Dennis Lacy Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 I almost always build my hot rods in a traditional / old school style because that's my kind of style in the full scale world. When a '32 Sedan build-off happened early last year in a Facebook group I used to belong to everybody went old school, too. To shake things up a bit I decided to go against the grain and do mine in a late 80's smoothie / billet style. I got pretty well along with the project then it got shoved aside, as it often happens. For some reason I dug out the project this morning for a look (almost forgetting it was there!) and next thing I know I was working on it again. I went over some of the roughed-in work I had done before then made some good progress. The body is a Revell '32 Sedan which I chopped and converted into a Sedan Delivery by filling the rear window openings and carving in the rear door lines. The soft top insert detail was sanded off, door handles filled, center hinge detail filled on the hood top, popular heat extractor scoops added to the hood sides and the raised trim (a stainless steel band 1:1) removed from the rear edge of the radiator shell. When the fenders are removed from a '32 there is a resulting gap under the hood sides which is largest at the front. Rather than add material to the bottom edges of the hood sides I dropped the cowl down until the hood sides came down to the frame. I then lowered the radiator shell 1/16" to match. The chassis is essentially stock Revell '32 Ford with both front and rear axles modified using the good ol' Tim Boyd Technique to lower the stance.The tires are all from Revell's '32 Roadster and the early Boyd Coddington billet wheels are from the original issue of Monogram's '37 Ford Sedan. Those cool machined aluminum exhaust tips are old S&S Specialties pieces that I've been hanging onto for 20! years. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki The belly button Chevy small block is from Revell's series of '37 Ford street rods and the staple of all 80's rods. Some other S&S Specialties parts that I've been hanging onto for 20 years are the neat "V8" air filter and valve cover overlays and the pulley faces. I made extensions that connect the block hugger headers to the kit exhaust. I also cut the matching front engine mounts out of a '37 frame and installed them into the '32 frame. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki For the interior I'm using the front half of the '32 Sedan floor with the seats from the Revell '32 Speedwagon. The door panels are slightly modified from Revell's '37 Ford Coupe. The dashboard and tilt column are from Revell's '37 Convertible and the wheel is from my parts boxes. I had to add material to the top of the dash then shape it to fit the '32 Sedan cowl. Not a lot is going into the interior in this model and nothing for the cargo area because with the heavy chop the interior is barely visible. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki A few odds 'n ends and this one will be ready for some obnoxious 80's color! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lordmodelbuilder Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 Looking good! Always liked the look of the early billet rod days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 Awesome! You gonna paint it teal? Aqua with pink heartbeat graphics? Fleshtone pink? For taillights, I suggest double or triple ball-mill slot style, or deeply tunneled round lights.I never liked this era of hot rods, but that's funny because they're what I grew up on. Now I can appreciate them in an anthropological kind of way. I have a '37 Tudor that I was planning to do as a 90s rod with 2-tone paint divided at the beltline, on Boyd Smoothster wheels and tires...but the Testors tires developed terminal cracks. Dang it. So now it's waaaaay on the backburner.Looking forward to seeing more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltsr Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 I'm a fan of this style too. Great start Dennis, that roof chop is very neat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted May 31, 2016 Author Share Posted May 31, 2016 Awesome! You gonna paint it teal? Aqua with pink heartbeat graphics? Fleshtone pink? For taillights, I suggest double or triple ball-mill slot style, or deeply tunneled round lights. I never liked this era of hot rods, but that's funny because they're what I grew up on. Now I can appreciate them in an anthropological kind of way. I have a '37 Tudor that I was planning to do as a 90s rod with 2-tone paint divided at the beltline, on Boyd Smoothster wheels and tires...but the Testors tires developed terminal cracks. Dang it. So now it's waaaaay on the backburner. Looking forward to seeing more! I'm really leaning towards Aqua. I have nothing for proper street rod decals so I need to hunt some down. Any suggestions??? Being born in '79, I grew up with this style of street rod, too. Liked 'em as a little kid, came into the traditional cars hard in my earliest teens and then hated the billet cars for years. Now, I actually get a little nostalgic looking at them when they're a period-perfect 80's car. They were all the rage with modelers, too. Some of my fondest childhood modeling memories are contemporary street rod how-to's by Tim Boyd in his Modeler's Corner column in Street Rodder Magazine. I've got a tribute to him and one of those in the near future. Just gotta get some of these lingering projects in the display case before starting, yet another model. So this aint gonna be the only billet car you'll see from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 51 Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 (edited) Nice chop and stance...not much of a billet fan but the brightest red paint you can find would work too..even without "graphics". Edited May 31, 2016 by mike 51 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 Awesome. Makes me want to do a billet build too. Maybe a hard-chopped 48 Chevy in flesh pink, tunneled everything, splash graphics, painted bumpers...I just dug through my kits and decals and to my surprise didn't really find anything that would fit with aqua paint.The Roth Beatnik Bandit II has pink/purple graphics that could maybe be re-purposed. The Lindberg '34 PU has some radical pink/purple parallel ribbon graphics, but they're too short for a '32 panel. Also found some red jagged speed-scallops, and rounded black scallops. No long splash-graphics though, which is what I was looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 The Monogram '40 Ford coupe street rod has some longer stretched-checkmark graphics, but they'd work best with red or black paint I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 In general, I'm finding that searching ebay for "AMT- Ertl decals" gives me stuff from that era. Here are some 69 Chevell SS graphicshttp://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/kits/images/CarAMT/amt2212-2decals.JPGand AMT -92 corvette Zr1 graphics:http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/278AAOSwoBtW3GY9/s-l225.jpgAMT 68 plymouth roadrunner graphics:http://d2ydh70d4b5xgv.cloudfront.net/images/1/a/amt-ertl-1-25-68-plymouth-roadrunner-decal-kit-6515-8930-5dccb5bc486c23467af055bc58a6b82e.jpgAMT 69 oldshttp://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/M0AAAOSwoudW3Kwj/s-l225.jpgErtl SS graphicshttp://i.ebayimg.com/images/a/(KGrHqYOKj!E5W9!lpC!BOkzCBpivw~~/s-l500.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 I am really liking where this is going.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted May 31, 2016 Author Share Posted May 31, 2016 The Monogram '40 Ford coupe street rod has some longer stretched-checkmark graphics, but they'd work best with red or black paint I think. Thanks for looking into the graphic decals, Chris. Those aren't quite the obnoxious graphics I'm looking for. The ZR1 sheet comes closest, though. I'm gonna keep looking. There's gotta be something perfect out there. The mid-late 90's issue of AMT's '40 Coupe (stock gray car on box) has some good pink & gray graphics and I thought I had a couple of those sheets but came up empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 Great start. Great choice of parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim boyd Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Being born in '79, I grew up with this style of street rod, too. Liked 'em as a little kid, came into the traditional cars hard in my earliest teens and then hated the billet cars for years. Now, I actually get a little nostalgic looking at them when they're a period-perfect 80's car. They were all the rage with modelers, too. Some of my fondest childhood modeling memories are contemporary street rod how-to's by Tim Boyd in his Modeler's Corner column in Street Rodder Magazine. I've got a tribute to him and one of those in the near future. Just gotta get some of these lingering projects in the display case before starting, yet another model. Dennis......great to hear that you enjoyed those old Street Rodder Modeler's Corner columns.....will be watching this one develop, for sure. Cheers and Best Regards.....TIM . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantrix Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 How about these? The effects are layered on one another so you could cut these down to fit whatever area you want to fill. It's from the Monogram '64 GTO. It's just about as 90's as you could want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyrichard Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 love this one !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phildaupho Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 (edited) This is going to a great looking Deuce from a period I remember well but is not often recently replicated Edited June 1, 2016 by Phildaupho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mod3l Lover Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 Dennis, I have the decals you are looking for. If you would like them send me a pm with address and I will mail them out to you. I would just like to keep the aftermarket decals on the sheet if you don't need those! David S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted June 2, 2016 Author Share Posted June 2, 2016 Dennis, I have the decals you are looking for. If you would like them send me a pm with address and I will mail them out to you. I would just like to keep the aftermarket decals on the sheet if you don't need those! David S. Those are the ones! Now that I see them again I think I can make these work and they will tie in nicely with the obnoxious color scheme I have in mind. My billet bubble gum street rod and I are very appreciative! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted June 2, 2016 Author Share Posted June 2, 2016 Dennis......great to hear that you enjoyed those old Street Rodder Modeler's Corner columns.....will be watching this one develop, for sure. Cheers and Best Regards.....TIM . Tim, I gotta know. Does the pink '29 Pickup that was featured as a complete How To in the May '90 issue still exist? I've scoured your Fotki hoping see current-day pictures. All-time favorite Modelers Corner! (hint, hint ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim boyd Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Tim, I gotta know. Does the pink '29 Pickup that was featured as a complete How To in the May '90 issue still exist? I've scoured your Fotki hoping see current-day pictures. All-time favorite Modelers Corner! (hint, hint ) Dennis....sure does. Maybe I need to dig that one out and do some modern day photography on it.....thanks for the suggestion.....TIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim boyd Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 There's a line from one of those Modeler's Corner articles that stuck with me (sort of) for years...I couldn't remember it perfectly, so I dug the mag out of the pile: "It's not who you are or what you've done in past competitions--not that Lizard Sweat Green color that you painted your '17 Gadoinker V-7 9-door station wagon or the working vacuum in the rear seat ashtray. If you put it in sloppily, you might as well have not put it in at all, because you're not even going to make the first cut!" --Tim Boyd That '97 issue of Street Rodder is probably 97% of the origin of my "disease", and it's full of awesome cars, including some that are still so 80s it hurts (smoothie pink and aqua fenderless '37, anyone?) and a few that would fit right into 2016. Ever since the day I picked up that mag, I've wondered exactly what color Lizard Sweat might be Chris....I sure don't ever remember writing something like that (then again, my memory is not always that reliable, it turns out). Plus I handed over the Modeler's Corner gig to Mike Carroll in September, 1995 when I took over as the team leader for Ford's SVT project and began dealing with the 1/1 automotive media professionally. So I'm thinking maybe Mike wrote those immortal words.....???? Cheers....TIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted June 2, 2016 Author Share Posted June 2, 2016 Dennis....sure does. Maybe I need to dig that one out and do some modern day photography on it.....thanks for the suggestion.....TIM I think that's an excellent idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Whoa, whoa! I must correct my horrible mis-attribution! Mike Carrol did indeed write the passage about the "Lizard Sweat Green". I apologize profusely, and will endeavor to correct my post. Nuts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spex84 Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Because I can't get the "Edit" feature to work, I have deleted that post. Thanks for correcting me, Tim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim boyd Posted June 2, 2016 Share Posted June 2, 2016 Because I can't get the "Edit" feature to work, I have deleted that post. Thanks for correcting me, Tim.You're welcome, Chris. No worries whatsoever. Cheers.....TIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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