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'48 Ford Coupe


Bernard Kron

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I've been having bizarre posting problems with this thread. It wouldn't accept my original text but has allowed the post as a reply. Very weird... Anyway see the next post of the start of this w.i.p.

Thanx,
B.

Edited by Bernard Kron
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Last year I picked up a Revell '48 Ford Police Car coupe on sale for 10 bucks. I bought it strictly as a parts kit, for the flathead V8, the wheels and tires, and the stock rear axle. I already had the original issue of the convertible and the chopped custom coupe. My longer term plan is to graft the cowl, door tops and rear deck of the convertible to the chopped coupe main body and build a high-style early 50's full custom. But for now I was looking for simple project I could complete during the month of July before I went away on vacation, and away from my workbench, in August. I decided to do a weathered stock height coupe using the the parts I wasn't saving for other projects.

The idea I have is to do an early 60’s street rod in a contemporary “as-found” condition. Restored hot rods with their original unmolested patina are quite the style right now so I decided to do one with a faded paint job, but not a rust bucket. This would be a nice street machine that’s been stored in a garage for the past 40 years or so, so that the paint oxidized but, other than some dirt and minor surface corrosion, it’s quite sound. I wanted to achieve a believable, realistic patina without a lot of heavy handed rust. The result is shown in the photo below. Capturing it photographically was really quite difficult, but I think the pictures will give you an idea. The original color would have been a deep candy or metallic red-violet. Over the years the paint had worn through and faded in various areas, sometimes down to the red primer and even to the metal in spots. There’s also some accumulated dirt showing.

I started with a base coat of dark grey primer. The next coat was a color coat of silver metallic to represent the bare metal layer. This was followed by a layer of red oxide primer and then a layer of Dark Toreador Red Metallic which would represent the original color in its current as-found condition. All the paints used were Duplicolor rattle cans.

By lightly and carefully wet sanding with 400 grit sandpaper I was able to reveal the red primer and bare metal layers in the appropriate places. This was followed by a very light application of Kosutte Gin San metalizing powder. This gave the paint surfaces a faded, oxidized look and added some sheen to the bare metal spots. I then sparingly applied some black acrylic wash and wiped most of it away by lightly brushing it with tissue paper. This added dirt and grime.

The louvered hood is from the chopped coupe kit, a part I won’t be using in the Carson topped kustom I’ll be building. It’s just what’s needed for this old street rod. The chopped coupe kit will also provide the tuck and roll interior.

The car will be lowered all around. I dropped the stock height front axle by raising the spindles. The motor will be a Revell Parts Pak Pontiac 421. Most likely with the Tri-Power carburetor setup. With the extra power I’ll be using a nicely detailed resin Pontiac Catalina rear axle I got from Ed Fluck at Drag City Casting. The stance of the car will determine wheel and tire choice and whether it leans to Show or Performance. The chassis will be weathered to go with the body patina.

This shouldn’t be a very complex project now that the paint is done. I should be able to update with chassis and motor pics next week.

Thanx, for lookin’
B.

Body-weathering-summary-web-1024.jpg

Edited by Bernard Kron
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Great looking model!

I also like the way you posted the image(s); seeing four at a time is a great idea!

Perhaps you could write a tutorial on how you did it. That way, those who post bunches of pictures might use that approach.

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Thanx you all. Glad you're diggin' it!

The motor, chassis and interior are now completed. The Revell Parts Pak Pontiac 421 is finished in a light blue similar to the factory block paint color and suitably weathered to go with the model theme. The Part Pak Tri-Power carb setup doesn’t include an air cleaner for some reason so I used a Tri-Power air cleaner from B-N-L Resins, finished with Molotow chrome and again weathered to match the rest of the car. The headers are re-pops of the Olds capped straight pipes found in the original issue AMT ’29-‘40 Ford Tudor kit. They’re by Ed Fluck at Drag City castings and their flawless finish made chroming them with Molotow easy. Again they have been weathered to suit.

The interior is the tuck and roll customized set from the Revell chopped ’48 coupe. It’s finished to complement the body paint and dull-coted. The chrome panel on the dashboard  has been weathered.

The chassis has the suspension lowered about 3 ½ scale inches all around, at the front by raising the axle spindles, and at the rear by lengthening the spring shackles. The wheels, front and rear, are steelies from the AMT ’49 Ford coupe kit, the rears being the deep-dish reverse pieces to mount a set of whitewall cheater slicks original gotten from the old Polar Lights Carl Casper Undertaker kit. The front pin-walls are from Modelhaus. The difference in tire diameters, front and rear, account for the slight nose down “rubber rake”.

Next up is the final trim, bumpers, lights and finish details. I’ll likely have this project wrapped up in the next week or so. Below are some summary photos of the work done since my last update.

Thanx for lookin’
B.

Chassis-Interior-Summary-web-1024.jpg

Body-Stance-Summary-web-1024.jpg

 

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