CabDriver Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 (edited) When I posted a mock-up rendering of this build, someone on my Instagram said it looked like what Farmer John would drive to church instead of his regular farm truck, and I liked it, so I guess I’m building a church truck ? I just finished a patina’d 34 truck and I wanted to do another variation but nice and clean this time - mildly hot rodded and not TOO far from the AMT/Lindberg kit, but with some cool little touches to make it a little different. Not full hot rod, not full custom, but a nice 60s inspired 34. Did a rendering of a 34 with the sunvisor removed and some simple fender flares - I think I like it! So, starting with the cab... First is making a replacement windshield frame that deletes the visor, and that I can shape into the roof to get a nice radius. Drew a frame in Illustrator and cut some styrene sheet to make the part: And a fit-check: Looks kinda awkward here, but I can glue it in place and start sanding and shaping to get a nice blend where it meets the roof now. I was going to use the kit’s optional smoothed-out firewall but I didn’t want to deal with trying to detail paint those moulded-in brake reservoirs, so I made a new one from sheet...you can see here that I’ve started blending the windshield frame to the roof a little: I’ll need scribe some lines in there once I get a little further along, but I’ll let the glue setup a little before messing with that. More soon, after dinner ? Edited November 23, 2020 by CabDriver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Just a thought, I wonder if the curved upper corners of a sedan windshield frame would help with your upper class interpretation here. Seems like that straight top edge is a bit harsh just below the smoothed flowing roll onto the roof. Actually. it reminds me of some of the old home made conversions of sedans into trucks back in the war years - farmers could get more fuel rations with a commercial vehicle rather than a family car so many were hastily cut down into trucks. Cheers Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted November 23, 2020 Author Share Posted November 23, 2020 Yes sir, you’re absolutely right! I’m going to try and replicate the curves you’d see on a 32 body a little I think once I get to shaping it some more here - round them off into nice little curves on the edges I think. Back from dinner (really, I was posting and dinner was ready so I had to stop ?), been cleaning up the frame a little today - need to do the usual smoothing and levelling to get those rails nice and straight: I think I’d like to go with a ‘32 grill shell so I resin cast one of those (and some other maybe-useful bits whilst I was at it) I think I’d like Baby Moons on this one - I have a set of resin ones that I’ve had forever, but I had the idea to incorporate a cross into the hubcap, as though it was stamped into the cap. So, seeing as I wanted to cast these wheels anyway because I don’t know where they came from and thus can’t buy any more, I cut a little vinyl cross (and a coffin version, for a future build) and stuck it on the wheel so it’ll hopefully have that little raised detail when I cast copies: Pouring some resin: We’ll see how that all works out tomorrow once the mould sets up - should work ok though, hopefully... And finally, started shaping some fender flares to match the rendering I did that started this whole thing...you don’t usually see flares like this on a hot rod, but I found some cool examples of where it WAS done and looks just different enough to be interesting so I’m going to run with it I think... Starting to look like the picture! More soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilrathy10 Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Oh now, this is interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted November 24, 2020 Author Share Posted November 24, 2020 On 11/22/2020 at 9:14 PM, kilrathy10 said: Oh now, this is interesting... Amazing how those little fender flares transform this thing compared to not having them! Tried resin casting some of my new wheels this afternoon - it’s tricky getting the resin to flow perfectly into all the tight gaps in the mould so I’m still messing with them...just waiting for the latest attempt to harden up now, in fact... In the meantime, did some reshaping of the resin 32 grill I cast yesterday so it’ll drop in between the fenders... And whilst I was starting to shape that new windshield frame I started levelling out the kit frame rails...as you can see they weren’t particularly straight so they’ll look a lot better once I get to the paint stage here...still done more fettling to go on these... Oh, and did some research on 30s cars with fender flares - found some cool stuff! More soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted November 24, 2020 Share Posted November 24, 2020 Another very neat build idea, Jim. Next you need to do a stakebed truck but I will be watching buddy.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted November 25, 2020 Author Share Posted November 25, 2020 20 hours ago, slusher said: Another very neat build idea, Jim. Next you need to do a stakebed truck but I will be watching buddy.. Oh yeah!!! Definitely! I wanna do all the variations of these - probably do the tow truck version next. But, like, the most ridiculously over-painted showcar looking tow-truck ever ? Meanwhile, on my more subtle project, couple of tiny little updates. I want to smooth out the underside of this truck and get it looking really clean...not streetrod-style-all-smoothed-out, but real clean and simple anyway. So, got to a-sandin’ and got that handled - had to patch a couple of holes and then tomorrow I can do the same to the top-side and then get it puttied-up and levelled out: After a few failed attempts at getting a perfect pull of those cross-emblem Moon wheels I got one today. Wasn’t even a hard part to cast, I just kept getting some little air bubbles where I didn’t need them, even after using a toothpick to dab some in all the crevices and nooks. Shot a light coat of primer on my one good one so you can see the detail...it’s VERY subtle, but I like the idea of having a bunch of tiny details on a build where you could look 10 times and still see some new little thing: Finally, I’d like to start on the engine - I know I’m kinda all over the place with this one, but I’m trying to get some of the major mods done or in-progress so I can start some mocking-up and the weekend and start figuring out stance and whatnot. I really like the look of this chromed Thunderbird mill, and I’d love to keep the kit chrome and add detail around it...but I can’t live with the big parting line in the transmission and the fit of the block to the intake (which also forms part of the cylinder heads). So, I guess for this one I’ll be stripping the chrome and doing some clean up...there’s about a 50/50 chance of this being chromed out versus body color, haven’t totally decided yet... More soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted November 25, 2020 Share Posted November 25, 2020 Wow! This is a super cool build. And all of those 30's vehicles with fender skirts - I want to build them all! (But your skill is a whole 'nother level above mine). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted November 26, 2020 Share Posted November 26, 2020 I have built some vehicles from the 1930s and 40s that included fender skirts like in the illustrations you posted.I personally feel that if you add the chrome trim you see a lot of those examples it adds a lot to them and makes them look less heavy overall .Great idea .thanks for showing those examples .I will be interesting to see how this project turns out when it's finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted November 29, 2020 Author Share Posted November 29, 2020 On 11/25/2020 at 6:32 AM, Jonathan said: Wow! This is a super cool build. And all of those 30's vehicles with fender skirts - I want to build them all! (But your skill is a whole 'nother level above mine). Thank you!! I love all those skirted cars too, definitely some cool designs there! On 11/26/2020 at 3:04 PM, misterNNL said: I have built some vehicles from the 1930s and 40s that included fender skirts like in the illustrations you posted.I personally feel that if you add the chrome trim you see a lot of those examples it adds a lot to them and makes them look less heavy overall .Great idea .thanks for showing those examples .I will be interesting to see how this project turns out when it's finished. I absolutely agree, definitely needs some sort of little trim piece or something to make it look finished. A little emblem like those ones above, maybe, or a little slither of chrome or SOMETHING. I’ve been trying to teach myself photoetching, and getting a handle on that would be a big help in achieving what I have in mind...might have to make something out of styrene though. Maybe like the navy blue one above? Tiny bit of progress, got the fenders smoothed out, and got the fender skirts glued in place for good...need to smooth them out and get the fit perfect but it’s fairly close: I’m really shooting for a timeless kind of look to this build - super clean and well thought out, but lots of little details to notice on the third or fourth or tenth viewing too. Not totally sold on the kit tires as my choice for this one yet - these are the AMT ones with the whitewall insert, but reversed...does anyone have any recommendations on some really nice 60s-ish era radials that would look good on this thing? Nothing too wide, because of the skirts, but anything nicely done and well detailed? More tomorrow, soon as I get around to doing more tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted November 29, 2020 Share Posted November 29, 2020 12 hours ago, CabDriver said: Thank you!! I love all those skirted cars too, definitely some cool designs there! I absolutely agree, definitely needs some sort of little trim piece or something to make it look finished. A little emblem like those ones above, maybe, or a little slither of chrome or SOMETHING. I’ve been trying to teach myself photoetching, and getting a handle on that would be a big help in achieving what I have in mind...might have to make something out of styrene though. Maybe like the navy blue one above? Tiny bit of progress, got the fenders smoothed out, and got the fender skirts glued in place for good...need to smooth them out and get the fit perfect but it’s fairly close: I’m really shooting for a timeless kind of look to this build - super clean and well thought out, but lots of little details to notice on the third or fourth or tenth viewing too. Not totally sold on the kit tires as my choice for this one yet - these are the AMT ones with the whitewall insert, but reversed...does anyone have any recommendations on some really nice 60s-ish era radials that would look good on this thing? Nothing too wide, because of the skirts, but anything nicely done and well detailed? More tomorrow, soon as I get around to doing more tomorrow! One of the skirt trims I did was similar the blue background example was done using the very thin chrome pieces available in the Revell Willys coupe with a small round trim piece in front of it. That one was on a '37 IH D300 cab over pulling a scratch built 21' aerodynamic vintage travel trailer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Is red lines or the gold linen tires to wide? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted November 30, 2020 Author Share Posted November 30, 2020 8 hours ago, misterNNL said: One of the skirt trims I did was similar the blue background example was done using the very thin chrome pieces available in the Revell Willys coupe with a small round trim piece in front of it. That one was on a '37 IH D300 cab over pulling a scratch built 21' aerodynamic vintage travel trailer. Ohh, good tip! Thank you! I’ll go look for that build to check it out! 22 minutes ago, slusher said: Is red lines or the gold linen tires to wide? The front end isn’t too much of a problem, but you’re right, I need something skinny for the rear. Was messing with tire choices today in fact! These are some I have in my parts stash - not sure what they are but I like them! I have some similar ones for the rear that are a touch taller and a hair narrower, but I’m still figuring it out. Will definitely need to run some plain old steelies or similar on the back end though, thanks to my ‘clever’ idea of running fender skirts - these baby moons stick out a little far for them to fit right. Meanwhile, on easier projects, picked out some headlamps from my stash...not sure what these were from originally but they fit the look I wanted: I picked up some little silver plated jump rings at Hobby Lobby this week, hoping I could make some trim rings - looks like they’ll work great! I’ll do some more detailing with those headlamps (with everything, in fact) further down the line...I’ve been trying to get far enough along with this where I can see how it’ll look with all the major parts in place and then start adding detail. I think of it as like how an artist sketches a piece before then doing the ‘real’ work - but with parts rather than pencil ✏️ Back at the other end of the truck, I’ll be covering that bed with a removable cover - I’m going to make the inside of the bed nicely detailed and painted anyway, but I figured the cover would make sense seeing as we’re covering the wheels too... And finally, I liked the idea of a single rear taillight, on the passenger’s side rear fender and found this little support in my spares - maybe from a 35 or 36 Ford, something like that? Drilled it out so I can mount it to the fender with a pin, and added another mystery-part lens that I liked the look of to finish it off: And that’s about a wrap on today’s 6 hours at the bench...good thing I don’t have a boss for this because I didn’t get very far ?. More soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrenchr Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Looking very cool, love all the details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afx Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Great looking project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMuscleFan Posted November 30, 2020 Share Posted November 30, 2020 Another super cool project in the making Jim! I love these custom made wheels cap and those super cool tail lights, beautiful vehicle for the priest! Are you going to add the pretty embossing shapes on the sides of the bed as on the rendering? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted December 1, 2020 Share Posted December 1, 2020 Thought about this thread when I dug up this photo.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 That model T would be a quick build with some Evergreen plank sides and roof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 On 12/1/2020 at 2:12 PM, Tom Geiger said: Thought about this thread when I dug up this photo.. Neat picture... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 On 11/29/2020 at 7:50 PM, wrenchr said: Looking very cool, love all the details. Thank you sir! On 11/29/2020 at 8:36 PM, afx said: Great looking project. And thank you too! On 11/30/2020 at 10:20 AM, AmericanMuscleFan said: Another super cool project in the making Jim! I love these custom made wheels cap and those super cool tail lights, beautiful vehicle for the priest! Are you going to add the pretty embossing shapes on the sides of the bed as on the rendering? And thank you as well! Those embossed shapes are actually moulded into the bed already, which makes my job a little easier: On 12/1/2020 at 2:12 PM, Tom Geiger said: Thought about this thread when I dug up this photo.. Haha! That’s AWESOME! I’ve been messing with getting this thing up on it’s wheels and getting the stance how I wanted it, so I can start going back through and adding some detail before I start shooting some paint. I wanted the nose down a little (a lot), but I didn’t want to mess with the frame or swap out the kit axle. I’d usually just zee the frame, so this is an exercise in creatively using what’s in the box and working around it, a little. Stock axle: Remove spring: Re-attach spring behind axle: This gave me about a 4” scale drop, to where the tires are tight to the inner fenders but it could realistically function...plus it stretches the wheelbase a tiny bit, which I don’t mind: And a check on it’s wheels: It’ll actually sit marginally higher than this at the front but only a tiny bit - the tires are tucked in from stock a little so they could actually steer and not bonk the fenders, and I’d have some clearance for the suspension to work if it were real. You can’t really tell in that mock-up, but the rear axle needed to be narrowed some from stock so those rear wheels and tires would also work in a realistic manner if this was a 1:1 - it’s most noticeable with the fenders off: Next job is going to be getting that engine all cleaned up and prepped, and making sure the kit exhaust setup still works ok now I’ve messed with a bunch of stuff - but I already had to add some 1mm shims to the top of the block to get that upper piece to fit remotely nicely: Looking forward to finishing off ‘loose’ mock-up of all the important parts so I can start going through and doing some of the fun detail stuff! More soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Are you going to eliminate the front fender spare tire well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CabDriver Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 1 hour ago, misterNNL said: Are you going to eliminate the front fender spare tire well? No sir - I’m going to make a little feature of it! That was tonight’s after-dinner project in fact... I wanted to run a spare wheel and tire in the slot there, but I didn’t like the stock bracket that holds them in place. I liked the idea of having some sort of strap to hold it in place though, with a little photo-etched buckle or something and some little metal hold-downs to secure the strap somehow So, drilled a bunch of tiny holes so I could make a little slot in the fender, like so: Made a little filler piece to fill the hole that the mounting bracket would have used, and tomorrow I’ll smooth it all out and get it nice and level. I found this cool textured card in Michael’s - it had an in-scale pattern to it that could simulate some sort of fabric so I’ll use a strip of that to secure the wheel and tire to the fender - should look cool hopefully! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Jim, i really like the strap on the spare tire idea.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 I have made belt buckle style hold down straps before by flattening a small diameter piece of copper wire with my tack hammer then shaping into a square-ish buckle. I used tape for the strap and dots of black paint for the belt holes. You can add an unusual mirror to the top of the spare by running the strap through the base of the mirror mount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 7 hours ago, misterNNL said: I have made belt buckle style hold down straps before by flattening a small diameter piece of copper wire with my tack hammer then shaping into a square-ish buckle. I used tape for the strap and dots of black paint for the belt holes. You can add an unusual mirror to the top of the spare by running the strap through the base of the mirror mount. Or if you have Model Car Garage’s photo etch seat belts, there are shoulder belt pass throughs that look like buckles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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