Building Period:
30 March 1999 -
30 June 1999
CONSTRUCTION  STORY  OF
SCRATCHBUILT  STREET  ROD
PART   15
COMPILING ACCESSORIES
The battery is from the parts box. Its fixing bracket is made from lead sheet and the tightening rods from copper wire. The assembly is held together with CA glue, and fixed into its place in the boot with CA glue as well.
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The fuel tank is carved from balsa and painted gloss black, then fixed under the chassis with CA glue.
Now the chassis is complete, waiting for the body parts to be assembled on.
Unfortunately, there were no headlamp lenses in my parts box, so a pair was made from scratch. Acetate sheet was forced with the thumb into a convenient concave recess, and given a slight spherical surface. Then, with the backside of the tip of the famous #11 blade, scratches were made on the inside of the lenses, to resemble the prismatic profiles.
The lenses were cut from the acetate sheet at a suitable diameter to fit in the reflector/bezel units and glued with white wood glue. This glue is very convenient to use with clear parts, or other places where no risk of damaging the surrounding is tolerated. 
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The hood was the first part to be put on the chassis. A pin went through the holes in the chassis and the hood. The pin was cut to suitable length and  secured with CA glue.
The dashboard is fixed on the body with CA glue. 
The steering wheel is from my parts box. The steering column is 1.5 mm brass wire, its housing is cut from cable isolation, and the switch stalks are made from pins. All are held together and glued to the body by CA glue.
The trunk should have a handle, and I chose to make a working one. A hole 0.8 mm dia. was drilled on the boot. For better guiding, the drill was made at a point that had the reinforcement below; so that the pin (handle) would have a longer bearing part.
First, the handle was given a shape and the pin inserted through the hole. Then it was bent as shown and cut to proper length that it would catch the body when closed. It was also bent to a suitable profile that would eliminate any gaps.
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Now you see the boot closed, and the rear lamps fixed on the body with CA glue.
The windshield frame was cut out from 1 mm lead sheet.
The windshield frame was covered with Bare Metal Foil, and its glass was cut from acetate sheet, fixed with white wood glue. The frame assembly was also secured on the body with white wood glue.

The seats taken from the Tamiya New Beetle were raised from the floor by scratchbuilt plastic brackets. The shifting lever is from my parts box. The seats and the shift lever are fixed to the floor with CA glue.
The headlamps are assembled and put on their places, hiding away the shock absorber nuts. They are fixed on the body with 5-minute epoxy.
The front signals were from the parts box. But they were rear view mirrors once. A clear lens painted orange with clear glass paint was fixed in front of the body with white wood glue. They are fixed to the front of the frame with CA glue. 

Rear view mirrors are from the New Beetle as well. They are painted in body color and fixed to the body with CA glue, a bit tilted upwards to let the door open freely.
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