customline

Nice clean detailing work. Very inspirational!

Thanks, Carl. There's something I am learning about scratch-building at this level. I need to plan better. The trouble is I tend to forget certain important components that need to be addressed before painting anything. I totally forgot about the front shocks and how they needed to be attached. Now I'm fighting paint. I've got it done now but it won't look as good as it could have no matter what I do to hide the mess that I created playing catch-up. oh, and I forgot the spring bands too. Bad goof, that one. Gotta clean up that mess somehow. I love building this stuff but I've got to get a handle on planning. I need to plan better and stop running off half-cocked. I had a good painting day and wanted to take advantage of it and it resulted in the extra work I'm doing now. Thanks for listening ?

Thank you, sir, I really appreciate your response and your beautiful, clear photos which I shall archive on my tablet. Hopefully, I will make good use of the information.

I remembered shock absorbers but only after I painted everything ?. I fashioned bottom spring mounting plates from evergreen angle and found a pair of shocks that were a bit long but figured I'd make them work anyway. The brass rod is .020. The pictures tell the story. I still need to make upper mounts but that's easy enough. The rear shock mounts were easier. Just some angle scraps. Thanks for looking.

While perusing some reference photos I noticed something I had not considered for detailing engine bays- transmission cooling lines. I have 2 "Banana 'Birds" under construction and would like to maybe work in those lines somehow but I don't know where they connect to the transmission. Guess I could fake it but I would know. ? if anyone has a photo that shows those connections clearly, I would appreciate you posting it here. Thanks for your interest.

Welcome back, friends.....I had a good painting day and got several projects moved along. The '58 Plymouth, the '63 Impala, and the '66 'Bird got some primer and this one got color. It's Tamiya Coral Blue, as previously discussed. I'm giving it at least a week before I do any polishing. Coincidentally, an email from Hemmings gave me some great photos of a '62 and I am passing them on in case any of you are thinking about doing a full detail job on this ever-popular kit. If you want the 1:1, it's going on the auction block in Owl's Head Maine on August 25th and 26th. I thought maybe someone might want to do a fully articulated soft top/opening trunk lid in 1:25 ?

Thanks, Bob. The weather today looks good for painting. Hopefully, I can get some done.

Wow, John, those are stunning model cars!

I added some floor material and toe boards. I decided to make it a street-legal gasser. I need to start painting stuff soon so I can finalize the sub-assemblies. This build has been great fun for me so far and I still have a lot to do. Thanks for checking in. The primary goal while doing a construction like this is making everything fit together after the sub-assemblies are painted and I begin final assembly. So far, it all works. I started playing around with a means of mounting the stock dash which may prove to be a waste of time. I attached a structural member to facilitate the installation of the dash and a brake pedal. I cut the tub apart but the door panel details is so faint I don't think it's worth bothering with. I'm going for a sort of spartan, utility-like interior with shop-fabricated looking elements and lots of aluminum diamond plate.

Thanks Carl and Guido.... But there's more! I did sleep but, before I did, I spent 2 hours at the bench and the result is below: using .005 sheet, I curled a piece and attached a flange, 1/8" angle, and glued it down on one side. Using solvent on .005" styrene is not recommended for this sort of operation. I use CA and a kicker for most of this. after some manipulation and trimming, I glued down the other flange to the floor. It became obvious at this point that Dirty Donnie's trans tunnel wasn't going to help me so I curled more .005" styrene for a trans hump. I must admit I was very pleased with myself when I tried a fit-up with the firewall ?. here we see where I needed to trim the firewall slightly. Getting the firewall and the hump to close up tightly is usually a hair-pulling situation but this time it practically fell together. I did a bit of sheet metal fabrication in my work life and it was good practice for my retirement work. ?. I may as well use the Challenger seats. Maybe if my final flip-flop determines if this will be a street driver. Otherwise a more "race oriented" seating choice to include a driver's shoulder harness will be used. Still thinking about it ?. Mock-up time.....

They found out the box art was more important than a well designed kit to their bottom line.

Sorry, Steve, i wasn't aiming at anybody. I was just "informing", not criticizing. Didn't mean to kick you. I went through the wire thing a while back and learned about what's what in insulated wire, about wrapping wire, about Kynar, where to find it, etc. I have wasted money on wire I can't use for detailing but thought I could when I ordered it. I won't buy the hobby stuff....ya feel me? ?....so I buy it by the outside diameter from vendors that post that information. Not everyone has run into this so I figured if somebody's asking that question, I feel obligated to inform. One reason I'm here. AWG 30 wrapping wire tells me it has very thin insulation and is kinda stiff. It's not great for ignition wires but I use it for that. It's a bit stiff.

Just sticking my nose in..... The gage is not as relevant as the thickness of the insulation on the AWG 30 conductor. The question is "what's the outside diameter of the insulation?"....that 30 gage wire can be had with very thick or very thin insulation. Just sayin' ?

Moving right along....I started on the firewall, first in card stock (we have a $h1T-ton of that around here) and then in .020 styrene. I have some .040, which would be more appropriate for this but .020 is much easier to work with (cut it with scissors). I braced it with some strip to stiffen it and give it a possible attachment point for whatever. I found a chassis in my junk yard with a nice big tyranny tunnel (no, not that kind) so I cut it out and it will be included, I hope, to set up a driveshaft tunnel, which is next. Im going with .005, which can be curled like ribbon. Gonna try it, anyway. But not tonight unless I can't sleep. ? Making a template Now plastic. The fitting process is tedious and repetitive. I'm going for a very slight over-hang where the firewall and floorboard meet. When I resume work, I will tack the firewall to the body and do a full test fit and, if I've got it, run a bead and zip-kick it. Below is the transmission tunnel stolen from Dirty Donnie's Dodge. It will need some work to get a tight fit with the firewall. Guess where I was yesterday..... Thanks for following.

Remember the "Outlaw" ? That was fiddly ! But maybe now...naaaah.....

A few more progress pix. Still some details to clean up yet but I've got to start thinking about the firewall and some engine bay stuff. I need to hook up a steering box and all that linkage. I need a radiator and electric fan set-up and a Moon tank mounting idea (gotta have a Moon tank, right?) Also the interior, roll cage, seating, etc. Thanks for looking.

You will need chrome jack stands and mirrors and lights with color wheels. ? This one woke me up. I'm tagging along.

Here's a mock-up. Axle and engine mount/crossmember. I will have more later, Google willing ?

Wow, Steve, that looks fantastic! ?

Yeah, the front plate mount is a good idea, Dave, but you're right about "more work". The reality here is that the engine was taken from the '29 roadster kit. A street rod. The stock-type mounts is what was used in the kit We could imagine the engine bolted solid to the crossmember with no rubber. Should be good enough. I just need to clean things up a bit.

That's the motor mounts, Dave. I removed a good portion of the original Dodge mounts because I thought they looked too.....heavy? Wide? I dunno, I just needed less for motor mounts. The braces were an afterthought because I figured they needed to look stronger. If you look back, you'll see what I mean (though you may not agree ?.) Anyway, there's still a lot of stuff to do on the foundation of this build like a re-do of the frame attachments for the front springs' rear mounts. Your questioning is making me re-think those braces, David. I'm thinking " yeah, why do I need those?" I tend to over-build things. I was a welder back in the day. Maybe just small gusset plates for reinforcement. When I do this sort of construction in styrene, I'm trying to do what I think I would do in steel on a 1:1 but I'm no expert. I'm going to revise some of this and I appreciate y'all helping. What do you think about connecting the two mounts with an under-the-pan span? That might look better, yeah?

It looks a whole lot better with wheels, JR ? and yes, it's a wonderful shade of purple ?. The white upholstery sets it up beautifully.

Thank you, gents. I'm giving my hands and eyes a break today. The hard stuff is ahead.

I've been wanting one of the Hudson kits. Their Chrysler kits are darn good too. I don't think I would two-tone it though, but that's because I hate doing it. It looks great the way it is right now, Steve. Dave is right about the value, too. You see these Hudsons very rarely as customs but I don't think I could stop myself from wondering.....?

Thank you Carl!