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Topless '49 Merc


Joe Handley

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Figured I'd start a build thread for the '49 Merc I posted in my thread in the General Section.

 

First of is why it is a failed chop, and why it will be topless.  I tried taking some plastic from between the roof and the windshield then lean the whole back section forward by doing pie and relief cuts , all while eliminating the posts and making it a hard top.  While I liked the results of the front and just wasn't sure about the back half, I put some Squadron Green Putty on too thick and it caused issues with the plastic around the windshield frame. I had started to try and fix it with sheet styrene, but it got put away and forgotten about until recently.

First off, the damaged areas at the front.

And now the areas in the back I did the cuts and filled with styrene and putty.

 

Now  a month or so ago, during a slow period at work, I sketched up a Merc where I bisected the line running from the headlights to the back bumper at the dog leg, basically turning the front section onto a faux pontoon and shaped the part behind dogleg into a cruiser skirt.  Well, I had the box laying around and decided, why not give it a shot, so here we go!

The planned area for reshaping marked out with tape.

And now the results!

Now here's what I found to paint it with, if I get that far.......Colorgirl Forever Festive Red Metallic, think it should work fine here!

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Nice idea on the reshaping of the side. Something I have not seen tried on these ol Mercs. It gives the rear fender area a look of a custom 53 Ford I have in the works.

http://http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr225/Modlbldr/53 Ford Vicky/DSCN5358.jpg

http://http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr225/Modlbldr/53 Ford Vicky/DSCN5197.jpg

Keep up the good work! I'd love to see how this turns out.

Later- 

 

 

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Thanks guys, and I was noticing that too Modlbldr, it was intended to look like a cruiser skirt on a '49 Ford once I sheet it in a piece of Styrene, but I noticed that likeness as I started to get the shape filed out of the body too.  I haven't seen any pics of this kind of change to the Dogleg before either, so unless it was done 60+ years ago and lost to time, dust, and rust, this could be a first!

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Any reccomendation for how to fill the area where the package tray is? I want to extend the daisy panel all the way to the back seat.

What to with the "daisy panel" area may depend what kind of look your going for. Some ideas would be a convertible boot. See if you can get any parts from the AMT '50 Ford convertible. They should be close and the kit had the options of a down top boot, an up convertible top, and a Carson type top for a chopped version. Depending on what you are planning for the windshield area, that same kit has both a stock height and a chopped top windshields in it. You could also create your own "fabric" cover for the rear area. Depending on the era you may be trying to build too, in the late '50's and early '60's it was common to see a fabric cover that would cover that area and even come up to the back of the front seat. Hope that gives you something to consider.  

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Here's that filler panel made from the roof, I had been scratching my head trying to figure out what to do, then I got to thinking of the builds done by Ian Roussel on Full Custom Garage where he used stamped panels from other cars on some of his builds and started looking at the roof to see if it had the right shape, turns out it's close enough to work!

 

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I like how you did the sides . Could you tell us how you did them

Thanks, all I did is mark off where I wanted the breaks after the dog leg to be and the final shape in Tamiya Masking Tape then started filing away with a K&S Hobby File set I bought years ago from the HTU I used to work for. After that, it was just a matter of filing the character line to continue the shape of the bodywork above it (Bill might have to chime in here, but I'm thinking that might even be difficult in 1/1 with the shapes involved and having to form the doorskins into those shapes) and carving things into the shape you see, then finish sanding the areas with a course sanding stick that happened to fit nicely into that spot.  Not really which was worse, trying to get the shapes symitrical in the tape, the amount of time and effort to do the same with the files once I started working at it, or the mess it left behind!

Edited by Joe Handley
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Well, finally got the A-Pillars and windshield cut down on the Merc. Still have to glue the filler panel in place and do something to fill in that gap as well.  Oddly, it looks like the vent window portion of the windshield glass came out with nearly the same rake to it that the separation I filed into the sides have.......didn't intend for that to happen!

 

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Got the filler panel cemented in and used some styrene rod as gap filler and more on the bottom as reinforcement while I was at it. I did find that one side was a bit low and needs a wee bit of filler to get it even with the daisey panel and sand/file the leading edge flat where it would fit behind the back seat.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got the skirts trimmed and shaped to match the lower quarters, just need to mount them, not sure if I want to use the Model Master Liquid Cement in the diamond shaped container or some of the Bob Smith Odorless CA I picked up a few days back to do so, or the best way to hold them in place while what ever I use dries.

tmp_8186-2017-01-22 22.22.31-822863643.jpg

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Here's where I left the Merc for the night, or morning, it's 3am as I type this and I've been up 23 hours so far. I started extending the front fenders and moving the headlight openings out farther, although if I use the tunneled headlight buckets in the kit, the lenses will roughly still be in th stock location on the fenders:rolleyes:  Hope I like how things turn out when I wake up!

tmp_7297-2017-01-23 02.59.27-591569820.jpg

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Turns out the skirts, as attached, didn't quite fit as I liked, so I trimmed the outer edges of the skirts down some and picked up some .040" 1/4 Round to glue around the outer edges of the skirt.  Things will then get puttied to the body once the other side is done and cured.  Not sure if I should use Squadron White Putty or Milliput 2-Part Putty to do the filling just yet, don't want to risk the melting issues on the thin plastics, but have never used Milliput either.

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