GasPunkAlley Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Found more old started projects today. I was working on a custom Ford using AMT 49 Coupeople as the base and Valley Customs iconic car as my inspiration. I took 3 to 4 scale inches out of the body, radius ed the rear wheel wells, remove the tail light pods and sectioned the interior tub. The model was left with no taillight treatment, bumper or front end styling. Also the chassis pan needs more work. I had to shave a portion out so it clears the rear seat. I think I need to make a pie cut out of the frame rail to get a better kick up in the back. Most of the body work is done with super glue w/ zip kicker and red Nitro Stan automotive putty. I Also found a Carson top and a started 50 Covert with chopped hardtop roof installed with trim molding added back on with Evergreen plastic. Rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Kucaba Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Nice! '49 Fords have always been a Favorite of mine (birth year) Have a couple on the primer pile also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Cool project.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne swayze Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Interesting. This has a ton of potential! Please keep going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderbread Kustomz Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Very nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Nice project.Now just drop that roof a few scale inches........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62rebel Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 valley custom / ron dunn car wasn't chopped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Kucaba Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 There is still time to remedy that. Although the Dunn car wasn't chopped it would have helped IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cranky Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Nice, I am liking this project. Keep it going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron5150 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Neat project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasPunkAlley Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 Thanks Dr. Cranky! Tom, I am following the Valley Customs look and I am keeping the top unchopped. Just not sure if I am going to make a replica of the car or design something with my own front and rear end treatment. The next major engineering feat in the model is to massage the chassis to fit better. It is hanging up somewhere, I may need to trim the width of the chassis and floor pan as well as mod part of the floor pan just in front of the gas tank to clear the back seat. I will also have to massage the rear frame rails so it doesn't hang below the fender. Rod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasPunkAlley Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 Well, broke out the primer tonight to see how my 17 year old body work looks. I use the cheapest KMART spray can primer. I like it because it has very fine pigment, for the lack of it, lol. I used to love Flo quilt platinum grey primer, but alas I found out that brand has gone the way of the Dodo. I found the usual file chatter here and there that I missed but the usual and anoying thing to me is the plastic raising around my work and ghosting of molded on detail that I removed. Has anyone found a cure to this problem? Is the any better sandals primer that won't ghost? I also figured out why I let this model sit in the box, the chassis hangs too low in the back and didn't know how to correct how the chassis plate is hanging below the rear fenders. I am thinking of taking a pie section out of the rails and angle it up and continue to shave material out of the hump in the chassis to clear the interior tub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasPunkAlley Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 (edited) Here is a pic of the 50 Ford convertible turned chopped hardtop using the original roof with a lot of evergreen plastic to recreate the moldings. There was an old Custom Rodder magazine I think that had both cars shown back in the '90's. The hardtop was metallic cobalt blue in color if memory serves me right. Also should I use a 49 coupe interior tub instead of the convert tub? Edited September 6, 2014 by GasPunkAlley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasPunkAlley Posted September 1, 2014 Author Share Posted September 1, 2014 Well, the chassis has been the big thorny problem for me and most likely the reason why I shelved it 17 to 18 years ago. I broke out the razor saw and cut a pie section out of the wheel well and raised up the rear frame rails. I think I am going to leave the gas tank alone, even though it should probably be level. At least it is not hanging out anymore. I also trimmed off the rear cross member for clearance in the back. I will file the back down flush to the tank and apply a new back cross member out of Evergreen plastic. Now to make the rear suspension fit (it doesn't fit right now that I changed the frame rails). I am thinking of making air bag suspension out back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasPunkAlley Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 I keep on finding more things to engineer with this project. To get the axle to fit I needed to make a "C" cut in the rear frame rails. I also did not like the angle on the as tank so I cut out the rear floorboard and trunk. I applied a new rear crossmember, applied plastic to beef up the now weakened frame rails, and added lowering blocks to the rear axle. After some more dry test fitting the rear wheel wells kept the chassis from mating to the interior tub properly. So I trimmed of the top of the wells and I will add a flat piece of stock to fill the top in. Then I noticed that the back seat will interfere with the drive shaft... so it looks like form will follow function and I will be making a custom rear seat with a console to clear everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Kucaba Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I got so frustrated with the frame/floorpan cast as a unit that I eventually separated the two. It wasn't easy. One frame/fp for the separate frame,and one frame/fp for the pan itself. I sanded all the detail off the pan and it's nice and smooth now. The ghosting can be remedied by a few different ways. Acrylic primer like from Tamiya in the bottle or some like that BIN. some smear CA glue over all the ghosting. I've been using Du Pont Vari-Prime for a number of years. Like I said there is a number of ways to cure it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasPunkAlley Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 Thanks Mike, is the primer a lacquer based material? This project I will probably try the CA method since I don't remember all of the paint that was used on it when I started it back in '96 or '97. Tamiya is great stuff but not good to sand down IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Kucaba Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I'd try the CA technique,as you probably have that on hand, and go easy on the primer application. The Tamiya paint I reference would be the acrylic in the bottles. In my experience, the typical water based acrylics stands up to most lacquers. The BIN works well, but is rather thick. It is an alcohol based shellac,that has been pigmented. I never tried just a clear shellac as a sealer. Of course in the final analysis, the primary reason for the ghosting is using lacquer. Ghosting doesn't normally appear using enamel, or acrylics. BTW do you have an airbrush? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasPunkAlley Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 (edited) Years ago I had trouble with AMT and Pactra a enamels ghosting, but that was the 1980's and early '90's. Ma be the paint manufacturers used hotter thinners back then. I painted one kit with Createx acrylic but I can't sand the primer. Yes, I have several airbrushed and I just got the latest in the mail from Iwata - the Eclipse model. I helped out at a collector show demoing Iwata and Vallejo products and my spiff was this brush. I have my old basic single action external mix Badger that I use for primering. Edited September 6, 2014 by GasPunkAlley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasPunkAlley Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 I worked on the chassis a bit over the weekend filling in the frame rails where I made the "C" channel kick up around the rear end. Any ideas for a more detailed front suspension to use on the car that would be period correct? I was thinking of using some AMT Mercedes front end and make the wheels posable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milo1303s Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 bump Ever finish this ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damodelguy az Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 nice projects, their fun to work at later sometimes. you get it to that look you visioned, then the fire dims. put away awhile and then some time later you feel the itch again. keeps it fun and your interest up. again nice job on your visions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I agree with your decision not to chop the top as you are doing a Valley Customs clone. I missed that bit while scanning through to quickly looking for pix and not reading all the comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantrix Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 On 9/4/2014 at 9:49 PM, GasPunkAlley said: I keep on finding more things to engineer with this project. To get the axle to fit I needed to make a "C" cut in the rear frame rails. Yep. this kit is double tough to get low. When I did mine, I left a rake simply because I didn't want to deal with the chassis mods needed to get it low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GasPunkAlley Posted October 17, 2019 Author Share Posted October 17, 2019 I plan on digging this model out and separating the chassis from the floor. I found some great pics on a C'd chassis the Mercury Charlie makes for the 1 to 1 scale cars. That will solve a lot of problems, but a lot of work ahead of me! I was locked out of my email and this account for some time now and finally got back in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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