127 replies to this topic

[Custom Hearse]

Nice work Bill. You always amaze me with every update. I'm looking forword to seeing this build through to the end.

[crazyjim]

Your work always amazes me, Bill. Keep on buildin'.

[Ira]

NICE SLICING BILL!!!

[bryan_m]

nice work bill! is that filler you are using "icing" ive never used it on a model before, i always use "kombi" im gonna have to give it a try.

keep `er goin, looks great.
cheers
bryan

[Foxer]

I was just going to comment on your "liking" of those thin body pieces (including the rear tulip) when you voiced your own concerns.

I dying to see how you hinge that trunk!

[71datsun1200]

I'll be following this one for sure.

[Danno]

Mmmmmmmmmmm ...........

[MrObsessive]

Something I want to add from yesterday............one of the more difficult tasks in getting the body work done is to replicate this underside trunk stamping.

Lots of separate pieces that need to be joined together, puttied and hopefully look in scale and realistic enough without being gimmicky. Stay tuned for this one..........

Also, here's a pic of what the door hinges should look like for a '59 Chevy..........

As you can see, these are of the "gooseneck" type which allow the door to swing away from the body. GM used this type of hinging for their doors pretty much through the 1966 model year for the full size models.

Some soldering is going to be in order so I got to break out the soldering iron and vice to get to work on this. Of course I'll be posting pics of each step along the way, and if I can get my video cam to cooperate, I may do a quick video of how I soldered the hinges if I can get things set up where the video will be clear.

[High octane]

I've seen some of your work firsthand at a couple of shows in Toledo years back and all I can say is that '59 Chevy will be lookin' real sweeeeeet when you're done. I just know it!

[Dominik]

Thanks for sharing another build from you Bill. Your work is always amazing and very impressive for me. Keep up the work!

[Ron Hamilton]

Go get 'em Bill!!!!!!!

[Sixx]

Woohoo, another killer from Mr. Bill !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[charlie8575]

If anyone can do that trunk structure, Bill, it's you. Two pieces of plastic cut to size and some putty to form the contours?

Charlie Larkin

[MrObsessive]

Sorry for the long pause in between posts! Between working 10 hour days, and other things going on in life------there's just not enough hours in the day to work on the model, let alone make and compose a post that's coherent and not sound like I've lost it.

Just the same, I was able to get some work done on the old girl in the last week or so. In fact I did some work on 'er just this morning..........including a video which is uploading as I type this.

I mentioned in a previous post that cutting open the doors made me rather nervous due to that dogleg windshield post just hanging out there with no support. So I figured instead of working on the trunk, why not build up the door jamb on the body so that dogleg is supported and I can breathe a sigh of relief..............for now!

Here's where I got started........I like to make my "corners" first before doing anything else, that way I can sand the radii the way I see fit, and add the lip around the perimeter of the door opening as I go along.

Some pics to demonstrate!

You'll notice also that I did get the side trim dechromed using Easy-Off and attached to the body. It'll be a lot more consistent to BMF this, than to leave it chromed which is a bit unrealistic for 1:1 trim. Actual trim on cars is more of a polished aluminum, than outright chrome.

Once I got the corners from the "triangles" I made, then I added the lip using .010 strip styrene.......



Now I can add my rounded corners per the 1:1. BTW, most cars have some sort of radius at the corners of the door jambs. I've not seen too many cars that have sharp angles at those corners.........one car that comes to mind that does have corners like that are the Studebaker Hawks of the '50's-early '60's. Good photos are nice to have for whatever car you're trying to replicate.

Once those were dry with liquid glue, and then super glue, I can now add my door jamb detail per the 1:1.

Stay tuned for more!

Edited by MrObsessive, 19 August 2012 - 12:33 PM.

[MrObsessive]

Continuing on with the door jambs.......Here are a couple of reference shots I used to try to get close to the look I was after.........

I'll admit that I'm not going to add every little crease and curve to the model's door jambs.......but just enough detail to not just have lifeless slabs of plastic to represent such.

Here's what I've come up with so far................

One trick I like to do to give me a representation of how smooth my bodywork is going is to paint the surface with some Tamiya Flat Black. That way I can see if there are any pinholes or whatnot, and it washes right off with Windex.

Everything looks to be in order so far.............now it's just a matter of cleaning up the finer points and then I get to do this again for the other side! I also get to do door strikers, and some other little fun things you'll just have to stay tuned for!



More to come!

Edited by MrObsessive, 19 August 2012 - 12:07 PM.

[MrObsessive]

It's time to make the hinge support for the door. This car uses a "gooseneck" type hinge which allow the door to swing towards the outside of the body, as opposed to most cars today using a pivot type hinge which lets the leading edge of the door turn inside the fender.

I'm not sure what size plastic I used here as I like to use a lot of scrap leftover stuff from other projects instead of just throwing things out. As I mentioned in another thread on this board, you want to make sure your support is a straight as possible from the sides as well as from the front. Failing to do so will lead to doors either "hitting the curb" when opened, or swinging up in the air like a butterfly!

Here is a pic of the hinge support for the driver's side..............

Once this is completely dry, I'll glue the ends very thoroughly with super glue to lock 'em in tight.

Now I went ahead and formed hinges..............

These are just some strip brass that are of the appropriate size. I don't have a measurement of the particular swing angle that I need.........a lot of what I do is simple "eyeball engineering". I just test fit and do simple trial and error to get the results I need.

Now, it's time to solder a pin to one of the hinges so far............take a look at the following video as I try to demonstrate this. Please forgive the video quality------I'm poor and don't have the latest and greatest video cam for studio like shots. Just a quick vid to give you the basics on soldering something like this.

Enjoy!

Edited by MrObsessive, 19 August 2012 - 12:11 PM.

[Dr. Cranky]

Just saw the video, very cool work. I am looking forward to seeing them at work, the hinges.

[crazyjim]

You the man, Bill. Wonderful video. Looking forward to your next session.

[Tony T]

Great soldering video, Bill...thank you for that! Looking forward to seeing how the hinges go together.

[MrObsessive]

Sometimes I wish there were simply more hours in the day! Between working 10 hour days, computer stuff, family issues, etc.........I don't seem to have the time I used to when it comes to building models! Nevertheless, I intend for this one to be as detailed as my '58 Impala convertible from years ago. In fact, a bit more so!

So sit back, this will be one looooong build!

Okay, on with the saga of the opening doors. I was able to finally get the driver's side door hinged and fitted to my liking. I made the second hinge not long after I posted the last time, and got it to nearly match the dimensions of the first one I made.

Here's some proof of the pudding!

Of course the posts had to be cut down to suit where they'll be placed in the model...........here's how they'll be anchored on to the support post............

Just some simple square rod drilled through to allow the hinge to swing. Now here's the hinges mounted on the support post inside the body now............

And how they should swing straight outward once they're attached. Note how I have the chassis in place as the chassis will bow the body outward slightly. I had to make allowances in the mounting of the support post for this.

Now the next thing is to mount (tape) the door in place so that you can mark off the hinge "holders" for later epoxying.

Still need to tighten up those shut lines!...........

I made the hinge holders out of U-Channel styrene (Evergreen) that was narrowed a bit to suit the width of the hinges. Notice the pencil marks on the inside of the doors and where I want the hinge holders to be.............I like to mark off where I'll need to build the door jambs on the door so there's no guesswork.

Stay tuned for more!