Chopped/sectioned 39 Ford(update:primer mock up!))

[Ferbz]

Here's a few mock up shots with bumpers, grill and headlights and a fresh coat of primer. Putty work is just about done and block sanding begins. Since my last post, I've glued together and fitted the hood. I had to raise the character lines on the sides to better match the body's lines and added a peak(sorry, its difficult to see in the current pics). I modified the Revell 40 Ford bumper brackets to work with the Monogram 41 Lincoln bumpers and cut the mounting holes in the front/rear fenders. Early on I eyeballed and guessed that the Lincoln bumpers would work being that they are 1/24th scale, but I think they work fairly well with the widened fenders. Lastly, I scribed in the rear fender skirt seams and fender-to-body seams. By the way, I want to do something a little different(but not out of theme) with the tail lights and not use 39 teardrops even though they would work fine. I also want to mount them on the trunk lid to the left and right of the license box and not on the fenders or the bumper brackets. 

Slow and steady wins the race, right?  

[Modlbldr]

Looking good so far. My only criticisms are the rear line of the door seems a bit too close to the front of the side windows and the fender skirts look a little too big in comparison to the fenders, particularly at the top. Just my two cents. Otherwise, the body work is fantastic. What color do you have in mind?

Later- 

[slownlow]

Your work is very clean and I like this a lot. The only other thing you might concider is adding the drip rail. I feel it accents the smooth swoop of the chopped roof in a subtle way and connects it with the body lines.But hay, your the one you gotta please. Keep on keep' on.

[espo]

Beautiful body work, I really like the Lincoln bumpers. The "skirts" do seem a little exaggerated but in the real world would probably be the easiest to work with if you had to change a tire say. Before gluing down the tail lights you might want to see how they would look on the fenders also. Maybe something oblong like the '49-'50 Ford lamps from AMT, or even modify the stock '49 Merc lamps. They are curved to match the rear fenders, but if sanded down flat that may give you the look your after.   

[Ferbz]

Looking good so far. My only criticisms are the rear line of the door seems a bit too close to the front of the side windows and the fender skirts look a little too big in comparison to the fenders, particularly at the top. Just my two cents. Otherwise, the body work is fantastic. What color do you have in mind?

Later- 

I've not decided on a color yet, but it'll likely be a single stage color to keep with the post war theme. Not something too dark like black, nor something too light like cream.

[Ferbz]

Your work is very clean and I like this a lot. The only other thing you might concider is adding the drip rail. I feel it accents the smooth swoop of the chopped roof in a subtle way and connects it with the body lines.But hay, your the one you gotta please. Keep on keep' on.

Thanks! I see your point but no drip rails on this one. Many of the chopped 39/40 coupes of the era have them removed so this build will mimic that look. 

[Ferbz]

Beautiful body work, I really like the Lincoln bumpers. The "skirts" do seem a little exaggerated but in the real world would probably be the easiest to work with if you had to change a tire say. Before gluing down the tail lights you might want to see how they would look on the fenders also. Maybe something oblong like the '49-'50 Ford lamps from AMT, or even modify the stock '49 Merc lamps. They are curved to match the rear fenders, but if sanded down flat that may give you the look your after.   

Thanks! I noticed on quite a few custom built "concours" cars of the time that their skirts were quite large and I wanted to hint at that aesthetic. Seems the more elegant the car, the larger/fuller the skirts were. In actuality, these skirts also appear large due to the fact that the fenders/body are smaller than stock due to the sectioning(I also removed some height from the bottom of the body/fenders when I removed the running boards). Your tail light suggestions are great, but I want to use some pre-49 ones that are a little more obscure and not so easily recognizable. As an example, 39 Ford teardrops would work really well, but they're too typical for me.

On a side note, I want to also replicate the stainless steel gravel guard in the front bottom portion of the rear fenders(google Doug Rice's 39 Ford or Jimmy Summers 40 Merc). Any suggestions would be appreciated. I want to try to avoid gluing a thin styrene sheet piece there and foiling it and want to try doing something more realistic somehow. 

[jeffs396]

On a side note, I want to also replicate the stainless steel gravel guard in the front bottom portion of the rear fenders(google Doug Rice's 39 Ford or Jimmy Summers 40 Merc). Any suggestions would be appreciated. I want to try to avoid gluing a thin styrene sheet piece there and foiling it and want to try doing something more realistic somehow. 

Form some thin (pre-polished) aluminum sheet to the contour and CA glue or epoxy in place. Then touch up the polishing...

[MeatMan]

Very nice work!! Those are some great suggestions/observations as well.

For the gravel guards, Jeff is spot on. You might want to look at aluminum pie plates, etc for thin and flexible aluminum sheet. They can be polished to a shine.

[espo]

The gravel guards would be interesting and add additional flare. As others have mentioned, some very thin aluminum or even brass sheet stock that can be formed and then painted or foiled. I remember seeing some of these with horizontal ribs, that would add  to there appearance also. You might even think about forming your own tail lights. Draw different shapes on small pieces of paper and move them around on the body till you see something you like. Not expensive and easy to do. When you find what looks right then form it out of some red plastic with a foil back to make it look like a lens.    

[Rider]

Cool! Can't wait to see this with paint. 

[Ferbz]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all your pointers and suggestions. I especially like the pie plate idea for gravel guards. It should be thin enough to cut and bend pretty easily and would the right thickness. I'll post pics as I do my experimenting....