customline

Hmmmm......that's good Intel, Dave. I will do a quick study on that. It would be cleaner, for sure. How come I didn't see it? (Don't answer that).

Yup. Agreed. I like the '39 the best ( that's a kit I need) . The grille, headlights, the teardrop tail lights- all of it. I believe the only way to get a '39 is the AMT tudor kit. The Revell '40 Standard is a close second. The beloved '40 Deluxe is king though. It just is. But I'm with you on the grille, Steve. It flows a lot better with the aero styling (which, IMHO, looks a lot better without bumpers ?). This '40 Deluxe will get the chevron tail lights and the custom rear bumper for the sake of a license plate location. That will keep the trunk lid a little smoother. Last night I opened a 3lb. can of Kirkland dark roast decaf (Amazon). The foil seal pictured below will provide a future (or maybe present) build some really nice door panels and possibly seat upholstery. I almost chucked it. ? The interior at the bottom is the "inspiration " car. I don't think I will do that but I just want to show what a sweet thing that '40 is.

Everything looks good in primer, David ?. Especially fresh, glowing, red oxide primer ?. The trick, now, is to get a good finish with satin black. My luck with rattle cans is mixed. My plan was to shoot Testor's with my Wren. I'm reconsidering. I am going to try Tamiya rattle can. I want an even finish with no post-paint work. I'm also thinking spraying flat black and following with satin or semi-gloss clear for a slightly shinier finish. The firewall is something I need to think about as far as how to go about the masking and which to paint first. My (current) plan for the chassis/floor bottom finish is a raw, rusty unrestored look but with refinished drive train components - the hot rod is never finished. (A model of a hot rod is never finished in this house ☺️) Thanks for looking! Incidentally, while doing the mock-ups I noticed something that surprised me; the headlight bezels from AMT are much better than the Revell units. The parking light detail is sharp on the AMT bezels and pretty soft on the Revells. ? Who knew?

To JR: Sorry to distract from your beautiful Mustang but I feel compelled. BILL... I think I should clarify that pinning a spoiler that is painted a different color from that of the body and is therefore attached to the finished body in final assembly risks a CA accident, especially when performed by many of us here that have achieved great-grand-parent status. The main purpose is not about keeping the spoiler on as it is getting it on. Getting it in place without risking a mis-placement accident, smearing CA on a freshly finished, polished, perfect trunk lid. I took the opportunity to bring this up here as a hint to the reader that pinning is something to be considered as a solution for us fumble-fingered types (you know who you are, Grandpa ?). Because many of these muscle cars sport one of these spoilers on the trunk or under the front bumper, I figured it was worth bringing it up while some of us may have been thinking about it.

Oh hell yes. I have to keep my salt intake low but I'm on board with this . ?

A tale of two Forties....

Just a few hurried mock-up shots and some comparisons with the "not so tough" '40. Thanks for scrutinizing!

Thanks,Dave, I got the frame patched up last night and hope to get it and some other stuff painted. The green pollen is flying here in southeastern VA and it has been very windy, making painting impossible. But today seems quiet enough to do some rattle can priming. This project has been a challenge due to the shortcomings of the kit and the condition of it. I tend to gravitate to the pre-war cars and cars I am familiar with from my 1:1 life. In my youth I built a 1:1 '39 Plymouth P7 coupe. Body off frame, '57 Chevy rear end, 330 Olds power. This model project feels so much like that it's spooky. It's almost like re-living it. The same problems with steering and headers. Long story. Anyway, thanks for hanging, David. Hoping for an "in primer" mock-up late today.

Here's the latest debacle, Dave. I just had to put in a steering box and connected to the rest of it. Still needs tweaking and frame repairs ?. Paint hides a lot...... If this was a 1:1, the steering box would probably seize from the heat conducted from the header against it half way down the quarter mile. Glad I'm not driving this death-trap ?. Don't have those lovely snorkels, unfortunately. Trips with helmets is what I got.

JOE! It's PERFECT!! I absolutely LOVE IT!! The color, the decals, the concept - you nailed it! The engine bay detailing looks like 1:1 ! It was worth the wait. I'm glad I checked in early today and became the first to congratulate you on this extremely interesting build. ? ?

Thanks, David, I got it as low as I possibly could in front. Gotta have that bad-boy attitude. I'm running into steering box trouble now. AMT figured I wouldn't need one and there's no room with the headers I'm using. Big re-do coming. Gotta prime it all soon. Just got 2 fresh bottles of Testor's semi-gloss black for the color(stop snickering - it's what I'm comfortable with ?). Not sure about firewall color but it will be gold, like the inspiration car, or white.....but no front bumper ?. Thanks for checking in, JR & Dave. BTW, this car pictured is a very sweet ride. I am not building a model of it. I don't think I could with this mess of a kit. It's just the "the look" I'm after.

Yeah, the mirrors ?. On spoilers I insert long pins into the uprights and glue underneath the trunk lid. A little dab'll do ya! ☺️. Congrats on another great one!

Anybody that has an LED "halo" magnifier light raise your hand! (I love mine ?) they seem to be ubiquitous. Looks awesome, JR. , it's Boss! ? Question to all: do you pin your spoilers on cars like this for a strong attachment and to avoid a glue mishap? I'm just curious ?.

Couldn't help mocking-up with face-lifted rims. Not a productive day. ?

Thanks, David, I'm old school about mags. I don't like a lot of the current crop of custom wheels out there today. I like the '60s/'70s look; Americans, especially. Then Cragar SS and Keystones. These Keystones pictured are not the best I've seen but still recognizable as such. They're not as crisp as some Revell examples. Notice the block style K in the center cap. ? ...they tried. I can live with it.

Midnight update: Keystone are finished. Good night ?

Yup, saw a Charger the other day in that gray...looked like an unmarked Rhode Island State Police cruiser ☺️. I like your color choice. I used a similar color on a '40 coupe. It's called Ice Blue Pearl by Boyd's. It's sorta greenish, very subtle, subdued. The sparkle is very fine, not like a metallic. Testor' made some really good paint back when. Don't know I can say that about now. ?

"Dreadful Drab Colors"....I dunno man, I kinda like 'em ?. It's a trend, for sure. The small SUVs look good that way but I wouldn't want a new 'Vette in pea soup green. ? 'Stang's looking hot. Let's get a battery in 'er. I wanna hear that thing rumble!

A little paint will go a long way, Steve. I have kit shocks in the junk box that don't look this good. The tank on the left is the AMT and it is actually more accurate than the Revell on the right. I drilled a hole in the approximate location to add a plug. I engineered a plug ? from styrene and inserted. I feel much better now. Ive gotta wonder how you miss a drain plug on an otherwise totally featureless gas tank when trying to create a mold for one. The old woman left and I detail painted the Keystones. I still need to do the cleanup on them. That's when the profanity happens . More on that later.

Cobbled up a pair of shocks for the front today, the upper mounts "welded" to the frame. I know, bolt-on f-100 mounts would be a proper thing but not at this scale.....I welded on my home-mades. The hardest thing to do is drilling out the eyes for the shock ends. I keep breaking things and dropping stuff. It's a nightmare. The chassis still needs some cleaning up but is almost ready for paint now but I had to check on what a 1:1 fuel tank looks like. Is it really just flat? Didn't seem right to me. I needed to know if it should have beading or whatever. Dennis Carpenter has a factory spec tank that is plain flat on the bottom. Okay! Shocks will get dark red or yellow paint and Molotow via brush. I'm using the Keystone rims provided by the kit and I will be detailing them after my wife leaves the house tonight. She doesn't like to hear my frustrations being voiced at high volume.

Your deuce coupe looks fantastic, Greg. I'm not a big fan of the pro-street style (a personal quirk) but I loudly praise your ability to create it. Your techniques should be studied and emulated by those of us seeking new ways to improve our own. Looks like you are having a heck of a lot of fun with this one, Greg!

Those wheels look good too, but I'm a fool for Keystones. I have a set on the bench that need detailing. I like to use plain ol' Testor's Flat Black enamel, thinned slightly and wait till it's dry. Then I use their enamel reducer (airbrush thinner) on a pointed craft swab, dabbed to just damp, to clean up the over-slop. (Of course,..... I need magnification to do this ?.) I totally love that body style; best looking Mustang ever! ?

Building the way I do, it is necessary to keep looking stuff up on the internet for reference. A quick scan of Bing images usually gives me what I need. I need to look deeper on this one (I have no first hand experience with a '40 Ford.) The Revell kit, which is sitting next to this one, has the wishbone in better detail and the rear anchor points of it (it is split) are located close to the center. My understanding is that the wishbone has a single anchor point on the centerline. But, again, I dunno...gotta research, but it looks like a modification. I'm running block huggers that would maybe interfere with a wishbone so, theoretically, I tossed it and built hairpin-ish radius rods, to get around things. Not too sure if it's a legitimate set-up but I believe it could work in the real world although they would not be as simple as I have depicted them. Am I over-thinking this? ?. My version is a homemade looking thing you might see on the front end of an early altered or rail back in the late fifties. It's a hot rod built at home; that's the narrative. I'm currently scratching out tube shocks for the front (not much fun) and I feel like I should be working on the other one. I'm kinda bound up at the bench. Sometimes I just don't know what to do. ? Below is the well detailed Revell

Sum and total for today. Radius rods. (Narrative: They are home-made, welded together with an old Craftsman buzz box and some 1/8" 7018, slightly damp, off a job the week before.?. Ain't purty but they'll do.) The beam axle from this, and pretty much all AMT old kits, are way out of scale, my eyes tell me. Oh well ?. The brass wire you see protruding out front will be my lower shock mounts. There had been a steering link but I broke it. Gotta fix that and find a suitable steering box (or make one). Well, I gotta go let the Cheshire cat out.

That engine is awesome, Accell wires a good choice ?