Willy's STUMPkamper - part 2 - body details

Feb 2015: Once the general body proportions were finalised, it was time to add a few details to help break up the slabby nature of the vehicle, and add visual interest when displayed as a static model.

With the concept/back story firmly decided that this was an ex-Dakar race truck, inevitably that would allow for plenty of auxiliary LED lights to be fitted - including a barrage of spotlights in a suitable support/protection frame on the roof of the cab, together with what I consider will be a neat solution for the now removed headlight surrounds that were originally below the front wing/fenders (and which got in the way of the huge tyres!).

At the rear, to compliment the regular brake/tail lights, I have also included some high level fog/dust lights, as is technically correct on an off-road racing truck. I decided that since this was effectively the 'big brother' to the original STUMPkin, that I would mirror the rear light design, with two pairs of round lenses.

Although the temptation was to completely cover the bodywork in sponsor stickers* and stripes/logos etc. I still like the idea that Willy took a race truck, and replaced the rear box body with an ex-military radio body, to create his Kamper...

This will also help tie the more 'racy' front end (with a nod to the colour scheme of the original Willys Wheeler), with effectively the donor to the project that is the Wily Willy 2. As such, the rear box will be painted in a matt oilve drab, complete with a few WW2 detail military decals; and to further tie the two concepts together, I have transplanted the spare wheel (including the carrier part from the original tailgate) onto the rear panel.

Finally, before starting to add the various layers of primer and colour incorporating the salt-weatherering technique, I also took the opportunity to add a few 'scratch built' scale details that I couldn't satisfactorily source from a 3rd party...

In a moment of Blue-Peter style inspiration, I realised that wire coat hanger would be the perfect dimension for a hoop/rung style access ladder on the rear box body, and also suitable to create a series of low profile roof rails should a load need to be lashed to the rear roof deck (which itself is chequer-plate pattern). Each rung was bent carefully around the jaw of a bench vice, to maintain consistency - and the result was surprisingly uniform and realistic I thought?

*The Dakar graphics themselves are a custom set from the guys at Screenprint Digital. They already offer a range of designs from different years, but unfortunately they were all a little too large for the 1:14th scale body of this build. They are also all car race numbers (the 300s), and technically to be correct, the trucks start with 500. I also particularly wanted the 2011 edition graphics, and they were able to accommodate my changes and scale them down approximately 20% so the door race numbers will fit perfectly!

The body is currently covered in layers of salt while I apply the base coat, then it will require masking to create the two-tone design, before the final assembly can commence...

In the meantime, Jack and Wanda still seem to be arguing about which spotlight covers to use!

Jenny xx