Work in progress

Last weekend, I got this cheap 1/18 plastic beetle.






Shown above is the bottom card of the container. The item itself has the same crappy stickers as shown in the illustration above.

Here's the plastic beetle minus the crappy stickers.






Now, the shape of the mould itself is decent enough to pass off as a diecast model. The body is made of very light plastic which may be flimsy on its own, but is assembled well. If you'll notice, the running boards are flexing a bit. The body is also coated with metallic green paint, which is applied well, surprisingly.

See, without the crappy stickers, the platic toy shines a bit, showing great potential. Check out these pics:










Here's a view of the base. The plastic beetle also has a friction-powered motor at the rear.






And one of the flaws, a hole on the roof. Maybe the manufacturers used the same mould for a police car version?
This hole was covered by one of the stickers. The adhesive is still seen in this pic.







I'm planning on fixing up this bug in a few days. After opening the package, I immediately took out the stickers (a mistake, actually. I should have taken pics first) and started clearing the adhesives. I also added details to the body. No repainting is needed, but some fabricating will be done. First of all, I dislike those side mirrors, and I've already taken these out.

Also, there's this issue with the wheels. The silver wheels look too "bling-bling" for me, but they do add some detail and they work with the dark metallic color of the body. These wheels also look too big in proportion to the bug, and the axels need a bit of shortening. Looking at the toy from the side, some lowering is also needed.






The good news is that some modifications have already been done. More pics and progress next time.