Chopping and Raking '33/'34 Ford 3 Windows

[Joe Handley]

Is there a good way to rake the windshield on a '33/'34 Ford when chopping it, maybe almost to the So-Cal racer's level?

[Ace-Garageguy]

This should get you going. 

 

1) This is the AMT '34 3-window shell. The tape is 1/4 inch fine line masking tape. It will give you about a 6.5 inch scale chop. Start the chop by making one cut through the front pillars just about in the middle, then cut the rear pillars on the top and bottom of the tape, as shown.

 

 

2) Next, cut carefully down the door seams to the character line.

 

 

3) Now, cut across the base of the windshield, also to the character line. This will allow the windshield frame to lay back to meet the roof pillars in a few more steps

 

 

4) Okay, now you're going to cut the front of the door pillar away as shown. You want to leave just the bottom of the curve for the window, and you want to leave the windshield pillar sticking up, as in the photo. Pay attention to the angles in the photos.

 

 

5) This is several steps, so read through it first. Holding the top in your hand, align the door seams at the back of the top with the door seams on the car body. Now's the tricky part. Judge where the front pillars need to go to match up with the front of the window openings, and GENTLY and CAREFULLY bend the front roof pillars forward to intersect the window opening as shown. Notice that the recessed detail around the door window matches up very well, front and rear...this is what you want. Look at the black line in the photo...Notice that it's PARALLEL with the door seam in the roof pillar....cut on this line....

 

 

6) Now bend the windshield back to the cut-line. Bend it with your fingers...remember you've cut the base of the windshield loose in a previous step to let it all pivot back, so that the glass will be flat in the frame... The last step is to cut the windshield pillar off even with the top of the door. Now you can do the final tweeking of the fit, and glue everything together. I usually use Tenax liquid cement for the first bond. Check that the roof is EVEN side to side and SYMMETRICAL on both sides too. Nothing looks worse than a wonky chop.

 

 

7) When I'm happy that everything is lined up right and symmetrical, I usually re-glue the insides of the chop seams with Loctite Super Glue Gel. After that dries for a day, I reinforce the insides of the chop joints with some model airplane fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin. It may seem like overkill, but it will insure the seams don't crack open while you're doing the final bodywork and shaping. On this chop, I'd recommend filling the rear of the top to match the remaining rear lower pillars. That will give the most pleasing line.

 

The most important thing on this chop is to end up with the door opening lines and the detail indentations around the windows matching up. You will have to do some shaping and filling on the front and rear roof pillars, but the finish work on the difficult side window openings is minimized by doing it this way and it avoids having to lengthen the roof, as often is necessary.

 

Done right, it looks like this...

 

 

 

There's obviously still some basic shaping, filling, sanding and primering to be done, but that's all standard modeling practice.

 

Edited October 28, 2017 by Ace-Garageguy

[Joe Handley]

Thanks!

I made the mistake of watching the new ZZ Top video and now I've got the urge to chop the Revell '34 snap kit that's layin' around at home to within an inch of it's life

[Ace-Garageguy]

Kewl. I chopped this snapper a while back, not as much and with less layback, and now I'm thinking of going back into it and getting more radical.

[Joker]

Clean work and advice Bill.

You da Man !

[Joe Handley]

How do you recommend dealing with the back window?

[Joe Handley]

BTW, Here's the look I'm going for.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qp2wIlTum9o/UKXGHkO6vKI/AAAAAAACMiY/k0dzw_u8paU/s1600/zz3.JPG

[Ace-Garageguy]

Hmmm...The rear window on the Gibbons car ends up being similar to what I came up with on the chop of the stock-roof AMT shell in the tutorial.

When I chopped the Monogram snapper roof though, only 1/8 inch, I got a mail-slot. That's partially because the snapper top is already lightly chopped as-is, as I'm sure everyone's aware.

If I were going after the look you want from the snapper, I might carefully cut the rear window out with some surrounding material, chop the top the required amount, section the window to get the height desired, and then fit the sectioned window to the rear of the chopped top. It's not so difficult with careful measuring and patience. Another, perhaps simpler approach would be to just chop the top to get the rake you want and let the rear window end up however it does. Then create an entirely new opening-surround by carefully shaping with a Dremel, riffler files and sandpaper. Tricky but again, entirely do-able.

One reminder on the snapper...the hood is a couple scale inches too short (I've got the correct measurements from a 1:1 we currently have in the shop), so to get right-looking proportions, it needs to be lengthened.

Edited January 16, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[Joe Handley]

Cool, thanks again!