gwolf Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 Here I go with another 32 Ford made out of parts box leftovers. The body, frame, hood, engine, and radiator shroud are all 100% parts box junk. I'm going to start out with an MPC Switchers 32 Ford body I had int he parts box (same as the MPC Milner's Coupe kit and AMT Earth Boyd Coddington's American Hot Rod 32 Ford kit). At some point in its life, the roof was chopped and there's some putty work that's not very nice. But that's ok, I'm ok with it. Some model glue fixed the split area where the roof connects to the body. I needed a new firewall, so I'll make one out of a sheet of styrene.After a few attempts at tracing, then cutting out the shape from the plastic sheet, I figured the easiest way to get an accurate shape was to glue the sheet to the firewall area, wait for it to dry, then trim around it with a box cutter blade. Not too shabby. A few minutes of sanding and now I have a firewall with a lip that the hood will sit on top of. I couldn't come up with a suitable interior tub, so I made my own based on measurement from the interior tub from the AMT Ertl Boyd Coddington American Hotrod 1932 Ford. Could I have just broken up the Boyd kit and used that tub? Sure, but I didn't want to. I made my own interior tub from sheet styrene. I'd never done this before and thought for sure I'd fail, but it went together pretty nicely and pretty easily. If I were to do it again (which I may when I get more sheet styrene) I'd glue the walls to the side of the floor piece, not on top of it; that would make the tub about 1/8" wider and that would be a perfect fit. Got my tub, got some parts box steelies and small whitewalls from an unknown kit (they're really small) and AMT Racemaster piecrust whitewall dragster slicks. The parts box AMT 32 Ford frame (I buy these every chance I get) is pristine, but the front suspension had already been glued and assembled. I can't live with the "going uphill" stance, so I start planning what I'll do. Someone ought to start producing altered AMT lowered front suspension parts. I had done this before and it worked out well even if it's a little unconventional. An old school model builder friend of mine taught me this. I used a thin X-Acto saw blade and cut through the suspension mount each side, then flipped it over. Boom, now we're lowered. I broke on of the frame horns off while cutting, but was able to put it back on. Model glue sort of melts parts together, so even hours after the glue setting, I'm able to gently push the horn into shape. Now I'm really liking the rake and suspension height on the front. The best part is that since I won't be using the sides of the hood, the metal axle (yes, I use them) won't be impeded. The parts box flathead V8 fits perfectly after trimming the homemade firewall. More to come... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 I LOVE "parts box junk" builds! Drive on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Payne Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 Whoever chopped that top appears to have raked the windshield back a bit- looks good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolf Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 On 7/11/2020 at 8:41 AM, Snake45 said: I LOVE "parts box junk" builds! Drive on! I do too, and it's almost ruined me on building new, unbuilt kits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolf Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 21 hours ago, Paul Payne said: Whoever chopped that top appears to have raked the windshield back a bit- looks good! I think so too. And I kinda like that it's a little literally rough around the edges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake45 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 42 minutes ago, gwolf said: I do too, and it's almost ruined me on building new, unbuilt kits! Anybody can build a new kit. It takes a MODELER to make something cool out of a bunch of castoff leftover junk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuces ll Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Yep!...... ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolf Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share Posted July 13, 2020 Ok, so I did a little work on the tub. I wanted to redo the floor so I cut a new, longer piece from styrene sheet and add two angled areas so the floor meets up to the wall a little better. Scoring the styrene on the underside allowed me to get the right bends. Some rods have wood floors over top of metal, so I like that look. The wood grain is actually self adhesive wallpaper from wallstickery.com. I made the mistake of misplacing the 6.5' door roll of this stuff (found it this morning) and went out and bought two rolls of wood grain shelf liner yesterday. Let me tell you, there's a world of difference. This modern self adhesive wallpaper is amazing. Tons of it in different colors on amazon.com. I wanted some kind of texture for the interior so I found this corrugated siding from Wee Scapes that's used for model train layouts. A little trimming, a little sanding and it lines up pretty well inside. Should look pretty good combined with a set of Replicas and Miniatures P-86 1/25 "Rat Rod" Seats (the best $4.95 you'll ever spend). I'm thinking a flat black or something like that for the color of the interior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Payne Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 If you are going for a leather or Naugahyde interior, spray on your flat black, let it dry, then rub it down a bit for a little sheen. Are you going to add pads to the bomber seats? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolf Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share Posted July 13, 2020 4 hours ago, Paul Payne said: If you are going for a leather or Naugahyde interior, spray on your flat black, let it dry, then rub it down a bit for a little sheen. Are you going to add pads to the bomber seats? Hi Paul, I was going for something like that. I'll try your trick. Or I could paint them green and it'll look like those old corrugated green patio roofs everyone had in the 70's. Just kidding. I hadn't planned on padding for the bomber seats, because these R&M ones are just so cool. But if you have an idea for some padding I'd love to hear it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Payne Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 The R&M seats are indeed cool. I was thinking of an upper pad on the back and a pad near the front edge of the seat- seen a lot like that. Start with sheet plastic and add your corrugated material on top of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolf Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 I have a pretty good stock of Model A junkers I build and take from, so I dug through them and pulled out a few things to add, mainly a dash console, shifter, and gear box. This parts box hood scoop will work great. I ground down the front of the scoop to match the angle of the bend in the floor. It takes up a lot of real estate, though... I sawed it in half with a X-Acto saw, then ground down the cut edges until I got the right size and the got them to match up straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam I Am Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Amazing use of the parts boxes. I need to do the same with mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolf Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 2 hours ago, Sam I Am said: Amazing use of the parts boxes. I need to do the same with mine. Thanks Sam! It's fun, too, seeing what you can improvise with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Myers Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Moving right along, Greg, looking real good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolf Posted July 27, 2020 Author Share Posted July 27, 2020 (edited) Update: Coming along. Going to go with Model Master Navy Aggressor Gray for the body, and frame, with red accents.The idea for this build, as with a lot of my parts box builds, is to make something that looks like what a young man might have built had he had a little money and a little time to spend. There will be some rust around the "weld" area where the roof was chopped (added before painting), some rust under the fender wells, and some old, previous paint that shows through. Edited July 27, 2020 by gwolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolf Posted July 28, 2020 Author Share Posted July 28, 2020 So here's how the Navy Aggressor Gray paint came out. I think it may need sanding, another salting, then another coat of paint. Rough, ain't it? Maybe a little too rough for a 1:1 representation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolf Posted July 30, 2020 Author Share Posted July 30, 2020 Quick update: Been throwing some salt, paint, and rust at this and am happy at this point. The idea is that the hood and radiator shroud are from a different vehicle. I'll paint the rear and part of the sides with some Testors dullcote to remove some of the sheen.I may also swap out the steelies for the old AMT 32 Ford wire wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolf Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 Update: I cut a piece of square styrene stock in half diagonally and mounted to sections, one on each side of the rails to keep the new "wood" floor in place. The body will be channelled over the frame, so neither the wood floor or the styrene stock will be visible. The frame got a nice coat of Navy Aggressor Gray. The shifter and gear box cover have been added to the floor. I've also switched out the steelie wheels for the a set of AMT 32 Ford wire wheels. I broke on of them trying to get the axle attached. I didn't remember them being so fragile. Luckily, I have a replacement for it. The interior tub has been painted and the scale sheet metal panels attached. Added some rust to the hood and radiator shroud (there's a brand new radiator inside it). The trimmed down dashboard now fits perfect inside the cabin and has been painted red.I'll add a little final detailing before assembly. Bomber seats from Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland (the best you'll find, hands down) have been painted flat aluminum. They may get a little rust treatment. Lastly, the styrene firewall I fabricated has been painted and attached to the body. I like the idea of having a bit of old, bit of new on this build. It's how I imagine someone would build a real vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwolf Posted August 1, 2020 Author Share Posted August 1, 2020 Ok, final update before it's done: Got the bomber seats painted and made a small wood platform for them to sit on. They may sit a little bit too far back, but that's fine. Flathead engine was painted with Rust-O-Leum's Leafy Green spray. I swapped out the wheels for a set of wire wheels from an older AMT 32 Ford kit that was in the parts box. I also swapped out the rear tires. I had AMT piecrust slicks, but I think these Stevens International 902 whitewalls look must better (they're impossible to find now, which is a shame). Stevens International 902 whitewalls If anyone recognizes where these headlights came from, I'd love to have about 100 sets of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.