Bernard Kron

I'm tackling my first BMF job and I'm suspicious about the Chrome foil I'm using. The sheet itself is riddled with wrinkles and the foil itself doesn't burnish down as consistently flat as I'd like (it has a slight crinkled texture after burnishing). Also, I swear it doesn't adhere as well as some Bright Chrome foil I have that I used to practice with. Below is a picture of the sheet in question. Is this the bad stuff that people have been discussing or do I just need to log my time with BMF until I get the results I want? (I am burnishing, then cutting, then burnishing again, and finally peeling the excess away.)

Thanx Bob! I recall a certain blue Shoebox recently completed that may have taken a while but sure was pretty. I can only hope I can begin to approach the nice detail and clean look of your build: Link to more pics: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.p...&hl=49+Ford

Thanx Raul. Yeah, yeah, I know! By now I Really know!!! Yeeesh, B.

Well, it's been a while. I've been splitting my build time between both of my 49 Shoeboxes. Both builds involve learning new skills. For the Traditional build it's learning Bare Metal Foil. The first time out it's been an incredibly slow, painstaking and frustrating exercise. But the impact on the overall look is both powerful and necessary toward achieving my goal. I still have the window frames on the other side of the body to finish, but here's a quick picture.

That sez it all! Totally capitivating build. Bravo!

Hey dencon, Nice One! It really captures the spirit of the box art but with a muddy twist! In my Workbench post of the Traditional Mild Custom Shoebox(see http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19876 ), which I'm building simultaneously with this one, I commented: "Among the great Ford designs was the first “pontoon bodied†model, the ’49 Ford. It’s incredible simplicity and purity of line has meant that it’s become an amazing blank slate for everything from competition cars to ratted out rust buckets to full-on chopped, sectioned and channeled customs." Cool to see such a vaiety of approaches to modeling this iconic car. I've made some progress on the chassis and engine. I hope to post some pics tomorrow. B.

Very pretty, Roger. I like the combo of chrome, the metallic paint shade you chose, and the modern wheels. Personally I think it looks just right as is. The hardtop treatment might just as easily opened up a whole can of worms and pretty soon you'd have been into a whole full-custom thing. Not a bad thing at all, necessaily, but a whole other car than the one you created - and a very nice one it is! P.S. I notice what appear to be bucket seats in the inetrior. What interior treatment did you do?

The Webers are from Replicas & Miniatures Co. of Maryland, Part No. RM-114, 1/25 Weber Carb Intake Kit. The kit is awesome. Here's a picturs of all the key parts (4 carbs, 8 velocity stacks, coolant pipe/fuel intake log, brass tubing for venturi detail inside carb) except the brass tubing. I just finished painting them: Thanks for the tip on the paint. I've noticed before that a color coat can act as a very fine filler. Sanding color coats is definitely the thing to do to achieve a really nice finish.

This project keeps evolving on me. Now that I’ve decided to go with the small block Ford and pretty much settled on 4 DCOE38 downdraft Webers, I can feel myself definitely drifting Old School on this thing. I think the whole thing was triggered by painting the wheels. This shows what I mean: (Click on picture for larger image) Very Mark Donahue… For some reason I forgot to remove the drip rails but now they’re gone, further emphasizing the race car theme: (Click on picture for larger image) And then last night I had a brainwave and decided to run the exhausts out of the body in front of the rear wheels: (Click on picture for larger image) None of this is exactly Contemporary Pro Touring, I think! Even worse, I’m starting to think of a Cunningham style paint theme! Yikes, this thing is out of control… Also quite evident in the pics is that, with a shot of primer on it you can see that there are ghosts of the trim that are still showing through. Sand, prime, sand, prime, etc.

Thanx guys! Extra work is never anything but a big drag! I use big flat foam-cored nail files that you can get at the drugstore, going from 100 grit out to 280 to get the trim down. The size and flatness helps me stay true to the countour of the body. Then I wet sand the surface from 400 grit to 2000 and finally, once I'm pretty sure everything’s OK I smooth down the plastic using polishing cloths to check and make sure the body surface is straight. It’s a lot of work but way less work with way less risk than puttying up divots, etc.

Cool... Love the welds on the roll cage. Is this from a kit or did you do it? If so, how? Nice metallic finish on the cage as well.

More progress… To get myself into that “streetable racecar†mood I actually started by finishing out the wheels from the Revell ’32 kit which I had stripped of their chrome. They're painted out in Testors Metallizers: Buffable Aluminum Plate with Buffable Burnt Metal centers. I reversed the tires so that the smooth rounded side sits outwards, again for that racecar look. (Click on picture for larger image) That got me in the right frame of mind to finish out the bodywork. Having opened up the rear wheel area, I then removed all the trim. Finally, I wanted to avoid the protruding bumper-like appearance of the kit’s rolled front pan so I removed about 1/16th inch of material from the center. Here’s a comparison of the stock pan on the right (in blue) and the sectioned piece on the left. The material removed is called out in red outline. Once I french the headlight rims in, as is the case on the blue car, the slimming down of the pan area will become more obvious. (Click on picture for larger image) Below are some pics with the smoothed out body. I really like that tough Holman & Moody vibe it’s got. Now if I can preserve it and still create a nicely finished modern street rod, I’ll be pleased. Next is more chassis work and an engine. In keeping with the whole Revellogram ’32 Ford kit thing I may go with a small block Ford with either 2 four-barrels or 4 Webers…. Thanx for lookin’. B.

Thanx Bill! Yes it's the blue one. And it's as you see it, no skirts, lowered all around, with stock chrome trim. I'm building a second one in tandem with this build, far more contemporary and that one will be raked. It's the white one in the pics. I just started it. See: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20025 . It's amazing how just a few inches difference front to rear can completely change the look of a car. I use Elmer's Carpenter's Glue for my mockups. It's so totally harmless to anything you put it on that I just gob it on when I use it. When it dries it hardens into sheets that peel right off the surface and it leaves absolutely no marks or residue. If there's some stuck in a crevice or the glue hasn't totally dried you can always soak the area in water and it will wash away. It's essentially white glue but it has some tack to it so you can place and position things before it dries. Great stuff. I buy it in the large pint container and it lasts forever. Great stuff!

I’ve made quite a good deal of progress on this Traditional Shoebox mild custom. All went well until it started raining just as I was painting, so I guess there’s gonna be a lotta color sanding tomorrow! The body is in the dehydrator now so the paint gets good and hard! The chassis is done, the engine built and that leaves the interior. Once I get the paint repaired and completed it’ll be time for BMF. Right now, with the paint drip and orange peel it reminds me of a lot of some very funky hopped up ‘49’s I saw in my misspent youth! Below are some pics, including a comparison shot with a Contemporary version I’m building in parallel with this one as a result of Raul’s suggestion regarding the rear suspension. I’ve posted it separately ( http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20025 ). Should be interesting… Thanx for lookin’ B. (Click on picture for larger image)

I’m in the midst of building a very traditional ’49 Ford mild custom which I’ve posted on the workbench section. In the course of determining the stance for that car Raul Perez suggested using the rear suspension from the Revellogram ’32 Ford series with its air bags and Ford 9†diff as a quick way to get a fully engineered and lowered rear end. The picture he posted looked great but it was too modern for that build. However, I mocked up Raul’s suggested setup and I liked the resulting stance and concept so much I decided to build a Contemporary street rod based on the wheels, tires and rear suspension from a Revell ’32 Ford sedan I’ve got. I’ll be building it in parallel with the Traditional ’49 I’ve got going. Another influence was Dave Zinn’s very cool ’49 Ford short tracker (http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19755 ). I really like the way race cars sit and the simple, no b.s. look they have. Dave’s build really nails it. Finally, Stevegt378 showed some pics of an uncompleted build of a ’50 Shoebox convertible he’d started that used a variation on the grill treatment I’m using on the Traditional ’49. My plan is to either use the same grille treatment on my Contemporary car as on the Traditional build, or perhaps use Steve’s approach where he trimmed the ends off the grille car and reshaped it so that the grille is completely contained inside the grille surround. My grille treatment (click picture for larger image) Steve’s grille treatment (click picture for larger image) While this will be a street machine I want to capture a little of the race car vibe. For starters I’ve expanded the real wheel openings to show off the tires. I’ll remove all the trim on the sides, too, and probably leave off any bumpers. I haven’t decided whether the grille will stay chromed or not. The engine will be the modular DOHC Ford V-8 from the AMT Phantom Vicky kit. It’s beautifully detailed. However, I’d like to delete the modern fuel injection it has and use some sort of carbureted setup or a more traditional Hilborn style FI. I’d welcome any suggestions. Below are some initial mockup pictures including a comparison of the stance of the Contemporary build with it’s more pronounced rake compared to the lowered all around look of the Traditional car. Thanx for lookin’. B.

Just a hedz up for all Pacific Northwest builders. Next Sunday is the PSAMA Model Car Sunday show. Here's the scoop: 20th Annual Model Car Sunday model car show Sunday May 10th, 2009, 9:00 AM Puyallup Elk’s Club 314 27th St. NE Puyallup, Washington Entry Deadline – 11:45 AM Awards Ceremony 2:30 PM Prizes, Raffles and Swap Meet Theme is “To The 9’s†open to any vehicle built in a year ending in “9†- judged by Popular Choice. 25 different Popular Choice categories including Dioramas, Show Rods, Street Modified (pre-49, 49-58, 59-84, 85 and later) . Street Stock Domestic, Street Stock Foreign, Heavy Commercial, Emergency, Large Commercial, Motorcycle, Light Commercial, Competition Straightline, Competition Oval and Road Racing Closed & Open Wheel, Box Stock, Small Scale (less than 1/25th), Large Scale (greater than 1/24th) and Master Award (for winners of best in class at previous Model Car Sundays). 4 Junior and Youngster classes. Also 8 judged classes including Best of Show, Best Junior, Best Paint, Best Interior, Best Detail, etc. Map link: http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.micros...ge&resnum=3 C U There!

Yup, pretty amazing! I think I may research these more often. Whenever they're models I've noticed you've located some pretty stupendous builds. But it will always be after I vote! Otherwise, where's the fun????

It's gonna be beee-oo-tee-ful. Reminds me of your black '37 Ford from last year.

Darn, I voted wrong on this one! I generally won't research these, but will vote on my gut feeling. But shortly after I voted I had found the image... Here are some interesting links that tell the tale: The original 1:1 car: Lotus 62 The Lotus Type 62 race car was a development of the successful Type 47 and intended to race in the Appendix J Group 6 Prototype Class. The car was designed by Martin Waide at Lotus Components and had a space frame chassis, and featured the new Lotus 2.0 litre LV240 DOHC engine (in time this engine would become the Type 907 engine, used to power the Lotus Elite, Esprit, Eclat and Excel). The car had limited competitive success, due mainly to problems with the Vauxhall derived engine block. The car's most successful race was finishing 3rd position at the Tourist Trophy at Oulton Park in 1969. The modeler: http://www.johnshintonmodels.co.uk/index.htm and his build: http://www.banks-europa.co.uk/gallery/gallery_8.htm The image: http://www.banks-europa.co.uk/gallery/gall...del62%20(2).jpg From: http://www.banks-europa.co.uk/gallery/gallery_7.htm

Thanx Gary. I just did exactly that using Tamiya masking tape. I haven't begun the molding work yet but will shortly. I really wish I had some Silly Putty or modeling clay - I would feel much more confident that I've got everything well protected. Something to add to my tool chest... The one thing that would've been better would have been to find a way to have chromed trim rings inside the frenched area. I'll save that one for a future battle. B.

Always a nice model to do. Very clean and especially tough looking with that big 'ol 409!

Ironically, a very well balanced design is often one that can easily be ruined by some of the traditional techniques of the golden age of customizing. In the case of the Shoebox, generally speaking, less is better. For example, the unusually long rear deck profile actually works out well because of the curvature and slope of the rear of the greenhouse. Chop the top and all bets are off. The risk in this example is that the rear deck will look exaggeratedly long unless something is done about extending the greenhouse rearward. Similarly, sectioning the body can result in the greenhouse looking too tall. Starting down this path can be dangerous, one modification leading to another, etc. As you say, where does it end?

Simpler is better. After considering this for a while I realized that to some degree I was losing my way, failing to “respect†the integrity of the original design. Plenty of time for a full custom later, and the skirt thing was rapidly taking me to that part of the spectrum. First off I thought that Steve’s suggestion of “Spatsâ€, flush with the contour of the rear wheel opening would be something that would solve my conundrum – and indeed it would, resolving the conflict between the raised surfaces of the skirts I had been considering and the smooth flow of the body line in Ford’s original design. So I took off the skirts and whadya know, it looked great! Through Phun with Photoshop I decided to take it one step further and check out both options from side and front 3/4 views. Here are the results: I’ve decided to use the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and leave the original wheel opening. With the rear slammed down it reveals just the right amount of wheel and tire and gives the car the tight integrated look that “Respects†the original the way the front grille work did. Incidentally, this pretty much guarantees I’ll open up the real wheel openings on C-49 to allow proper clearance for the wider contemporary tires I’ll be using. Otherwise the two will converge on each other more than I’d like. I’m back on track towards my initial goal of using traditional customizing techniques and idiom to create a sort of idealized version of this great design, cleaned up, smoothed and lowered without stepping on the designers’ basic intentions. Onwards! Thanx for lookin’. B.

I bought both coarse and fine in 25 mm. and fine in 30 mm diameters. They're also available in 36 mm diameter as well. So far I can't see why one would use anything but 25 mm. fine for 1/25-1/24 scale work. And ALWAYS, ALWAYS trade with your locally owned business, all things being equal (which I will admit sometimes it's not). (Paid political announcement - )

Looks like a short list of future chops on my workbench! Hmmmmm.... I just got some of these blades. I've been practicing some minor cutting jobs before tackling a MAJOR CHOP. They work great and tend to enforce straight, clean work. Here's an internet source for them: https://www.missionmodels.com/home.php?cat=1073 Good price and prompt shipping, although the shipping charge neutralizes any benefit vs. your LHS (always buy from your LHS if you can!).