customline

That engine is awesome, Accell wires a good choice ?

WILD, CRAZY, COOL! That big 409 looks great! nice detailing, scratch work and chop! I don't think it's street legal, though ☺️. Cool build, Andy! Testor's Arctic Blue would work nice on this one.

Yup. I believe that's what's happening here, David. Here's a theory: [we model crafters will always find need for improvements regardless of how accurate or well tooled the kit may be.] In the case of this kit, it was just a box full of raw material. I have a drawer full of Evergreen that is no different than a lot of low grade kits - just raw material. There are some kits that need very little detailing to satisfy most builders. My 300 B project is a great kit straight out of the box. I couldn't leave it be, though. I cut the trunk and the driver's door. Had to do it. To quote that Manfred Mann lyric - ? "....that's where the fun is" ?

Clearance for the Vertex Mag....simple fix. Thanks for looking ?

Today's progress involved filling the hinge holes in the firewall with Evergreen and CA and repair of body damage that was apparently inflicted by not using a sprue cutter when removing the body tree. I just glued on backing inside and filled with thick CA and kicker, then sanded back flush. Zipped off the backing with Dremel drum. Then wet sanded the rest. I noticed, while checking the radiator to engine fan clearance, that the bottom tank was missing...hmmmm....that's OK because there's no bottom hose either (or a top hose either, nor anything to locate the hoses to on the engine ?. Great, because I hate hooking up bottom hoses anyway!) But I faked a bottom tank in case I get in one of my fussy moods. Also, I added some "sheet metal" to the nose above the grille to clean up the no-hood look. I may cover it with aluminum BMF (narrative considered - unnecessary weight removed from car including hood latch hardware, covered unsightlyness with lightweight aluminum) Thanks for looking, More later...?

I like a clean, business-like black vinyl interior, especially when there's a Hurst shifter with that finger-groove t-handle that says "HURST" cast into it in deep relief. ?. The foiling looks great. You move fast, huh? Lovin' it!

Off to a flying start, John, love the color choice. I've got the Revell '69 Boss 302 in rotation currently but I like the styling of the '70 nose way more. I'm following?

Thank you, David. I was letting the kit's numerous and varied shortcomings get to me but it is what it is. I think I may need to re-shape the wheel openings slightly. The severe lowering in front is having an impact in that area and it just needs tweaking. I'm planning to add a 3 point roll bar, fire extinguisher, and a shoulder harness. I'll be addressing the interior soon. The firewall needs some work for a little clearance for the magneto and to plug the hinge holes. The radiator has been modified slightly to move it forward a few mms. I could delete the fan, I suppose, but I need it for a street driven car. I want street/strip to be evident. I need to research when those wheels entered the market because they really put a date on the car. Open drive conversions also. Nailheads go back to the early fifties so all these elements come into play. I'm becoming authenticity conscious in my old age ?. I think a license plate with a late sixties date from your neck of the woods would be appropriate and easily done. Maybe a dragstrip decal on the quarter glass from that era and region. I could use some help on that. But I ramble in my early morning half asleep state. I really appreciate your interest, David, and everyone else watching my builds. It keeps me going.

☺️I am forging ahead with the Olds nailhead. The flavor of this '40 is leaning heavily toward street/strip as the torque tube has been supplanted by an open drives haft. The wishbone was scrapped and traction bars were fabricated, with a very familiar part adapted to the frame to catch the forward anchors. I need to add shocks somewhere all around, a task I dislike for some reason not fully understood. ?. I will get to it. I'm tempted to assemble the chassis, front axle, rear axle, steering, etc. And spray as a unit but this is not that kind of build. All the fab work needs to be featured by color differences. Otherwise, why all the fuss? Anyway, this is what I did today. Thanks for your approval in advance ?.

Thanks, David, I'm sure I'm not the first to find these things with the "Oldsmobile engine". What I find mystifying is that it was allowed to go without correction by the Aluminum Model Toys so-called designers. This kit was first produced many decades ago. It's not like nobody knew. They kept up this nonsense for generations. Because the '40 is such a popular subject, it baffles me that they never re-tooled .... or did they? ?. I don't know ?. The current Revell kit is far superior to this in every way and I will try to avoid these old kits. There's just too much I feel compelled to try to correct and waste time I could spend otherwise. No more glue-bombs for me, thank you very much. ?

I've been trying to use the nailhead supplied in the kit but it's a horrible example of that engine and needed some "improvement ". The heads would not fit properly with the locating pins AMT provided so the pins were eliminated. The heads were far from accurate and I had to add material on the top of them to raise the intake manifold and rocker covers. The spark plugs, which protruded unrealistically were removed and the heads were drilled for wires. The "custom" exhaust headers were replaced with ones that, I believe, came from the Monogram '39 chevy coupe (OK, the ports don't line up accurately but they are block huggers and they, at least, look like real headers.) I was able to tweak the frame and headers to get a nice inside-the-frame fit. I also replaced the molded-in magneto with one I scratched. AMT didn't think the custom Oldsmobile nailhead needed coolant circulating through the block so they didn't provide a means to connect the radiator to the heads....so I scratched that too. I am not sure if this engine is the one I want in this hood-delete car. I want it hood-less as a style element, I like the look but, unfortunately, I don't think I can make this engine look good enough. I do have the flathead ready to go and I'm considering it. Ill just need to fab an exhaust for it. The "Olds" nailhead can go in a barn find rusted-out something-or-other. Sometimes it seems like I'm just chasing my tail. ? Thanks for looking (and waiting ?)

Agreed. I've always liked the '40's style, it's iconic. It is a versatile platform for the full spectrum of customization.

Yeah, David, that one is about subtlety. The conservative roof reduction goes well, I think, with the Ice Blue Pearl. Subtle. A crate 350 would make more sense than my FE out of a wreck. I may reconsider that. ?

Color change. Don't hate me, turquoise lovers, I didn't have the time nor the inclination to decant the Extreme stuff but I found something I had a fair amount of success with in my stash of Boyd's enamel. ICE BLUE PEARL! Subtle and ? cool. Forgot to paint the dash as usual ?. I used Mr. Hobby leveling thinner and it's taking a long time to dry, which I attribute to that. Its hard to tell in this picture but it looks pretty good. I didn't want to handle it too much. I'll post a better mock-up in a day or two, when it feels better. I am quite happy to get this one moving along again.

Unfortunately, Charlie, my kit did not come with that particular custom option. I believe something similar might be found in the Jimmy Flintstone catalog, probably with less clothing. My other '40 (the short one) has just been painted with Boyd's "Ice Blue Pearl" so this one will very likely be satin black with the gold firewall (very snazzy ?) because I reeeeeealy like the way it looks. And the nailhead (if I use it) will give it a nice nostalgic attitude. That and a nose-down stance (if I can ?)

Yeah. ?

Sorry, Dave, things have changed (read back). After a swim in the purple pond and lots of scrubbing, "improving", and such....well, it's taking me somewhere else. Even the green needed some work underneath the paint. It was a nice thought, though, and thanks for your interest.

SEE ABOVE (I TOTALLY SCREWED THIS UP, I'll get the hang of this editor eventually ?)

Thanks, Bil, we'll all go down together. ?. BTW, the kit supplied "custom" engine is not your father's Oldsmobile....it's your father's Buick.

Since I have no hood, and that look is pretty bad-ass, these examples illustrate where this one is taking me. I tend to lean toward the murdered-out look. It's very hooligan. ?

Yup, I know, I'm just venting, Dave. The Revell kit has spoiled me. We didn't know any better back then. It was what it was. Now it is what it is ?.

It met an with an Electra, grille to grille. (My fault ) ?

I hope what happened to my '55 Coronet doesn't happen to yours, Charlie. ?.

Yeah I appreciate that, Greg, but the needed work was not done before paint on the fender module. It had to be done. My impression is the black was done by the builder and the green was done by someone more experienced. I polished out the green and there are some things that need correcting. Since the hood was lost before it came to me, I would reasonably assume it was intended to be including in the finished build. I think that it's also safe to assume the project was abandoned due to lack of interest. I have, therefore, decided to take this build in a direction that I am able to take it. This is not a simple put-it- together situation. The kit is a crappy interpretation of a 1940 ford with toy-like elements that I just can't live with. Compared to the Revell kit, it's a wonder anyone would want to build this one out-of-box. ?. Here's two possibilities that I can live with. I'm gravitating toward the top photo. I may use the kit's custom bumpers, they're pretty cool. The gold firewall and the snow white interior against the black suede is awesome. I just may go with the Revell '40 flathead if the AMT Olds Rocket wants to be somewhere else. Gotta go where it takes me. ?

Gotta get the nose down. The dropped axle brings it down a little but not enough for me. I hollowed out the crossmember to get that beautiful nose a few mms closer to the pavement. The rear flange of the front crossmember had to be reduced in depth to make room for the axle beam. Much of the mods done here won't be easily visible. The fenders are still in the pond so I can't really see how this rake will look yet. Tube shocks will need to be added as I have removed the stock type friction shocks and related hardware. I filled those stupid slots in the rear backing plates; same as the fronts. This kit has some very toy-like elements that necessitate some extra work. The chassis has some molded-in features that I had to remove. I will need to create new flooring later on as a result. I don't know how others do this but I found an easy way for me. I drilled small holes from the bottom to locate the perimeter of the cut and, on the top side, used Dymo tape to guide my scribing tool. I use the BMF scribe tool for the first "pilot" grooves. Then I remove the Dymo tape and follow with the Tamiya tool which is very aggressive. It cuts fast and deep. Makes the job easy. Then I clean up the edges with a blade. The styrene in this kit is pretty soft. Thanks for looking