Jeep Cherokee body build start to finish...

[Thorpey69]

This shell is for my Axial Scx10 to run in addition to my Rubicon,its going to be fitted with 1.55 wheels and some other special bits as time goes on.Ive fancied a 1.1 version of this vehicle for the past few years but for some reason I haven't got round to buying one as yet so thought why not build a scaler to quench my thirst in the meantime.

The shell I chose is a proline Jeep Cherokee supplied through Rcbitz,first job was the usual cut out and trim from the mould then a trim up with the Dremel and line up on the chassis.....

This is the stage where I drill some holes and make sure that everything lines up correctly on the wheelbase,to fit this shell on the rubicon chassis you have to use the extended body posts which are kindly supplied by axial in the bag of plastic spares.

I ordered up some tail lights from the States and cut them about to make them fit

These were then fitted....

Next up was a metal grill ordered from Spain,this is a nicely made stainless item and also had to be trial fitted before painting..

Next up I decided that I wanted to paint the bumpers and roof rails in black,so on with the tedium of masking everything else up...

I also wanted to paint the wheel arch flares in a dark graphite grey so as to give some contrast....so more masking....

[Gaz!]

looking good so far

[Thorpey69]

This is how it looks after the masking tape has been taken off.....

It's strange how after being 100% sure which colour I was going to go for and even buying it,hat right at the last minute I had a change of heart and thought that I'd go for the colour your going to see,the original choice was going to be metallic gold,but instead we've gone

metallic kermit green which is a Pactra paint which needs to backed up with a white backing coat to bring out the sparkly bits..

[4eyes]

One of my favourite body shells, I'll be watching how this goes.

[Thorpey69]

After all the deliberating on colour schemes I decided to send off the grill to my powder coater to be finished in a satin black,this should make it nice and durable and sit well against the green,whilst waiting for that to be done,I've spent a long time trying to find a suitable set of headlamps,eventually finding a company in the states called Ram who supplied me with a set of rectangular headlamps with classic filament type bulbs for that authentic retro look.

After a week the powder coated grill was returned and I think it looks better than the stainless finish...

Next in went the back lights and a set of Arizona plates to scale.....

And then the lamps arrived...let there be light...

Edited April 8, 2014 by Thorpey69

[Gaz!]

silver would make a better backing to really make it "pop"

[53HRA]

Cracking work so far,never knew Prolines shell had the smaller detailing such as grill and lights.They are getting good!

[Thorpey69]

Cracking work so far,never knew Prolines shell had the smaller detailing such as grill and lights.They are getting good!

They don't,all the additional parts were bought elsewhere.

[Thorpey69]

One of the things that irritated me about the finished shell was the lack of detailing around the windows etc,so after toying with the idea of micro masking and painting window trims on externally I made a trip to half odds and bought some thin black pinstripe...

So after a couple of hours spent on a Sunday afternoon which was strangely therapeutic,I ended up with this...

And then this....

And finally this...

[Andyking]

It always amazes me how a simple job of black lining around windows just seems to bring out the scale looks of every build I've seen it on. Looks fantastic and you make the right call on the grill coating, looks top notch!

Edited April 9, 2014 by Andyking

[TurnipLicker]

Stunning.

Sent from my RM-821_eu_euro1_342 using Tapatalk

[The Dark Knight]

You've made a brilliant job of this so far  The contrast with the wheel arch flares is a nice touch

 

Have you any photos of the lights before you fitted them?

[lazkopat]

This is just amazing, good job 

[Critch]

Stunning, especially as I own a 1:1 xj

Loving the color choice

Sent from my ST25i using Tapatalk 2

:-)

[Thorpey69]

Stunning, especially as I own a 1:1 xj Loving the color choiceSent from my ST25i using Tapatalk 2:-)

Going to buy a 1:1 later this year I think for some winter fun...

I decided the front grill looked a little plain and didn't want to leave the holes where the indicator mount empty,so I borrowed an indicator lens from a Honda c90 and got busy with the Dremel and some small files,this is the result....

Some rather small pieces of orange plastic,the tricky bit was filing and fitting a minuscule bit at a time to get it to slot into the hole,eventually they popped and I shoe glued them in from behind......

Rather pleased with the finished result......

[Thorpey69]

Mock fitted....

[Critch]

Now that's attention to detail,

Sent from my ST25i using Tapatalk 2

[Thorpey69]

A bit more of an update to this shell,I felt the grill wasn't looking quite right so popped down to B&q and bought a sheet of mesh which I cut to size and bonded to the back of the grill.The proline shell came with decals inc grill inserts so I cut these out and stuck them to the shell before refitting the grill,the idea behind this was to add a bit more depth to the front end and authenticity........

[Zardoz]

Great build so far. Love how you did the indicators!

[lazkopat]

Thorpey, did you apply that pinstripe from inside or outside?

 

I'm planning to do that same for my on-going Unimog project, thanks

[mudball]

The grill looks spot on... Good job !!

[Thorpey69]

Thorpey, did you apply that pinstripe from inside or outside?

 

I'm planning to do that same for my on-going Unimog project, thanks

The pinstripe was bought from halfords and I applied it to the outside.

[invididual]

this thread has given me a lot of great info, one thing i am wondering though:

 

Where did you get the tail lights from?

[Thorpey69]

this thread has given me a lot of great info, one thing i am wondering though:

 

Where did you get the tail lights from?

LockedupRc in the states,cheap enough to buy but the shipping is a killer,the guy who runs it is great at communication though.