jbwelda Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share Posted October 30, 2009 progress has been made and an update is due so i am bumping this to the top to make it easy to find! stay tuned! the rear of this car ought to be a real challenge! its gonna be do or die time soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Handley Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 That looks reall good! I kinda dig these old show rods, hope that one gets reissued at some point after looking at your pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted November 2, 2009 Author Share Posted November 2, 2009 ok heres a few updated photos showing some progress! Ive nearly finished the body itself, fastening on the chrome side panels (dont look nearly as bad as i feared but in round two i am going to paint them body color), finishing the simple but effective dashboard with one instrument (altimeter?), and epoxied most of the panels together to assure they dont go anywhere during final assembly or on display. i sure wish i knew ahead of time (and it occurred to me from the beginning) that the body shell could be assembled and still fit over the frame. the instrux sort of look like you have to clamshell the frame with the body parts but nope, seems to fit fine as you can see. if i knew that i would have molded the lower rear valance and painted it as a unit, but as it is its not too bad. round two on this one also then, its good to know. and from the rear shot you can see the complex rear portion is coming together rather nicely. remains to be seen how much fiddling needs to be done to get the lenses in there with this little trim piece on each side. now that i am rolling a bit on this, i am going on a trip for a few days so hopefully will still be inspired when i return! and here is the rear show where you can see the body, the lower body valence, and the two chrome rear side panels coming together around the rear frame and suspension. looks pretty good so far! and its a plus to know i can do the assembly and tweaking thats sure to be required, without mounting the body. that part was gonna be the nightmare! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 That's looking really nice, Bill!! Are you going to the next Stockton or GoodGuys show? Later, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Custom Hearse Posted November 3, 2009 Share Posted November 3, 2009 Looking great JB! It's coming together nicely, and I'm looking forward to seeing it done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Nunes Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Nice build, Bill! Thanks for the memories...this was one of my favorite models when I was a "youngster"...I'd like to see it offered again just for the fun of building it correctly. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted November 7, 2009 Author Share Posted November 7, 2009 ok...a little something in the march to completion! got the taillight lenses in, in a rough fit anyway. look good from this angle: but examining each separate lense and their enclosing area, one notices they are sitting differently in their holes: (by the way you can see the intricate areas of separate parts that make up the taillight opening. it looks better because i lined it all inside the body shell with black tinted 5 minute epoxy. fills in slight gaps very well and you cant see it against the dark blue/purple of the body). and looking closer at the right hand side lense, a large gap is revealed: i think i will carefully fill that gap with clear epoxy and then run a red sharpie over it, or some tamiya clear red, to make the lense "fit" better in the hole. meanwhile, the interior is done and i snapped it into place and may glue it like it sits. the interior bucket sits high in the back but i think thats the way its supposed to fit and the photos i have of the original kind of confirm that, so i think its good as it sits. you can see the flocking job and the handbrake lever; the steering wheel and column and the shift lever are yet to be installed. so next up is to clean up the taillights, may pop and reinsert the left one, dont know yet, they are just held in with Future (Gods gift to modelers) so are easily removed. meanwhile it will be time to fit body to chassis pretty soon and then fit the front panels. off to death valley next week though so might be a couple weeks before the next update! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Kron Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Gorgeous detail stuff. You must have nerves of steel correcting stuff after laying down all that nice shiny paint. But when ya gotta, ya gotta... The cowl and dash area is particularly pretty. Looking forward to more after yur return to sea level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted November 7, 2009 Share Posted November 7, 2009 That's turning out to be a gorgeous vehicle. Great, clean detailing and straight construction. Great going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted November 7, 2009 Author Share Posted November 7, 2009 thanks for looking and commenting folks and thanks for the compliments! filling in that lense gap is going to be a bit nervewracking. but five minute epoxy is relatively easy to clean up! ;-) i am not even sure yet if that is the proper fix but its the only thing i can come up with so far. there were some goofy little sliver pieces that are supposed to somehow fit somewhere over or around the lenses but there are no photos or illustrations of how its supposed to look in final form, and the instructions are very much less than clear. they just kind of point in the general direction of the lense, not much of a help. i could see one fitting between the lense and the body on the right side, but not the left side. maybe if i popped out that left lense and fitted it differently it would allow the "sliver" to have a home there? i am going to have to study the photos of another completed back end before proceeding i think. note this is in opposition to my general game plan: go with my first instinct and only later find out i "fixed" something that i should have left alone. maybe this time thinking about it first might be the way to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted November 7, 2009 Author Share Posted November 7, 2009 (edited) well with a little looking, i am convincing myself of something about those wierd little slivers: this otherwise very nice build has taken the slices, and put them sort of along the chrome side panel to the outside of the chrome nerf bars. thats a concept i had not considered. but the builder has them on upside down according to the instrux illustration: the narrow part is suppose to be upward, not downward. so that means they are on the wrong sides too. i think i will play with this and see how they look with the narrow upward. on this build, contributed by gramps-xrds, they are left off entirely...something i was considering doing as well. either way i am still left with that gap on the right hand side. Edited November 7, 2009 by jbwelda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 closing in on it but still some substantial fitting and trimming to be done! I have messed around with the side panels and they are ready to install but i can see that the hood underside will need some trimming to miss the oil filler, or the filler will have to be relieved or removed. but overall its looking pretty good! more betta pics in a couple days when its all fitted and glued down. and the display stand that I decided to do as it comes: that means wood base (dont really like that but there you go, its got wood grain engraved in it so wood it is), pearl white interior display area, a mirror for the diamond, and black stantions with gold cord. subtle... I still am going to wash the brown with black and then red to tone down the fresh paint some and give it some weathering and a patina hopefully. I am also going to BMF the plaque and then do the lettering in black sharpie. heres the mirror material and the cord. went to michaels for both but as usual they disappointed...did not seem to ever have heard of mirrored mylar that you can cut to size. totally puzzled like a deer in the lights. funny. well like I said, hope to post some more and finish this one up soon! I think a Mazda Cosmo I have had on my shelf might be next along with the Tognotti King T that came with the Wild Dream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gramps-xrds Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 well with a little looking, i am convincing myself of something about those wierd little slivers: this otherwise very nice build has taken the slices, and put them sort of along the chrome side panel to the outside of the chrome nerf bars. thats a concept i had not considered. but the builder has them on upside down according to the instrux illustration: the narrow part is suppose to be upward, not downward. so that means they are on the wrong sides too. i think i will play with this and see how they look with the narrow upward. on this build, contributed by gramps-xrds, they are left off entirely...something i was considering doing as well. either way i am still left with that gap on the right hand side. The reason I left them off on mine was, after 40 some yrs I couldn't find them in all the junk. I was lucky to find what I did to put it back together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 I ended up not using those pieces but the lenses sealed up really nice with some black tinted epoxy. sorry i dont have a photo just now to show but the rear end cleaned up real nice. i went back and looked at the photos of your build there, gramps-xrd, and i noticed you got some pretty decent fit going on there between the body, engine side panels, front grille housing and the hood. i hope mine turn out that well! right now its looking pretty good but i still have to clearance the hood to miss the filler neck but ive got my fingers crossed! thanks for looking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 and heres a question for anyone who cares: I have never really liked those tall T windshields. I understand they protect the occupants from the wind and the occupants sit up high (and uncomfortable as h3ll!) anyway, what I am wondering is if i should really use the windshield as it comes or whether I should further blasphemize this classic by chopping the windshield in half basically, making it look much more areodynamic? right now I am heavily leaning to putting it on as it comes, but up until a day or so ago I was planning on chopping it. one problem I can see right now is that if I leave it full sized and use superglue to fasten it to the body (a risky proposition without locating pins as it is), it is sure to get knocked off at some point. whereas if its lower profile it will be sturdier and not as prone to meeting stray elbows or wind gusts. any suggestions? dont get offended if I go ahead and do it however it strikes me at the moment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Kron Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 All that blah blah about the structural integrity of the taller windshield sounds like rationalization to me, Bill! I think I would go ahead and do it however it strikes you at the moment (which I suspect leans toward blasphemy...). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul_Perez Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Looking good, Bill!! I can hardly wait to see this one finished!! Later, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 all right a further update, file under cart before the horse dept: but the horse ought to be along any time now! thanks for looking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gramps-xrds Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 i went back and looked at the photos of your build there, gramps-xrd, and i noticed you got some pretty decent fit going on there between the body, engine side panels, front grille housing and the hood. i hope mine turn out that well! right now its looking pretty good but i still have to clearance the hood to miss the filler neck but ive got my fingers crossed! thanks for looking! After reading this I wasn't sure I didn't glue the hood in place, so I went and looked. It is removable. It's tight, but will come off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 heres a couple quick shots of progress this week: pretty much ready to epoxy the wheels on and do the windshield and call it good. its kind of amazing how well some of this fits together despite the absence of any real alignment marks or pins or anything. even my hood clearances look good and the exhaust pipes came out better looking than i could have asked for! a lot of work there: filling big divots and removing lots of parting lines. but with care, like drilling out all the mounting holes for exhaust pipes etc so they would slip in for a positive mounting, everything came out looking pretty aligned and like the photos i have of the real thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwelda Posted December 12, 2009 Author Share Posted December 12, 2009 Finally finished this one up and I have to say it turned out pretty good! heres a cool profile and there will be more pics posted in Under Glass section soon. thanks for tuning in and adding your comments! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Flowers Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 That turned out looking great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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