Dennis Lacy

I almost always build my hot rods in a traditional / old school style because that's my kind of style in the full scale world. When a '32 Sedan build-off happened early last year in a Facebook group I used to belong to everybody went old school, too. To shake things up a bit I decided to go against the grain and do mine in a late 80's smoothie / billet style. I got pretty well along with the project then it got shoved aside, as it often happens. For some reason I dug out the project this morning for a look (almost forgetting it was there!) and next thing I know I was working on it again. I went over some of the roughed-in work I had done before then made some good progress. The body is a Revell '32 Sedan which I chopped and converted into a Sedan Delivery by filling the rear window openings and carving in the rear door lines. The soft top insert detail was sanded off, door handles filled, center hinge detail filled on the hood top, popular heat extractor scoops added to the hood sides and the raised trim (a stainless steel band 1:1) removed from the rear edge of the radiator shell. When the fenders are removed from a '32 there is a resulting gap under the hood sides which is largest at the front. Rather than add material to the bottom edges of the hood sides I dropped the cowl down until the hood sides came down to the frame. I then lowered the radiator shell 1/16" to match. The chassis is essentially stock Revell '32 Ford with both front and rear axles modified using the good ol' Tim Boyd Technique to lower the stance.The tires are all from Revell's '32 Roadster and the early Boyd Coddington billet wheels are from the original issue of Monogram's '37 Ford Sedan. Those cool machined aluminum exhaust tips are old S&S Specialties pieces that I've been hanging onto for 20! years. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki The belly button Chevy small block is from Revell's series of '37 Ford street rods and the staple of all 80's rods. Some other S&S Specialties parts that I've been hanging onto for 20 years are the neat "V8" air filter and valve cover overlays and the pulley faces. I made extensions that connect the block hugger headers to the kit exhaust. I also cut the matching front engine mounts out of a '37 frame and installed them into the '32 frame. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki For the interior I'm using the front half of the '32 Sedan floor with the seats from the Revell '32 Speedwagon. The door panels are slightly modified from Revell's '37 Ford Coupe. The dashboard and tilt column are from Revell's '37 Convertible and the wheel is from my parts boxes. I had to add material to the top of the dash then shape it to fit the '32 Sedan cowl. Not a lot is going into the interior in this model and nothing for the cargo area because with the heavy chop the interior is barely visible. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki A few odds 'n ends and this one will be ready for some obnoxious 80's color!

After a chill afternoon out in the garage the engine and chassis are completely assembled. I must have done all of the prep work right because nothing fought me. The colors I chose for this are based on what I already had on-hand. I figured I could put to use several partial spray cans that were collecting dust. The engine and generator are Testors one-coat Fiery Orange. The valve covers, valley cover and intake manifold are aluminum metalizer. The carburetors are Testors Jet Exhaust with black bases and bright silver scoops. The headers are flat black. I decided to keep the extra detail simple with a Detail Master distributor and separators. Hosted on Fotki For the chassis I went with Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black but opted to leave the floor in dark gray primer since the body will be left in primer as well. Again, I used the Fiery Orange for the axles and accented the orange with magnesium metalizer and sealed it all in Tamiya Gloss Clear. The exhaust is flat black like the headers. The front wheels were done in more Fiery Orange and the rear mags in magnesium metalizer. The whitewall inserts were shot in some flat white to get rid of the plastic look. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki With the chassis out of the way, now I can get going on the body and interior. More soon!

Seriously, man, these are some of the "nicest" rat rod models ever. You have the eye for the look. Keep 'em coming!

This would definitely make the rat truck / rig rod crowd proud.

You're definitely doing the illustration justice. Looks great so far!

Knowing who you are, your comment means a lot! I remember one of your models that Tim Boyd showed a picture of in his Modelers Corner from the earlier 90's. It was a blue 40's COE tanker truck with an actual plastic nose on the front and the tank said "Daisy" as in "daisy sniffing stance." Does that model still exist?

Old Hemi's just look awesome covered in carburetors, don't they? Doesn't look like you're too far from the end, get on it!

Good God, this is freaking rad! Excellent weathering effect on the body, Nailhead is a killer motor choice and the stance / proportions / rolling stock are perfect. Fantastic work!

Quick update. All of the chassis and engine parts are (for the most part) finish painted, ready for assembly. Hoping the 3-day weekend will afford me enough time to get it all glued together despite having visitors from out of state. Hosted on Fotki

Thanks again guys! I'm real happy to finally have this thing all fabbed out. Should be getting started on paint in a couple of weeks. I'm in the middle of getting my Deuce 3-window (also here on the Workbench) painted and assembled right now.

Right On!!! It just goes to show how a few basic changes can have a dramatic effect, It's nearly straight from the box, yet looks nothing like what's on the box.

Nice!

Thanks, guys! Glad you all are digging it. I'm looking forward to finally seeing this thing get shiny.

When I last left off on this little guy (last November, 6 months ago!) it was very close to being ready for final prep for painting. It just needed a few hours worth of details worked out. Yesterday I got inspired to get back on it. To wrap up the full-race ARDUN A engine I added some spark plug wire organizers to the side of the block and the edge of the valve cover. In addition I added a fuel line tee to the intake manifold, a fuel hose retaining tab to the frame rail, changed out the carburetors to a pair from Revell's Ed Roth Tweedy Pie (because they have those killer vintage scoops) and an oil dipstick. Hosted on Fotki The other final fab work was building the steering linkage, making a floor filler panel (since the frame kit did not provide one, which is kind of lame because the yellow Mooneyes version of the frame kit does) and mounting a tachometer on top of the cowling. At this point after a lot of off and on and feet dragging, this little guy is finally fully fabbed and ready for final prep work to start the paint process. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki

You've got my attention.

To elaborate on Bernard's post, Chuck at Altered States or "oldmandowntheroad" on Ebay also offers a variation of the '27 Roadster body to fit the Monogram Slingster chassis. I used on of those but modified the center opening (wider, longer) to fit AMT's Double Dragster rail chassis. Hosted on Fotki

The mufflers in these Revell flathead-motored kits are representative of Smithy glass packs which have always come painted hammertone blue since the 40's. Definitely a correct traditional hot rod detail.

For a straight out of the box model, this is about as nice as it gets! Beautiful early custom.

The word filters won't let me accurately express how much I like this project! All fairly subtle changes that add up BIG.

Fantastic color choice. That, the engine color and the chrome wheels go together perfectly.

Absolutely fantastic! I love that you combined the chassis parts from both the stock and hot rod versions to create a completely traditional early rod. I also like the other subtle changes like the '48 steering wheel and custom wheel covers. Totally classy all the way.

Since I broke the car down today and did all of the fine clean up work to get ready for primer I decided I'd offer a quick overview of how the wheels & tires were adapted to the kit axles. In the front I'm using the tires from Revell's Ed Roth Beatnik Bandit. They are a perfectly sized 50's/60's bias-ply front tire. I used the front '40-'48 Ford style "steelie" wheel outer rim halves from Revell's '32 5-Window. As luck would have it, the outer halves fit right into the tires. All of those '32 kits (except both versions of roadsters) come with the American 5-spokes. Using the inner wheel halves from those, I cut away the centers and glued them directly to the inside of the outer wheel halves. That takes care of mounting the wheels to the front axle. With the tires being considerably narrower than the '32 kit series tires, I thinned the remaining wheel rings down considerably until they were the correct thickness to fit into the tire and butt to the out wheel halves. Hosted on Fotki On the rear I'm using the wheels and slicks from Monogram's 'Lil Coffin show rod, which is a heavily modified '32 Sedan. These are what the wheel and tire parts look like. Hosted on Fotki I smoothed out the back sides of the 'Lil Coffin wheels then, like the front, I cut the centers out of the '32 series rear wheel inner halves and glued them to the back sides of the wheels. No other modifications were necessary. Hosted on Fotki And, for a parting shot here's a box full of cleaned up chassis and engine parts ready to go to work with me in the morning for primer. (I do all my painting at work.) Once they're finished I'll paint the body and interior parts. Hosted on Fotki

Remains of the chrome being stripped off. Under the chrome is a lacquer clear coat which doesn't always come off completely. On the carb scoops and valve covers I just need to get in there with a toothpick and knock the yellow junk off.

Yeah, actually, you can! But, not in this case.

Spent some time at the bench yesterday and addressed the interior. Using the floor pan, seat and '40 dash from the Revell '32 5-Window and cut down side panels from the Revell '32 Sedan. Made a steering column from .060" rod and put a parts box Bell sprint car wheel on the end of it. The strip across the firewall is a positive stop for the floor and will also make a nice area for glue. It doesn't show when looking through the side windows. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki I had been using an intake/carbs from another project for previous mock ups so I made up the log intake and carbs that will end up on this car and also got the valve covers with the Moon breather stands mocked up for a look. It's not shown but I also found a mechanical fan that will fit and replace the modern electric and a generator to replace the modern alternator. Hosted on Fotki Hosted on Fotki At this point I have most everything in place. Hoping to get some bench time today so I can do all the fine prep work to get ready for primer.