Ferbz

Thanks! Yeah man, go for it! It'll look a lot better with a haircut 😉 You'll have to decide how to line up the rear once you bring the top down when you line up and reattach the A pillars. Some people lean the windshield back, others 'stretch' the top by cutting it in the center and adding a strip. I elected to pie cut the rear window area and lean it out rearwards and lean the bottom of the rear door area forward slightly.

Thanks! I often trust my gut when it comes to restyling.....and things work out most of the time 🤪

Thanks! Yeah, the chop is not as easy as it looks. Hopefully you'll get back to yours at some point 👍

Agreed👍 Many of these old 40s/50s cars have tops that were designed to be really tall for increased interior space as well as 'hat space'. Everyone wore hats back then! 🙂

Yeah, so far so good on the bodywork. I'm thinking of building a detailed, hopped up flathead with the same vibe I did for my 39 Ford dry lakes custom. This one has a scratch built 4x2 intake that I made for it:

Thanks! Ooh....I do like that green color 😎

Thanks! Funny you mentioned that 😉 For a short while I was considering sectioning it a bit ad well. I saw a chopped and sectioned 40 sedan delivery that Bill Stillwagon did and it looked really bitchin'! but I figured I better keep myself calm and not bite off more than I can chew, at least for this first go around 😃

Thanks!

Thanks! Yeah, dig it out! I'd love to see it 👍 Totally agree, all the 39/40 Ford body styles are deceptively difficult to chop I think, especially the coupes. Getting the top profile to flow nicely is tricky. Here's a pic of the last coupe I did. It's the best coupe I've done so far personally, but the top still doesn't flow right to me lol 🤪

Thanks! It's got a long way to go as I've only gotten in started, but yeah stay tuned! 🙂

Thanks! I had to do a bit of trickery which I did not mention to line up the rear area. The rear window portion of the back was tilted out rearwards at the belt line while the entire rear quarters was cut away from the body and tilted forward a bit so that from the side view, the line of the rear door area lines up nicely with the chopped top.

Thanks! There have been some chopped 1:1 sedan deliveries that I've seen but they were built in the 'modern' street rod style. A few of them were done very tastefully, but like you I've not seen one customized in the early post war style. It looks pretty cool in my head but we'll see how it actually turns out lol 😃

I haven't touched this project in awhile but am planning on getting back to it soon. The idea is to build a traditional late 40s/early 50s style custom out of this unusual body style. In my eyes, the factory top is REALLY tall and higher in the rear. With this in mind, I've chopped the top a bit more in the back and did my usual 'plating' of the cut seams on the inside for strength. While I was at it, I lengthened the side doors a bit so that the proportions just feel better. I'm also thinking of opening/hinging the rear door and was in the process of getting the gaps even. I'm also thinking of sinking in a license plate into the rear door. I plan to use the smoother, 39 Standard hood/grill and headlights if I can dig some up. The skirts were standard fare for that time, as are spotlights (I'll add eventually) and early style hubcaps which I haven't decided on just yet. Plans call for a hopped up flathead V8 with finned heads and multiple carbs. Anybody have any ideas for final color? I'm leaning towards dark Blue or dark Red/Maroon:

Thanks! I'm having some fun with it as it reminds me of when I was a kid and I would kit bash together old parts and make whacky monstrosities lol

Ah, thanks for that info! Well, this build is merely a 'flight of fancy' on my part, and not meant to be a model of something that would actually compete in races. It's just a crazy idea that I got inspired to pursue and hopefully end up with something eye catching and fun which I think the red glass adds to 😉

Here's my current project: I got inspired to build a 49 Ford Shoebox version of Chris Piscitelli's rendering of the RamChargers High and Mighty drag car. An example of art imitating art imitating life? 😃

Thanks! It's the quirky-ness of Chris Piscitelli's rendering that initially inspired me to start this build. It's going to get a teeny bit whackier too! Stay tuned...😃

Here's a small update! I like the red glass that comes in the GasMan version of this kit, but kit glass in general is typically too thick scale wise for me. I found some clear colored plastic sheets online. They are sheets photographers use to add color to their light sources. I cant recall the thickness but it's thin enough to cut with a good pair of scissors but thick enough to pass for 1/25th scale glass. I'll use the kit's rear window glass since it's a curved area, but I made glass pieces for the door windows and cut/shaped two pieces for the windshield opening. The intention is to butt them together in the center (similar to the real thing) for a more realistic looking windshield:

Thanks! Yeah the shoebox ford is one of those cars (in scale AND 1:1) where you can build anything out of it and it will be a head turner.....be it drag car, pro street, resto-mod, traditional custom, street rod, etc! ?

Thanks a lot! Me too lol It's not going to be super accurate as far as representing an actual car, but I do plan to detail it out a little bit to make it a fun piece for myself. I still have a couple things to figure out, like how to route the exhaust from the engine bay out the front wheel openings.

Thanks! I've built ONE scale replica of an actual 1:1 custom car. I discovered there was a lot of self imposed pressure on getting as many of the details as correct as possible. It was a labor of love as I've admired the 1:1 car since I was a kid but it was NOT much fun at all! lol

I don't normally build drag cars even tho I dig them alot, especially vintage stuff. My usual build topic is traditional customs, but I came across this cool rendering of the High and Mighty Ramchargers drag car by artist/designer Chris Piscitelli and it inspired me to build my own scale version! With the help of a couple 3D printed parts from forum member Steamboat(thanks again!)who has already built a bitchin' faithful scale version of the High and Mighty car, I am able to move this project along. Just for fun I thought I'd try building a shoebox ford version of this car. The plan is to keep the aggressive, caricature-y look and spirit of the car, but use a 49 Ford coupe body. I proceeded to chop the top by removing some material from the A,B, and C pillars and fill the rear quarter window openings to make it a 3 window coupe, somewhat similar to the look of Chris P's rendering. I slid the rear window and catwalk forward so the A & C pillars would line up, making the top not only lower but smaller. The stock AMT 49 Ford frame required some modification to accept the gasser suspension from the Revell 57 Ford wagon kit as well as the AMT parts pack Chrysler hemi motor. The wheels/tires are from various other kits. The rear seat area was boxed in using sheet styrene, a single bomber style seat is a parts box item, and a simple 2 or 3 point roll bar will be added. It's got a ways to go, but a quick mockup shows the progress and direction so far. Wish me luck as I venture out of my comfort zone and build this whacky drag car! ?

Such a bitchin' build! I really like the way you shaped the front of the trunk to match the back of the cab. It's one of those many details that makes this a top notch model ?

Great stuff! I am familiar with that Parts Pack 54 Chevy grill. So cool that you're using it! I've never seen anyone use it, prolly due to the fact that it's got to be super tricky to get all the teeth lined up nicely. How did you do it?

I really like how you've angled the B pillars farther forward than where they normally line up.....looks good! Do you plan to rescribe the side window trim lines? On my most recent merc chop project, I attempted to make my stainless trim from scratch for the first time using small diameter round rod. It was not easy lol but I got it to work out pretty well: