Volkswagen Beetle 1303S Rally

Needed another quick no hassle build after the Porsche Carrera 6.

The kit is by Imai, is curbside and once again very basic. The interior is of the shallow type to allow for batteries when it was sold as a motorised kit. The instructions are copyrighted 1979.



Built entirely box stock except for the 'Bungie' ropes for the roof rack spare wheel. Those I made from anglers power gum.

I was expecting trouble with the decals but with the exception of the door numbers, they were strong and conformed well without decal softener. The white door squares for the numbers, were translucent and let the red bleed through quite badly but they don't look to bad since I applied the weathering.

Here she is in the shop almost complete:





And here she is after several hard stages on the South African Rally.

Nice one Al. The weathering looks spot-on, I didn't even know they made this kit

Al, a lot of this kit looks just like the kit I am using for the basis of my "Salt Shaker" Bonneville bug. It is also a type 1303 (Super Beetle), and also set up with the shallow interior and simplified chassis for motorized propulsion.

My kit is from Aoshima, but it is molded in red also, and has some parts that I did not know what they were for. I now know, as one of them was the clear windscreen deflector! Mine did not have the whale tail or the roof rack, or the decals. But the rest looks very similar.

For the Salt Shaker, I pitched the main chassis, and just used the front chassis clip for the super beetle front suspension. The main chassis/engine/powertrain for mine came from the Tamiya VW kit.

Great job on the kit, but the way. I love the weathering, as it looks just perfect for having that mud glazed look. The weathering is so fine, that it looks very realistic for the scale!! Nicely done.

Tops all around!

Looks really cool both clean and dirty. Nice one Al!

WOW!!! No doubt the best built Beetle I've ever seen. So realistic with the weathering. Very nice !

Looks great Al. The weathering is right on the money. Super job.

Decals and perfect weathering move it from a yawn to a real rally/racer! Thanx for keeping historic rallying alive with your rare kit!

Thanks guys.

Jeff Johnston wrote:WOW!!!  No doubt the best built Beetle I've ever seen.  So realistic with the weathering.  Very nice !  

Wow Jeff, that's quite the compliment coming from you. Thanks.

Cool build Al.

Sweet job on the weathering, Skid.
Definitely makes the model more interesting!

I have been heavily into building Beetles in the recent past, and believe me building models is a whole lot easier.
Here's a pic of my real racer that I sold last year after a two year build....