Bernard Kron

This is the latest project taking shape on my bench, a Revell 1950 Ford F1 pickup done in a big block conservative traditional street rod style. I’m sticking pretty close to the basic kit but with a chopped main cab courtesy of Jimmy Flintstone, and a Revell Parts Pack 427 Ford motor, combining the Parts Pack blower with the Pack’s carburetors for a street-friendly setup. The overall stance will be based on the kit-supplied dropped front axle and lowered rear suspension. The deep dish steelies and slicks at the rear are from my parts box. The paint scheme is Duplicolor Universal Black flattened with Testors Dullcote contrasted with a high gloss treatment on the fenders in Duplicolor Super Red II shot over white primer. I’ve wanted to do this treatment on a fat fendered ride of some sort for quite a while, and they don’t come any fatter than the fenders on a Ford F1!

This build features several firsts for me, among them my first real pickup project (T-buckets don’t count…) since I built model cars as a kid. This is also my first faux-wood paint job, done in various shades of yellow, cream, red and brown acrylics.

Here are some quick shots from the war zone which is the permanent condition of my workbench.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

’32 Ford Roadster Lo-Boy
(More pictures below)

This is based on the old Revell Highboy ’32 Ford Roadster. Obviously, it’s been radically lowered in the style of the late 50’s and early 60’s hot rod show cars. The inspiration was the stance on the ’60 AMBR winner, the Barris Emperor. However, I kept the details conservative rather than going whole hog as Barris did fabricating molded nose and tailpieces.

Below are the details. (Unless otherwise noted everything is from the Revell kit.):

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

Chassis: Z’d 3” in the rear, rails wedge cut just forward of the firewall to raise the front cross member about 1½”. Front cross member and front spring shaved. Rails notched at front cross member to allow axle clearance.
Motor: Chrysler Hemi from the Monogram Li’l Coffin mated to Revell Deuce kit transmission to assure proper chassis fit. “Limefire” style headers from AMT Phantom Vicky kit.
Bodywork: Stock Deuce roadster body channeled the depth of the frame rails. Rolled pan added at rear. Taillights from new Revell Stacey David Rat Roaster kit. Resin 2” chopped grill shell with photo-etch grill courtesy of Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland.
Interior: Sectioned kit side panels. Rear panel fabricated from kit seat. Bucket seats from Revell ’30 Ford “Rat Rod” sedan kit. AMT ’58 Chevrolet Impala steering wheel.
Wheels and tires: From Monogram Super Modified Dirt Track Racer kit.

Paints and finishes: Duplicolor Maroon Metallic over Duplicolor Platinum base coat. Interior finished in Testors Pearl White lacquer.

Revell Stacey David Rat Roaster Revisited

(More pictures below)

Revell’s hotly anticipated revision of its venerable ’32 Ford Highboy Roadster kit, a replica of television personality Stacey David’s flashy Rat Roaster street rod was received with much discussion and controversy. Many were impressed with the new parts (particularly the wheels and tires) and modern small block Chevy motor. Others were disappointed that Revell didn’t go all the way and revise the suspension to copy the I-beam front end and sophisticated trailing link rear end of the 1:1. The interior, too, while very striking and highly stylized, was sure to be controversial and hardly universal in its appeal.

But with the old roadster kit no longer in production, and with Revell finally offering an alternative to the dreaded “Wide Fronts” (tires) which have blighted the front end of all their Deuce variants to date, there was much to like about the kit and initial sales have been brisk to say the least.

Personally, I was like most modelers, conflicted with The Good (the tires and wheels, the stock style firewall, the fact that a roadster is back in production, the SBC motor, the nice dashboard, the hairpins and the chopped windshield), The Bad (the air bag rear end which refuses to die, the absence of the 1:1’s I-beam front suspension, the fact that the wheel/tire system is not compatible with most other kits’ wheels and tires, the notched frame rails to accommodate the exhaust pipes’ connection to the sidepipes, the Rat Roaster specific body modifications, particularly to the rear end, etc.) and the Ugly (the porthole infected hood, the wimpy little seats, the disappointing blower and carb setup, the integrated disc brake/front fender bracket system, etc.). So I decided to address the “issues” and see if I couldn’t come up with a version that was more to my taste while sticking as close as possible to the 1:1.

Surprisingly, I landed up making only a relatively small number of modifications which I think result in a significantly different take on this car. The overall theme exploits the sprint car style elements of the 1:1 while deleting many of the cornier rock ‘n’ roll and hotrod/kustom kar themes. Listed below are the changes I made.

Motor: Deleted the blower and carb setup and substituted sprint car style Hilborn injectors and K&N conical filters courtesy of TJ’s Custom Castings (http://stores.tjscus.../StoreFront.bok )

Interior: Drilled out all the fake holes so they’re real now, and substituted replica Speedway Motors drilled out bomber seats courtesy of ThePartsBox.com (http://www.thepartsbox.com/ ). Finished the bare metal areas in Testors Metalizer Aluminum Plate. Made a standard ball shift lever to replace the microphone shift knob (!).

Bodywork: Deleted the fenders. Substituted a stock hood. Substituted teardrop style rear railights.

Chassis: Lowered the front suspension to increase the rake by shaving four leaves off the front spring.

Paint and finishing. Main body color is Duplicolor #E8801589 Nightshadow Pearl metallic blue over white primer and Duplicolor Silver base. Chassis finished in body color with Duplicolor Silver floot panels. Wheel centers finished in Testors Metalizer Magnesium.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

This will be an early 60’s style show rod in the vein of the Barris Emperor but with a more conservative body treatment. Lots of chrome, brightly colored paint and the obligatory tuck and roll interior with bucket seats. The work so far has been focused on getting the car down in the weeds and dialing in the stance. As the pictures below show, this required some radical chassis work, with a 3” Z at the rear,a wedge cut into the frame rails just in front of the firewall to lift the front crossmember and a shaved front axle and crossmember at the front. The front end lowering is so extreme I had to notch the frame rails to clear the front spring.

I’m sticking with a full sized grille shell to emphasize the ultra low stance and also installed a small rear rolled pan to bring the back end down. The car will have a chopped windshield and the motor will be a period show motor, either the hemi from the Li’l Coffin, or a Revell Parts Pac Cadillac, in either case with 6 ‘97’s on top. For the moment the wheels and tires are from a Monogram Super Modified Dirt Track Racer unless something else catches my eye.

Thanx for lookin’,
B.

Revell has finally given us a new tool Deuce Roadster in the form of the Stacy David Rat Roaster. Just in time, too, as the old highboy roadster kit has become quite scarce. Recently, when I was at the NNL West there were absolutely none of the old kit to be found! So the Rat Roaster is what we will have going forward.
 
I must admit to mixed feelings about this kit. The 1:1 is highly stylized, a very contemporary vision of a 60s style 32 Ford highboy roadster. Definitely one mans taste, with its massive exhausts and intake trumpets, the B&M blower, the polished bare metal chrome molding along the bodyline, and the oval ports atop the hood. Unfortunately, many of these details are not to my taste, and some, like the hood top ports, are not easily undone without either extensive bodywork or reaching into the parts box. The interior, too, is aggressively done and very much in the modern style. But it is more to my taste than some of the other details. So I decided I would do a version of the Rat Roaster, keeping the details that I like and changing the details that I dont like. This isnt a backdating of the car, but rather a revisiting of the basic style of the 1:1, toning down some of the details, and emphasizing some of the others.
 
To start with I was surprised to see that the holes in the interior were missing from the kit. At first I thought Revell had wimped out by leaving the holes filled and including decals to indicate the dark areas on the original car. But more close examination of the 1:1 indicates that these holes are not holes at all, but indentations which are then filled with padded upholstery material. In my minds eye I wanted holes. So I drilled out all the holes so they are now holes, period.
 
My vision of the interior was more along the lines of a bare metal look with just a smattering of upholstery. So I decided on finishing it out in Testors Aluminum Plate Metalizer with the black diamond pattern panels of the 1:1. To emphasize this look I have replaced the kit seats with drilled out resin items from ThePartsBox.com, again finished in Aluminum Plate.
 
One of the most successful details of the 1:1, something which Revell has translated quite well in kit form, are the wheels and tires. To give the wheels a bit more realism I painted out the centers in Metalizer Stainless Steel to mimic the finish on the 1:1.
 
These details have set the tone of the overall look. Ill keep as much of the rest of the car as I can, sticking with the kit Small Block Chevy, but changing the hood to a more stock appearing one. The blower is a problem for me, lacking definition and personality, so Im looking into alternate carburetion and/or blower setups (GMC 671, a brace of 97s, injection? not decided yet). The exhausts are problematic too. Do I keep them to emphasize the link with the 1:1, do I refinish them to tone down the kit chrome, do I substitute block huggers for them and go with full side panels, or do I build out a set of Limefires (which I have started on)? Again Im not sure.
 
Meanwhile, Ive settled on a color. At first I considered a deep red metallic, but it didnt go all that well with the strong silver and black interior. Then I considered a black car, but I decided it would just be too black all over. So Ive gone with a rich, deep blue metallic, Duplicolor Nightshadow Pearl, applied over white primer and a silver metallic base for a candy effect. Below is a color check I did.
 
I think the overall look will be far more conservative than the 1:1, but Im trying to avoid backdating this car too much, partially because Im planning a straight-up traditional highboy for later this year, complete with buggy spring rear end, juice brakes, either flathead or early OHV power, tuck and roll interior, etc. That car will almost certainly be done in black, another reason I wanted to avoid black for this one.
 
As usual, this build is somewhat of an improvisation, so well see where it takes me. In the meantime
 
Thanx for loookin,
B.