Fletch

Bernard, I couldn't agree more. I love the '32-'50 Fords, but the quintessential Hot Rod has always been the '29. It was Fords last body style that had a character that could not be touched by any other. My impression of Hot Rods was heavily influenced by '29s on Deuce rails. That combination just screams Hot Rod. As for the Billetproof influence, when you spent an entire day surrounded by almost 600 rods that are backyard burning the midnight oil to get ready for the cruise Hot Rods, you can't help but fall in Love with Rodding all over again. I'm excited to get this one back under way.

I like what I see, it has real potential. I take it that the lines on the posts are for your planned chop? The 502 is a massive motor in 1:1 that would scream. While I'm not a fan of wide low profile tires they do add a different flavor to the build. There is a car club here in the northwest called Unique Tin. They sponsor a car show the 3rd weekend of August every year. Their motto "Unique is what we seek, Bizarre is what we are!" Your '32 Sedan would fit right in. Keep Building, Don't stop now!

This has turned into one of those builds where it's easy to loose interest. More often then not I need a reason to really get into a build, and I didn't have one other then to prove that I could graft a '29 RPU cowl to a '30 Coupe body. Not the reason I was looking for to stay interested in the build. Last month we had the Billetproof NW event in SW Washington and of course you can't go to those events without buying a new t-shirt. This morning I grabbed that t-shirt out of the drawer and there was my muse for this build. One of the SABA members had already mentioned that the coupe needed more of a chop which it got, but after looking at the shirt it needs even more taken out of the roof. The body was mildly channeled it now sits quite a bit lower but still not enough. You really can't see much of the engine in the artwork on the shirt but my best guess it's a Small Block Chevy, or at least that's what it will be when built. Hosted on Fotki At least the build wasn't so far along that it required buying a new kit.

I have no doubt this post will spark a big debate and that there will be a bunch of haters but here goes; This is kind a like at our local 1/4 dirt track last summer, the winged Sprint Cars were there for a Friday night show. Danny "The Dude" Lasoski was the feature driver for the event. The track was prepped as it would have been for our normal Saturday night show. I was working track exit to warn those walking by when a car was leaving the track. All the drivers and crews were allowed to stand behind me and watch what was going on with the track. Every time that Danny would come off the track he'd come up and stand next to me and rant about the track condition. Granted the track was not in the condition needed for winged sprint cars but his constant complaining was out of line as well. Finally, after about the forth time I ask, 'Danny, are you a race car driver?' His reply was "Yes!", to which I stated 'the track crew did their best, Adapt.' Sometimes it's no different with us, do we just complain about the kits we buy that aren't up to the standard we think they should be or are we model builders? Sometimes we just need to adapt. No matter how good quality control may be some defects always seem to make it through. When I've come across something this bad I either return it or find a work around. Personally, to have already contacted the MFG and be working on getting the problem resolved then to post something like this is is a poor choice and nothing more then Grandstanding. It's like waving a flag and shouting Look at me I bought a defective kit. If we all did this each and every time we bought a poorly cast part or found a part missing we'd never get anything built. If I stepped on any toes please accept my apologies, but every now and then someone has to be the voice of reason. Peace

Thanks Guys, the information is greatly appreciated. I have built Street rods and Hot rods for years and only recently went from noticing Ferrari's at shows and contests here in the Pacific NW to buying the Kits. I figured the Revell Ferrari kits were a good place to start to insure that I actually wanted to build them. The Ferrari corner of the garage is a little bare compared to the rest of the 600+ kits, but with the availability of the Hasegawa, Heller, Italeri, Fujimi and many others the stack of Ferrari's is growing. Thanks again for your help.

Having been a fan of Ferrari's for years, I have recently started acquiring various Ferrari kits from several different kit manufactures. The one thing that seems constant through them all is the lack of Color Code Information to be able to match Ferrari Red. So, my question is what brands of paint do you use? (I do my best to avoid Enamels) And as a follow up question what are the part or Color Code Numbers for the paints that you use? Thank you for your help. Fletch

Harry, years ago cash and prizes were awarded at the Model Contest at the Portland Roadster Show. One year the prize awards included a new Color TV a Mini-Bike and a fair some of cash the total prize award that year was over $2,000. There was so much uproar from those who didn't win it wasn't even funny. One of the builders who didn't get what he thought was his fair share of the awards, threatened to beat the 'you know what' one of the judges because he was honest and told the guy why he didn't place higher in the class then he did. The other problem we had with giving out large prizes like that was 'How do they get them home?' Parking can be an issue around some of these venues that we use for events and public transportation is a viable option to fighting for a parking space. We all like to have our egos stroked from time to time, winning an award certainly does that, but when you add money to the mix, it quickly becomes ugly. No longer is it a question of who the best builder is, it's now "He got my share of the prize money!" While I was typing the first part of this response I got a call from our club president. He has entered contests over the years where cash was awarded to the winners. The thing he noted that as long as the cash award was around $50 for a class win and $100 for a Best of win things seemed to go well. However, once the awards exceeded those amounts it became very nasty and confrontational. The other thing he noticed is when the dollar values exceeded the $50/$100 limits the character of the contest changed, no longer was it the local everyday builders but those who build museum quality models, who normally don't attend such events, cam out of the woodwork. So, there are Pros and Cons to a contest where cash is awarded in place of plaques and trophies. Personally, I think we're all gamblers and would pay a higher entry fee for the chance of a bigger award in the end. My $.02 worth.

I guess I didn't use my words correctly or they didn't come across properly. I figured the photo of the Red '32 Closed Cab Pickup was from RMoM, which I know is one of the many pieces that you have mastered for Norm. I had neither seen a photo of it in Norm's Catalog or a build up of the kit and was glad to see you post a photo of the kit as well as your build-up. The last statement of, "I hope when it's completed that will be worthy of being a master to add to Norm's vastly expanding catalog.", was in regards to the cab for the RPU that I am building as it has been suggested that it should go to Norm as a master when the body work is completed. And as to my not reading all the words, that my friend would be nothing unusual at all, something about adult ADHD. If I read as fast as I chopped plastic I'd have 'War & Peace' read in a single day. :lol: :lol:

Not at all, I would have thought that a "Summer of '69 TRUCK Community Build Off" would have a cut-off of those models that their 1:1 counterparts were available in or prior to the SUMMER of '69. And that being it is the Truck Community sponsoring the Build-off that it would be TRUCKS! Guess it must be that new math!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :blink:

Well, that'll teach me to trust those guys on the HAMB board for my 1:1 information. Thanks for the input Dennis, I don't consider the input and 1:1 information as hostile in any way. A lot of the information out there on '32 RPUs come from people who have either never seen or think they know about them. The fact the the '32 RPU is a pretty rare piece there is a lot of mystery and mystic behind them. I'm always hesitant to put historical data in a build posting. When you use the internet for research it can be like going to Wikipedia for medical advice. You're never 100% sure it's accurate. Lyle thank you posting the photos of the '32 closed cab pickup, I had never seen one of them built or unbuilt but knew it would be beautiful, and I was not disappointed. I hope when it's completed that will be worthy of being a master to add to Norm's vastly expanding catalog.

Lot of suggestions/questions about this one. so let's start from the top with the responses; Lyle, you are correct, in stock form the '32 pickups do not use the same gas tank location as passenger car cousins. However, everything I found indicates that the tanks on the RPU were under the passenger side of the seat. That the seat on an RPU was a 60/40 split seat with the passenger side being just a cushion without any springs and that the filler was recessed so it wouldn't poke you in the backside. Most of the RPUs as they have gotten converted into rods have had the tanks moved to the passenger car location with an access hole cut in the floor or converted to a goose neck setup to bring the filler out to the side of the bodywork. Dave, the chassis as it currently sits is box stock Revell with it extra wide rear fenders. I have not decided whether to leave them as Revell produced them and use them as tubs in the bed or reduce their width to fit outside the Lindberg '34 bed, which needs to be shortened 5 scale inches to be the correct length for a stock '32 pickup either Closed Cab or RPU. George, my first thought was to use the Phantom Vicky from AMT for this build, as there are several out in the garage that were bought for parts when KB Toys had them on close out for $4.99. The problem with the Phantom Vicky and the AMT Phaeton is how the rear body work sits. The rear sheet metal if you will, curves from the top rear of the body back toward the rear fender-wells. The rear of the RPU cab is straight up and down (if we were building a '31 RPU that body shape of the rear of the Phantom Vicky or Phaeton would be more correct). I guess the whole thing is how prototypically correct do you want to be. The project could indeed be done using any number of different body combinations, just a matter of how accurate do you want it and how much time are you willing to invest for the accuracy. The other problem with using the AMT Phaeton is as you noted, the lack of accuracy with the lower body from the rear of the doors forward. For some odd reason AMT choose on all their '32 Fords to start the curve of the lower body line at the rear of the front doors instead of the front of the doors as on the 1:1. The body as it sits in the photo is the Revell Roadster body that has had the cabin area reduced by aprox 8 scale inches to get the rear of the cab to proper length. The rest of the body behind the seating area was removed. The rear corners of the cab need to be rebuilt most likely with Evergreen tubing to get the correct profile. The rear corners of the cab on the RPU are not as straight up and down as their closed cab cousins. The one area of the cab that I may forgo making 100% correct is representing the reveals as seen in this photo: Hosted on Fotki Once you pllace the body on the chassis and install the bed the reveals are no longer visible., Who knows, being the rear of the cab will be built from the ground up the reveals may make it into the building process. Rob, you never know what might be the next offering from Revell in the '32 Ford line. Personally, I'd raise my had if the ask 'Who wants a B400 as our next offering?' I know Lyle mastered a complete '32 Pickup which if offered by Replica and Miniatures Company of Maryland. You can't go wrong with a Lyle Willits master and Norm Veber's casting. Chuck, any Pickup offering in the Revell '32 Ford line would be a welcome addition. The molds for the AMT/Lindberg '34 Pickup have been around for as long as I can remember (I've been building for 46 years now). The ol' girl is a little long in the tooth but a long ways from not being usable in the right hands. A very presentable '32 Closed Cab Pickup can be built using the AMT/Lindberg kit by removing the top of the 3 reveal lines on the rear of the cab (to be correct you need to add the rivets in it's place), shortening the bed 5" and putting it on a chassis with the correct wheel-base. I posted the RPU on the Fellowship of Christian Modelers forum, it was suggested that when completed that it should be used as a master. If that is the case the progress to the version I plan to build will slow a bit as I plan to complete it with the Duvall windshield. It may end up being mastered twice, once for the "Stock" Revell windshield and once for the Duvall. I have a feeling this may turn into a long term build, who knows everything just might fall into place.

I'm sure you have all figured out that Fletch is a fan of the '32 Ford, as long as it's a '32 it will peak my interest. Such is the case of the '32 Ford Roadster Pickup. A member on another forum started a '32 Roadster Pickup the other night, which in itself drew me in. As I looked over his build it didn't seem quite right to me. After about 30 minutes of investigation I found what was bothering me, he had a flat piece of styrene across the back of the RPU cab. That would be fantastic if he were building a pre '30 RPU but not a post '29. The post '29 RPUs had rounded corners at the rear of the cabs just like their enclosed cab cousins. I have always thought that RPUs were about the coolest things going so with research in hand I ventured out to the garage to see what I could scare up in the way of parts to build an RPU. I came up with a complete Revell 32 Chassis, a Revell '32 Roadster body(already modified), the bed from a Lindberg '34 Ford Pick-up, the tires and wheels from a Revell '32 Sedan, '50 Ford Flat Head, axles from a Revell '32 Ford and the Duvall Windshield from an AMT Phantom Vicki. The Revell rear fenders are considerably wider then stock and will require either narrowing them or leaving them be and using them to tub the bed. I plan to build 2 of the fuel injection manifolds like in the photo below, one to complete another flat head project and the second for this flat head. I'm hoping that when the RPU is completed it will have some of this flair, obviously with a different windshield. Hosted on Fotki Your comment and suggestions are always welcome. Peace

Lookin' Good Mr. B, like the channel job that's pretty cool. Taking a little off the top always works in my book.

Lyle, I like it, I am always torn between building full fendered vs Hi-boy. Your full fendered version comfims that I need to stop by the LHS and buy another '30. Fortunately, one of the members of the club has a 1/24th '29 rpu so the next build will be a bit easier. I'm looking forward to seeing your build progress, I'm have no doubt that it will be outstanding as always.

Todd the Sedan is coming along nicely. The chop looks great, the red with white roof insert and running boards sets it off nicely. I'm not sure what the issue is with you're being able to post photos from Photobucket, from your photos I attempted to post and get the same thing you're getting. However, if I post from my Photobucket or Fotki it works fine. It might be something as simple as the naming convention you're using, Good Luck.

It was something I ran across several years ago. As Flat Heads came back in vogue the overheating problem became a major issue. Someplace along the way someone discovered that the 348/409 water pump had the same span as the dual pumps on a flat head. They made an adapter plate to block off the lower water intakes on the flat head and act as the front motor mount. When all is said and done you still have the water outlets on the tops of the heads and a single intake from the Chevy 348/409 high flow pump. This is what the Edelbrock adapter plate looks like: Hosted on Fotki

Here are the results of tonight's building session. The roof line was dropped by aprox 0.160" (about 3.6mm). Both front and rear suspension were dropped as low as they would go without modifying the chassis using the process Tim Boyd used in the article of the '32 3 Window Coupe build back in 1996. The flat head is from the Revell '50 Ford Pickup with Offenhauser heads and tri-carb manifold from MCG. The front of the flat head has been modified to allow the use of a Chevy 409 water pump (this is an actual 1:1 modification), which on the 1:1 allows for greatly improved cooling on the overheating proned flat heads. Hosted on Fotki Time to allow the cement to cure overnight before doing some minor fill work then on to the rest of the build.

The difference in height between the 1/24th scale Monogram '29 rpu and a 1/25th scale Revell '29 rpu is about .060. There is not a great deal of difference in height between the 2 but it's enough to make a big difference in the conversion. I was able to check the differences between the 2 by checking with an original issue of the Blue Beetle. For a brief moment I thought about using the cowl from it for the conversion but that moment of insanity passed quickly.

Most likely by cutting the Urethane Clear/Catalyst mix by aprox 50% with lacquer thinner. There was a bit of trepidation the first time I introduced the lacquer thinner to the clear/catalyst mixture as you don't know what to expect. For all I knew it could have hardened instantly in the bottle. One of the things with Omni urethane clear, the jobber I buy it from says it doesn't require any thinner, it is thinner then the PPG product that I use to use. However, the PPG Urethane Clear/Catalyst mix requires PPG thinner and the price jumps dramatically. With the PPG urethane Clear you end up buying the clear, the catalyst, and the thinner/reducer. You also have to decide what "Temperature" you want the reducer, Low, Medium, or Hot. The last time I ordered the PPG product it was $176 for the same thing I got in Omni for under $35. Being that Onmi and PPG are produced by the same company, I'm ok with a $35 product vs pretty much the same thing for $176. These 3 were clear coated using the Omni Urethane Clear: Hosted on Fotki

Shane, I mix in the ratio noted above, I dial down the compressor to 15-20psi to shoot the Urethane Clear. For cleaning purposes I strip the air brush down as far as it can go then clean everything in Lacquer thinner. I use a Paasche VL-1 with a #1 needle and seat, which is replaced at least once a year. And yes I use a full face respirator as has been noted spraying Urethane can be nasty stuff.

I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a fair number of the '30 Coupes converted to '29s. It's a pretty simple conversion as you know. I look forward to seeing your photos, they always serve as an inspiration.

Yeah, the term has gotten taken so out of context that it doesn't even remotely resemble what it was originally meant to be. I'm not sure I could build it East Coast Style, not much comes from my workbench that isn't chopped. I don't think the guys in the club could stand the shock. lol

Shane, there is no way you would ever need to buy a gallon of urethane clear. I buy Omni which is an off brand from PPG it comes in quart cans. The Omni Clear plus a 1/2 pint of reducer/catalyst comes to around $35. The ratio of clear to reducer is 4-1 then I cut it 1-1 with standard hardware store lacquer thinner. I have not had a single problem with clear coating anything since switching over to the Urethane Clear 4 years ago. In the long run price for price Clear Lacquer to Urethane Clear the urethane is less expensive and a lot more user friendly. Just make sure you TOTALLY clean your air brush after shooting Catalyzed Urethane or you'll get to buy a new air brush.

The things people will do to avoid paying the $.25 fine for not bringing something to a club meeting. So, at 4am Sunday morning to avoid paying the fine here's what I came up with using the reissued '30 coupe. Hosted on Fotki The fun part of the process so far was converting a '30 coupe to a '29 coupe. It would have been a whole lot easier if I'd had a 1/24 scale '29 Roadster Pickup. I'm sure the neighbors were wondering what I was up to out in the garage at 2:30 Sunday morning. I realized I had bought only 1 Monogram '29 rpu ever and I had given it away 6 months ago so one of the guys on TRaK could build a Blue Beetle clone. With no 1/24th rpu I used 2 1/25th Revell '29 rpu cowls to create the cowl area of the coupe. It is mounted on a Revell '32 chassis using the axles, wheels and tires from the '32 Roadster. The top still needs to be taken down 4+ inches and dig out a flathead from one of the Revell kits. I need to dig out a quick change rear end, and change the rear cross member to the '30 or something along those lines. Radiator wise I may see what's in the parts box in the way of a '29 surround or use one of the cut-down '32 grille and surround from MCG. No clue what the color will be, I know for sure that it won't be flat or satin black as I don't want to even remotely resemble a rat rod. Comments and suggestions are welcome as always

I have been amazed at the number of responses on an other forum about how I quartered the roof on this build. I don't know if I saw it in a magazine or where I got the idea that doing the quarter thing was the way to go. But, to me it makes the roof line more aesthetically pleasing. The other way causes the all the pillars to realigned at angles that, to me, seem to extreme. The roof has been puttied and is waiting to be sanded and contoured, so progress photos in the next couple of days.