Transforming a Barbie Beetle 😎

When I was a young fellow, I spent countless hours restoring old cars. Still drive one today. Ah but alas, age and health caught up to me and I'm just not up to working on the real thing anymore. I can however, manage it on a smaller scale and that's where our story begins.

One of the neatest things about small scale dolls is the accessories you can get for them. Like cars! Couple years ago I picked up this sweet late series Barbie Beetle on eBay. Got it really cheap as it was far from mint. Peeling decals, missing outside mirrors and so forth. All pretty typical of used Barb cars though. 🥰
This model has quite a lot of detail. Even more than the original release, but unlike the original, this one only came in 2 shades of pink and lacked an opening hatch, so it's not as popular with collectors. However, this series bears a much closer resemblance to the real thing than the other. Something I thought perfect for a little transformation from cute to cool and turn it into a modern day "Herbie the Love Bug" :cool:
Well, like any automotive restoration project, real or toy, the first step begins with the disassembly. Tell you what, these things were never meant to come apart again! 🔧
Okay, next time we'll begin the prep work... 🖌️

Hiya Mr Franz,

You're very clever 🤗

I did like the pink though (I think I know what colour it becomes). I love pink ❤️.

I'd love a pink Lamborghini Countach ❤️

And I'd drive it very fast and scare Mr Flibble 😆 (do you think that's naughty?).

Lots of love from Miss K,

XOXO

Is that the original pink or did you paint it pink?

We have the same beetle but ours came in yellow, which us girl like because we not dainty (being civil) Barbies and therefore not into pink.

--addie--

Well it looks like you are being chased by cop cars and breaking the speed limit that's probably very, very naughty Miss K😯

I think Bobby would have to 👋 your bare bum, he'd probably enjoy that😯🤣🤣🤣

Oh Mr Franz is very clever, you could give him a bin bag and he'd turn it into something unique😁

Hiya Thea,

Maybe it's a good job I don't have a pink Lamborghini. I shouldn't be naughty ... but it would be big fun 😊

Lots of love from Miss K,

XOXO

I've driven customer Lambos when I was in the tire biz. Cool, but not very user friendly. You have to swing the door up and hang out sitting on the door sill in order to see backing up! 🙃
No, that's the way they come. There were 2 different Barbie Beetles. The first generation released around 2000, had an exaggerated rounded roof and came in several different colors. I have one of those in silver. The second release in 2014 reflected the real car's revised roof line, which closely resembled that of the original rear engine beetle. Those only came in 2 different shades of pink. That's the series I'm working with.
:ROFLMAO: You know, my former business partner in the video biz once said that if I'd painted the Monalisa, I'd have used a purple crayon and it would have come out better. He was a professional videographer and he said that after watching me break just about every photography rule he'd ever been taught!

I dunno, how about breaking the car? My mother had a Barbie Ferrari RC; full size to scale with the dolls; my brother while trying it out with a couple of the dolls managed to reverse it into a table leg! Now he's normally a very good driver, has been a professional driver in the past, and best of all ... is a parts and servicing manager at a car dealer .... a Ferrari dealer :LOL: He was a warehouse manager at Ferrari UK for a few years too!

Alright onto one of the more tedious tasks of car restoration. Sanding and more sanding. 😵‍💫
Sanding is an even more difficult task on small scale projects like this and the way Barbie cars are made complicates things a little further. Luckily Jhipri was kind enough to lend a hand. 🥰
Normally, you just dull the shine with some 1200 grit sandpaper and your ready for paint, but for some reason, Mattel not only molds the plastic in pink, but also coats the outer surface with some sort of pink colorant! You can see the color difference in this pic where I had sanded before removing the decals.
I suspect they use some sort of acrylic that's applied before the the plastic fully cures, making for a permanent bond. Great for kids to beat the hell out of, but hell to get off again and I know from past experience, enamel won't adhere to it and lacquer checks badly unless you do. Luckily it's not very thick. The underside of the body doesn't seem to have that problem though. You can paint that with almost anything. 🎨

Alright with the initial sanding done, still have to sand out some mold imperfections and better define the natural seams, I can turn my attention to some of the details Mattel left out. Namely, except for the mock rear bench, the interior is completely unfinished behind the front seats. You can actually see the rear tires from inside the car! 😮
A little cardboard, some textured black duct tape... ta da... interior quarter panels! ✂️
There's also no side window glass. Easy fix though. Found a plastic bottle with just about the right contour. 🧴
Now then, about those missing side mirrors... Hmmmmm... these broken earbuds look about the right size. :unsure:
Yes and this shinny tin lid will make excellent mirror inserts. There, perfect! 🪞
Next time we'll start prepping the underside. 🙃

Hiya Mr Franz,

Wow, you get cooler every day. I bet you were the best tire biz person ever 🍻

I want to give you a big hug 🤗

Lots of love from Miss K,

XOXO

For paint removal , try a part of the model that has been removed , place in Polly bag and spray with oven cleaner , carefull as it’s caustic , it works on Hornby trains (and Athern) and do not harm the plastic , leave overnight before washing/scrubing off , it may need another go .

Carly xxx

Knew the business pretty well, I suppose. That all came to a crashing halt though, when the company I worked for got swallowed up by a big corporation. They basically ran it into the ground and started working for myself in a different industry. No regrets. ;)

Yeah, drain cleaner works well too to lift paint. Old modelers trick I've used from time to time. Problem here though, the surface coating penetrates the plastic. I suspect some sort of thermal adhesion process was used to apply it. It's not too deep though and there were minor imperfections I wanted to work out anyway, so sanding was the best option.

Okay, moving right along...

I finished sanding and prepping the body and now it's time to tweak the chassis a bit. The rear portion of the interior is completely unfinished and the area below is visible from inside the car. You can actually see the rear tires when assembled. :confused:
Well I'm kind of a stickler for details, so I decided to do something about that. Made a cap from a small plastic container to fill the void. Now it'll match the interior quarters I made and look more finished. :)
With that done, I masked off the outside of the car and got the underside ready for paint. Went with a matte black finish to match the rest of the interior.
Into the makeshift paint booth it goes and ta-da... a uniform interior color. (y)

Oh... if the wife asks what happened to her fan... you don't know anything, okay...? :rolleyes:
That'll need a little time to fully dry. Meanwhile, I'll start working on the decals I'll need for the finished car. You can actually buy those ready made for RC cars of a similar scale. Pricey though, so I decided to try to make my own. Ended up being a lot easier than I thought. Just printed what I needed on some self-stick label stock and covered that with clear tape. Even found some aftermarket headlamp and emblem ad photos to make more realistic decals from. Not to mention personalized plates. :cool:
Just a matter of cutting them out and done! ✂️
Next up, the exterior finish... 🪮

Okay, got the body prepped and masked off. Then I took a page from Mattel's playbook and warmed both the body of the car as well as the spray paint can, before applying the initial guide coat of color. 🖌️
Went on beautifully as did the second coat an hour later. (y)
Also painted the seat inserts to match the exterior color. Tricky painting those as the interior bits are softer flexible plastic. :unsure:
Alright, we'll let all that harden a bit and see where we're at next time... :)

It takes several days for the paint to fully cure, but it's hard enough to handle now and see if any areas need attention. :unsure:
Looks pretty good. No pink anywhere! 😁
Seats turned out real nice. 🧐
Unfortunately, there were a couple paint snafus. There's always a chance of runs and sags like these when spray painting. Especially when the can is nearly the size of what you're painting. 😩
Not really a big deal though. I'll show how that's dealt with next time...

Very good work.

Hiya Mr Franz,

I think you're a bit naughty turning a pink car white. White's a very boring colour (Mr Flibble has a white car 😆). If you weren't over the other side of the pond, I'd give you a spank!

I do like Herbie though, so I'll let you off, and send you a hug instead 🤗

Is Herbie going to go bananas? 🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌😆

Lots of love from Miss K,

XOXO

Oh, there's plenty of pink Barbie Beetles to go around, love. I wanted something a little different. BTW, the original Herbie wasn't white, but more a cream or eggshell. ;)

Now then, about those nasty paint sags...

Well, leveling runs and sags is fairly straightforward. It's the same procedure as with a real car, just on a smaller scale. That includes the tools needed to do it. So the first order of business is to make a Barbie car size sanding block.
Now all we have to do is sand down the high spots level with the rest of the finish.
Now a little wet sanding to blend it all together...
...and no more sags.
As you can see, the process dulled the shine quite a bit. Nothing a little polishing compound can't fix though and I just happened to have some in the medicine cabinet. That's right, tooth paste! The perfect mild abrasive for the task and it leaves the car, minty fresh. :ROFLMAO:
Ta-da! nice and shiny again! 🥳
I think we're just about ready for assembly... 🔧
Until next time... ;)

Hiya Mr Franz,

I think I'm going to go bananas when Herbies Rides Again. I'd like to give The Love Bug a big hug (this Herbie is small enough to cuddle) 🤗.

Herbie went to Monte Carlo. I've never been to Monte Carlo, I'd love to go.

Lots of love from Miss K,

XOXO

I can remember going to the theater to see the original when it first came out. Damn, I'm old... 🧓

I never watched Herbie because Dougal said it was a scary film 😂

Hiya Mr Franz,

You're as young as you feel.

I make Mr Flibble feel young. Because when he's naughty I give him a good spanking, which makes him feel like a naughty young boy! 😆

Hiya Jedzed,

You must watch Herbie. Herbie's very good 🤗.

Lots of love from Miss K,

XOXO

In that case, I should make an appointment at the knacker's yard! :ROFLMAO:

Assembly has begone... 🔧
Seems Lia is quite pleased.
Her and JuJu started working out where to put the decals I made.
Fine job, girls!
With that, stick a fork in it, it's done! 🍴
Oh, looks like little Elvez has taken a shine to it. Well... it is more his size. :cool:

Great job!

Excellent :cool:

Hiya Mr Franz,

That's naughty. You need an appointment at Miss K's Rejuvenation Clinic. I'll give you a good spanking and make you feel like a young man all over again 😆.

Smashing job on the Herbie. Now I want to see him go bananas 🤗

Lots of love from Miss K,

XOXO