J Witt Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 I have a full scale 1936 Phaeton and I was delighted to find the Motor City Resin Casters kit for this car. I just received the resin kit, but haven't gotten the AMT donor kit in the mail yet. That part should be here in a couple of days, since HobbyLinc is only about 25 miles from me. Here's a photo of the full size Phaeton. It is an early '36, so has some features that are different than the later cars, mostly in small details of the dash and engine. Many of those details will be irrelevant to a model. If anyone needs reference info on early V8 cars, let me know and I may be able to get pictures for you. I belong to the local EV8 club and they have a wide age range of cars in stock trim. The MCRC kit is very nice quality, no pinholes to speak of and excellent parts fit. I've just started cleaning up the castings and have yet to glue anything together. I'm waiting to get the AMT parts to start in on the trimming and trial fit process before gluing anything. It's going to be nice to have the reference vehicle sitting in the garage. Regards to all, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramfins59 Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 That's a sweet looking '36 John. Have fun building the model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landman Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 That's a sweet looking '36 John. Have fun building the model.It sure is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Macleod Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 Wow! That blows away my early Ford! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CometMan Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 Very sharp Phaeton you have there, John! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 I'll look forward to seeing this come together. I really like the Phaetons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intmd8r Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 I like where this is going! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 Looks like an interesting build and its nice to have a reference car so handy. I like to see restored cars such as your own. Its good to see such low production models like this preserved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Metallic Posted June 28, 2016 Share Posted June 28, 2016 I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes together. I have one of these resin kits myself, so I'm looking to see if you run into any issues. Maybe it will even inspire me to put mine on the bench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Witt Posted June 28, 2016 Author Share Posted June 28, 2016 (edited) Thanks for the kind words.So far, all I have done, pending getting the AMT donor kit, is to clean up and test fit parts. The interior panels fit well and the mating edges are chosen to match the full scale dividing lines between metal and upholstery, so that will make the interior work easier.This phaeton has an interesting history, having been owned for a large part of its life by Dee Howard, of Howard aviation fame. It spent about 40 years in his car collection, indoors in San Antonio TX. The car was "restored" by him and his shop crew in about 1978. It is mostly straight up box stock, but has some interesting changes, like a full stainless steel exhaust system and aircraft style fuel lines. Howard's shop was a large aviation business doing aircraft maintenance, custom interiors and aircraft modifications to WWII planes into business aircraft. http://www.deehoward.org/It's in very nice condition, but is currently being readied for an engine overhaul by Josh Mills Co. http://millscustoms.com/ , here in Marietta GA. Most of the other rework required has been small items, like old rubber parts that have deteriorated.Hopefully the model and the full scale car will hit the road about the same time, 4-6 weeks from now. Edited June 28, 2016 by J Witt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stavanzer Posted June 29, 2016 Share Posted June 29, 2016 Man, the Phaeton (Touring Car) is hands down my favorite old car body style. I'll be watching this build.My Dad has a 1922 Buick 9 passenger Touring, that needs to be restored. It has been in his family since before WW2.Thus my love for Touring Cars.Was the resin body pricey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Witt Posted June 29, 2016 Author Share Posted June 29, 2016 The two kits together will be about $65. You can see the Motor City site here: http://motorcityresincasters.com/I bought the AMT coupe from HobbyLinc.That Buick will be an interesting project. Properly done, a restoration can make the car a family heirloom for another 80 years. Be sure and document everything about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Witt Posted July 2, 2016 Author Share Posted July 2, 2016 So the AMT kit arrived and I shook all of the parts out of the box to have a look. On the resin side, the body was assembled to the fenders. This fit was OK, but off a little at the tail end, which was corrected with a few rubber bands. After the glue was set, i taped on the hood and nose parts from the AMT kit and this all was an excellent fit. In fact almost too good. The real car has a gap at the bottom edge of the hood sides. This gap is about 3/8 inch wide. The plastic parts are a flush fit, so will have to sanded a little to have the correct look. This is going to be an OK build I think, having the basic parts fit as they should goes a long way to making the project fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 Wow! Your 1:1 is just stunning! What a beautiful car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted July 3, 2016 Share Posted July 3, 2016 Hi, John, I have built one of these, they are great kits everything fits as it should. The only problem I have is that the correct steering wheel is not available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted July 3, 2016 Share Posted July 3, 2016 The model really has a nice shape to it. I'm sure it'll look very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Witt Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 Got a little more done, just cleaning up and assembling the chassis. I'm trying to decide how much under body detail to scratch build for this model. The real frame has a series of holes in the vertical walls of the frame and a lot of the under body parts are routed through them, like the tailpipe and muffler which are cast on. There are so many discrepancies that the only real way to do it would be to scratch build the whole chassis and I'm not leaning toward the time investment that will require. Almost none will be visible without picking the model up and turning it over. I thought initially I'd at least add the brake rods and some of the front steering detail. My thought now is to paint it black and see how it will look. I think I will spend that time on the interior detail and give the undercarriage a pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeBee Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Hi, John, I have built one of these, they are great kits everything fits as it should. The only problem I have is that the correct steering wheel is not available.Model Car Garage had PE banjo wheels, but now I see they're only carrying "modern," small diameter banjo wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeBee Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 That's a really sweet phaeton... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Witt Posted July 9, 2016 Author Share Posted July 9, 2016 Made a little modest progress, fitting up the nose parts, hood and the tail lights. The tail lights come from the donor kit and the right needed to have the rumble seat step trimmed off. So far everything is fitting up well. I'm getting close to painting the shell, so I dug my airbrush and compressor out from under the bench and set about getting all the fittings hooked back up. I'm planning to use some Humbrol enamel that I mixed up as color match to 1:1 car, so that part at least should be accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Witt Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 Here's a question for the crew. This car has black fender welting between all the fenders and body, plus black rubber pads under the tail lights and at the joints of some of the front sheet metal. Does anyone have a good way to model this? I've been thinking along the lines of black thread, or soft wire. The real welting is just over 1/4 inch in diameter, so reduced to 1/25 that is .010 inch wire -- pretty small. A technique I've used before for really small details like badges is to use a small amount of clear enamel or lacquer to hold the item in place and was thinking that might work for this too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David G. Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Like you said John- I would try very fine wire or try to paint the lines in.The wire inside the twist ties that come in almost every box of garbage bags is soft and easy to work with. I frequently use it for fuel and brake lines.The rest of the project looks great, BTW.David G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Metallic Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 As far as the frame goes, if you do want some more detail couldn't you use the Revell 40 frame? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Witt Posted July 15, 2016 Author Share Posted July 15, 2016 Here's a little more progress, wheels on the frame and paint on the shell. Not too happy with the fit of the hood side panels, maybe a redo. Wheels came out with a reasonable facsimile of the spider wheel covers. Actually looks better in person because your eyes tends to gloss over the wiggly bits. The paint is a Humbrol mix that I originally did for chip touch up on the real car. It is a satin gloss, but will eventually get a high gloss clear coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Macleod Posted July 15, 2016 Share Posted July 15, 2016 Once upon a time I used black spark plug wire (1:24 scale of course ) for fender welt on a Cord Sportsman I was building. I think it came out looking spot on. Maybe consider that? The Phaeton is looking excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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