How to build a scale-powered WOODY

[Jairus]

I have always loved Woodies and wagons! The combination of varnished warm wood grain colors combined with a vehicle that you can drive is something ethereal that I cannot describe with only words or feelings. The fact that you can combine one of these beautiful vehicles with the Surf culture, AND vintage Rock & Roll only makes it that much more special to me. So it is with strains of Dick Dale playing in the background I bring to you my newest project:

I sure hope mine turns out as nice!

Edited January 1, 2013 by Jairus

[Jairus]

I built my first model woody back in 1985. After that I was hooked and built 5 more since using real wood to construct the passenger compartment and to this date have constructed a 1929, 1932, 1936, 1938, 1941 and a 1948 Ford woody wagons. All are a variety of vehicle types, the 1932 having a set of tracks and skis and the 1941 a Rat Rod of all things, LOL.

This time I decided to do a slot car based on the article posted above by the great Don Emmons. Don's article inspired this very model that I built back in 1988, but I took it a few steps further by making the doors and tailgate open. The woody was based on Revell's antique '29 pickup kit and because of that the running boards do not have passenger car rubber mats. This is something no judge has yet to catch, Haha, but since it's not really correct I added some weathering (mud) to hid that fact.

For my project I will be using a 1931 Woody kit, again by Revell, chosen because it was first issued during the mid 60's and I did not have a 1930 Revell roadster kit to cut up like the one Don used.

Onward!

Edited January 1, 2013 by Jairus

[mikelo]

I, for one, cant wait to see it! I love what you did with the last one. Love the touch of weathering.

Mike

[Trans Am Erik]

Nice job on that woody! I like the opening doors too. The one in the article had to be neat as a slot car.

[Jairus]

Thank guys! All good projects need a solid foundation. For a slot car it needs a chassis that will not disappoint on the track and therefore I spared no brass creating something that could have been built about mid 60"s. All bits and pieces are period correct and the chassis is of the correct scratchbuilt "space frame" design of the era. The motor a Kemtron and the gear mesh smooth and very quiet. Front wheels rotate independently and the rear axle spins through sealed ball bearings. The whole package should last for years and years! Total weight is 165 grams and the drop arm is weighted with lead, so this will NOT be a race car by any stretch of the imagination. However it will be very easy to drive with little chance of crashing.

Cowl is attached to the fenders and some of the under floor needed to be cleared away to make room for that bulky antique "padlock" style Kemtron motor. Therefore the rear floor was raised up about .25".

Frame fits into a pocket in the front and held to the rear by a brass machine screw running into a buried blind nut. Now it's time to start cutting wood using the original kit pieces as a pattern! The base for the side panels is very thin .025 model aircraft 5 layer plywood. The tailgate is much thicker material at about .078. The whole combination will end up being very lightweight, eliminating inherent top heaviness while remaining fairly strong!

More to come.

Edited January 1, 2013 by Jairus

[James W]

"I can hear music, sweet sweet music..."

[Jairus]

Beach Boys?
Jan & Dean?
Dick Dale?
Surfers?
Ventures?
or just voices in your head...

Where was I....?
Oh yeah, Wood!
It's all around us, and one of the greatest renewable resources available to mankind for construction. It's strong, cheap and easy to work with. I love the smell of the wood while sanding on a piece of Oak, Maple or even Fir! Incidentally, my savior was a carpenter if you didn't know.

The wood for this little piece could fit into your shirt pocket so not much actual material is needed to build the box. Most of it is tiny and can be found at the local hobby shop in the railroad section for a couple of bucks a package. (Ironic that the wood and the motor both come from the model Railroad hobby!) Railroaders use it to build scale HO buildings, bridges, water towers and other such scale related pieces. Therefore all the measurements are in HO scale. So I won't bother calling out any sizes. If someone is following along to build their own woody, simply buy a range of sizes that look right and you cannot go wrong. Oh, and contrary to popular belief the wood used is not Balsa but Spruce. Spruce is much stronger than Balsa because of it's tighter grain. Therefore can be milled down into tiny pieces much smaller than you could ever do with Balsa. Because of this, it's available in a large range of dimensions and great for those wanting to build a scale woody!

As Don did in the above article, 4 strips are soaked in hot water for about 10 minutes. After that the strips are very pliable and wrap around an object quite easily without breaking. After holding in place with rubber bands or a clamp, it is left overnight to dry.

The bent pieces are for the wheel arches and I did them side by side and stacked so that there are 4 total in two different diameters.

Then pieces are slowly cut and glued down in place using Elmers Carpenters glue because it is very strong and waterproof. Epoxy is used only where additional strength is required.
First attached: a top rail, then the doorposts and then the belt line and bottom piece. Lastly the inside structural pieces are laid down using the kit parts as a pattern, horizontal first and then the vertical.

While things are drying, I turned my attention to the floor. After cutting out clearance for the wheels, gears and motor... the rear fenders ended up loose and flopping around. A set of "donor" inner fender wells are added to the chassis. Well beyond the needed depth, but this provides a ton of strength where it will be needed.



Very important is to test fit the side panels from time to time in order to see any problems that might crop up down the road.

Stay tuned.

Edited January 1, 2013 by Jairus

[Trans Am Erik]

WOW!!! Great job on that frame, then using real wood for the body is over the top! I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

Oh, and check the build up of my Blue Max slot car.

[Jairus]

If you are still following along the final step, after all the pieces are glued to the sides and the tailgate, is to block sand the edges flush. Some of the pieces are not exactly the same dimension and block sanding will ensure a nice flush look.



I didn't take any pictures of the step, but one of the last pieces added to the sides is a wide top rail, which I wetted in the middle and warped into a slight curve. This piece, once dry is glued securely. It will become the overhang over the doors. Plus, it will be carefully rounded for a nice transition to the rooftop.



With that in place the task of cutting open the window openings is next. "Window" is really a misnomer because no woody had any side glass until 1935 when Ford finally put roll up windows inside the doors of the front seat passengers only. Until then, all side openings were open to the air, and for inclement weather, snap-on canvas and isinglass curtains were provided.

Note that some plywood material is left in the upper cargo openings. This will replicate the cast iron gussets and brackets that were used to bolt these beautiful panels together. This also provides added strength. In-fact, I placed gussets and fillets in numerous locations for the same purpose.



Now, on a flat surface, the tailgate and the side panels are glued together and left to dry. Care must be taken to insure that the sides are parallel and the perpendicular to the tailgate. Use of a square is an excellent idea about this time.



At this angle is it possible to see that the top most rails project above the side panels quite a bit. This is to provide a place to lay the roof ribs, which we will do next!

Ciao

Edited January 1, 2013 by Jairus

[Foxer]

That is beautiful Jairus!!!!

Curious what you used to cut out the window openings?

[Jairus]

A Dremel Moto Tool of course. Then a sharp #11 blade and variety of files followed up with a light sanding.

Edited March 26, 2009 by Jairus

[Harry P.]

Great craftsmanship on the wood work...

[Jairus]

Time to turn attention to the roof. Roof ribs from the middle door post to the rear are all the same width so a stack of them are carefully notched on both ends so they fit snug on both sides leaving a bit of a recess below the side rails for the roof slats. This is a great place to start using epoxy. The two ahead of the middle door post are custom cut to fit since the roof tapers toward the cowl. The header took a lot of fiddling and to get correct, as I want a nice tight fit between the wood and the cowl. Mounting on the fenders/cowl is necessary and epoxy a requirement in this location.


After the ribs are solid it is time to start on the roof slats. All woodies from the early horse drawn "wagons" to the last all-wood Station Wagon of 1948 used similar construction techniques. With regard to the roof... that means a series of thin slats laid over ribs followed by a chicken wire mesh, then batting and finally an oil-cloth/vinyl roofing material. The last was pulled tight and attached with a tacking strip all around the edges held in place with small nails.

Since most early woodies had mostly flat roofs, the laying out of the slats is pretty straightforward. Tack on the slats at the rear and once that is dry a touch of water applied to the curved area with a paint brush and allowed to soak in. Then epoxy applied to the header (where I left a nice wide shelf for attachment purposes.) and the slat bent down. It is held in place with a clip until the epoxy sets.



This part of the project is the most tedious as I can only do a few slats at a time so as to allow plenty of drying time. Eventually, only the last few slats in the center are left. At that point I slather a lot of epoxy over all the slats effectively burying them permanently assuring plenty of strength. While it is drying, a few clips and a nice block used to insure that all slats dry smooth and level. Leaving like this over night is a must.

After all has cured, block sand the roof and round off the side rails, first with 220 and then with 2400 to get it all smooth.

Now is time for yet another test fit and mockup. The stance looks early "Hot Rod" and the powerplant a 421 Pontiac, which will sport 3 deuce carbs and chrome valve covers.

On ward.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Jairus

[James W]

Good to see the old model skills again. You build woodies like most guys wire an engine.

Since this thing is going to go around a track it needs a hula girl on the dash or some dingle balls to sway side to side.

What do you say?

A dog with a bobbing head.

A waving hand on a spring.

[Smart-Resins]

WOW!! I am not into slot cars, but this has me both wanting to build a woody, but also build a slot car!! LOL. Jody

[Jairus]

All good ideas James, Thanks!

I have some ideas for that little hula girl already, but do want to say that I ordered two figures from Jimmy Flintstone for the cab of this puppy. Hope they fit in there. Jody, you don't have to be into anything to learn something about modeling. I'm not into building modern F1 cars... but I always learn something by checking out Simon's posts. Never built a truck but I have been found hanging out in the truck section from time to time. Modeling is modeling and I think some of us should be less "phobic" about checking out stuff that is out-side-of-the-box!

Not a lot of progress to show on the Woody today other than some painting and sealing.

So far have two coats of "Ol'Dads" varnish to seal the wood up. Nothing worse than to build a woody and have it warp before it is done. Sealing up the body is very important and the varnish has to go everywhere to completely seal. The finish is a semi-gloss and I put two coats on with a little steel wooling accomplished between to knock down any dust or bits that got in the mix. Looks great but I don’t want to touch it just yet. Messing about with paint for the fenders and cowl and have the engine painted and wired. Updates later.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Jairus

[Jairus]

Another mockup checking fit and look. The color is actually a Teal but photographs Blue under my lamps. Final pictures will be taken outside to show the true color. The engine only has plug wiring so far, but cooling hoses, fuel lines and a wired up generator are all part of the plan. Also planned is a set of nice Dewey Weber hand carved long-boards! Now for THAT I will be using Balsa wood!

Edited January 2, 2013 by Jairus

[Smart-Resins]

Very nice job on that so far! Some real great modeling there! Looking at some drag racing chassis, this sport can get pricey very quick if you want to compete. Then again, I suppose if one was competing, say like in your version, you would not be adding so much detail as it all adds more weight/drag. I think if I decide to, it will be for the fun of it, the adventure of it as it broadens my modeling horizons. Jody

[Trans Am Erik]

She's coming along great Jairus! I'll be looking forward to see those hand made longboards!

[Jairus]

Don't have to wait long Erik!

Picked up some balsa wood from the hobby shop today and laminated that with thin strips of Honduran Mahogany. The goal is sanding and forming a set of "Dewey Weber" long boards, the best of the best in 1964! Going to take a long time to carefully form them as I don't want to take off too much material. Both will be fiberglassed but only one will be painted, the other hopefully to remain wood with nothing more than a hand painted decal.



P.S. In order to get into the mood... I decided to re-visit a couple of old friends:

Hang Ten!

Edited January 2, 2013 by Jairus

[James W]

That was Fast!

Hope you had time to eat dinner.

[Jairus]

Yeah, and build two ad's, answer 2 questions, feed the cat, wash dishes....

[Jairus]

I spent most of last night shaping a couple of surf boards. Tried to get them like the famous "Dewey Weber" long boards. One with a standard skeg and the other a custom "Hatchet" for better control. Both boards have received a coating of fiberglass which will be wet sanded and then clearcoated. One will remain wood and the other gets a period coat of graphics before the clear.

Also applied some fiberglass to the roof of the woody. I didn't have any glass cloth and wanted to keep this in-scale so went and applied tissue paper. (The wraping kind, not the nose blowing kind)
The roof is very stiff and quite strong now! It will be block sanded smooth and texture painted flat black this evening after work.

A little surf cartoon by Bruce Steffenhagen from SURFtoons #2.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Jairus

[Smart-Resins]

Looking very cool! Or tubular? Oh, maybe I show my age on that one. LOL. By the way, I think you got me into slots! LOL. Jody

[Jairus]

"Tubular" works as a surfing term. "Fast times at Ridgemont High" made it a common phrase in our lexicon after 1982. Not sure if it was something used in 1964...

Got the roof sanded smooth and painted last night. Wish I could spend more time on it but can only find a couple of hours a day free time unfortunately.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Jairus