The Duke's Kickoff Group Build Model

[Dukemaddog]

Okay, I can finally get this Group Build started. I chose the 1/72 scale Roden Ludwig Areo bus in civilian garb.

I assembled the basic chassis and engine first:



Since the engine wasn't going to be seen, I didn't do too much detail to it. What I did was enough to get it mounted on the chassis and also support any other parts that needed it for support. I also added the wheel hubs to the axles:



Later I cemented together the double wheels that go on the back axles:



After that, I built the body of this bus and started to sand the seams that I found:



Afterward I primed this bus to see what I had succeeded in doing. Not much apparently:





Oh well, I just have to keep at it.

Meanwhile, I mounted the floor of the bus and the dashboard; then I added all the seats and controls:





Looks like I need to straighten a seat. That'll happen.

[BUCKY]

You've made major progress, Mark! I really like the hood and round grill on this thing! What is the wing on the back for?

[JCON]

Very cool start Mark!!!

[JEFF]

Who doesn't like an Areo Bus?

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

They had Class, back in da day.

[Robbo]

Never seen this bus before, looking forward to how you paint it

[Dukemaddog]

Thanks for the great comments guys! I'm happy with the progress so far. It might slow down a bit due to making the body look right, but I'll keep plugging along. After all, I need this bus finished in order to have the full set of Roden buses.

Bucky, the wing on the back was just for show I'm guessing. It kinda adds to the 'futuristic' look of this bus.

[MARCO]

HEy, great subject choice, nice start! Mark you're our 1/72 scale Master!

[Dukemaddog]

Thanks Marco! The only thing I master in 1/72 scale is building them! LOL!

[Dukemaddog]

Okay, I managed to get a little bit done on this bus. This is a very small update, but hopefully now that this is where I want it; I'll be able to move forward on this.

I had sanded it and re-primed the body with Mr. Surface 1000 to see what else needed to be done:





I still saw quite a bit wrong and so I re-filled some areas and re-sanded everything. Then I shot the Krylon Plastic Primer on it again since I had run out of the Mr. Surfacer spray. Much better I think:





Now to smooth this out and shoot some real color on this.

Okay, that completes this update for now. I hope to have more done soon. Stay tuned, more to come.

[JCON]

Coming together for sure Mark...

[BUCKY]

Looking really good, Mark! Nice going on the bus!!

[JEFF]

Better and better all the time, Dude.

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

Lookin good Duke.

[JED]

Interesting and good looking build

[Dukemaddog]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I still have a ways to go, but I'm happy with this right now. Hopefully everything continues to go smooth.

[Dukemaddog]

Some time back, I started again to work on the body of the Ludwig Areo bus. I re-shot the cream color:





After applying the glosscoat, I tried to pinstripe this and failed pretty spectacularly:





Well, that seems to be the best I can do so it's staying that way. After that dried, I applied a wash to the grill to bring that out better:



Before that, as you can see above, I had painted the underside to get this ready for finishing:



As that was drying, I added the windows to the body and painted the luggage rack area:






Finally, my Roden 1/72 scale Opel Ludwig Areo bus  is completed! This is the last bus I needed to complete the entire line of 1/72 scale buses offered by Roden. The Ludwig Areo came out in 1932 as a touring bus for those tourists who wished to ride in style. Later, some of these were inducted into the Lufwaffe as pilot and staff transport buses. I finished my version of the Luftwaffe bus some months back.

Here is my Ludwig Areo bus to complete the Group Build:





And as I mentioned, that completes my entire collection of 1/72 scale Roden buses; until they come out with another one....

Thanks all for looking in, comments are welcome.

[JCON]

Well played Mark!!! I will add it to the completed Group Build Gallery!!!

[BUCKY]

Very interesting looking bus! A great addition to the gallery, I think!

[Dukemaddog]

Thanks guys! I'm so glad that I completed this entire bus line.