The Geepstar bodywork plans were printed full size so they could be stuck to the chosen sheet material and cut with a jigsaw.
The Geepstar is a monocoque construction with metal fabricated parts. The body was made from good quality 12mm plywood, with some aluminium panels.
A jigsaw was used to cut out the majority of the panels but this was not very good for cutting the straight lines. Edges that needed to be straight were cut oversize and then trim with the router guided by a straight edge.
Not all the parts were cut out in one go. Using the instruction book as a guide it was clear that some parts should be cut to suit the dimensions of the already assembled parts. These parts were cut when needed to ensure a good fit.
The photograph on the left shows the routing of the front grill slots. Five slots were cut instead of four as per the MKII instructions. The slots were cut by first drilling 20mm holes at the top and bottom with a flat bit and then joining the holes with the router.
The base was cut out with the jigsaw and the edges indicated on the plans had batons glued and screwed in place using waterproof adhesive.
A pilot drill with adjustable countersink was used to drill the holes and this made construction much quicker. Each baton had glue applied, then it was held in place with clamps and then drilled and screwed.
The gap for the steering column was positioned for a right-hand drive vehicle.
The front was fitted first. Glued and screwed, ensuring it was upright.
Next the sides; the 'J6' crosspiece was fitted at the same time to ensure the sides were upright. The front inner wings were made from the wheel arch cut out parts, which ensured they were the correct profile.
The plans specified 0.8mm aluminium for the formed panels of the bodywork. However only 0.5mm was available from the scrap bin and in fact this was nice and easy to form.
The panels were cut slightly oversized and nailed in place. Once fixed the outside was filed flush to the Jeep sides. The plans showed the front edge to be bent up and secured onto the inside of the front panel but this was omitted for simplicity. Instead some builders caulk was used to seal and glue all the edges.
Another MKII feature was the addition of small wing details over the front wheel arches.
In reality the full sized Jeep would have a tapered bonnet line and parallel wing edges. However the Geepstar used these clever little additions to create a more Jeep like appearance. They were tapered towards the back to help the front look the right shape.
They also add 3" to the overall vehicle width.
Front support beams were added and screwed to batons on the bulkhead and front panel. These beams would be used to hold the top of the curved aluminium wing sections.
However before fitting the aluminium panels, the steering column was fitted while access was easy.
Once the steering gearbox had been fitted, the formed wing tops were installed.
These were cut to length (slightly over long actually) and marked and drilled to take evenly spaced nails.
The aluminium parts were glued and nailed along the lower edge and then formed and secured over the wooden profile. Small round head nails were used which would look like rivets once painted. The front edge of the aluminium was filed flush with the front panel to finish.
The wheels were supplied by Real Life Toys. Although trailer wheel substitutes were considered, the supplied wheels had better tyres, bearings and a greasing point, and represented very good value.
The body was primered.......
....undercoated....
....and painted in camo green.
Some nice head lights were purchased on Ebay, advertised as lights for a 'ride-on Hummer'. They were slightly too small for the holes in the Jeep.....
..... so some wooden bezels were turned from Plywood.
Headlights before paint.
The steel box section for the bumpers can from some old bench legs which were welded to some angle struts and bolted to the chassis.
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