Bubbas fun in the sun summer contest entry

[Starryeyes]

Love the little skulls on the helmet!! The wide white walls are perfect and the engine detailing is a hoot!! Can't wait to see the next stage !!

[brizio]

That's unfortunate for the beautiful helmet! The eye looks great!

[bubbajoe]

While i wait for the oven cleaner to clean up the mess i made of diggers helmet, i decided to work on his arms and hands. i copied this idea from a builder who used athletic tape to cover seats on car build, to imitate cloth. So i thought i would try my hand at it and try to imitate denim and give digger a worn denim jacket...it takes a bit of work to get the tape to fit. i stretched the tape where i could and where two pieces meet i rub the seam with an embossing tool to work the fibers from both pieces together and hide the seam as much as possible... then i painted with cheap dark blue craft paint...once dried i used a coarse piece of sandpaper to give it that worn look..













also did some work on the hands..tried to copy how scotty does his figures..(great tutorial by the way,very helpful).

[TooOld]

Dang Joe , that denim looks great !
This is gonna look killer !

[brizio]

Agree, the result is very realistic.

[bubbajoe]

thanks bob,brizo... well i'm back to square one..had sometime this week to work on digger. stripped, primed and painted his helmet for the 2nd time.. working on clear coating... this time i used a different glitter paint rustoleum..much smaller flake ..i think i looks better that the krylon



also had time to start the chute , given to me by tooold..thanks again.. primed and painted with a satin black





drilled and added lines to each side...20 holes .20 lines...went a little crossed eyed threading the lines into those little holes    
i still need to stiffen the lines and add a decal to the back of the chute...doesn't seem like much progress but for me at this time of year its huge 

[brizio]

Helmet looks good! Parachute too!!!

[TooOld]

Yep , the paint on the helmet looks great !
Yesterday I had to dunk some parts in stripper too , disappointing but it usually results in a better paint job the second time around .

[bubbajoe]

I had a very sleepless night ...finally gave up at about 11:30 and headed to the bubba cave and spent the next 4 hours finishing up digger....he's not totally done i still need to add a few detail like a tongue and maybe a decal on his back... nothing is glued in yet...here he is

[ira]

Love the Cloth Jacket!
Real Nice Work...

[Starryeyes]

He looks great!! The wide whites REALLY pop... The eyeball shifter is cool too !!

[TooOld]

Jun 16, 2015 12:03:44 GMT -5 Starryeyes said:

He looks great!! The wide whites REALLY pop... The eyeball shifter is cool too !!

All of the eyes are cool , you're decals really worked great !

[brizio]

Super cool!!!

[bubbajoe]

This weeks update...gave digger a tongue made from soft foam..little drool added..5 min clear epoxy..finished the chute and added a decal..(chute donated by tooold   ) started the base not finished but it was far enough along that i could place diggers rod and chute...what a bugger getting all the lines tight...i drilled a hole into the car body ,fed the lines one by one and tied them off around the axel...few odds and ends to wrap up still.

[kooltoon]

Dig the coat & helmet.