( Read as  "Dolmoosh" )

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With this project, I went nostalgic, to the late 60s and early 70s.

What is a "dolmus"? A dolmus is a public transportation vehicle, specific to Turkey. It may be described as a "collective taxi", one which travels along a fixed route and takes people on board and leaves them off where they want, along the route. The fares are fixed within the route, regardless of the distance travelled. They have a main stop, where they park till all the seats are occupied by onboarding passengers. The vehicle takes its name "dolmus" from that position- it means that it is full.

It dates till back to 1930s that the dolmus concept took place.The U.S. wagons were very popular for the purpose, and it was a frequent occurance that a vehicle was cut into two, and extended in length to provide space for an extra seat. Wagons of the 40-50s underwent this modification. During the 60s and 70s, the era which I took them most for transportation, the most common one was the 64 Impala or BelAir wagons. The rear seat was pushed back to the luggage section, and a 2-seater bench was added in the emptied place. That made a passage to the rear seat. The vehicle could hold 7 passengers plus the driver. The seats and door insides were covered with transparent nylons, clear or colored, to protect the original seat.

The dolmus still exists today, but are replaced by minibuses. The wagons now are a memory, and I will make a model as it lives in my memories. Today, it is almost impossible to find a descriptive picture, so the model will serve as a picture, too.

The model I chose is the AMT 6564 Impala SS. I will first convert it to a wagon, then go on building the dolmus.

STARTED  Dec. 09th, 2000

The first thing done was to draw a side view of the wagon. I drew this from the collection of images I downloaded.



The parting line of the roof was drawn..


...and cut off as well as the boot.


The roof extension was traced on a styrene sheet and cut off, then given the first approximate shape.



The extension was glued to the front part.



I filled 4 of the rear lamp holes with styrene, then opened the outermost one with a file to accept the rectangular taillight.
I then re-scribed the door parting lines as per 4-door body, 


...and glued the roof extension with the D-posts. The roof will be aligned with the insertion of the B and C-posts.

The project was given a break for almost 3 years, till I could start it again in December 2003...



Restart on Dec.1st,2003:

I cut away three doors, leaving the rear left in place. The reason was that the Dolmus cars always had them closed too, for uncontrolled operation that might lead to danger for the oncoming traffic. The inner handles and window cranks were also removed at the rear left door.
I thinned the generously molded plastic at all the opening edges.



I scribed in the tank cap lid for the wagon.



Dec. 9th, 2003:

I cut styrene strips for the upper sides of the rocker panels and glued them as two layers. The lower layer is for the fixing to the inside of the rocker panel, and the upper one standing for the small step that the door bottom will rest against.


Now for the B-posts. After hunting on the net for several days, I could get enough details to manufacture the real-looking inner parts. This is also my first attempt to open a rear door, hinged at the B-post, with the opening axis like the original; so that when open, it will not prevent the front door from opening. I first cut the backing sheets.


Dec. 14th, 2003:

The C-post backing sheet was also cut and glued in place. Some layers of styrene will follow to fill the gap to the fender.


This is the slanted part starting below the door lock and going down to the top of the rocker panels. Note how the edges are sanded for smooth transition.
This is the side covering panel for the part described above. The spacers glued will serve for proper positioning and fixing on the backing plate of the C-post.



Now you see all the above parts glued in place.


...then sanded smooth. Later, putty will take care of the details.



Dec. 16th, 2003:

Coming back to B-posts, I cut out more sheets...


...and assembled them. But I did not glue them in at this stage, because the rear door hinging had to be manufactured and tested before glueing the B-post in.



A brass pipe was cut and fixed in place with "steel putty". This is the integral cast two-part putty that you knead to uniform color and sets quickly. Very handy for adjusting the final position. I adjusted the turning axis so that it passes right close to the lower front corner of the door panel.


I bent a steel wire from paper clip in such a manner that, of the open ends, the upper one is a bit longer than the lower one. This helps in mounting and dismounting the hinge. To mount, the pipe is first fed over the upper end of the wire, which clears the lower end. Then the door is left freely down on the lower end of the wire and it stays on, because the longer upper end is still within the pipe and holding it.
Now, this wire will be tested against the B-post, and on the body.


It took 4 wire manufacturings to get to the correct shape.while holding everything in place temporarily, I applied CA glue on the wire and kept still until it cured.


The first opening attempt showed that there was some limitation for opening enough. The Clashing part on the B-post was sanded down until a satisfactory opening angle was reached.



VOILA!!! Now the front door can be opened after the rear door!



This is the looks after the door is removed.



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