T&J WWII Willys Jeep Part 2

The rest of this project is really not too dicey and with care and thought it goes fairly easily.  There are things that seem like they could be difficult but in reality working through the solution will bring about good results.

The tools and the gas can seem to be pretty tedious processes but again they are not.  For the tools, I made the spade of the shovel out of a thicker pice of stock and once scrolled into the required shape, I uses a dremel to do the modeling and then sanded to a smooth finish.  I drilled the handle hole in the spade stock before shaping and thinning the piece out.  The axe head was the same provided.  The axes handle was made from a popsicle stick with the plan provided template fastened on and then scroll sawn to shape.  You could hand draw it but I just used the template provided.  Now at this point, I did add a detail to the side of jeep that was present on the actual machine.  That is the frame work to set the shovel head into in order to hold it on the jeep.  I just used 3/32 cocktail sticks for the stock and cut and glued as needed.

The gas can only presented a slight issue with the "X" carved in the body.  Again, the stock was milled to the needed thickness and much larger than required.  The extra size gave me room to use double stick tape to add temp rails set at 45 degrees that I used a Dremel router with an 1/8" bit to carve the "X" configuration in the can body.  After that was completed, the dimensions of the can were drawn on the stock and the outside dimensions were cut. . leaving the area for the handles intact.   I took the piece to the drill press and drilled the three 3/32" holes for the 3 handle rods.  After drilling, I scrolled the relief on the template and glued in the 3 handle rods.  Working from larger stock provides plenty of room to hold and work.

You can see the outcome of the gas can fabrication here.  also the 2 bumper guards were made from larger stock thicknessed to the required dimension, drilled at each end location and then scroll sawed interior and exterior. 

Weathering
The most time was spent on weathering the vehicle.  Once the base Olive Drab coat was added it came time for the dry brushing of the mud, pings, scratches, and so forth.  I do weathering a number of ways and always remember that you can add but is hard as hell to remove so go slowly and make sure you're happy with the outcome.  I use acrylics and pastel sticks to achieve the results.  The seats were done to simulate worn leather. . .seats in these jeeps were both leather and canvas.  Since the pads in the plans would not really represent canvas, I went with the ideal of worn leather.  There are scads of great YouTube videos on how to create faux leather for models and such.  My technique was layering on Yellow ochre, dark leather brown ,lighter chocolate brown and pastel dust for wear and scratches.  Everyone's will be different.  Sa,e with the mud and weathering on the body.  The dry brush technique is your friend here.  A nearly dry brush with some color on it will leave a remarkably realistic mud and spatter and rust and scratch outcome.  The same is used on the tires.  Now you can really go crazy with tires and using white glue and sawdust create mud clods to fill the tire treads and just glop it around.  I choose not to do that particular thing.  I have used it on track vehicles in the past but was a bit lazy on this one.  ;-)   

That leaves the interior.  Again it's a matter of how much you want to do.  The floors of these vehicles would be pretty well covered in dust and mud and what ever.  There would be scratches due to hauling boxes of ammo and other goods in the jeep.  So it's a matter of choice as to how grungy you make the interior.  The decals I found were spot on regarding what was on the Jeep dash at that time. . from the dial faces to the MAX SPEED warning to a couple of plaques on the glove box .  then a bit of pastel dust weathering. 

The steering wheel was a nice piece to make.  The rim of the wheel is 1 5/8 diameter and then the spoked center is added.  i made this by first turning the wheel portion and then cutting it free on the lathe.

Pattern on the stock

Internal area cleared away

Outer area cleared and ready to be cut free.

Center spokes set

Wheel centered and spokes about to be cut to size

Finished wheel

Last weathering was the exhaust system.

The rust weathering of the exhaust consists of using Yellow Ochre, Vermillion Red, Burnt Sienna, and Brunt umber, with some dashes of mud and grime added at some point.  It is layering the colors and mixing to get the hues you want.  the Yellow ochre and Vermillion give the reddish cast to the rust.  Again you can use full strength colors, watered down colors and dry brush.  I would say practice on a piece of stock just to get the techniques down before doing the system on the car.

Lastly, once the decals were added, then a final weathering of the decals so they did not look like new paint.  Weathering there was pastel dust and dry brush lightly applied after the decals dried.  The final over coat finish was a matt acrylic or a flat lacquer if you have it.  Dull finish is the goal here.  At least for me.  And so ,there it is.  If you have any questions or recommendations please let me know.  I'm always seeking out people smart than me and better at things than me.  I have my "learn on" every day of my life.  If I have been able to add some ideas and knowledge to you, then I am a happy camper.

Have a great day.
Dave

PS: I know I asked a while back about doing a blog about my woodworking journey in life and while I got many "Go for it" comments, I just couldn't bring myself to do that.  It just didn't feel right to me .  I am just a  guy who learned to love woodworking and all the things that go with it, so I didn't feel right doing that. 

PSS:  Well, I just couldn't let it go so I have made a couple of Ammo Crates and tarps for the Jeep (or maybe the trailer when/if finished.  I found some prototype images on line and used the laser for the stenciling on the crates.  The tarps are made the typical way  of using kleenex soaked with diluted Elmers School glue, rolled up, left to dry and then painted and weathered.    I was able to get Ordinance Corps logo and the Ordinance Bomb images,