMS/USA for supplying the review sample.