Growing up with the "classic" comics, Beetle Bailey was a staple as far back as I can remember. I wanted to make a tribute to this strip in scale, but with something that more closely reflected Mort Walker's art than a box stock Jeep. So I'm doing a full scratch build and aiming for somewhere between the full detail of Hasegawa's Willys MB (which is serving as a guide for me) and the simplicity of the comic art.
The frame rails are .080" styrene with various other sizes for crossmembers. The bumper is C channel, and the springs are layered .010" stock.
I'm building the body from the inside out, mostly using .040" sheet styrene at this point. I've got some filler on the seams, and once that's set I'll sand and start adding the outer body panels.
The grille is something I drew and had 3D printed at Shapeways, and the hood is a section of .375" tube sliced in half and grafted to a flat piece of .040" sheet. Since this is going to be a curbside, I added some extra bracing under the hood to prevent cracks in the filler.
As always, any comments/criticisms/suggestions are welcome!